An interesting thought experiment that came to mind. We all hail the Gita as the sacred song, but very few can even understand Sanskrit, leave alone the underlying meaning. So there are people who will happily interpret them for us. There are so many interpretations available, many as per the person's convenience! Many of these are termed as 'Masters', their word turning into God's word, which seekers follow. Some we agree with, some we don't. But what are we judging here exactly? Is it just the interpretation? How do we know its true? Who says we will LIKE it if we knew the truth? What we like, dislike is our own UNDERSTANDING - which is yet another layer away from the INTERPRETATION!
Let us imagine that Lord Krishna was reborn in a Western household as 'John Pedro'- brought up in a totally different family, culture, language, style of writing. We can of course assume that the truth he knows is still the same, the message is still the same. What if he even writes a book on it, in English, which is called anything but the Gita, or the song of God? Maybe it is called 'Sharing the truth'. Now this message is FIRST-HAND, cannot be debated.
But for the seeker - this is one of the million versions of the 'Truths' out there. Out of which we have already adjudged OUR favourite interpretation as the true one. If we come across his book, would we capable of recognizing the truth? Or even if the words resonate somehwere witrhin, would the pristine silence be drowned when our favourite Guru utters a few verses in Sanskrit with flair...and then proceeds to interpret them for us?
Do we end up giving importance to words, symbols, the messenger - more than the message itself? Who is responsible for deciding what is true? Since interpretations between Gurus also differ - If our Guru reads the book, is there a possibility that his interpretation might vary from Krishna's book? If so, how does he know what is true? Without the 'authority' of the 'Lord' Krishna to decide for him or us? Isn't the seeker the final interpreter in the end? And as long as we are at the mercy of our own interpretations, isn't it just another belief - refined, purified, revised, unarguable, more popular - but still a belief.
When the truth is realized, there would be no need to 'follow'. John Pedro in his new birth might lose the debate with our Guru in the public eye, because our Guru 'can recite verses from the divine lord himself'!!! But Krishna would not be 'disturbed' or shaken. Because he SEES the truth - it is not a convincing CONCEPT to him, at the mercy of a debate result. He would perhaps feel compassion towards our Guru that he could not see the real meaning, or regret that his articulation skills as John Pedro were not good enough to explain what he wanted to. But there is no possibility of him becoming a 'follower' of our Guru, because he 'lost' the debate. On the other hand, even if our Guru decides to 'follow' this young lad from the West for some reason, there is no possibility of him knowing the truth, isn't it? Because the 'following' itself is the problem. As long as we follow, even the truth is just another belief. A more convincing, a more agreeable one - but still a belief. Replacing one interpretation for another. As long as we are believers, we need a belief to follow.
There has to be effort from the seeker, the readiness to break free, to challenge every belief, any theory, especially our own - to not regard any 'interpretation' as the truth, not even say 'Oh, our religion says exactly that!! To challenge, to question..' and then 'follow' that religion! The truth does not have multiple versions that we choose from as per our personal likes and dislikes. It is something to be SEEN first hand, not to be figured out or believed as per the majority vote. Perception, even the majority one, is still a perception. Very different from the truth. And the truth is the truth. Never dependent on a perception. If we are stuck in a concept of our mind, how will we transcend it? If we follow, how will we be free? If we are contented with our beliefs, why will we bother to go beyond them?
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