Vande Mataram, Bhagwad Gita, how Literature is read, and why the Official Version (of Vande Mataram) should NOT include the names of Gods and Goddesses (My expert opinion as a student of Literature) :
I happen to have bought a mini Bhagwad Gita on Puri Rath Yatra Day 2025 at Khan Market, New Delhi, and placed it on display in my private drawing room in Gurugram (and might present English versions of it to any friends).
The Bhagwad Gita is a long poem WITHIN the Mahabharata, and its messages need not be quoted within the context of the larger Mahabharata story (of which I have a very sardonic view, to say the least, esp from the point of view of women's rights).
Furthermore, a student of literature will tell you that while anything, even the fine print on a medicine bottle, counts as Literature, there are certain ways in which to understand and analyse Literature.
Extracts often go way beyond the intention of the writer, and may be viewed as a piece of writing in itself.
This is how we view the employment of the lines that made it to National Song (by the way, not Anthem) status.
The background of Vande Mataram could therefore be of academic and cultural interest, but those who selected certain lines to make it the national song very deliberately selected only those lines. I agree with them (whoever they were), and not the BJP government that is trying to recontextualize the official usage and force religion down the throats of secular citizens.
We are not America that sings Christian songs at official functions.
We are Secular India.
V. Shruti Devi
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