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Arjun Related posts, arjuna, Atheism, bhagvada, Bhagwad Gita, faith, God, ISKON, Krishn, Krishna, Mahabharata, maximum comments, religion, spirituality, temple
Born to a theist Papa and an atheist Mom, I had the luxury of choice. I chose to be an atheist.
Being a science student automatically made me lean heavily towards ‘proof and results’. Temples contributed liberally to my disgust of theism. Think impatient Pujaris (We are the proprietary middle-men to Heaven.) Think lecherous peddlers (A hundred rupees note will get you instant darshan, Madam!) Think repugnant God-men (I distinctly remember meeting one with red eyes, grey beard and saffron robes. When I and my brother refused to genuflect, his eyes darkened in incredulous rage. P.S: The only en’light’ment he saw must be at the end of his ganja–chillum!)
Meanwhile a wily God with a zany sense of humor decided to ensnare me with two most unlikely baits. A man and a meal…
The man: God’s best friend. Arjun. One (of the two men) I love. Hero of Mahabharata. 
Secure in my hero-worship; I did not enquire deeper into the ‘Why?’ Then one fine day, I realized it is time to bestow validity to my passion. To understand his turmoil and dilemmas, I chose not to focus on his triumphs and achievements, but on his most vulnerable moment – the one that led to Bhagwad Gita.
I purchased the Bhagwad Gita. I read the Bhagwad Gita … and understood nothing. It seemed like the unabashed propaganda of I, Me , Myself by a narcissistic God.
Heavily disillusioned, I gave it away (honestly I did!) to the revolving library – grateful that it was a heavy book and would at least fetch me bonus points. Unfortunately, they tossed it back to me – told me it held no value (!) and would fetch me no points!
It stayed on my shelf, mocking my efforts to wriggle out of its grasp.
In the meantime, pawns were being shuffled, tectonic plates were moving and wide nets were cast. As I moved up the professional food-chain, I got allotted doctor’s quarters. Old neighbors moved out. New neighbors moved in.
Uh-oh, I grimaced as I saw the orderly row of footwear dotting their front door every Friday. I groaned as I heard their loud chants drowned by the treble of drums. I studiously looked the other way; hastily closed my door before they beckoned me to theism.
Ultimately, my neighbor arrived with a formal invitation, ‘ISKCON is starting its annual session. Unraveling the meaning of Bhagwad Gita ’ My antennae perked up half-way.
‘Prasadam will be served.’ she insisted. Prasadam = meal. Ordinarily, food would be the least tantalizing bait for me. But this was August; my Mom’s annual visit to brother’s USA. That left me with the unpleasant task of cooking (bearable) and eating(unbearable) my own meals.
Finally, my atheist stomach consented to the theist (… and free … and weekly)dinner invitation standing at my doorstep.
A matryr to theism; for the sake of Arjun and a free dinner. Like I said, a wily God (link here to post ‘God’s jigsaw puzzle’…my amazing experience) with a zany sense of humor…
I did not realize I was beginning the journey of a lifetime- from being staunch atheist to cynical skeptic to open-minded questioner to… the journey is still on.
Where are you on the arc between theism and atheism? What, if anything at all, was your spurring moment?
Impractical Dreamer: Sweety Shinde 
Excellent post. Very thought provoking. After reading this, a few lines from the late Tamil Poet Kannadasan came to my mind. He was a strong atheist and later in his life became a strong believer. Here is a few lines from his song:
Naan naathigan aanayne
Avan bayapadavillai
Naan aathigan aanayne
Avan agapadavillai
(I became an atheist
He was not afraid of me.
I became a believer
I could not find Him)
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Wow! Did he mention what converted him? Like all great lives or literary characters, the transition phase is most thought-provoking.
You did not mention about yourself though. This side or that side? Or in transit?
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I will research what made him to convert and let you know. As for as I am concerned, I am a firm believer. But I do not go very near to Him. Just pray for a minute at home and visit the Temple once a month. Do not do big stuff like homams, vrathas, etc.
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You know, God has been often mistaken/mislabeled and taken to be synonymous with religion; which in turn is different than religious rituals.
I too agree that homan, vrathas are mere rituals cooked up by priests to earn their bread and butter.
In Bhagwad Gita, Krishn says plainly, ‘Falam, pushpam, toyam, parnam’. That is ‘Simple offering of a single flower, a single Tulsi leaf, a fruit and water is all I need.’ He quite clearly denounces all other rituals.
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My mom is a proper theist, and dad is a semi theist. I am more of a ‘situational’ theist.
God is more of a thought framework for me. For example, if in a confusing situation regarding choices of rock-and-hard-place nature, I think what some mythological character would do. Like Arjun for example. Here are a few ways god comes ‘into’ my life:
1. Whenever there is something I am not able to comprehend, I assume god understands it.
2. Whenever I am in a situation I can’t control, I ‘make amends’ with God.
3. Whenever I am past a bad situation, I think of god as something that let me pass that thing, and learn while I was at it.
I am sure there are more points, but I can’t remember them. Right now, I am undergoing a relatively good, and therefore, godless phase 🙂
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Yup, that was refreshingly honest…and perhaps true for many of us. I like your positive way of shrugging past ‘bad’ phases. I would love to inculcate that within me.
That’s the best way of blogging, one gets so many viewpoints to ponder over, mull over and either absorb or debate over. Many thanks for the interesting thoughts.
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I started out a theist and have more recently become an atheist though I still struggle to shrug off ingrained beliefs. My turning point moment…hmmm, not sure I’m ready to share it yet.
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Oh, your journey seems to be in the opposite direction from me! I agree it is easy to get disillusioned in today’s world. And that unanswered question:’Why do bad things happen to good people?’, must be the topmost detraction.
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Oh I’m not disillusioned. Just that the rational side of me finally won.
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Good for you. At least it is nice to be finally on the decided side, rather than in transition.
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Enjoyed reading your latest.. Would not go so far as to call myself an atheist but will say this about the Gita.. It is NOT a religious book and rightly read and even partly understood, it will help the scientist find more explanations to universal phenomena than many a thesis written in jargon.. From every action has an equal and opposite reaction to all colours merge into white and so many others.. Some day, i am sure i will find the para that directly describes e=mc2…
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I agree. It is more of a lifestyle adaptation, stress buster, attitude-makeover text. As for the scientific equations, I think they exist more in the Vedas than in Gita. There is a verse describing Hanuman’s leap towards the Sun; and the distance described has been found eerily accurate as per NASA.
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Nice read Sweety. Am an atheist and at peace being so.
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Absolutely. The whole point is freedom of choice; as also the freedom to be flexible. Also the freedom to co-exist (and love) those at the opposite poles of a thought-process-arc. Isn’t that kind of freedom a miracle too?
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Have you seen “O My God” hindi movie? Worth seeing it
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yup, I did. Not sure about the end of the movie, thought the rest made a lot of sense. The so called middle men have corrupted the pathway a lot.
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have been fluctuating wildly between the 2 extremes Now I don’t commit, I just say that I don’t know… what is important to me is to acknowledge that what we and science know is probably less than 2% of what really is out there. So that leaves a lot of possibilities open
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Yup. Even most medicos would agree that the same medical treatment to the same medical condition responds in wildly varying levels. And there is no plausible explanation. Not scientific as yet.
We are very much skimming the surface of a vast unknown. All I say is, keeping an open mind is anytime better than a closed mind.
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I think you are also not a staunch atheist otherwise you would not have blamed / remembered God (at least to confirm yourself being atheist) after your biology paper (12th)
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Hey, smart memory!
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Pingback: God’s Jigsaw Puzzle | Impractical Dreamer
I feel we are what we believe ourselves to be. If you believe in God there is God for you and if you don’t believe then too you might be right in doing so.
There is no right or wrong. How this whole Universe came about and how each and everything functions so effortlessly is still a mystery.
How our own body and mind keeps functioning is in itself another mystery.
As for myself, I keep oscillating between believing and not believing.
However, your topic was quite interesting.
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Exactly, I wonder about it too. Being a science student makes me appreciate the mystery of the human body too. I mean, just about every cell in the body knows when to push out potassium ions and take in sodium ions. The body is the most intriguing chemical amalgamation. Then what to say of the soul or mind? Fathomless.
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