Pujyashree Bhupendrabhai Pandya, the exceptionally devotional preacher has blessed Maryland with his visits innumerable times but June 18 and 19, 2005 left an indelible mark by his discourses at Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple. In a joint effort, temple trustees as well as the Samakti Mission USA organized the first chapter of the Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta in English; and brought in devotees and seekers that by far exceeded the expected number.

The discourse was narrated in English for the benefit of the younger crowd and those who do not speak either Hindi or Gujarati. The seminar began with a basic introduction into religion, as well as its struggles against modernization and westernization. Pujyashree Bhupendrabhai then introduced the Shreemad Bhagavad Geeta by explaining how Lord Krushna had said that completing an action in itself is not enough; what is important are the reasons behind doing whatever you do. He ‘set the scene’, so to speak, of the Bhagavad Geeta by beautifully describing various scenes and characters. Throughout the seminar, as he explained the first chapter while giving a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the entire scripture, he also helped to correct many preconceived notions about the epic. For example, while many people believe that Lord Krushna was responsible for the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, he explained that in fact Lord Krushna was the one who had tried to prevent the war, while it was Duryodhan who had been completely against giving up anything without a war. On the first day itself, Pujyashree Bhai had connected various stories from the Geeta to simple phrases that everyone could think of on a day to day basis. For example, as Arjun tried to explain his aversion towards the war, Pujyashree Bhupendrabhai said, “man is a rational animal who has used most of his rationality to rationalize his most irrational activities.” It was with such intelligent, thought-provoking statements that people went home after the discourses, wanting to hear even more. While the two-day discourse seemed all too short for Pujyashree Bhupendrabhai’s first visit to the Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple, his narration on the introduction of the Geeta left all the listeners eagerly awaiting his arrival next year to hear him enlighten us on the next chapter.