(RNS) — When Patita Pavana Das was a sophomore at Indiana State University, he considered his life pretty typical: geoscience student by day, partaker in the school’s party culture by night. But as he learned more about the Earth’s billion-year history, Das, now 28, felt a nagging sense of dissatisfaction — a feeling that “there’s been a fundamental error” in how humans coexist with the natural world and each other.
That feeling became a “determination,” he said recently, “that I was going to seek out what would make me happy before I was pushed into a life path I didn’t feel was being defined by myself.”
“I felt that life was much more simple than it was being made out to be.”
Everything clicked when a group of saffron-robed Hare Krishnas arrived on his college campus, sharing copies of the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu Scripture that teaches the way to a soulful, enlightened life. Though not religious, Das accepted the book and soon after started on the dharmic path it described.
On Wednesday (Dec. 11), Das celebrated Gita Jayanti, the day that many Hindus believe Lord Krishna spoke the words of the Bhagavad Gita to the Indian Prince Arjuna more than 5,000 years ago. The anniversary is especially revered by the more than 9 million members of ISKCON, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, as the Hare Krishna organization is officially known.
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Nowadays, Das is a full-time Brahmacharya, or monk, living at ISKCON’s Houston temple who spends his days chanting, dancing and praying with other yogis. And he is the one distributing the Bhagavad Gita.
“It’s become my law book,” he said. “It’s the law book for human life. By going out, we’re acting as representatives of the Lord, and we’re coming in contact with these persons who are on their journey of self discovery, their journey of reawakening, their love for Krishna.”
It's estimated that than 500 million copies of the “Bhagavad Gita As It Is,” a translation of the ancient text by ISKCON’s founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, have been passed out by devotees worldwide. Prabhupada’s version emphasizes Bhakti, or devotion to Krishna, and the chanting of his name as the ultimate path to spiritual realization, as understood in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.
The Gita itself is a dialogue between Krishna and the warrior prince Arjuna in the midst of the Battle of Kurukshetra, which is also recounted in the ancient epic called the Mahabharata. Arjuna is paralyzed by moral doubts as he prepares to engage in a bloody war against friends, family and revered teachers. Krishna, serving as his charioteer, tells Arjuna, in 700 lines of verse, the importance of duty (dharma), the distinction between the body and the eternal soul (atma) and how to live a life of purpose and detachment.
This week ISKCON temples are hosting special events for the Gita. Das’ temple in Houston has a goal of distributing 4,500 copies of the book this month and recited its verses in Sanskrit all day Wednesday.
In Potomac, Maryland, congregants at one of the oldest ISKCON houses of worship recited the entire text of Prabhupada’s translation over Zoom, a feat that takes almost three hours. The experience, says temple president Ananda Bloch, is “like a dip in a sacred river.”
Bloch was already a vegetarian, a reader of philosophy and a practitioner of yoga when she arrived as an immigrant from Ireland in the 1980s. But the book “answered all of my questions,” she said. “It’s offering guidance, it’s offering insights, and it’s just offering a way to negotiate the world and figure out how to live the best life.”
“The Gita is, on many levels, a very technical book about the different kinds of yogas one can practice in life, but it’s also very much an emotional book about Krishna, about Arjuna having his breakdown, about Krishna being there for him,” she said. “Today, we are reminded again how this book is a companion. It’s a friend, and should always be close by.”
Like many longtime devotees, Bloch has seen the burgeoning of ISKCON as an organization over the years, but as the Gita itself teaches, she said, coming to a loving, intimate relationship with Krishna is a choice one makes individually. Proselytizing, or forcing a devotion to God on others, she added, is not the goal of distributing it.
Education is ultimately about the ability to make the right choices in life, the choices that help you grow spiritually, and that’s what the Bhagavad Gita is about,” she said. “It’s important to share this information with everybody in the world and anybody who’s interested, not in a mood of religious conversion, but in a mood of ‘This is really lived wisdom that can add something beautiful to your life.’”
Nikhil Trivedi, the priest at ISKCON’s very first temple, in New York City, said the tradition preaches that “our deepest pleasure comes not from possessing, but from giving; not in controlling, but in sharing. It lies in making meaningful contributions by serving others and connecting to each other and to God through reciprocation of love.”
Pioneers in celebrating Gita Jayanti in the U.S., the members of Trivedi’s temple have hosted a full recitation of the Gita every year by the temple’s Sunday school students, who are of all ages and backgrounds, a reminder, he said, that “we come from diverse cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds, but we share in an enthusiasm for life that comes by knowing the happiness that is found within.”
Members of the temple community participate in a Gita Jayanti ceremony hosted by ISKCON New York on Dec. 8, 2024, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Nikhil Trivedi/Religion News Service via AP)
Cincinnati (5-8) at Tennessee (3-10)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox
BetMGM NFL Odds: Bengals by 5.
Against the spread: Bengals 7-6; Titans 2-11.
Series record: Tennessee leads 41-37-1.
Last meeting: Titans beat the Bengals 27-3 on Oct. 1, 2023.
Last week: Bengals beat the Cowboys 27-20; Titans lost to the Jaguars 10-6.
Bengals offense: overall (9), rush (29), pass (1), scoring (6)
Bengals defense: overall (26), rush (23), pass (27), scoring (31)
Titans offense: overall (29), rush (18), pass (29), scoring (30)
Titans defense: overall (2), rush (13), pass (1), scoring (27)
Turnover differential: Bengals 0; Titans plus-11
QB Joe Burrow. He leads the NFL with 3,706 yards passing and 33 touchdown passes. He also has six games passing for at least 300 yards and seven with at least three TD passes. He can join Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young as the only quarterbacks to do that in five straight games Sunday. Burrow has thrown at least two TD passes in six of seven road games this season, and he has three TD passes with no interceptions against the Titans.
Will Levis. The second-year quarterback is trying to blossom under first-year coach Brian Callahan much as Burrow did in Cincinnati where Callahan was his offensive coordinator the past five seasons. Levis aggravated the AC sprain in his right, throwing shoulder when sacked just before halftime of last week's loss. But he has not been intercepted in the past two games. He also has thrown for a career-high 1,827 yards and 12 TDs this season.
The Bengals bring the NFL's best passing offense and most potent duo in Burrow and WR Ja'Marr Chase to face off against the league's best defense against the pass. The Titans are holding opponents to just 175.5 yards passing a game, and they rank second against the run. Cincinnati is averaging an NFL-best 271.6 yards passing. That's why the Bengals have scored on 41 straight trips inside an opponent's 20 going back to the third quarter of Week 1. It's the longest active streak in the NFL, and their TD rate on such drives is 69%. Only Baltimore is better.
Bengals: Burrow hurt his left knee and finished Monday night's game wearing a compression sleeve. He has no injury designation after practicing in some fashion all week. ... DT Sheldon Rankins is out with an illness.
Titans: RB Tony Pollard is questionable with an ankle issue. He missed two straight practices before being limited Friday. ... Rookie LT JC Latham was added to the injury report with a hip issue after being limited Thursday but practiced fully Friday. ... K Nick Folk is dealing with a sore groin, which caused the Titans to sign Brayden Narveson to the practice squad as insurance. LB Kenneth Murray missed last week's game with an injured hamstring and is questionable after being limited Friday. LB Otis Reese has been limited by an ankle, had crutches at his locker Thursday and is questionable after missing two straight practices. CB Roger McCreary is questionable after being limited Friday after missing the previous game with an injured shoulder.
As former AFC Central rivals, the Titans are the Bengals' third-most played opponent in franchise history with Cincinnati playing only Pittsburgh and Cleveland more. ... The Titans are 7-5 in Tennessee since the old Oilers relocated from Houston in 1997. ... The Bengals have won seven of the past 10 overall, including going 4-3 in Nashville since the NFL realigned and split the division rivals in 2002. ... This is the fifth game between these teams have played in a five-year span. The Bengals beat the Titans in a divisional playoff game in Tennessee in January 2022. This is the third straight season these teams have met — all in Tennessee. They’ve split each of the past two games. ... The home team has won four of the past five in this series.
The Bengals are a win away from the franchise's 400th in the regular season. ... The Bengals need to win out to extend the franchise's streak of winning seasons to four straight. ... The Bengals snapped a three-game losing streak with Monday night's win. … Burrow hooked up WR Ja’Marr Chase for a 40-yard TD with 1:01 left to seal the win. … Chase leads the NFL in receptions (93), receiving yards (1,319) and a career-high TD catches (15). ... Chase can become the fifth player in NFL history with at least 100 catches, 1,400 yards receiving and 15 TD catches in a season joining Marvin Harrison (2001), Randy Moss (2003), Jerry Rice (1995) and Cooper Kupp (2021). ... Trey Hendrickson leads the NFL with 12 1/2 sacks. … K Cade York, picked up by the Bengals after Evan McPherson went on the injured list, hit both of his field-goal tries and made all three PATs. … RB Chase Brown has compiled 735 yards and six touchdowns. Against the Cowboys he rushed for 58 yards and caught six passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. … Bengals S Geno Stone got his second interception of the season against the Cowboys. CB Cam Taylor-Britt also has two…. LB Germaine Pratt leads the Bengals in tackles with 117. ... Seven of the Titans' losses have been by more than one score. ... RB Tony Pollard had his sixth game with at least 100 yards from scrimmage, including 102 yards rushing last week. He needs 63 yards rushing for his third straight 1,000-yard rushing season. ... WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is tied for fourth in the NFL with a career-high eight TD catches. ... WR Calvin Ridley had a team-high seven catches for 59 yards last week. ... LB Harold Landry has a team-high seven sacks, giving him at least seven for a third straight season and fourth in his career. ... LB Arden Key has two TFLs and a sack in two of the past three home games. ... LB Luke Gifford had a career-high 11 tackles last week. ... Reese had his first career interception last week. ... CB Chidobe Awuzie, who spent the past three seasons in Cincinnati, had his first interception of the season last week.
Chase. He is coming off a 14-catch, 177-yard performance with two TDs. That was his sixth career game with at least 175 yards receiving, tying him for second most by a player in his first four seasons in NFL history.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Tennessee Titans cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, center front, celebrates with teammates after intercepting a Jacksonville Jaguars pass during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor before an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan paces the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow argues an intentional grounding penalty with officials during the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Tyler Boyd (83) can't make a reception as he is defended by Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andre Cisco (5) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. The Cincinnati Bengals won 27-20. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) is helped off the field by teammate offensive tackle Peter Skoronski (77) after he was injured on a play during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walter IV)
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow talks during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. The Cincinnati Bengals won 27-20. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
