Welcome to TheCconnects. Today we are joined by Haribakth, more known by his pen name Haribakth. After a 34-year career in the banking sector, who took voluntary retirement to dedicate his life to decoding the Bhagavad Gita. His work introduces a radical, algorithmic, and ontological approach to ancient scriptures. Given below is the transcript of the Interview.
TheCconnects: You describe yourself unconventionally as a “self-confessed plagiarist who steals ideas from the Almighty’s words.” Can you unpack this philosophy and your vow regarding your writing?
Haribakth: It is a declaration of complete surrender and objectivity. I call myself a plagiarist because I refuse to fabricate my own philosophical concepts. The Bhagavad Gita is an ocean of infinite and complete wisdom; everything that fundamentally needed to be spoken was already articulated by Lord Krishna. My vow is strict: I only write about topics directly connected to Krishna or the Gita. My role is merely to collate, structure, and analyze His truths, not to invent new ones. The intellectual property belongs entirely to the Almighty.
TheCconnects: Your monumental 400+ page work, Devaki Putra Gitam Ekam Shastram , takes a completely different approach from the thousands of existing commentaries. Instead of semantic translation, you apply Padartha Shastra. Why was this new framework necessary?
Haribakth: For over five millennia, commentaries have been predominantly semantic-focusing on textual interpretation, linguistic variations, and abstract existential vocabulary like Atman or Brahman. While these master-centric works are brilliant, they are often filtered through specific theological lineages.
The Lord instructs us to consult the Shastras, which imply Padartha Shastra, which is the science of reality, categories, and substances. And, Isn’t the highest absolute reality/truth, the Lord & His Gita? My book shifts the focus to Rupa (Form), Guna (Intrinsic Properties), and Karma (Actions). Instead of debating over word and its meanings, we map the underlying universal frameworks. The word is but a medium whereas the Rupa Guna & Karma is reality itself, how it looks and what it does. It shifts the narrative to a third-person, omniscient perspective, examining the text itself as a distinct cosmic substance. This charts a course for spiritual awakening by bypassing sectarian boundaries.
TheCconnects: You mathematically integrate divergent schools of thought-Advaita, Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita-suggesting they are not inherently contradictory. How can conflicting philosophies all be correct?
Haribakth: This draws on Sri Madhwacharya’s concept of Taratamya, or the gradation of souls based on their inherent capabilities. Look at it mathematically. A primary school student calculates 3 – 2 = 1, but if you ask them 3 – 9, they will say it is an error. A high school student knows the answer is -6. Neither student is wrong; they are both speaking the truth relative to their individual level of cognitive evolution.
Different philosophical schools act as isolated variables (). My book operates as a unified summation (). The intellectual diversity and friction we see among different sects is actually the Lord’s divine Maya at work, deliberately structured to lead all seekers back to the same unified truth, just from different steps on the evolutionary staircase.
TheCconnects: You mention divine orchestration. What were the core inspirations that propelled you to undertake this massive project?
Haribakth: The inspiration was twofold. Internally, it was guided by Gitacharya-Lord Krishna Himself-indwelling within my heart. This was not born of my personal volition, but a divine orchestration where the Lord seated inside my heart lit the lamp of wisdom as affirmed by Him in Gita 10.11.
Externally, the catalyst was His Holiness Sri Sri Sugunendra Thirtha Swamiji of Shri Puthige Mutt in Udupi. During his historic Vishwa Gita Paryaya, he issued a global clarion call for the propagation of the Gita. His monumental initiative, the Koti Gita Lekhana Yajna, where millions across the globe are transcribing the sacred verses in their own handwriting to be dedicated at the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, deeply stirred my spiritual sensibilities and provided a global platform for this message.
Daily recitation of Chatuh Sloki Bhagavatam has ignited the spark. Therein the Lord tells Brahma the cosmic creator that He will now impart him knowledge about His true Forms, Characteristics and Actions. (Rupa Guna & Karma ) The recitation may appear repetitive the effect thereof after around 5 years of recitation is the realisation that That’s what God was talking about. The seed had germinated.
TheCconnects: Your texts lack professional editing. It’s a black spot in an otherwise white canvas.
Haribakth: The choice was between greater reach and greater formats and an externally flawless error free text. I chose to channel my limited resources into bringing the book out in seven different languages, in eBook, Paperback, Audio, and even as a collectible NFT. Afterall I may be full of faults but the subject is flawless.
TheCconnects: Critics might point out that you lack formal qualifications in theology or Indology, Your response ?
Haribakth: I don’t claim I am qualified. Take it or leave it. Critics job is to criticise, but it should be healthy and objective. they may consider me Svadhyayin or a gnostic or a charlatan depending on their outlook. It’s their choice. Judge the work not the worker
TheCconnects: If a seeker is left with lingering, unasked questions after reading the battlefield discourse of the Bhagavad Gita, where should they look?
Haribakth: Metaphysically, the Bhagavad Gita is complete; it encompasses both the asked and the unasked. However, from a pragmatic, scholarly perspective, if one seeks the Gita in a further demystified form, the resolution lies in the Uddhava Gita. Delivered by the Lord in the Srimad Bhagavatam just prior to His departure from the earthly realm, it serves as the ultimate, explicit philosophical continuation to the battlefield discourse.
TheCconnects: What future projects are you currently working on ?
Haribakth: I have several titles in mind that will require at least three years of dedicated work, God willing. I am currently conceptualizing Hermeneutics – A Gita Paradigm, exploring the interpretive frameworks of the text. I am also working on Bhagavad Gita the Moksha Manuscript, and a deep dive into Krishna’s Karma Yoga from the perspectives of Sankhya and Nyaya philosophies.
TheCconnects: Finally, what advice do you have for modern readers and aspiring spiritual scientists trying to navigate ancient wisdom in today’s noisy digital space?
Haribakth: The panacea for Knowledge spiritual or otherwise, Moksha, peace or anything is recitation of His names, speaking about Him and His pastimes with like minded people, Perform all your activities like learning, earning money, socialising, charity etc. as an offering unto Him. All these culminate in your achieving your objects. This is His answer through me as His medium.
