Bhagavad Gita(Summery)
the Gita is a 700-verse Sanskrit scripture that is part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. it is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and charioteer Krishna. At the start of the Dharma Yudhha (righteous war) between Pandavas and Kauravas, Arjuna is filled with moral dilemma and despair about the violence and death the war will cause.
He wonders if he should renounce and seeks Krishna's counsel, whose answers and discourse constitute the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna counsels Arjuna to "fulfill his Kshatriya (warrior) duty to uphold the Dharma" through "selfless action".
What is the message of Bhagavad Gita?
The word Gita means song and the word. Bhagavad means God, often the Bhagavad-Gita is called the Song of God.
Who has written Bhagavad Gita?
When Bhagavad Gita Written?
J. A. B. van Buitenen too states that the Gita was likely composed about 200 BCE. The Bhagavad- Gita, as composed by Maharshi Vyasa, is about five thousand
years old.
Bhagavad Gita book come in Which Religion?
how Many Chapters Bhagavad Gita have?
Bhagavad Gita comprises 18 chapters.
Bhagavad Gita manuscript
Bhagavad Gita Chapters
Chapter 1 (46 verses)
Some translators have variously titled the first chapter as Arjuna vishada yoga, Prathama Adhyaya, The Distress of Arjuna, The War Within, or Arjuna's
Sorrow.
Chapter 2 (72 verses)
The second chapter begins the philosophical discussions and teachings found in the Gita.
Chapter 3 (43 verses)
Arjuna, after listening to Krishna's spiritual teachings in Chapter 2, gets more confounded and returns to the predicament he faces. He wonders if fighting the war is "not so important after all" given Krishna's overview on the pursuit of spiritual wisdom. Krishna replies that there is no way to avoid action (karma) since abstention from work is also an action.
Chapter 4 (42 verses)
The 4th chapter is the first time where Krishna begins to reveal his divine nature to Arjuna.
Chapter 5 (29 verses)
The chapter starts by presenting the tension in the Indian tradition between the life of sannyasa (monks who have renounced their household and worldly attachments) and the life of grihastha (householder). Arjuna asks Krishna which path is better.
Chapter 6 (47 verses)
The chapter opens as a continuation of Krishna's teachings about selfless work and the personality of someone who has renounced the fruits that is found in chapter 5. Krishna says that such self-realized people are impartial to friends and enemies, are beyond good and evil, equally disposed to those who support them or oppose them because they have reached the summit of consciousness.
Chapter 7 (30 verses)
The chapter states that evil is the consequence of ignorance and the attachment to the impermanent, delusive Maya. It equates self-knowledge and the union with Purusha (Krishna) as the Self to be the highest goal of any spiritual pursuit.
Chapter 8 (28 verses)
Arjuna asking questions such as what is Brahman and what is the nature of karma. Krishna states that his own highest nature is the imperishable Brahman and that he lives in every creature as the adhyatman. Every being has an impermanent body and an eternal soul, and that "Krishna as Lord" lives within every creature. The chapter discusses cosmology, the nature of death and rebirth.
Chapter 9 (34 verses)
Chapter 9 opens with Krishna continuing his discourse as Arjuna listens. The chapter recommends the devotional worship of Krishna.
Chapter 10 (42 verses)
Krishna reveals his divine being in greater detail, as the ultimate cause of all material and spiritual existence, one who transcends all opposites and who is beyond any duality. Krishna says he is the Atman in all beings, Arjuna's innermost Self, also compassionate Vishnu, the Surya (sun god), Indra,
Shiva-Rudra, Ananta, Yama, as well as the Om, Vedic sages, time, Gayatri meter, and the science of Self-knowledge. Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Purushottam (Supreme Being).
Chapter 11 (55 verses)
Chapter 11, states Eknath Eswaran, describes Arjuna entering first into savikalpa samadhi (a particular), and then nirvikalpa samadhi (a universal) as he gets an understanding of Krishna. A part of the verse from this chapter was recited by Robert Oppenheimer as he witnessed the first atomic bomb explosion.
Chapter 12 (20 verses)
This chapter of the Gita, states Easwaran, offers a "vastly easier" path to most human beings to identify and love God in an anthropomorphic representation, in any form. He can be projected as "a merciful father, a divine mother, a wise friend, a passionate beloved, or even a mischievous child", according to Easwaran.
Chapter 13 (35 verses)
The 13th chapter of the Gita offers the clearest enunciation of the Samkhya philosophy, states Basham, by explaining the difference between the field (material world) and the knower (soul),
prakriti and Purusha.
Chapter 14 (27 verses)
The chapter with Krishna continuing his discourse from the previous chapter. Krishna explains the difference between purusha and prakriti, by mapping human experiences to three Guṇas (tendencies, qualities).These are listed as sattva, rajas and tamas. All phenomenon and individual personalities are a combination of all three gunas in varying and ever-changing roportions. The gunas affect the ego, but not the soul. This chapter also relies on the Samkhya theories.
Chapter 15 (20 verses)
The fifteenth chapter expounds on Krishna theology, in the Vaishnava Bhakti tradition of Hinduism. Its overall thesis is, states Edgerton, more complex however, because other verses teach the Upanishadic doctrines and "thru its God the Gita seems after all to arrive at an ultimate monism; the essential part, the fundamental element, in every thing, is after all One — is God."
Chapter 16 (24 verses)
this is an unusual chapter where two types of human nature are expounded, one leading to happiness and the other to suffering. Krishna identifies these human traits to be divine and demonic espectively. He states that truthfulness, self-restraint, sincerity, love for others, desire to serve others, being detached, avoiding anger, avoiding harm to all living creatures, fairness, compassion and patience are marks of the divine nature. The opposite of these are demonic, such as cruelty, conceit, hypocrisy and being inhumane, states Krishna. Some of the verses in Chapter 16 may be polemics directed against competing Indian religions, according to Basham.The competing tradition may be the materialists (Charvaka), states Fowler.
Chapter 17 (28 verses)
Some translators title the chapter as Sraddhatraya-Vibhaga yoga, Religion by the Threefold Kinds of Faith, The Power of Faith, or The Yoga of the Threefold
Faith. Krishna qualifies the three divisions of faith, thoughts, deeds, and even eating habits corresponding to the three modes (Gunas).
Chapter 18 (78 verses)
translators title the chapter as Moksha–Sanyasa yoga, Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation, Freedom and Renunciation, or The Yoga of Liberation and Renunciation. In the final and long chapter, the Gita offers a final summary of its teachings in the previous chapters. It covers many topics of spiritual pursuits through sannyasa (renunciation, monastic life) and spiritual pursuits while living in the world as a householder.
Conclusion
The Bhagavad Gita has been highly praised, not only by prominent Indians including Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, but also by Aldous Huxley, Henry David Thoreau, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl Jung, Herman Hesse, and Bülent Ecevit.