What I have learned from Gita? Introduction to Gita The Gita is the only treasure from India which has made our nation famous throughout the known universe. It contains rich philosophy, science, myth, and warfare tactics essential in the battlefield. Lord Ganesha wrote the Mahabharata as dictated by Vyasa, wherein the Gita is narrated by Lord Shri Krishna to the warrior prince Arjuna of the Pandavas. Just before the fighting commenced, Arjuna asked Krishna to place his chariot between the two armies, so that he could take a good look at his enemy. In the enemy ranks, Arjuna saw his cousins, other relatives and his teachers. At this crucial moment, Axjuna's attachment to his preceptors and family came to the fore, and doubt entered his mind as to the ‘rightness’ of the battle. In his confusion, he no longer knew the course of action that he should take, and he tumed to Krishna for guidance. Krishna talked to him, helping him to examine his own motives and desires, and showing him ways to rise above the limitations of his own personality to do what was best for himself and good for society. So it is in this midst of the fiercest war zone in the world, Arjuna listened and witnessed the great and yet simple rules of living of this so called life. ‘The spirit of Bhagavad-gita is mentioned in Bhagavad-gita itself. It is ust like this: Ifwe want to take a particular medicine, then we have to follow the directions written on the label. We cannot take the medicine according to our own whim or the direction of a friend. It must be taken according to the directions on the label or the directions given by a physician. Similarly, Bhagavad-gita should be taken or accepted as itis directed by the speaker himself, Of course the word bhagavan sometimes refers to any powerful person or any powerful demigod, and certainly here bhagavan designates Lord Sri Krishna as a great personality, but at the same time we should know that Lord Sri Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as is confirmed by all great acaryas (spiritual masters) like Shankaracarya, Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Nimbarka Svami, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and many other authorities of Vedic knowledge in India. The Lord Himself also establishes Himself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the Bhagavad-gita, and He is accepted as such in the Brahma- samhita andall the Puranas, especially the Srimad-Bhagavatam, known as the Bhagavata Purana, Importance of Gita in daily life In the epic Mahabharata, when cousin brothers Pandava and Kaurava are about to fight among themselves for the throne of Hastinapur, Pandava prince Arjuna feels weak in the battleground when he sees his relatives, teachers and friends in the opposition. The primary purpose of the Bhagavad- Gita is to illuminate for all of humanity the realization of the true nature of divinity; for the highest spiritual conception and the greatest material perfection is to attain love of God! Some of the most popular and important teachings are listed below. We should not think about how big or small can we really make things. All this is materialistic and engages people in tensions and greedy activities. It makes one profit oriented. Thinking about were or mine also does the same. Alll the life we make and collect things for ourselves. This really doesn't make a difference when we leave this world. We all are turned into ashes after death, Krishna is the supreme personality of Godhead. He is the original cause of all causes. He starts everything and ends everything too. He is there everywhere. He is omnipresent and omnipotent, We are just puppets whom he controls. He is divine and transcendental, Desires come and go, but we should remain a dispassionate witness, simply watching and enjoying the show. Everyone experiences, desires, but one should not be moved by them. They should not bother a person, People sometimes undertake really evil actions because of their desires. So one should not come under the chains of desires. Whatever we do in the course of our lifetime should be dedicated to the supreme personality of Godhead. This will always result in giving us peace and satisfaction, One should consider remembering, Krishna during their actions. This makes us feel that God would be there with us and our actions would tum outto be positive.We came to this world empty handed. We have made everything over here, be it relations, money, love or respect. We cannot take anything with us when we die. Everything would be left over here. So we should not really do evil things when it comes to the question of our respect. Nor should we be really concemed about making as much money as possible. We should be satisfied with what we have as, everything would be left over here in this material world, we won'tbe able to take anything with us. We should neither expect people, nor surroundings, not even society to be same. They all change with time. We move ahead, Universe forgets old things and moves forwards, so do we. We should not stick on one point, this will make our existence much more problematic in this world. We should not repent about, our past or worry about the future as the present is going on. We should know that God has planned everything forus. He will not let anything bad happen to us. Whatever happens is for our good only. We should be optimistic and should not stress our self with these baseless worries of past and future. If things are not favorable, they surely would be. Just have faith in the supreme personality of Godhead. One who takes birth dies one day and that is the ultimate truth of this world. Nothing exists permanently, One has to leave this world, even though he wishes not to. No magic can actually help a person to stay forever, Everyone has their set life periods. They vanish after completing them. No matter how great one is or how power one posses, all have to die one day. Even after our death, itexists. Itis immortal, Itjust changes bodies after the death ofa person, Moreover, our body is made up of ‘Agni! (ire), ‘Jal! (water) 'Vayu' (wind), ‘Prithvi! (earth) and it combines with them after the death. So we should not pay a lot of attention towards our outer body, but instead should work for the inner soul, its satisfaction. A difficult life situation where Gita guided me The Gita maybe a great source of many spheres of knowledge but it has failed as an operating system that disciplines the human mind and therefore ereating a perfect society to function, It is undoubtedly too vast, too confusing and complex that even the so called intellectuals and pundits of the society do not know all what the Gita tells. Many of the truths in Gita are lost in time due to the shortsightedness of the keepers of religion who did not share the divine knowledge with the others in a caste divided society. The Gita was not translated into the languages used by people other than the Brahmins and higher categories of society for a long period of time. This led to the weakening of the society and Hinduism quickly vanished and was replaced with new and better systems like Islam and Christianity. Had Hinduism would be short and simple like the modern religions, then perhaps the followers of the Gita wouldnotbe in aconfused state. learned from the Gita that there is something beyond this physical world and that what we call as death’ isn'tthe end. There is an afterlife so it is not necessary to lament for the things we leave behind, Perhaps this theory was concocted in order to cope with the losses and grieves in our life. Whenever something sad happened with me I remember what all those things the Gita says which T have mentioned above. But everything in the Gita is contradictory. On one page the Gita says to do to your duty without expecting anything in return, but one the other it says, one gets the fruit of his own doings. If Tam to follow the Gita, then how am I supposed to live and earn my bread if I don't expect a good reward or salary for my services? If whatever happens in this physical life is not important then why should I be doing anything at all? The funny thing is I wrote this essay and submitted it expecting to get the first prize of Rs. 100,000 reward. I don't think anyone would think, let alone write some thousand words essay of the Gita. There is one thing which the Gita tells me, and also all the other books tell, is that it's not important what I do in life but “how” I do it. I'm sure if we all just know that “how”, then we can do anything and find a place in heaven. [have to treat the world as I would want the world to treat me and I need to live life in a way that doesn'tharm others.