Essence of The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit भगवद् गीता, Bhagavad Gītā, "Song of God") is an important Sanskrit Hindu scripture.

 It is revered as a sacred scripture of Hinduism,[1][2] and considered as one of the most important religious classics of the world

.[3] The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Mahabharata, comprised of 700 verses.

 The teacher of the Bhagavad Gita is Krishna, who is regarded by the Hindus as the supreme manifestation of the Lord Himself,[3] and is refe

rred to within as Bhagavan—the divine one.

[4] The Bhagavad Gita is commonly referred to as The Gita for short.

Ramakrishna said that the essential message of the Gita can be obtained by repeating the word several times,[73] "'Gita, Gita, Gita', you begin, but

 then find yourself saying 'ta-Gi, ta-Gi, ta-Gi'. Tagi means one who has renounced everything for God."

What it Represents

Arjuna represents the individual soul, and Sri Krishna the Supreme Soul dwelling in every heart. Arjuna's chariot is the body. The blind king Dhritarashtra is the mind under the spell of ignorance, and his hundred sons are man's numerou

s evil tendencies The battle, a perennial one, is between 

the power of good and the power of evil. The w

arrior who listens to the advice of the Lord speaking from within will triumph in this battle and attain the Highest Good. ”

Overview of chapters

Krishna displays his Vishvarupa (Universal Form) to Arjuna on the b

attlefield of Kurukshetra.

The Gita consists of eighteen chapters in total:

1.Arjuna requests Krishna to move his chariot bet

ween the two armies. When Arjuna sees his relatives on the opposing army side of the Kurus, he loses courage and decides not to fight.

2.After asking Krishna for help, Arjuna is instructed that only the body may be killed, while the eternal self is immortal. Krishna appeals to Arjuna that as a warrior he has a duty to uphold the path of dharma through warfare.

3.Arjuna asks why he should engage in fighting if knowledge is more important than action. Krishna stresses to Arjuna that performing his d

uties for the greater good, but without attachment to results is the appropriate course of action.

4.Krishna reveals that He has lived through many births, always teaching Yoga for the protection of the pious and the destruction of the impious and stresses the importance of accepting a guru.

5.Arjuna asks Krishna if it is better to forgo action or to act. Krishna answers that both ways may be beneficent, but that acting in Karma Yoga is superior.

6.Krishna describes the correct posture for meditation and the process of how to achieve samadhi.

7.Krishna teaches the path of knowledge (Jnan

a Yoga).

8.Krishna defines the terms brahman, adhyat

ma, karma, atman, adhibhuta and adhidaiva and explains how one can remember him at the time of death and attain His supreme abode.

9.Krishna explains panentheism, "all beings are in Me" as a way of remembering Him in all circumstances.

10.Krishna describes how He is the ultimate source of all material and spiritual worlds. Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Supreme Being, quoting great sages who have also done so.

11.On Arjuna's request, Krishna displays His "universal form" (Viśvarūpa), a theophany of a being facing every way and emitting the radiance of a thousand suns, containing all other beings and material in existence.

12.Krishna describes the process of devotional service (Bhakti Yoga).

13.Krishna describes nature (prakrti), the enjoyer (purusha) and consciousness.

14.Krishna explains the three modes (gunas) of material nature.

15.Krishna describes a symbolic tree (representin

g material existence), its roots in the heavens and its foliage on earth. Krishna explains that this tree should be felled with the "axe of detachment", after which one can go beyond to his supreme abode.

16.Krishna tells of the human traits of the divine and the demonic natures. He counsels that to attain the supreme destination one give up lust, anger and greed, discern between right and wrong action by evidence from scripture and thus act rightly.

17.Krishna tells of three divisions of faith and the thoughts, deeds and even eating habits corresponding to the three gunas.

18.In conclusion, Krishna asks Arjuna to abandon all forms of dharma and simply surrender unto Him. He describes this as the ultimate perfection of life.