The Gita is the cream
of the Vedas.The Srimad Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and
Arjuna, narrated in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata.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.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.The Gita again and again emphasises
that one should cultivate an attitude of non-attachment or detachment. It
urges repeatedly that an individual should live in the world like water on a
lotus leaf. “He who does actions, offering them to Brahman and abandoning
attachment, is not tainted by sin as a lotus leaf by water”.
Dhritarashtra and
Pandu were brothers. Dhritarashtra married Gandhari, and Pandu was married
to Kunti and Madri. King Pandu was cursed for a sin while hunting, due to which
he was not permitted to unite with his wife. Kunti got a boon through her
sincere service of a wise sage in her younger age, and she begot three
children, namely, Yudhisthira, Bhima and Arjuna from Yama,Vayu and Indra
respectively. Madri had twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, through the
celestial physicians called Asvini-Devatas. Dhritarashtra had a hundred
and one children by his wife Gandhari. Pandu passed away and his sons, the
Pandavas, were all brought up by Dhritarashtra along with his sons known
as Kauravas. The Pandavas and Kauravas grew up together, but due to the
braveness and intelligence of the former, the Kauravas were unable to tolerate
them. Hence the Pandavas decided to live separately, sharing half of their
kingdom.
The Pandavas’ pomp,
wealth and glory displayed during the Rajasuya Yajna aroused deep jealousy and greed in the mind of Duryodhana, the chief of the
Kauravas, who, with the cunning advice of his uncle, Sakuni, invited
Yudhisthira to a game of dice and fraudulently defeated him, whereby all
his wealth and possessions, including Draupadi, were lost. Finally it was
settled that the Pandavas, including Draupadi, should repair to the forest
for twelve years in exile, after which they had to live incognito for
another year, untraced by the Kauravas. During this period the kingdom was
to be ruled by the wicked Duryodhana.
Having successfully
completed these thirteen years of exile, facing many obstacles and dangers instigated by the Kauravas, the Pandavas, as per the
terms of the agreement, approached the Kauravas for their share of the
kingdom. Duryodhana, however, flatly refused to part with as much land as
could be covered by the point of a needle. According to the advice of Mother
Kunti and with the inspiration of Lord Krishna, the Pandavas decided upon
war and tried to establish their rightful claim on the kingdom by
overcoming the Kauravas.
Duryodhana and Arjuna,
from the side of the Kauravas and Pandavas respectively, were sent to Dwaraka to seek the help of the Yadava hero, Lord
Krishna, in the battle. They both found Krishna resting on a couch in His
palace. Duryodhana went in and occupied a seat at the head of the couch
while Arjuna stood near the feet of the Lord. The moment Sri Krishna opened His
eyes, He naturally saw Arjuna first, and then Duryodhana sitting on a
chair. After enquiry of their welfare and the purpose of their visit, Sri
Krishna, according to the prevailing custom, gave the first choice to
Arjuna, because of his age, and also because of His sight of Arjuna first.
Krishna asked Arjuna to fulfil his desire by selecting Him unarmed or His
powerful army called Narayani Sena. Arjuna, who was a devotee of Sri Krishna, expressed his desire to have the
Lord with him, neglecting the powerful Narayani Sena, even though Krishna
warned that He would remain a witness, bound by the vow of not
participating in battle and not taking up arms. Duryodhana, with great
delight, thinking that Arjuna was foolish, expressed his wish for the
powerful army to help his side in the battle.
When Krishna asked
Arjuna why he chose Him when He was not for taking up arms, Arjuna said,
“O Lord! You have the power to destroy all the forces by a mere sight. Why then
should I prefer that worthless army? I have for a long time been
cherishing a desire in my heart that you should act as my charioteer.
Kindly fulfil my desire in this war.”
The Lord, who is ever
the most devoted lover of His devotees, accepted his request with pleasure; and thus Krishna became the charioteer of Arjuna in
the battle of the Mahabharata. After the return of Duryodhana and Arjuna
from Dwaraka, Lord Krishna Himself went once to Hastinapura as the
emissary of the Pandavas and tried to prevent the war. But then, under
the guidance of Sakuni, the egoistic Duryodhana refused to agree to the
peace mission and tried to imprison Lord Krishna, at which Krishna showed
His Supreme Form (Viswarupa). Even the blind Dhritarashtra saw it by the
Lord’s Grace. King Dhritarashtra, due to his attachment to his
sons, failed to control them, and the Kaurava chief, Duryodhana, with vain
hope, decided to meet the powerful Pandavas in war.
When both sides were
prepared to commence the battle, the sage Veda Vyasa approached blind Dhritarashtra and said, “If you wish to see this terrible
carnage with your own eyes I can give you the gift of vision.” The Kaurava
king replied, “O Chief of the Brahmarishis! I have no desire to see with
my own eyes this slaughter of my family, but I should like to hear all the
details of the battle.”
Then the sage
conferred the gift of divine vision on Sanjaya, the trusty counsellor of the king, and told the king, “Sanjaya will describe to you all the
incidents of the war. Whatever happens in the course of the war, he will
directly see, hear or otherwise come to know. Whether an incident takes
place before his eyes or behind his back, during the day or during the night,
privately or in public, and whether it is reduced to actual action or
appears only in thought, it will not remain hidden from his view. He will
come to know everything, exactly as it happens. No weapon will touch his
body nor will he feel tired.”
After the ten days of
continued war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, when the
great warrior Bhishma was thrown down from his chariot by Arjuna, Sanjaya
announces the news to Dhritarashtra. In agony the king asks Sanjaya to
narrate the full details of the previous ten days war, from the very
beginning, in all detail as it happened. Here commences the Bhagavad Gita.
