10-1. Bhagavad Gita: Part-1

Chapter-1: Observing the Armies / (विषाद योग)

This chapter sets the stage of the physical battlefield and the commanders. Arjuna is introduced as a knowledgeable human being, with a strong sense of empathy and morality. He is also seemingly aware of the code of conduct of a warrior – kshatriya dharma. Arjuna’s tribulations of a thinking and ethical warrior at the battlefield are the opening act of Gita.

• Sanjaya, the narrator of Gita, had received the power to witness the battle remotely from Veda Vyasa, the author of Mahabharata, who also happened to be Sanjaya’s teacher.
• The two sides (Pandavas and Kauravas) are lined up in battle formations.
• Duryodhana is quite proud of the leaders behind him, but feels most secure with the presence of his grandfather Bhishma on his side. Duryodhana introduces Pandavas armies and Kaurava commanders to Bhishma.
• The other side, Pandavas, have Krishna as the charioteer of Arjuna.
• Arjuna requests Krishna to draw his chariot between the two armies to check out who all gathered in support of the Kauravas to fight him and the rest of the Pandavas.
• On seeing his friends, cousins, relatives, and his grandfather on the opposing side, Arjuna’s mouth dries up, his body starts to tremble, his bow slips from his hold, his mind whirls, and his intelligence is completely shaken.
• Arjuna starts to enter a state of confusion and mental paralysis, and starts to question the utility of war. He also starts to worry about the sin of killing other living beings, especially his kinsmen.
• Arjuna refused to fight and considers the impeding carnage to being un-Aryan. Arya is one who knows of the spiritual value of life, and Arjun being one cannot fathom killing his own.

Given the setting above, the first chapter of Gita is also known as Vishada (विषाद, grief) Yoga. In this chapter Arjun’s “plight is given the touch of enquiry and investigation” in the presence of Krishna in Kurukshetra. At the start of this chapter, Arjuna was in grief and emotionally resistant, but by the end engages in sustained enquiry and becomes introspective.

Chapter-2: Introduction to Yoga / (संख्या योग)

On Arjuna’s refusal to fight, Krishna suggests that Arjuna’s mind is not yet balanced. Arjuna will have to get detached from his sense gratification. He may think that in conceding to Duryodhana and giving up his princely title, stake to the throne, and having been in exile for 13 years had devoid him of desires. That is not the case, because he still has some left in him – his own sense gratification. Arjuna may think that he is upholding the kshatriya-dharma by not killing friends and family but, in reality, he is not following the kshatriya-dharma by following his duty to uphold dharma by killing those who are adharmees.

The essence of Gita is distilled in the second chapter. The rest of Gita is a deep dive into all the concepts that Krishna had thus far exposed Arjuna to.

Krishna and Arjuna were childhood friends. But, it took the battleground of Kurukshetra for Arjuna to surrender himself to Krishna and accepts instructions from him. This is probably the only time during the battle that Krishna smiled. He was happy to see Arjuna getting ready to receive his wisdom – Gita, that shall find its way to all the Aryans. This is when Krishna decides to elaborate on topics, which constitute chapters 3 through 18 of Gita.

Key concepts introduced in this chapter:

• Krishna introduces himself as Bhagavaan.
  • Bhagavaan (like dhanavaan, balavaan) is the one who possesses wealth, strength, beauty, fame, knowledge, and renunciation. Only Krishna, Vishnu, and Narayana are called Bhagavaan. (Narada is also sometimes addressed as Bhagvaan, for his power of bhakti. Shiv is addressed as Bhagvaan for his renunciation.)
• Arjuna says that he doesn’t want the kingdom. But that is because of his confusion. He admits that he is suffering from karpanya dosha (कार्पण्य दोष).
  • Brahmana – One who is spiritually realized. One who has ‘tatva-jigyasa’.
  • Karpanya – One who lives his body without knowing his spiritual existence.
• Arjuna was also not able to realize that in killing Bhishma and Drona he will liberate them and get them new bodies sooner. He also doesn’t realize that the soul is indestructible and killing the body is not killing the soul.
  • There is no guarantee for a life to be successful. But death is a guarantee. The material body has to come to an end, no matter what. The soul, however, never dies.
  • We are nothing but name and face. You project yourself on this body and identify yourself with this body and the objects around you. That is suffering. In this movie nothing belongs to you and nobody belongs to you. This is why Arjuna is confused and suffering.
• Arjuna thought that by escaping the battle he can attain heaven. But Krishna reminds him that only by engaging in the battle can Arjuna attain heaven. That’s his svadharma.
  • Svadharma on physical plane is an individual’s varna – Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra. Do what you think you are constituted and expected to do.
  • Svadharma in spiritual plane is bhakti.
• When something good or bad happens, never blame the other person. The other person is a mere agent. The good or bad in your life is a consequence of your actions. This is Karma.
• It is important to come out of the karmic cycle and attain moksha.
• If you operate on the material platform then you become the cause of your suffering. You suffer one thing after the other. The only way out of it is to work without an expectation of sense enjoyment, work without attachment. No attachment comes when you learn to ignore the dualities of life – good and bad, pleasure and pain, cold and warm, etc.
• We are suffering because of our ahamkaar.
• You have to be more humble than a blade of grass, more tolerant than a tree, and not expect respect from anybody. You should be able to give respect to everyone. Krishna defines this as Yoga “the evenness of mind”.
• Krishna define Yoga as the “art of work”.
• Krishna then summarizes the whirlpool of suffering. Attachment leads to lust. From lust arises anger. The result is delusion, which bewilders the memory. Then intelligence is lost and one falls back into materialism. The absence of material attachment, lust, anger, etc., which is called yoga, leads to peace. And, peace results in happiness.
• He gives this lesson to Arjuna to tell him that even though he may think he has overcome sense enjoyment in his 13 years of exile, he hasn’t. It is because he is not willing to kill his opponents for his sense gratification. He is choosing to walk away from the battlefield, ignoring his duty as a kshatriya to uphold dharma by not killing those who are adharmees.

Arjuna probably subscribed to the Vedic model of number of gods, heaven, hell, and other worlds. Therefore, Krishna chose to stress on the singular and supreme Self, the param-atma (परम-आत्मा). This paramaatma-vidya (परमात्मा-विद्या) that Upanishads talk about, which Krishna exposes to Arjuna is also known as Sankhya (संख्या). Hence, Sankhya Yoga (संख्या-योग) becomes a strong contender for the name of chapter-2 of Gita.

Krishna talks about dvanda (द्वन्द, dualities), which afflict the human mind; sukha-dukha, good-bad, hot-cold, light-dark, desirable-undesirable, success-failure, etc. He then highlights the distinct middle of these dvandas as the zone of the unconditioned and unreacting middle. Krishna educates Arjuna to keep his mind in this middle zone and maintain a stance of mental forbearance called samaatva. He asks Arjuna to be attentive to these dualities, stay clear of them, and tolerate them because life is a ceaseless course of experiences. He describes that attitude as titiksha (तितिक्ष). As per Krishna, once an individual starts to develop this attitude, the awareness of paramaatma (परम-आत्मा, Self) will improve. This is the viveka (विवेक, wisdom) that Krishna wants Arjuna to develop and tells him that the vairaagya (वैराग्य, detachment and dispassion) needed as a yogi will follow.

Krishna starts to build on the concepts of the real and unreal and how to discern between them. He introduces the concept of sat (सत, the Real) as something that never goes out of expression, and asat (असत, the Unreal) as something that has no expression or existence at all. Krishna then uses sat and asat to define maya (माया), which defies both the sat and asat categories. In the context of the sat (changeless) and the asat (changeful) dvanda, Krishna introduces the concept of avinashi (अविनाशी, the indestructible Soul). This probably was an important conceptual mental block for Arjuna that he shredded – there’s an indestructible soul that “is not killed, does not kill, does not die, is not born, is not involved in any action or its result”. And there’s body, which alters, falls, and dies.

Having explained the idea of unalterning and unaltered atma (आत्मा) to Arjuna, Krishna highlights the body of knowledge as Sankhya (संख्या). Krishna introduces the idea of samaatva of man (मन, mind) and buddhi (बुद्धि, intelligence) while doing work as Karma Yoga. In other words, observing your mind and your intelligence and keeping them in samaatva when you do any work is called Karma Yoga (Essentially, both Sankhya Yoga and Karma Yoga are buddhi based, and hence they are sometimes also identified as Buddhi Yoga. The big and perhaps the only difference is that in Sankhya the focus of contemplation is the Atma, while in Karma Yoga the focus is on the sammatva of man and buddhi.)

This is also the time in his conversation during which Arjuna, knowing what he just learned, starts to form an opinion that he can leave the battlefield and instead pursue the path of contemplation, become a sage, and thus can avoid the bloodshed altogether. Krishna senses this natural thought in Arjuna and pre-empts it by talking about yoga-buddhi (योग-बुद्धि) and phala-buddhi (फल-बुद्धि), and by highlighting the concepts of guna (गुण) and adhikara (अधिकार, competence).

(In later chapters, Krishna builds on guna and adhikara to explain the importance of varnas.)

Probably the most popular shloka of Gita is spoken at this stage:

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भुर्मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥

Krishna tells Arjuna that karma is an expression of karta. Having spent 13 years in exile, honing and polishing his skills as a warrior, Arjuna’s competence is in being a warrior. While he is dexterous in his skills to fights, he is not yet trained in the art of performing his karma without sanga (संग, attachment). He still has a phala-buddhi, which meant that he was still worried about siddhi (success) and asiddhi (failure). This is the constriction of mind that Arjuna was suffering from – karpanya dosha (कार्पण्य दोष). Krishna rather admonished him into performing his karma with samaatva (समत्व) and be in yoga-buddhi. This is the viveka (विवेक) that Krishna talked about at the beginning of this chapter, which he found missing in Arjuna.

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha said, “The Bhagavadgita does not intend to interfere with the sequence that exists between karma, its pursuit and the result it produces. It discusses only the attitude, evaluation and ultimate aim of all that is done and of the entire life governed by these.” Gita does not aim to remedy our deeds, it is rather a guide that will help us assess and improve our quality and ability to act.

Chapter-3: Karma Yoga / (कर्म योग)

Karma Yoga is about acknowledging one’s tendencies as a person – varna. Krishna highlights the importance of doing your prescribed work, the best you can, but without getting attached to the work or its results. This is Karma Yoga.

Key concepts introduced in this chapter:

• Arjuna challenges Krishna and asks him, given the superiority of intelligence, why do we need to engage in warfare? He tries to get out of the war by invoking Krishna consciousness.
• Krishna then talks about Gyana Marg and Karma Marg as two approaches to understanding God. Accepting knowledge that comes top down or discovering it on your own. The latter could be a brute force approach in comparison to trying to realize the Self, and understand the meaning of life, philosophically. Every human being has a his/her constitution that makes him/her more suitable for one or the other approach. Krishna is talking about the varna – brahmans, kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudras.
• If you have worldly desires, then Karma Marg is your recommended way, since your desires make you unfit for Gyana Marg. Krishna tells Arjuna that he is not fit for Gyana Marg. Arjun, given that he is a kshatriya, should follow Karma Marg.
• Do not perform any work for sense gratification, not for yourself. Else, you’ll be in bondage. This is the art of doing great work, and this is the essence of Karma Marg; nish-fala karma. Don’t be attached to work and don’t always look for purpose in work. Detached action is the key.
• Krishna then reminds Arjuna that he is a Kshatriya and it is his duty to give protection to the distressed. If violence is the way to path to teaching the public the dharmic conduct, then it is sanctioned. Violence is necessary in situations where good arguments fail.
• Krishna emphasized how the common man (public) emulates the great. Therefore, Arjuna should conduct his duty on the battle field. If not, then the kshatriya-dharma will die. The varna system will collapse, and social order will be ruined.
  • Then Krishna tells Arjuna that even turning away from the battle is an action which will have its own karmic cycle.
  • Then Krishna reminds Arjuna that there is no work prescribed for Krishna himself, but yet he is engaged. It is all to set an example, so that the common men will follow his examples.
• This is where Krishna also addresses Arjuna as the “best of the descendants of Bharata”. He also tells him that nobody should give up the material path abruptly and suddenly, like Arjuna is attempting to do. Rather it should be a gradual and steady transition.
• Krishna shares yet another word of wisdom with Arjuna about the common (unrealized) men. He tells Arjuna to not try and change them. Cleansing of the heart is a gradual process. A better approach is to lead by example and demonstrate nish-fala karma (self-less work ) to others.
• At this point Arjuna asks, perhaps, the most sincere question. “By why is one compelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?” To this, Krishna replies, “Lust”. Krishna identifies lust as the final frontier on the path to self-knowledge and self-realization.

Having discussed the karmic cycle and svadharma, Krishna now warns Arjuna to not even think of anaarambh (not beginning the work), naishyakarma (actionlessness) or even a sudden abandonment of work. He tells Arjuna that nothing remains inactive in this universe. “Let the body, mind, and senses remain actively involved in objective pursuits. But while doing so, the discriminating mind should restrain the senses so that they are not overwhelmed by the objects.”

Raga (attraction) and dvesha (repulsion) are two things that overwhelm the senses and are the biggest enemies of seekers. Krishna invokes the Vedic concept of yagya () and explains it to Arjuna as a tool to get rid of sanga (). To lead the whole of life as a yagya is the key to get rid of the possessions of life.

Krishna encourages Arjuna to do his karma with dispassion but whole-heartedly. With so many possible outcomes, and merits and demerits of any karma, the key to act righteously is to act in the welfare of the larger society. Ensure the welfare of the world and don’t be “gripped by selfish constrictions”. Krishna tells Arjuna that just good actions can not liberate a person. The ego has to dissolve. By that he means that the karta (doer) of the karma (action) has to stop identifying themselves as the doer. (S)he has to renunciate. This is asakti ().

Bhagavadgita lays quite an importance on the nature of things. This is called Prakriti (). “Recognize prakriti’s hold as very strong and inescapable.” It is under this umbrella of prakriti with its constituent gunas (rajas, tamas, and sattva) that Krishna also explains the varna to Arjuna and reminds him of his duties as a Kshatriya, which he can not suddenly abandon.

The hold of prakriti on a human being is described as so binding that a natural question arises about what a person can or cannot do about it. Overpowered by prakriti, a man is no better or capable than an animal. To this Krishna identifies the importance of will, effort, and choice in human life. But more importantly, he identifies two propensities – kama (desire) and krodha (anger) as a human being’s biggest enemies. This desire acts on the senses, mind, and intelligence and also causes agitation/anger.

Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha says, “The power and presence to accept and reject anything sensory, mental, or intellectual is there amply in us. The question is solely one of recognizing and acting upon the recognition well in time.” This is the message of self-mastery that Krishna imparts to Arjuna at the end of chapter-3.

Chapter-4: Transcendental Knowledge / (भ्रमविद्या)

Krishna tells Arjuna that the knowledge of Yoga and Vedas he is revealing to him is ancient. This knowledge resides in Krishna because he has been the source of it time and again over the past many generations. He also makes it clear to Arjuna that this knowledge is the only way to happiness, peace, and liberation.

Key concepts introduced in this chapter:

• Krishna informs Arjuna that the knowledge he is passing on to Arjuna is the same Gita that Vivasvan (Sun God) passed on to Maharaj Manu, who then spoke it to his son Maharaj Iksvaku, about 2 million years ago. This is no ordinary knowledge; it is transcendental.
• Arjuna then questions Krishna on how he knows what happened 2 million years ago. This is after the fact that Arjuna has already accepted Krishna as bhagvaan. Krishna then explains the concept of rebirth to Krishna and also tells Arjuna that he remembers all his previous births, while Arjuna doesn’t. This is where the most popular shloka of Gita is said by Krishna:

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।

अभ्युत्थान मधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ।।

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।

धर्मसंस्था पनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ।।

“Yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata, abhyutthanam adharmsya tadatmanam srijamy aham”.

Any time there is a decline of dharma, I am reborn.

“Paritranaya sadhuna vinshaya ch dushkrutaam, dharmasanstha panarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge”.

For the protection of the benevolent, eradication of the wicked, and for establishing righteousness, I manifest time and again.

• Krishna prepares Arjuna mentally to start accepting that he is ignorant. This is to that he sheds that illusion, and learns from what Krishna has to tell Arjuna.
• Krishna explains to Arjuna how ordinary people come to worship (demi)gods, in expectation of rewards in this world (or life). This material nature that people have is the reason human society has four divisions – intellectuals, administrators, merchants, and laborers. Krishna does that to explain to Arjuna what his constitution is and therefore why he should act like who he is.
• At this point Krishna shares the idea of Yoga in terms of control over senses, breath, and mind. He also talks about the study of the Vedas.
• Krishna tells Arjuna the importance of sacrifice (yagya) and how it can lead to happiness and liberation.
• Krishna highlights devotion to knowledge and devotion to selfless service as a critical stage towards attaining spiritual peace.
• Krishna stresses upon the importance of being in service of a spiritual master to attain this kind of knowledge.

Krishna doesn’t want Arjuna to think that Krishna has discovered a new body of knowledge. He rather tells Arjuna that all this is age-old wisdom, and the source of that wisdom lies in the universe – this is brahmavidya (भ्रमविद्या). (It won’t be unfair to conclude that Arjuna was unfamiliar with brahmavidya, even though his elders, especially Bhishma, were aware of. That was perhaps the reason Bhishma had little or no conflict in standing in opposition to the Pandavas and was willing to kill them.)

In discussing the concept of rebirth and eternal soul, Krishna reminds Arjuna that it’d be unjust to consider him as a Godly incarnation. It would be a disservice to Krishna and his instructions to think of him as a dimension unattainable by a human being. Swami Bhoomananda points out that all throughout Gita Krishna wants Arjuna to understand him in his human dimensions.

Chapter-4 is quite an important conversation because of the discussion about guna, jati, and varna. Any person interested in understanding the basic constitution of a human being should study this chapter. Krishna also delinks jati from varna and explains how “jati is a consequence of birth but varna is begotten from guna and karma”.

Krishna spends quite a bit of time explaining to Arjuna the importance of introspection – observing the thought process and mind. In saying so, Krishna then delves into rituals such as puja and yagya and highlights their futility for a yogi. The gist of his message to Arjuna is that the source of a feeling of sin, and doubt, and inquiry is all in our mind and intelligence. The redress also has to come from the same place – not from some external ritual. Krishna says that our karma which we attempt to cleanse with rituals are actually better cleansed with knowledge.

Chapter-5: Gyana or Karma? / (कर्म संन्यास योग)

Even though Arjuna was confused, he wasn’t mentally paralyzed and did not shut down. Rather, he was actively listening to Krishna. On knowing of two options for liberation and happiness, he gravitates towards Gyan. But Krishna tells him that the detached Karma is important. He then reveals the secret of happiness – getting rid of desire, anger, and fear.

Key concepts introduced in this chapter:

• Arjuna comprehends two messages that he got from Krishna and gets confused. ‘Inaction in knowledge’ (Sannyaas, Gyana Marg) and ‘work in devotion’ (Karma Marg) are the two good options for him. But he is confused because Krishna, despite talking about inaction in knowledge seems to be telling Arjuna to act and engage in war. Why? He is also curious to find out why Krishna thinks that Arjuna is unfit for Gyana Marg. Krishna explains that detachment from the material world is an important step. Karma Marg allows you to overcome the material bondage.
• Krishna talks about the Sankhya philosophy at this time and equates it to Karma Marg.
• At this point Krishna talks of the idea of duality (dvaidha), of me-you, mine-divine, etc. He tells Arjuna to give up greed (desire for the result of action) and become divine. This is the only way to attain peace.
• Krishna tells Arjuna that equanimity of the mind (sthir-buddhi) is the key to happiness (sukha).
• Krishna identifies desire (kama) and anger (krodha) as the two culprits that rob an individual of happiness.
• Krishna then eludes to the concept of Ashthanga Yoga, which is an eight-step procedure. But Krishna tells Arjuna the trick to getting rid of desire, fear, and anger by controlling the mind and senses through closed eyes, focus between the eye-brows, and restrained-rapid breathing.

The concept of abandonment is quite important to understand. Krishna clarifies to Arjuna that it is not the actions that have to be abandoned, but attachment to the duality of outcomes (happy or sad) that has to be abandoned. As for sannyasa (renunciation), Krishna says that it is better to reach that stage after going through sadhana (Karma Marg). Krishna also points out to Arjuna an attitude untainted by raga and dvesha is sannyasa. The goal should be to float in detachment and dis-identification – I am not the doer.

In this chapter, Krishna gives a clear direction on the domain of ‘God’ (creator of the universe). In Swami Bhhoomananda Tirtha’s words, “God does not ordain that anyone should enjoy or suffer the results of his actions”. Krishna here reinforces the Rigvedic position of questioning what existed before existence. He tells Arjuna that the concept of sin (paap) and virtue (punya) and its impact on an actor are concepts born out of ignorance.

If there is one big message here, it is to have sensory discipline. Any interaction with the outer world will produce a reaction, and that is the source of misery. Once you realize that, you have become self-aware (atma-gyan) and will lead to liberation (nirvana).

Chapter-6: Dhyana Yoga / (ध्यान योग)

This is perhaps the most insightful conversation of Gita, for it reveals a lot about Arjuna and Krishna. In his questions, Arjuna’s fears and anxiety of being a failure and an underachiever are revealed, which any person in current times will be able to relate to.

As the conversation unfolds, Krishna educates Arjuna about giving up possessiveness, detachment, control of the senses including sex (brahmacharya), mind control, and finally the physical postures and practices, and even controlled eating. Arjuna senses the impracticality of this all. He finds it difficult to imagine his mind in control. He also starts to wonder out loud how risky this path of Dhyana-Yoga is. The possibility of being at a significant material loss in life and at the same time not being able to develop the ability to control the mind seems risky to Arjuna. What is that person left to do and be with “no position in any sphere”? This is when Krishna discusses the idea of re-births (and future births) and the idea of yogic knowledge accumulating over these births. In other words, it doesn’t go to waste even if you are unable to achieve the final goal in this lifetime.

The wonderful aspect revealed in this part of Gita is that Krishna shares all of this as “his opinion”. He uses the words iti me matih (इति मे मति:), which literally means, “this is my opinion”.

In Arjuna’s conversation and nature of questions, it is evident that not only has Arjuna has never practiced yoga but also that he has never really had a meaningful conversation about it with an expert. Given that the Pandavas just finished a 13 year exile in the forests of northern India, it is surprising that they didn’t encounter a practicing Yogi, who could have given this knowledge to the Pandavas. This is a bit hard to believe. Another possibility is that Arjuna is such a curious student and perhaps wants to learn the authentic information from Krishna during Gita that he is being genuinely curious and is really in the moment ignoring all that he may have learned before. But A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada also mentions that there is no record in the history of Arjuna ever engaging in Yoga.

Key concepts introduced in this chapter:

• Krishna talks about sannyasa (renunciation) as an ideal to live with, not as the fourth stage of life.
• He wants everyone to stay engaged in karmic life.
• When one does not engage in activities for sensory fulfillment and denounces those deliberations, one is established in yoga.
• This is probably the only part of Gita, where Krishna gets prescriptive – how do sit, what to sit on, how to breathe, what to focus on, not to eat and sleep too little or too much, etc. He relates the abandonment of desire, moderation, breathing, and posture to the stability of mind, and conditioning of the mind to stop thinking.
• Arjuna equates controlling the mind to controlling the wind. To this Krishna points out the value of abhyaasa (practice) and vairagya (dispassion).
• At the very end of Arjuna, wonders of the ‘neither here, nor there’ situation – what happens if he pursues the yogic path, but doesn’t succeed. This is when Krishna reminds him that there is no ‘failure’ for a Yogi. “One intending to do good, will never meet an adverse plight. Such is the spiritual law”.