INTRODUCTION

raja-vidya raja-guhyam pavitram idam uttamam

pratyak savagamam dharmyam susukham kartum avyayam (BG 9.2)
राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमत्ु तमम ्‌।
प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं सस
ु ख
ु ं कर्तुमव्ययम ्‌॥ (२)

This knowledge is the king of all wisdom, the king of all that is confidential. It is the purest
and the topmost and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization it is the
perfection of all religion and everlastingly joyful to perform. Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 9,
verse 2.
The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic poem. In the Gita,
Arjuna, a great warrior, is faced with a difficult decision: whether or not to fight in a battle
between his kinsmen. He is torn between his duty to fight alongside his brothers for a just
cause, and his reluctance when he sees those he must fight against include his other
relatives and mentors. Krishna takes the place of Arjuna's charioteer and offers Arjuna
advice on how to deal with the situation.
The knowledge found within the Bhagavad-Gita is incomparable as it gives specific
information regarding the purpose of human existence, the immortality of the soul and
our eternal relationship with God. This information applies to each and every one of us
without exception. Without realization of our divine relationship with the God it is
impossible to establish our eternal relationship with Him. This divine relationship is our
natural constitutional position and every human beings birthright.
There are four paths which lead directly to establishing a relationship with God. According
to the authority of Bhagavad-Gita these paths have been designated as the yoga of
perfect actions, the yoga of perfect devotion and the yoga of perfect knowledge. These
four paths with great care and attention have been fully explained in the Bhagavad-Gita
which comprises chapters 23 through 40 in the Bhishma-Parva section of Mahabharata.
The Bhagavad-Gita consists of 18 chapters. Each chapter is called a yoga.
Yoga is the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the Ultimate
Consciousness. So each chapter is a highly specialized yoga revealing the path of attaining
realization of the Ultimate Truth. The first six chapters have been classified as the Karma
Yoga section as they mainly deal with the science of the individual consciousness attaining
communion with the Ultimate Consciousness through actions. These chapters are:
Chapter 1: Visada Yoga
Chapter 2: Sankhya Yoga
Chapter 3: Karma Yoga
Chapter 4: Jnana Yoga
Chapter 5: Karma Vairagya Yoga
Chapter 6: Abhyasa Yoga
The middle six chapters have been designated as the Bhakti Yoga section as they
principally are pertaining with the science of the individual consciousness attaning
communion with the Ultimate Consciousness by the path of devotion.
Chapter 7: Paramahamsa Vijnana Yoga
Chapter 8: Aksara-Parabrahman Yoga
Chapter 9: Raja-Vidya-Guhya Yoga
Chapter 10: Vibhuti-Vistara-Yoga
Chapter 11: Visvarupa-Darsana Yoga
Chapter 12: Bhakti Yoga
The final six chapters are regarded as the Jnana Yoga section as they are primarily
concerned with the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the
Ultimate Consciousness through the intellect.
Chapter 13: Ksetra-Ksetrajna Vibhaga Yoga
Chapter 14: Gunatraya-Vibhaga Yoga
Chapter 15: Purusottama Yoga
Chapter 16: Daivasura-Sampad-Vibhaga Yoga
Chapter 17: Sraddhatraya-Vibhaga Yoga
Chapter 18: Moksa-Opadesa Yoga
It should be understood that the Bhagavad-Gita is the very essence of Mahabharata. The
Bhagavad-Gita literally translates as the Song of God! It was originally revealed in the
classical language of Sanskrit spoken on the Indian sub-continent. It was first translated
into English in 1785 by Charles Wilkins. It was translated into Latin in 1823 by Schlegel,
into German in 1826 by Von Humbolt, into French in 1846 by Lassens and into Greek in
1848 by Galanos. By now it has been translated into all the major languages of the world
such as Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Hebrew, Portugese, Arabic,
Hindi and Bengali.
The four yogas in the context of Bhagavad-Gita

Raja Yoga,

Jnana Yoga,

Karma Yoga & Bhakti Yoga

Krishna summarizes the Yogas through eighteen chapters. There are four kinds of Yoga:
Raja Yoga or psycho-physical meditation, Bhakti Yoga or devotion, Karma Yoga or selfless
action, and Jnana (pronounced gyaan) Yoga or self-transcending knowledge. Other forms
that exist today sprang up long after the Bhagavad Gita and Yoga Sutras and are all
essentially forms of Raja Yoga.
While each path differs, their fundamental goal is the same: to realize Brahman (the
Divine Essence) as being the only truth, that the body is temporal, and that the soul
(Atman) is infinite. Yoga's aim (nirvana, moksha) is to escape from the cycle of
reincarnation through realization of oneness with the ultimate reality.