Good books are a joy to read. Great books are a joy to not just read, but also re-read. During the re-reading of great books we discover many nuggets of wisdom that we had either missed entirely or gathered only fragmentally during our earlier readings. For the greatest books, this process of discovery can be continued over many, many re-readings.
For the Bhagavad-gita, however, this process of joyous re-reading can be continued ad infinitum. That’s because the discovery in Gita re-reading is not a one-way process, but a two-way process: it is not just we who find hitherto undiscovered nuggets of wisdom, but it is also Krishna who shares hitherto unrevealed nuggets during our re-readings.
The Gita is special, even unique, because it is spoken directly by God himself in his highest manifestation as Krishna. Because Krishna is Absolute, he is non-different from his word. That’s why each time we connect with the Gita by prayerful contemplation, we connect with Krishna himself. And he being pleased by our endeavors to connect with him reveals to us a new facet of his enchanting glory. Because Krishna’s glory is infinite, his revelation and our discovery as mediated through Gita study can continue forever. And the more we make our consciousness receptive by rendering devotional service, the more this process of revelation and discovery becomes increasingly exciting and fulfilling.
Thus, many books may be pregnant with wisdom, but the Gita alone is infinitely pregnant with wisdom. It is to this world of infinite and infinitely increasing wisdom that the Gita (10.18) invites us through the ecstatic exclamation of its original student, Arjuna: “The more I hear the more, I want to taste the nectar of your words.”
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Text 18
“O Janardana, again please describe in detail the mystic power of Your opulences. I am never satiated in hearing about You, for the more I hear the more I want to taste the nectar of Your words.”
Leave A Comment