Soham Gita

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I am constantly saying - my and mine, but who am I? Am I the body or the mind? What is my consciousness - the awareness of my existence that creates the feeling that "I exist". From where did my consciousness arise? Is it a property of my body or my mind, or is it beyond my body and mind? What is my relation with this world? From where did I come and where will I depart after death? What is the need for religion, God, scripture, temples, idols, worship, and the different modes of spiritual pursuits? Can they unravel my reality? Why do I suffer? How can I find bliss? Soham Gita provides the answers to these questions and more in a simple language in the light of Advaita Vedanta, the universal wisdom of non-duality.

Paramhangsa Soham Swami (1858-1918) was an Advaitan monk. In his pre-monastic days he was known as Shyamakanta Bandopadhyay. He was famous across the Bengal Presidency in the last two decades of the 19th century for his unusual vocation - wrestling with tigers. His goal was to instil fearlessness in the minds of people of a subjugated nation and prepare them for the war of independence. At the age of 41, abandoning wealth, family, and fame, he became an ascetic and realized the Truth of Self in Samadhi. To eradicate superstition and social, religious, and gender-based discriminations that were obstacles to the development of India, in the last 10 years of his life he wrote copiously on Advaitavad or the philosophy of non-dualism.

The snow is like the silver mane on its crown, like body-hair trees, creepers, and herbs cover its body, the white cloud like a white cloth adorns its bust, the rivers Yamuna, Ganga flow like the beads of its sweat, seated on its eternal blissful lap seers, the possessors of the Supreme Knowledge, suppress the mind with the power of Yoga to immerse in Brahma, ensconced in the lap of that Himadri, the King of the Mountains, in a solitary wood I composed Soham Gita which with a calm mind I will sing today.

Unlike the versified composition filled with devotion and love in praise of the Lord, this is not a song of glorification. This is not the Raga Deepak that kindles the heart of the valiant. This song is not the jingle of the veena. It is not the humming of the bees. It is neither the song of the cuckoo nor the music of the rabab nor the sweet sound of the flute. It is not the grief of the distraught woman bemoaning the separation with her beloved. It is not the heart wrenching wail of the poor mother overwhelmed with sorrow.

With the strings of emotion of the heart's veena broken, this mind is devoid of essence. How will I satisfy the emotional listeners filled with passion? With the scriptural testimony as the Laya, analysis as the Rago, and realization as the Taan, I will happily sing the dry, essence-less song of jnana (knowledge) and vairagya (dispassion). Those deafened by the disease of prejudice and faith will not listen to my song. Even if they hear, it will not please the devotee and the emotional.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages