Guide For Study

As the Gita contains subtle and profound teachings, you should study it under a qualified teacher, one who is established in the Absolute. Only when studied with great and intense faith, single-minded devotion and purity, will the truths contained therein be revealed unto you like a fruit on the palm of your hand. Good commentaries written by realised sages will also be of immense help to you.

Worldly-minded individuals, however intellectual they may be, cannot grasp the essential teachings of the Gita. They enter into unnecessary discussions and useless debates. They cavil and carp at the teachings. Such ignorant people say: “There is no intimate connection between the verses. They are thrown in a disorderly manner. There is a great deal of repetition.” If they study the book with reverence and faith under a qualified teacher all their doubts would vanish. They will realise that there is a close connection between the verses in all the chapters. Repetitions in the Gita and the Upanishads are useful repetitions. They are best calculated to create a deep and indelible impression in the mind of the aspirant.

Lord Krishna speaks from different levels of consciousness. In the Gita the word “Avyaktam” sometimes refers to primordial Nature and sometimes to the Absolute Para Brahman also. Therefore, the help of a teacher is necessary if you wish to know the right significance of the verses.

In the Kathopanishad the term “brick” is used to denote the gods. In the Hatha Yogic texts it is stated: “At the junction of the rivers Yamuna and Ganga there is a young virgin”. The esoteric meaning of this is that there is the Sushumna Nadi between the Ida and the Pingala. So, without the help of a Guru, you will not be able to understand the proper meaning of the verses of the Gita. You will be like the man who brought a horse to one who asked for saindava while taking food. The word saindava means salt as well as horse!

Srimad Bhagavad Gita

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, narrated in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. It comprises eighteen discourses of a total of 701 Sanskrit verses. A considerable volume of material has been compressed within these verses. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Sri Krishna, during the course of His most instructive and interesting talk with Arjuna, revealed profound, sublime and soul-stirring spiritual truths, and expounded the rare secrets of Yoga, Vedanta, Bhakti and Karma.

All the teachings of Lord Krishna were subsequently recorded as the Song Celestial or Srimad Bhagavad Gita by Bhagavan Vyasa for the benefit of humanity at large. The world is under a great debt of gratitude to Bhagavan Vyasa who presented this Song Celestial to humanity for the guidance of their daily conduct of life, spiritual upliftment and Self-realisation. Those who are self-controlled and who are endowed with faith can reap the full benefit of the Gita, which is the science of the Soul.

The Gita Jayanti (birthdate of the Gita) is celebrated throughout India by the admirers and lovers of this unique book on the 11th day (Ekadashi) of the bright half of the month of Margasirsha according to the Hindu almanac. It was the day on which the scripture was revealed to the world by Sanjaya.

In all the spiritual literature of the world there is no book so elevating and inspiring as the Gita. It expounds very lucidly the cardinal principles or the fundamentals of the Hindu religion and Hindu Dharma. It is the source of all wisdom. It is your great guide. It is your supreme teacher. It is an inexhaustible spiritual treasure. It is a fountain of bliss. It is an ocean of knowledge. It is full of divine splendour and grandeur.

The Gita is the cream of the Vedas. It is the essence of the soul-elevating Upanishads. It is a universal scripture applicable to people of all temperaments and for all times. It is a wonderful book with sublime thoughts and practical instructions on Yoga, devotion, Vedanta and action. It is a marvellous book, profound in thought and sublime in heights of vision. It brings peace and solace to souls that are afflicted by the three fires of mortal existence, namely, afflictions caused by one’s own body, those caused by beings around one, and those caused by the gods. The Gita contains the divine nectar. It is the wish-fulfilling gem, tree and cow. You can milk anything from it. It is a book for eternity. It is not a catch-penny book, with life like that of a mushroom. It can be one’s constant companion of life. It is a vade-mecum for all. Peace, bliss, wisdom, Brahman, Nirvana, Param Padam and Gita are all synonymous terms.

The Gita is a boundless ocean of nectar. It is the immortal celestial fruit of the Upanishadic tree. In this unique book you will find an unbiased exposition of the philosophy of action, devotion and knowledge, together with a wonderfully woven synthesis of these three. The Gita is a rare and splendid flower that wafts its sweet aroma throughout the world.

If all the Upanishads should represent cows, Sri Krishna is their milker. Arjuna is the calf who first tasted that milk of wisdom of the Self, milked by the divine Cowherd for the benefit of all humanity. This milk is the Bhagavad Gita. It solves not only Arjuna’s problems and doubts, but also the world’s problems and those of every individual. Glory to Krishna, the friend of the cowherds of Gokula, the joy of Devaki! He who drinks the nectar of the Gita through purification of the heart and regular meditation, attains immortality, eternal bliss, everlasting peace and perennial joy. There is nothing more to be attained beyond this.

Just as the dark unfathomed depths of the ocean contain most precious pearls, so also the Bhagavad Gita contains spiritual gems of incalculable value. You will have to dive deep into its depths with a sincere attitude of reverence and faith. Only then will you be able to collect its spiritual pearls and comprehend its infinitely profound and subtle teachings.

The Bhagavad Gita is a unique book for all ages. It is one of the most authoritative books of the Hindu religion. It is the immortal song of the Soul, which bespeaks of the glory of life. The instructions given by Sri Krishna are for the whole world. It is a standard book on Yoga for all mankind. The language is as simple as could be. Even a man who has an elementary knowledge of Sanskrit can go through the book.

There are numerous commentaries on the Gita at the present time. A volume can be written on each verse. A busy man with an active temperament will be greatly benefited by the commentary of Sri Gangadhar Lokamanya Tilak, entitled Gita Rahasya. A man of devotional temperament will be attracted by Sri Sridhara’s commentary, and a man of reason by that of Sri Shankara.

The Gita is like an ocean. Sri Shankara, Sri Ramanuja and Sri Madhava dived into it and gave accounts of their interpretation and established their own philosophy. Anyone can do the same and bring out the most precious pearls of divine knowledge and give their own interpretation. Glory to the Gita! Glory to the Lord of the Gita!

The teachings of the Gita are broad, universal and sublime. They do not belong to any cult, sect, creed, age or country. They are meant for the people of the whole world. Based on the soul-elevating Upanishads—the ancient wisdom of seers and saints—the Gita prescribes methods which are within the reach of all. It has a message of solace, freedom, salvation, perfection and peace for all human beings.

This sacred scripture is like the great Manasarovar lake for monks, renunciates and thirsting aspirants to sport in. It is the ocean of bliss in which seekers of Truth swim with joy and ecstasy. If the philosopher’s stone touches a piece of iron even at one point, the whole of it is transformed into gold. Even so, if you live in the spirit of even one verse of the Gita, you will doubtless be transmuted into divinity. All your miseries will come to an end and you will attain the highest goal of life—immortality and eternal peace.

The study of the Gita alone is sufficient for daily Swadhyaya (scriptural study). You will find here a solution for all your doubts. The more you study it with devotion and faith, the more you will acquire deeper knowledge, penetrative insight and clear, right thinking.

The Bhagavad Gita is a gospel for the whole world. It is meant for the generality of mankind. It was given over five thousand years ago by Lord Krishna to Arjuna. None but the Lord Himself can bring out such a marvellous and unprecedented book which gives peace to its readers, which helps and guides them in the attainment of supreme bliss, and which has survived up to the present time. This itself proves clearly that God exists, that He is an embodiment of knowledge, and that one can attain perfection or liberation only by realising God.

The world is one huge battlefield. The real Kurukshetra is within you. The battle of the Mahabharata is still raging within. Ignorance is Dhritarashtra; the individual soul is Arjuna; the indweller of your heart is Lord Krishna, the charioteer; the body is the chariot; the senses are the five horses; mind, egoism, mental impressions, senses, cravings, likes and dislikes, lust, jealousy, greed, pride and hypocrisy are your dire enemies.

Who Is God?

There are many conceptions of God ranging from one of a formless spirit to that of an old man with a beard sitting on a throne…

There are a variety of names which the scriptures of many religions present as names of God. There are also many conceptions of God ranging from one of a formless spirit to that of an old man with a beard sitting on a throne.

According to the Vedic literature, amongst the unlimited names of God the principle name is Krishna which means “all attractive”. The original all blissful form of God is the fountainhead of all incarnations such as Lord Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. Krishna is the father of whom Lord Jesus spoke of. Interestingly the word “Christian” comes from Krishna. As a child is given the last name of the father, Jesus was given the last name Christ of which the original Greek/Aramaic pronunciation is “Khristos”.

If one endeavors to make an indepth study of early Christianity and it’s pure original teachings they will find the connection between the teachings of Lord Jesus and the Vedic truths. One can thus understand that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Godhead. Lord Krishna states in Bhagavad Gita that He is the master of all planets and demigods: “The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.” (Bhagavad Gita verse 5.29)

The Spirit of Bhagavad Gita

As Bhagavad Gita As It Is will be the basis of our discussions on the Krishna Connect website I would like to give you a general overview of the book. This overview will continue in the next few articles.

Even if you have already read the Gita I think you will find this information interesting. Bhagavad Gita is an amazing book. Even if you were to read the entire book every day of your life, every day you will still find new inspiration in it. So please read this carefully. I may be asking you questions about it later!


Bhagavad Gita contains the essence of all spiritual knowledge spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna. Because Bhagavad Gita is spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one need not read any other spiritual literature. One need only regularly and attentively hear and read Bhagavad Gita.

At the present time mankind is so absorbed with day-to-day activities related to simply surviving in this world that he does not have the time to read all the Vedic literatures. But that is not necessary, this one book Bhagavad Gita is sufficient.

Bhagavad Gita appears within the Mahabharata. Mahabharata means the “the history of Greater India.” So the conversation we hear between Krishna and Arjuna actually happened. It is history. And if you would like to understand everything that happened before and after this conversation, that is available also, in the Mahabharata. However Bhagavad Gita is the very essence, the very nectar of the Mahabharata. So simply studying the Gita is sufficient.

There are thousands of translations of Bhagavad Gita available and we are not just studying any translaton of Bhagavad Gita, and there is a very good reason for this. We are studying Bhagavad Gita As It Is by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and he describes that the reason he has given us this translation is as as far as he can see in America, and even in India, practically all the other translations of the Gita that are available in the market do not convey the real spirit of the Bhagavad Gita. In practically all the other editions the commentator expresses his own opinions without touching on the spririt of Bhagavad Gita.

And what is the spirit of Bhagavad Gita? Arjuna was the first student of the Gita, so we can understand the spirit of the Gita by seeing how Arjuna relates to Krishna, how he accepts Krishna and the instructions given by Krishna.

Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he gives evidence that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead also, by saying that all the great authorities in the past also accepted Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And Krishna also establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Gita. Therfore we should take Bhagavad Gita in this spirit. Understand it as Arjuna understood it from Krishna.

Krishna tells Arjuna that the Bhagavad Gita is not new. He tells Arjuna that He originally spoke the Gita to the Sun god, Vivasvan, at the beginning of the creation, and that the knowledge was handed down through the saintly kings from generation to generation, but now that knowledge had become lost, so therefore Krishna again spoke that same original knowledge to Arjuna.

A very important question is why did Krishna decide to speak this topmost spiritual knowledge to Arjuna? Arjuna was a warrior. A fighter. There were many other, seemingly more qualified people who Krishna could have spoken the Gita to. Why did he pick Arjuna?

Krishna tells Arjuna that He is relating this supreme secret to him because he is His devotee and His friend. Therefore the Bhagavad Gita is best understood by a person who has qualities similar to Arjuna’s. That is to say he must be a devotee in a direct relationship with Krishna.

We all have a relationship with Krishna eternally. However in the material state of life that eternal relationship is covered and we are unaware of our relationship with Krishna. But the process of Krishna consciousness can revive that original relationship.

The way Arjuna accepted the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita from Krishna should be noted. His manner of acceptance is given in the Tenth Chapter.

“Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Brahman, the ultimate, the supreme abode and purifier, the Absolute Truth and the eternal Divine Person. You are the primal God, transcendental and original, and You are the unborn and all-pervading beauty. All the great sages like Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa proclaim this of You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me. O Krishna I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the gods, nor demons, O Lord, know thy personality. (Bg. 10.12-14)

So this is the spirit of Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna tells Krishna the he accepts whatever He says to be completely perfect, “I accept everything You say to be true.” Arjuna says that the personality of Krishna is very difficult to understand, that Krishna can not be known even by the great demigods. Therefore if even the beings greater than humans can not understand Krishna how can any human understand Him without becoming His devotee?

Therefore Bhagavad Gita should be taken up in a spirit of devotion. One should not think that he is equal to Krishna, nor should he think that Krishna is an ordinary personality or even a very great personality. Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, at least theoretically, according to the statements of Bhagavad Gita, or the statements of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad Gita.

We should therefore at least theoretically accept Sri Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead and with that submissive spirit we can understand the Bhagavad Gita. Unless one reads the Bhagavad Gita in a submissive spirit, it is very difficult to understand because it is a great mystery.

Bhagavad Gita is the essence of all Vedic knowledge

Bhagavad Gita is the essence of all Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge is not a question of research. Our research work is imperfect because we are researching things with our imperfect senses. Bhagavad Gita states that we have to accept perfect knowledge which comes down by parampara, disciplic succession, beginning with the supreme spiritual master, the Lord Himself, and handed down to a succession of spiritual masters.

Arjuna, the student who took lessons from Lord Sri Krishna, accepts everything that He says without contradicting Him. One is not allowed to accept one portion of Bhagavad Gita and not another. No. We must accept Bhagavad Gita without interpretation, without deletion and without our own whimsical participation in the matter.

The Gita should be taken as the most perfect presentation of Vedic knowledge. Vedic knowledge is received from transcendental sources and the first words were spoken by the Lord Himself. The words spoken by the Lord are different from the words spoken by a person of the mundane world who is infected with four defects. A person of the mundane world is sure to:

1. Commit mistakes
2. Is invariably illusioned
3. Has the tendency to cheat others
4. Is limited by imperfect senses.

With these four imperfections one can not deliver perfect information of all-pervading knowledge.

Vedic knowledge is not imparted by such defective living entities. It was imparted unto the heart of Brahma, the first created living being in this universe and Brahma in turn taught this knowledge to his sons and disciples as he originally received it from the Lord.

All of this, and much more, is clearly described in Bhagavad Gita and if we properly utilize the instructions of Bhagavad Gita then our whole life will become purified, and ultimately we will be able to reach the destination which is beyond this material sky.

The ultimate destination is called the sanatana sky, the eternal spiritual sky. In this material world we find that everything is temporary. It comes into being, stays for some time, produces some by-products, dwindles and then vanishes. This is the law of the material world, whether we use as an example this body, or a piece of fruit or anything. But beyond this temporary world there is another world of which we have information. This world consists of another nature which is sanatana, eternal, and the Lord is also described as sanatana in the Eleventh Chapter. We have an intimate relationship with the Lord and because we are all one–the sanatana-dharma or sky, the sanatana Supreme Personality and the sanatana living entities–the whole purpose of Bhagavad Gita is to revive our sanatana occupation, or sanatana-dharma, which is the eternal occupation of the living entity. We are temporally engaged in different activities, but all of these activities can be purified when we give up all these temporary activities and take up the activities which are prescribed by the Supreme Lord. This is called our pure life.

The subject matter of Bhagavad Gita

The subject matter of Bhagavad Gita explains the science of God by covering five basic truths:

1. The controller [isvara]

2. The living entities [jivas]

3. Material Nature [prakrti]

4. Time [kala, the duration of existence of the whole universe]

5. Activity, work [karma]

In this world every living entity is controlled. If a living entity says that he is not controlled but that he is free, then he is insane. We are controlled in every aspect of our lives, at least in the conditioned [non-liberated] state.

So in the Bhagavad Gita the subject matter deals with the isvara, the supreme controller and the jivas, the controlled living entities, prakrti (material nature) and time (the duration of existence of the whole universe or manifestation of material nature) and karma (activity).

From Bhagavad Gita we can learn what God is, what the living entities are, what prakrti is, what the cosmic manifestation is and how it is controlled by time and what the activities of the living entities are.

In the Bhagavad Gita it is established that Krishna, the Supreme Godhead, Brahman or supreme controller or Paramatma–you may use whatever name you like–is the greatest of all. We living entities are in quality like the supreme controller. For example Krishna is the supreme controller. He has control over the universal affairs, over material nature as will be explained in later chapters of Bhagavad Gita. Material nature is not independent, she is working under the direction of the Supreme Lord. So we, the jivas, or living entities are accepted as being part and parcel of the supreme controller, isvara, Bhagavan, Lord Krishna, and as such the living entities have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantities. A particle of gold is also gold. A drop of water from the ocean is also salty, similarly we the living entities, being part and parcel of the supreme controller, have all the qualities of the Supreme Lord in minute quantity, because we are minute isvaras, subordinate isvaras. We are trying to control nature, and this tendency to control is in us because it is in Krishna. But although we have the tendency to lord it over the material nature, we should know that we are not the supreme controller. This is explained in Bhagavad Gita.

The world revolves because every living being thinks that he is the lord and creator of the material world. Material consciousness has two psychic divisions. One is that “I am the creator,” and the other is that “I am the enjoyer.” But actually the Supreme Lord is both the creator and the enjoyer, and the living entity, being part and parcel of the Supreme Lord is neither the creator nor the enjoyer , but a cooperator. He is the created and the enjoyed. For instance a part of the machine cooperates with the whole machine; a part of the body cooperates with the whole body. The hands, feet, eyes, legs and so on are all parts of the body, but they are not actually the enjoyers. The stomach is the enjoyer. The legs move, the hands supply food, the teeth chew and all parts of the body are engaged in satisfying the stomach because the stomach is the principle factor that nourishes the body’s organization. Therefore everything is given to the stomach. One nourishes the tree by pouring water on the root and one nourishes the body by feeding the stomach.

Similarly, the Supreme Lord is the enjoyer and creator and we, as subordinate living beings, are meant to cooperate to satisfy Him. This cooperation will actually help us, just as food taken by the stomach will help all other parts of the body. If the fingers of the hand think that they should enjoy the food themselves, they will be frustrated. The central figure of cooperation and enjoyment is the Supreme Lord, and the living entities are cooperators. By cooperation they enjoy. The relation is also like that of the master and the servant. If the master is fully satisfied then the servant is satisfied. Similarly the Supreme Lord should be satisfied although the tendency to become the creator and the tendency to enjoy the material world also are there in the living entities because these tendencies are also in the Supreme Lord who has created the manifested cosmic world we see before us.

We shall find, therefore, in the Bhagavad Gita, that the complete whole is comprised of the Supreme Controller, the controlled living entities, the cosmic manifestation, eternal time and karma, activities and all of these are explained in the Bhagavad Gita. All of these items taken together completely form the complete whole, and the complete whole is called the Supreme Absolute Truth. The complete whole and the complete Absolute Truth are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. All manifestations are due to His different energies. He is the complete whole.

The purpose of Bhagavad Gita

The purpose of Bhagavad Gita is to deliver mankind from the darkness of material existence. Every one of us is in difficulty in so many ways. Just as Arjuna was in difficulty because of having to fight the battle of Kuruksetra. Arjuna surrendered to Krishna and consequently the Bhagavad Gita was spoken.

Not only Arjuna, but every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence. We are trying to exist here in the material world but the atmosphere of the material world is nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatened by nonexistence. Our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we have been put into this temporary material world and because of this we are threatened with nonexistence.

Out of so many human beings who are suffering, there are only a few who are actually enquiring about their position, questioning what they are, why they are put into this difficult position, and so on. Unless one comes to this point of questioning his suffering, unless he realizes that he does not want to suffer, but rather he wants to find a solution to the suffering, then he can not be considered a perfect human being. Human life begins when this sort of enquiry is awakened in one’s mind.

Those who have come to this awakened position of questioning why they are suffering and who have realized they do not want to suffer, they want a solution to the suffering, are the proper students for understanding Bhagavad Gita. To be successful the sincere student should also have a firm respect for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Arjuna is the perfect example of such a qualified student of the Bhagavad Gita.

The reason Krishna comes to the material world is specifically to re-establish the real purpose of life when mankind in general has forgotten this purpose. Krishna is very merciful to us, it is out of His mercy that He spoke the Bhagavad-gita, making His friend Arjuna the first student.

As Arjuna was an associate of Krishna he was above all ignorance. But just so Krishna could speak the Bhagavad Gita to him Krishna put Arjuna into ignorance on the battlefield of Kurukshetra so that he would question the Lord about the problems of life so Krishna could answer these questions and explain everything for the benefit of future generations of human beings. With this knowledge given by Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield men can act accordingly and perfect their mission of human life.