Interview with Nama Nishtha Das ( B.Tech IIT Kanpur) who is running worlds largest Online Gita Course. He is the President of ISKCON RadhaGovinda Temple Mangalore.
Pandemic helps discover huge online audience for Gita.
What made you start the Online Gita Course?
It all began when a team of 5 of us, who were engaged in teaching Gita to the youth in Mangalore, found ourselves confined within the locked gates of the temple due to covid. After some contemplation we tried to present the same classes online. Today, 500 volunteers across the globe have joined us to reach out to over 650,000 students. We have been to accomplish this in two years.
What message do you have for the public?
I remember when we are in college , generally we do not study and we start hating exams, teachers and the whole system of education.But, if we understand that this is to educate us for our own benefit, we will enthusiastically participate in education.
Same way life also brings so many situations. If we know who we are, why we are here in this world and what our ultimate destination of life is then any situation we can use to reach destination of life.
Do not fight against the plan of life given by God – birth , old age, disease and death. Accept that we will have diseases, old age and death. Many good lessons are learnt in difficult times. Same way pandemic brought to a situation where we could understand futility of happiness in material atmosphere and made us spiritually more serious.
If a boat in the ocean knows the destination then irrespective of direction of the wind it gradually moves towards it. Similarly, pandemic or any other difficulties in life can rather be a trigger for enhancing our spiritual pursuit.
Can you briefly explain the message of Bhagavad Gita?
We are not the body but spirt souls. Due to our misuse of minute independence we have left service of the supreme lord Sri Krishna and we are here in this material world. In material world, we are trying to enjoy independent of God but we find no happiness.
By properly using our independence by voluntarily surrendering to Lord Krishna we can achieve pure Love of God and go back to our eternal home in spiritual world.
Bhagavad gita is thus a Love Letter by Lord Krishna inviting us to go back to His kingdom.
How much do you charge for the course?
Course is absolutely free. Level 1 is for 18 days and Level 2,3 & 4 are for 18 weeks. Level 5 is for 18 months and this in 3 years time person is able to adopt Gita in his life and answer any question based on Bhagavad gita.
What languages are you teaching this course?
Presently we teaching in 12 Languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Odia, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Konkani and Tulu.
What are the class timings?
It depends on the languages. Some languages we have 4 timings in a day. Morning 6am, Afternoon 3pm, Evening 7pm and Night 9pm.
Do you have special batches for children?
Separate Classes for
Children(6 to 10 Yrs )
Children( 11 to 15 Yrs)
Youth (16 to 25 Yrs)
& Adult (25+ Yrs)
How do I join this course?
To join online Gita classes which will begin from June 13th 2022, one should click on the given registration link.
What are your future plans?
We want to cover remaining languages in India and also teach in prominent languages of the world.
We are also constructing a temple with residential facility so people from across the globe can stay for some time with us and learn the message of Bhagavad Gita in association of devotees.
