O\u1e41 p\u0101rth\u0101ya pratibodhit\u0101\u1e41 bhagavat\u0101 n\u0101r\u0101ya\u1e47ena svaya\u1e41
\nvy\u0101sena gratit\u0101\u1e41 pur\u0101\u1e47a munin\u0101 madhye mah\u0101bh\u0101ratam I
\nadvait\u0101m\u1e5bta var\u1e63i\u1e47\u012b\u1e41 bhagavat\u012b\u1e41 a\u1e63\u1e6d\u0101da\u015b\u0101\u2019dhy\u0101yin\u012b\u1e41
\namba tv\u0101m anusandadh\u0101mi bhagavadg\u012bte bhavadve\u1e63i\u1e47\u012bm II<\/p>\n
\u2018O\u1e41, I meditate upon you, Bhagavad G\u012bt\u0101,
\nthe affectionate Divine Mother,
\nshowering the nectar of advaita, non-duality and destroying rebirth, incorporated into the midst of Mah\u0101bh\u0101rat of eighteen chapters by sage Vy\u0101sa, the author of the pur\u0101\u1e47as and imparted to Arjuna by Bhagav\u0101n N\u0101r\u0101ya\u1e47a, Himself.\u2019
\n~ Invocation Verse of Bhagavad G\u012bt\u0101<\/p>\n
Bhagavad G\u012bt\u0101 appears in the heart of Mah\u0101bh\u0101rat in Bh\u012b\u1e63ma Parva, the sixth chapter of its eighteen chapters. Veda Vy\u0101sa, the narrator, in glorifying the G\u012bt\u0101 sings, \u2018the one who drinks the water of Ganges (the sacred river for Hindus) attains liberation, what to speak of the one who drinks the nectar of G\u012bt\u0101? G\u012bt\u0101 is the essential nectar of the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rat, bh\u0101ratam\u1e5bta sarvasvam as it is directly spoken by N\u0101r\u0101ya\u1e47a, Bhagav\u0101n K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Himself.\u2019<\/p>\n
The armies assembled in the vast field of Kuruk\u1e63etra, now in the state of Haryana in modern day India. All the kings and princes were related to one another, and were often on opposite sides. Facing the Kaurava army and his friends, relatives and teachers, Arjuna was overcome by remorse and guilt, and wanted to walk away from the battle out of total powerlessness unbecoming an invincible warrior among warriors.<\/p>\n
\u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s dialogue with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruk\u1e63etra out of His utmost concern and love for him and humanity is the content of Bhagavad G\u012bt\u0101. Of its seven hundred and forty-five (745) verses, Bhagav\u0101n \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a sings the G\u012bt\u0101 in six hundred and twenty (620) verses responding to Arjuna\u2019s fifty-seven (57) enquiries. \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a persuades Arjuna to give-up his powerlessness unfitting an \u0100rya\u2014the spiritually evolved one who understands human life and urges him to raise himself again as Parantapa\u2014the conqueror of enemy, and take up arms and vanquish his enemies.<\/p>\n
\u2018They are already dead,\u2019 says \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, \u2018All those who are facing you have been already killed by Me. Go ahead and do what you have to do. That is your responsibility. Do not worry about the outcome. Leave that to Me.\u2019<\/p>\n
G\u012bt\u0101 is the ultimate practical teaching on the inner science of spirituality that expresses as outer victory and success in life now and after. It is not, as some scholars incorrectly claim, a promotion of violence. It is about the impermanence of the mind and body, and the need to go beyond the mind, ego and logic.<\/p>\n
Being blind with self-doubt, king Dh\u1e5btar\u0101\u1e63\u1e6dra does not participate in the war. His minister Sa\u00f1jaya uses his power of clairvoyance bestowed by Veda Vy\u0101sa to \u2018see\u2019 and relate to king Dh\u1e5btar\u0101\u1e63\u1e6dra the goings on the battlefield. It is in Sa\u00f1jaya\u2019s voice that we hear G\u012bt\u0101, the dialogue between \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and Arjuna.<\/p>\n
All the Kaurava princes as well as all their commanders such as Bh\u012b\u1e63ma, Dro\u1e47a and Kar\u1e47a were killed in battle. The five P\u0101n\u1e0dava brothers survived as winners and became the rulers of the combined kingdom.<\/p>\n
This dialogue sung between \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and Arjuna is a dialogue between man and God or Nara and N\u0101r\u0101ya\u1e47a as they are called in Sa\u1e43sk\u1e5bit. Arjuna\u2019s questions and doubts are those of each one of us. Nara Arjuna is the leader, the embodiment of responsibility representing the whole humanity that is burdened with the sufferings born from self-doubt, self-hatred and self-denial of its innate natural state of liberation, mok\u1e63a. Only N\u0101r\u0101ya\u1e47a as \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a can sport a divine smile on His face and sing the nectars of Advaita\u2014space of infinity (non-duality) and S\u0101\u1e45khya Yoga\u2014knowledge of completion in the midst of the waging world war.<\/p>\n
Only Bhagav\u0101n, one possessed with infinite powers, infinite knowledge, infinite renunciation, and infinite riches, fame and beauty can declare the imperishable and eternal nature of the Self; and also give the direct experience of the Self to Arjuna in Vi\u015bvar\u016bpa Dar\u015ban Yoga and culminate it with Mok\u1e63a Sanny\u0101sa Yoga\u2014the yoga of liberation.<\/p>\n
The answers of the Divine, \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, transcend time and space. \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s message is everlasting and joyfully performed, and is as valid today as it was on that fateful battlefield over five thousand years ago. The science of G\u012bt\u0101 is the eternal technique of living in completion; the song of G\u012bt\u0101 is the eternal life-enriching nectar, having no expiry date, time or age!<\/p>\n