52
Beyond Birth and Death
there. Why should we pay money for a ticket? We do not just give the money to anyone. The company is authorized and the airline is authorized, so faith is created. Without faith we cannot take one step forward in the ordinary course of our life. Faith we must have, but it must be faith in that which is authorized. It is not that we have blind faith but that we accept something that is recognized.  Bhagavad-gītā  is recognized and accepted as scripture by all classes of men in India, and as far as outside India is concerned, many scholars, theologians and philosophers accept  Bhagavad-gītā  as a great authoritative work. There is no question that  Bhagavad-gītā  is authority. Even Professor Albert Einstein, such a scientist, read  Bhagavad-gītā  regularly.
From  Bhagavad-gītā  we have to accept that there is a spiritual universe which is the kingdom of God. If somehow we are transported to a country where we are informed that we will no longer have to undergo birth, old age, disease and death, will we not be happy? If we heard of such a place, surely we would try as hard as possible to go there. No one wants to grow old; no one wants to die. Indeed, a place free of such sufferings would be our heart's desire. Why do we want this? Because we have the right, the prerogative, to want it. We are eternal, blissful and full of knowledge, but having been covered by this material entanglement, we have forgotten ourselves.  Bhagavad-gītā  gives us the advantage of being able to revive our original status.
The Śaṅkarites and Buddhists claim that the world beyond is void, but  Bhagavad-gītā  does not disappoint