Current Projects of the BCK

             

The current projects of Bharatiya Chetna Kendra 

Bharatiya Chetna Kendra (Indian Consciousness Centre) works for total individual and community development under the framework of the Indian cultural values, which it seeks to promote. Four of its current projects are given hereunder:

PROJECT 1:  A total livelihood solution centre: a country which used to be the richest in the past is now home to the largest number of poor today. To help people find a viable livelihood, the BCK has evolved a solution that is to be put into effect by setting up total livelihood solution centres, ideally in every block. But at first a mother centre has to be created as a pilot which will leave nobody in that area unemployed in three to five years.

PROJECT 2:  A Gita Dham in every Panchayat

To be established finally in every Panchayat, It will have a temple of the Gita; it will have an auditorium for religious and spiritual instruction mainly through instructional films; a small library and a wellness center. The Gita Dham is a place where the Hindus will be taken to a higher level of Hinduism, and all other communities will be helped through total education, health services and self-employment training with assistance for removal of poverty with the help of a Total Livelihood Solution Centre, which has been indicated in ‘Project 1’ above.

PROJECT 3:  A national and an international edition of the Gita

The BCK plans to publish an edition that will have the following features: it will have the approval of the heads of most of the main sects of Hinduism and the Shankaracharyas and will bear their signature; it will have a directory at the opening of the book listing all words used in the Gita with reference of the verses in which they have occurred, enabling the seeker to locate the verse of his choice based on the recollection of any of the words used in that verse; it will have another alphabetical directory listing the various spiritual and temporal issues like moksha (liberation), world peace, terrorism; corruption, bribery, bhakti, gyan, yagya, tapasya, to name a few. In the Indian languages it will have three editions: one subsidized edition for the poor for Rs. 5 or 10, one for the middle class for Rs. 50; and a deluxe edition for Rs. 200 or 300. The international edition will be first published in English priced tentatively around 10 US dollars. The profit from the higher cost editions will be used for publishing the editions for the poor.

PROJECT 4:  A Gita in every home­­

In the midst of the invasion of the Western cultural values, the contact of the new generations with the books. which have thus far been spreading the Indian values and culture is increasingly being lost. To prevent this, the BCK plans to bring the Gita, the Ramcharitmanas and certain other books to every home which are fast vanishing. Till the special edition of the Gita is published by the BCK, the plan is to distribute the edition of the Gita published by the Gita Press which costs rs 20 per copy.

We will make a presentation or furnish more details on the project in which an individual or company is interested.

Three user-friendly editions of the #Gita for every home.

The #Bharatiya Chetna Kendra (The #Indian Consciousness Center) plans to publish three separate editions of the Bhagwadgita of international standards in textual quality and scheme of presentation. The concept is presented here for comments and value additions. Please come forward with your views. Pl recall that the Gita is totally unlike other scriptures of any religion; it is pure thought and philosophy relevant to human beings of all nations and communities.  However, the connection of even the Indians has been lost with the Gita owing to a non-imaginative and non-user friendly editions of the book in the market. Here is the concept design:

A USER-FRIENDLY INTERNATIONAL EDITION OF THE GITA

The Bharatiya Chetna Kendra envisions THREE user-friendly editions of the holy Gita (#Bhagvad-Gita or #Bhagvadgita or #BhagvadGita)) at the moment: one, the BASIC heavily subsidized edition for spreading especially to all homes of lower income groups (priced around Rs. 5 to 10), a non-subsidized bound hard-cover edition priced around Rs.50 for the middle income group, and a DELUXE edition priced around Rs. 200 to 300.

Some of the features of the deluxe edition will be as under:

a)      It will have a non-leather protective cover like an organizer.

b)      Preferably, it will be printed in two colors.

c)       It may also have some visuals to make it more engaging, like paintings.

The three editions will be different only in paper and physical presentation, and not in the textual content.

A)     BASIC FEATURES OF THE NEW USER-FRIENDLY EDITION OF THE BHAGWAD-GITA (BOTH THE DELUXE AND BASIC EDITIONS)

1.       Target audience:  All, including the youth and people with modern education.

2.       Thin durable paper quality to make the edition long lasting, handy and easy to carry.

3.       In English font size 10.5  (of matching sizes in  other languages), leaving sufficient margins on pages for personal notes and remarks;

4.       To be printed in Hindi first. Followed by English, Urdu editions. Then in all other Indian languages including tribal languages.  Then in all major languages of the world to reach Africa, Europe, Middle East, Latin America, China, Russia, East Asia etc. With sufficient resources trickling in, may be simultaneously in many languages.

a)       General facts about the Gita, and a brief and very simple statement of the metaphysical principles in the context of which the saying of the Gita can be understood and appreciated by foreigners and even a large section of the Indians.

b)       A Verse-Finder Word List in Alphabetical Order: We often vaguely recall a verse relevant to us but are unable to immediately locate the verse in the Gita. This creates a hindrance. One way to locate the verse is to recall at least one word in that verse and look up that word in the proposed Word List at the beginning.  Since this Word List will also contain the references of the verses with the chapter and the verse nos. in which the word has occurred, it would be easy to go to those verses and find out which was the one we were looking for. 

c)        A Verse-Finder Subject List in Alphabetical Order: If we are unable to recall even one exact word of the verse, another way to locate a verse in the Gita immediately is to consult the Subject Index, which will have subject entries on all kinds of objects and concepts mentioned or discussed in the Gita like sleep, food, tapastya or penance, daan or charity, cosmology, metaphysics, ethics, corruption, black-marketing, peace, happiness, jealousy, sun, hatred, spring season and the like. The Subject Index will list all the verses that mention the object or the concept. This Subject Index  will also be helpful to the reader in finding the subject of his interest and study all the verses related to the subject to understand what the Gita has to say on that particular subject. The two indices will open all the gates of easy and instant access to  the Gita’s great ideas.

d)       Collection of Important Verses on Key Issues: Though the Gita discusses many issues and subjects, there are certain main issues of the Bhagwad-Gita, like the Karm Yoga, the Bhakti Yoga, the Gyan Yoga, the Raj Yoga, ethics etc. The main verses pertaining to these key issues will be collected (and not just referred to) in this section for the convenience of the readers.

e)       The Gita itself: Finally, the 18 chapters of the Gita in Sanskrit without interfering with the traditional verse numbers will be placed before the reader with translation in as simple a language as possible, with some minimum explanatory notes, so as not to turn this edition into a commentary. Each verse will be broken into its constituent words and the words rearranged to make their order comprehensible to the reader of a particular language. (पदच्छेद, अन्वय).

B)      STAGES OF THE PROJECT:

1.       Forming an Advisory Council

2.       Forming an International Coordination Committee of interested people

3.       Identifying and engaging best scholars for research and compilation

4.       Engaging international quality artists for visuals, like the ones who have prepared the painting for ISKCON

5.       Research and Development

6.       Circulating semifinal  copy to chiefs of all main religious sects of Hinduism and foreign scholars  for opinion

7.       Approval of final draft

8.       Typing and page setting

9.       Calling for global tenders for printing

10.    Printing

11.    Distribution through traditional channels of marketing like book stalls, online sales stores like Amazon, Flipcart etc., and through voluntary and religious networks to ensure positioning in every home in India that may welcome the book.

C)       HOW YOU MAY ASSOCIATE

1.       Book a deluxe copy of the Gita’s international edition by paying 100 rupees in advance. You may place your order at bharatiyachetna@gmail.com. The rest of the amount will be taken when the book is published and the final cost is worked out.

2.       Become a part of the Advisory Council

3.       Become a part of International Coordination Committee

4.       Contribute your expertise in any of the project areas listed areas under C)

5.       Make a commitment for funds at bharatiyachetna@gmial.com

6.       Donate right away for meeting immediate project expenses. (You may go to www.bharatiyachetna.org and click the DONATE button).

7.       Contribute in  kind (like paper, or take up free  printing job if you own a top quality printing press).

Why a Gita in every home?

The Hindus, who constitute eighty percent of Indian's population, need help in lifting themselves up to the superior Hinduism embodied by the Bhagwadgita. Everybody else too  needs to know and imbibe the ideals of the Gita. It is a book of a type which has no parallel. I had myself no idea of this uniqueness till I read the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran. Unfortunately,  not having a user-friendly edition of the Gita makes its ideas inaccessible to the common man and the youth. There is a serious need to publish such an edition in simple contemporary language and idiom that can appeal to the modern mind. The Bible,  the Koran & the Gita are all good books in their own ways, all of them quite unique, but very different from each other in nature. Everyone must read all these books at least once. But to the eighty percent of the Indians, the Gita is more relevant. The changed character of the eighty percent of the Indians will mean a changed character of India as a whole. In achieving the goal of a Gita in every Indian home, huge resources and partnerships would be required. We are sure there would be a good number of people and institutions that would like to support this endeavor. Please commit your support by emailing at bharatiyachetna@gmail.com.

Bharatiya Chetna Kendra is a registered Trust (2009) dedicated to promoting Indian consciousness and civilization. It has a website in Hindi at the moment - www.bharatiyachetna.org. The link of a 10-minute video explaining the uniqueness of the Gita and the project A Gita in Every Home is pasted below:

https://youtu.be/8MT2z6B_CQY

After watching the video please come out with your own suggestions to improve the new proposed edition. which will have the following  new features:

a) A verse-finder, which will be list of all words used in the Gita arranged in alphabetical order, each containing a reference of the verses in which they have occurred. When you wish to find the verse of which you may just recall  a word or two, find that word in this list and the verse reference, and you may go to the verse immediately.

b) A subject index in alphabetical order: It will be a list of all subjects discussed in the Gita arranged in an alphabetical order with references of all verses in which the subject has been mentioned or discussed. Say, you wish to know what the Gita has to say about food. Go to the subject-index and look for the entry FOOD. Here you will find that references of all the verses are available wherein 'food' has been discussed. It makes life very easy for every one who wants to live according to the directions of the Gita.

Needless to say, the Gita in its original form will also be there in this edition with translation in simple contemporary language

Other features of this proposed edition are explained in the video. So must watch the video too.

Reflections:

Reflections: A new English Blog started by me today.