In search of SALVATION
Life is a gift of God and so is death. It’s the law of nature that every creation of God has to leave the world of happiness and attain salvation. The book titled ‘Reflections on Salvation’ presents a glimpse of the anger that breathes like am ember in the mind of a man who is hell bent on reason, and not blindly following the dictum of god-men. The book wrestles with the conflict between the strict scriptural (the Geeta) interpretation of salvation that believes that it may represent different things for different people, including the massive number of people who seek or find salvation without having ever read the Geeta. ‘Reflection on Salvation’ is a book of wisdom, a small bundle of immortal knowledge that provides the glimpses of the author’s outlook on the holy scripture of Bhagavad Geeta. One would get the opportunity to witness the pearls of wisdom in such a small pack where the author surprises his readers with practical knowledge on spirituality and renunciation. It shows the real side of the writer - Dr Kiriti Sengupta, who is not only logical in his approach towards life but who is also strict about not following blindly the preaching of the so-called Gurus. Sengupta’s writing sweeps all the hypocrisy away while it announces that you cannot attain salvation by being a couch potato. You must work, because you are not entitled to inaction, as per Geeta: Nobody ever remains without doing actions, even for a moment indeed, because every being who has no free will is made to act by the qualities born of the nature. In Hindu religion, ‘moksha’ is the most desirable factor, but attaining ‘moksha’ is too complicated as it closes all the ways to worldly pleasures and teaches us to follow the strict path of self-control. But the author sees it all with a different perspective and shares his heartfelt philosophy with the readers, leaving them relaxed and enlightened. In the book, Sengupta is not only questioning the beliefs and dogmas of religion but he has also brought forward a new perspective on religious theories. The concept of monasticism has been given a new direction when the author comes up with an entirely new definition of renunciation. The writer feels fascinated by the holy colour as he finds people dressed up in saffron to be saintly pious irrespective of their caste, creed and colour. He goes beyond all manmade boundaries to visualise the sanctity of the saffron colour. It not only appeals to the heart of the writer but also touches his soul. ‘Saffron adds colour and flavour to certain delicacies, but when it shows up on your attire, I find you saintly pious,’ the writer narrates. The book gives a glimpse of Sreemad Bhagavad Gita’s slokas in a narrative form. It’s the same verses of Geeta’s 699 Sanskrit verses contained in 18 chapters, which were composed between 7th and the 6th centuries BC and later incorporated into the great Indian epic The Mahabharata. The discourse has been aimed to establish that if actions are performed with an unattached mind, then their defects cannot touch the performer. It is a two-person conversation about Philosophy and yogic principles as opposed to a treatise of battle. Lord Krishna insists that a righteous man will be focused on actions and will not be concerned about the fruits of his action. This will bring detachment and attainment of godliness. No action should aim at a personal benefit and thus, this would lead to the liberation of the mind and finally,
renunciation.