1. Introduction.

Greetings to the soul, who has found time to read the Gita in a brief
summary here, the song divine book sung by the Lord Krishna Himself who captivates the hearts
of the readers through his message. The perspective of the Gita is war between 100 Kauravas
and 5 Pandavas. Thus the Gita brings out the battle between the good minority and the evil
majority within us. The chosen representative ‘being’, stands at the cross roads of his/her life. It
becomes difficult to take a decision when all duty is to establishing justice. Krishna gives Arjuna
an oration and that’s the Gita, the sermon on the combat zone.

2. Drutarashtra, the also ‘blind within’ king, asks a question to Sanjaya, the unique observer,
who surveillances the combat from far away, explaining all the events with passion and
dedication. The worried king is also, confused and terrified. His thoughts are revealed through
his words. The one question asked by King Drutarashtra sets off the entire Gita.

CHAPTER 01: DESPONDENCY OF ARJUNA

3. The King wonders what happened in the battlefield, Sanjaya diligently reported the King. A
graphic scene is described. Arjuna parked his chariot between the two armies, and Krishna
orders him to see his enemies. Arjuna is bewildered as he sees all his relatives and is reluctant
to fight. The first question raises many other questions as asked by the King Drutarastra.
Whether it’s really righteous? Isn’t Krishna righteousness incarnate? Was it because of Shakuni?
Was it a war between good and evil, Was Shri Hanuman in Arjuna’s Chariot a quiet onlooker or a
godly accomplice?

CHAPTER 02: YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE

4. Knowledge is given only to the ones who aspire for it. It’s not showered like rainfall on
everyone. Krishna tells Arjuna to remove the guilt of killing his enemies on the battlefield.
Krishna exhorts him to do his duty. Karma yoga is an important lesson of the Gita. Duty has to be
performed without obsession of fruit of action. Krishna says Duty has to be performed because
the Lord allows no one to escape from duty. At times, Krishna advises, at times warns, at times
commands, at times persuades, and at times gives awesome orders.

CHAPTER 03: YOGA OF ACTION

5. Arjuna’s problem is not cowardice. His problem is how to kill the enemy and yet be saved
from the sin of killing. Krishna tells Arjuna freedom from action is not possible but freedom in
action is possible, it is true that all action binds, when one offers action as sincere duty to God it
does not bind and releases the man from his karmic bonds. Whatever is offered to the perfect
one, has to be perfect. Hence Krishna asks Arjuna to perform ego-less, selfless, God dedicated
action which will free him from sin and bondage.
 CHAPTER 04: YOGA OF RENUNCIATION OF ACTION IN KNOWLEDGE

6. Why does the Lord come into the world, the answer is to reinstate righteousness and to
set right the moral imbalance when the evil gains strength. The primary intention of the divine
manifestation is not abolishment of evil, but to guard the good and incidentally if the evil are too
strong for them they are abolished, only to guard the good and uphold righteousness. The
delightful play is not an erratic play of power. It has system and discipline, a method and a deep
sense of ethical design involved in it.

CHAPTER 05: SANYASA YOGA

7. Krishna says only a person without regrets can be happy. A man has to regret because
he does what he shouldn’t, speaks what he shouldn’t, and desires what he shouldn’t. In short, he
becomes a victim of his passion. He must first conquer the enemies within. Yet some of them
don’t even realize their internal enemies. Lust, Greed and Anger are there, but the prominence of
man lies in conquering these on-rushes of feelings. Krishna explains that true happiness lies only
in a clear conscience achieved by self control, and not when behaving as he likes.

CHAPTER 06: YOGA OF MEDITATION

8. The 6th chapter raises a very reasonable doubt. Arjuna asked Krishna about the man who
takes to deep contemplation but drifts away from yoga, the answer given by Krishna is as follows.
Krishna says that not even the smallest effort goes unrewarded. All good thoughts, deeds, and
words, take a long way. This is the divine assurance. It inspires every reader to do various good
to others in any possible way with a confident step towards the goal. Krishna assures that no
step taken in this spiritual direction can ever be an attempt in vain.

CHAPTER 07: YOGA OF KNOWLEDGE AND REALIZATION

9. The 7th chapter explains that He has to bless to inspire, to know God. Among thousands,
one strives to reach God. One among those thousands understands divinity as it is. Amongst
several thousands, only a few have a spiritual inclination to know God. Among the qualified,
among the aspirants, only one comes to understand the Lord as He is. Spiritual seekers are few.
Among them the realized ones are fewer still. Even among them, a chosen few realize who the
Lord is. Rare is the man who has drunk the milk of paradise.

CHAPTER 08: YOGA OF THE IMPERISHABLE BRAHMAN

10. If 7th chapter teaches how to live, the 8th chapter teaches how to die. Man wonders how
to break the cycle of birth & death. A man performs good acts and enjoys the fruits of virtue in
heaven and when it exhausts, takes rebirth. The question arises as how to get liberated. The
heaven sends the soul back after its virtue is over, but those who think and pray of God tirelessly
and perform their duty perfectly, reach the Lord and never come back to world and does not need
to fear rebirth.
 CHAPTER 09: YOGA OF SOVEREIGN SCIENCE AND SOVEREIGN SECRET

11. All lessons cannot be given to all, some are special lessons. One is the divine secret
given to Arjuna in Chapter 09 verse 22, is a miracle verse. Sorrow is caused by two reasons,
either we do not get what we want or we are losing what we have. The Lord says those who
worship the master, gets what he desires and retains it, whether for a student to pass an
examination, or for a business promotion, or for riches or to get cured from dreadful diseases.
This works out efficaciously.

CHAPTER 10: YOGA OF DIVINE MANIFESTATIONS

12. In the 9th chapter God assures man and in the 10th chapter God consoles him, by
revealing the special presence of the divine. He reveals the role of the singer saint and eloquent
preachers. The spiritual exchanges are no waste of time. Depression comes nowhere near those
who chant the name of the Lord. Those who chant are the enlightened ones, the elevated ones,
because Krishna himself assures Arjuna that He lights the lamp of wisdom in them out of shear
compassion for them, that is how the unlearned speak & the unmusical sing.

CHAPTER 11: YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

13. In first 10 chapters, we find spiritual, audio education. The 11th chapter is video education.
Arjuna asks Krishna whether he is spiritually qualified to see His cosmic form. Merciful Krishna
gives an inner contact lens for this experience. The first desirable qualification to witness the
cosmic form, 100,000 hands, 100,000 feet, and 100,000 garlands, all stand before Arjuna who is
bewildered, zapped. Krishna asks him to awake, arise, and improve his role to play as a mere
instrument in hands of the Lord. In 11th chapter, a reformed Arjuna exclaims!

CHAPTER 12: YOGA OF DEVOTION

14. Everyone cannot see the cosmic form except those who have devotion and then who is a
devotee is the next argument. In chapter 12, verse 13, the devotee is defined. Krishna tells
Arjuna, he who hates none, he who hates no creatures, he who is friendly and compassionate to
all, he who has no trace of ego which means this is mine and I am doing this, he who is poised in
joy and sorrow, he who is full of forbearance, he is a true devotee. The first prerequisite for
devotion is being hatred less.

CHAPTER 13: YOGA OF DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN KSHETRA AND KSHETRAJNA

15. A new chapter opens when the Lord gives a refreshing definition of knowledge. One has
always heard of knowledge and wisdom of high level meditation and self control, but Krishna
gives us a pleasant jolt when He redefines jnana in chapter 13, verse 07, (Lack of pride, lack of
vanity, nonviolence, forgiveness, truthfulness, service of the preceptor, purity, steadfastness, and
control of the self). The definition includes detachment from sensuous objects & keeping
absolute devotion to the Lord. Knowledge seems a divine package within which the best of
virtues are combined.
 CHAPTER 14: YOGA OF THE DIVISION OF THE THREE GUNAS

16. The 14th chapter leads to an analysis of the three gunas, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.
Verse 06 talks of Sattva guna in particular. Among the three gunas, Sattva (goodness) is pure,
luminous, and free from distortion. It binds one with joy and deep wisdom. Rajas (passion) binds
man to attachment, karma and its violent results, Tamas (ignorance) binds man to lethargy and
slumber. Those who follow Sattva go to the higher regions, those who take Rajas come back to
suffer as human beings. The Tamasic ones are born as creatures.

CHAPTER 15: YOGA OF THE SUPREME SELF

17. It is in the Purushotama Yoga, chapter 15, that we realize the truth of His presence in
every creature. He resides in every heart. From Him arise memory, wisdom, and the capacity to
clear doubts. He is the subject of the Vedas; He is the maker of Vedanta and the knower of
Vedanta too. How strange is this revelation and yet how true. One wonders about memory, about
wisdom, about the knowledge of the Vedas and all that is contained in the Lord Himself. What a
comprehensive definition of Divinity of the Lord.

CHAPTER 16: YOGA OF DIVISION BETWEEN THE DIVINE AND THE DEMONIACAL

18. In 16th chapter, we note the definition of two types of people, the children of light and the
children of darkness. The former contains the following virtues; nonviolence, truth, absence of
anger, sacrifice, peace, noncritical attitude, kindness, unconditional love for all creatures,
tenderness, detachment from sensuous objects. The latter are full of pride, arrogance, vanity,
passion, cruelty, and ignorance. For a while, Arjuna, wonders to which category he belongs to.
The Lord in Verse 05 tells Arjuna, do not worry, you belong to the divine category, do not weep.

CHAPTER 17: YOGA OF THREEFOLD SRADDHA

19. Chapter 17 reveals several concepts divided into three categories, Sattva, Rajas, and
Tamas. Defining three types of speech, the Lord says this is the type of verbal penance one
should perform, “that word which angers none, that which is truthful, loving and well-wishing, full
of the study of the scripture, this is the penance of speech.” How callous we are about our
speech, we do not know how many we hurt knowingly or unknowingly. How often we move away
from truth. How often we do not have the right knowledge to embellish our words.

CHAPTER 18: YOGA OF LIBERATION BY RENUNCIATION

20. A bewildered Arjuna stands before the Lord, who in profuse compassion shows him the
royal path of surrender, Sharanagati Chapter 18, verse 66. Forget about ordinary paths Arjuna,
resort to ME alone with single-minded devotion and I will absolve you of all sin, surrender to me,
do not weep. Did the Lord stop to wipe a tear of Arjuna. Sharanagati (surrender) is not an act. It
is an attitude. It is not an impulse. It is the cumulative effect of collected penance down the
ages. It marks the birth of wisdom in man.
Conclusion:

When he takes to the Lord with unquestioning faith and cheerful heart. A weeping Arjuna met us
in the first chapter unwilling to fight, afraid of the repercussions of killing relatives. Here is a
transformed Arjuna who stands undeluded recovering his memory of belonging to the Lord alone,
educated in wisdom not by his own intelligence but by the benevolence of the Lord. He stands
without doubts and fears not to follow the command of the Lord.

A blind Drutarashtra had asked a sagacious Sanjaya what happened on the battlefield, and the
special reporter concludes with deep emotion. Verse #78 of the 18th chapter marks the spiritual
climax of the Gita. It is a thematic climax, it is a great assurance for man who believes in God.

“yatra yogeshvarah krsno, yatra partho dhanur-dharah

tatra srir vijayo bhutir, dhruva nitir matir mama”

In Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s words where there is a grace abounding God and a devotee
bound man, there is prosperity, victory, affluence, ethical excellence, and all this will prevail for all
times. The Gita has no place for social dropouts. There is no place for the indolent but mere
workaholics will also not do. We need work with worship, devotion with compassion, excellence
with humility.