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Read This Easy To Understand Bhagvad Gita
Read This Easy To Understand Bhagvad Gita
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Contents OF fREE sAMPLE bOOK
1. Why the Bhagvad Gita? 1–3
2. What led to the Great War we 5–13
know as The Mahabharata that led to the epic
conversation we know as The Gita?
3. When the Warrior Became the Worrier 14–17
4. 21 Lessons from the Bhagvad Gita 18–149
Lesson 1 :-
Do your work without worrying about the
Results (FRUITS)
ISBN - 9789355642325
MRP- 299/-
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Contents OF Complete bOOK
Gita contains hidden truths and lessons that we can all learn
from. The Gita is really one of the greatest conversations in the
world to listen to because Krishna, through Arjuna, is telling
us all how to live our lives in the best possible way. Through
the battle on the field of Kurukshetra, he is enlightening us all
on fighting the battle within as well; the fight between the heart
and the mind, between what is right and difficult vs. what is
easy and not that beneficial.
You would think that it is easy to differentiate between what
is right and wrong for us, correct? Yes. But are we easily able
to choose what’s better for us? Not always. In fact, it might
surprise you how often we let the bad guys win. Think about
it. Deep down all of us know what is the right choice but how
many of us really make the right choice? For example, all of
us know blue light from our phones interrupts our sleep cycle
but does that stop us from using it every night before sleeping?
You know how important it is to get a good night’s sleep and
wake up early, so that you feel fresh but how many times have
you stayed up late watching a movie that was ‘too good to stop
in between’ or chatting with friends? We understand what is
good for us inherently because the ability to see the best is in
all of us. Despite this, we all give in to our temptations from
time to time.
Every day, many of us make excuses like Arjuna on the
battlefield. We may find reasons to avoid responsibility, or take
accountability for being weak willed to take the right action.
The right choices might seem too hard, too lonely or too scary
to attempt, and in the end we become confused about what
the right thing to do is. In doing so, we shut out the Krishna
inside us, that tiny little voice in the back of our head telling
3
Indra, king of the gods and lord of the heavens. And thus she
received in boons, three sons, whom she named Yudhishthira,
Bhima and Arjuna.
Kunti was quite happy with her boys, but Madri, Pandu’s
second wife, was getting jealous. So, after her wishes had
been granted, Kunti taught the mantra to Madri. She prayed to
the Ashwini Twins, gods of medicine and got her two lovely
twin boys whom she named Nakula and Sahadeva. From the
king who could not produce any heir, Pandu now had five
sons of his own.
These five were known as the Pandavas.
Happiness was all around but it did not last long. Soon after
the boys were born, Pandu died and Madri, unable to bear
the pain of his passing, flung herself into the funeral pyre in
grief. That left elder wife Kunti, to take care of all five sons,
which proved to be a bit too much for her to handle alone.
So she went back to Hastinapura to request Dhritarashtra to
take them in.
In the meantime, a lot had happened in Hastinapura. Dhritarashtra
had gotten married to a princess named Gandhari and the two
of them together had one hundred and one children, 100 sons
and one beautiful daughter (one hundred and one embryos
were incubated in clay pots over several months until the
babies had grown. Such things were common as the ancient
people were highly knowledgeable about the sciences). Those
hundred boys were known as the Kauravas or descendants of
the Kuru clan.
8
So, when the five Pandavas and their mother Kunti, arrived
at the doorsteps of Dhritarashtra, he was a bit worried; yet,
he took them in. After all, he couldn’t possibly turn away the
sons and wife of his late brother. And so, in the household of
101 kids running around, five more were added to the lot. All
100 Kauravas and the five Pandavas attended lessons together,
practised together and lived together. Everything was going
well except for one thing, the Pandavas were ridiculously
good at everything and outclassed the Kauravas by a pretty
huge margin. Among the 105 princes, Yudhishthira was the
most honest and upright, Bhima the strongest, Arjuna the best
archer, and Nakula and Sahadeva the best horsemen. This
created some jealousy against the Pandavas and particularly
did not sit right with one person, the eldest of the Kauravas,
Duryodhana. Not particularly a nice person, Duryodhana
wanted to be the next king and hated his cousins.
As the years rolled by, he was becoming increasingly afraid
that the elders would name Yudhishthira as the next king.
So, Duryodhana hatched a plan. He invited all of them to a
distant palace to stay the night. But that palace was constructed
out of a highly flammable material and this fact was known
to very few people. Fortunately, one of the very few people
was Yudhishthira. As the palace caught fire, he and the other
Pandavas were able to escape though an alternate exit and
head out into the forest. In order to make Duryodhana believe
that they were indeed dead, they decided to lie low for a while.
Soon after, they heard about an archery competition being held
by the king of Panchala. The winner was to win the hand of
the kingdom’s princess, Draupadi. The Pandavas decided to go
9
ahead and try their luck. Archers from around the kingdom had
tried and failed. So, it naturally captured everyone’s attention
when Arjuna shot the arrow straight into the target—a wooden
bird spinning on top of a tall post. By looking at the reflection
of the bird in the water, Arjuna hit the targeted bird in the
eye and the people were awestruck. Duryodhana, who was
present in the competition, immediately knew who that archer
was. Nobody else in the kingdom had such unerring aim. The
Pandavas were alive!
Meanwhile the Pandavas happily returned to the forest with
Draupadi, who was to be Arjuna’s wife. They went up to their
mother and said, “Mother, look what we have brought with
us today!” Kunti, busy in her prayers, told them, “Whatever
it is my children, make sure you divide it equally among
yourselves”, without turning around.
Once the mother had spoken, it was gospel for the Pandavas.
Thus, Draupadi became the wife of all five Pandavas.
In the meantime, word had spread that the Pandavas were alive
and the pressure was growing on Dhritarashtra to give them
half the kingdom as was their right. Unable to shake it off any
longer, he did finally give them their share, but only the most
barren part of the land.
For the Pandavas, that was not an issue. Through hard work
and ingenuity, they made the land fertile by digging irrigation
channels and their part of the kingdom grew to be lush and
plentiful. Of course, this made Duryodhana even more jealous;
and in desperation, he sought the help of his maternal uncle
Shakuni. Together, they plotted the Pandavas’ downfall by
striking first at the eldest, Yudhishthira. Shakuni knew that
10
But wait! Where was Krishna all this time? Didn’t he play a
major role in the great epic as well?
Yes he did. In fact, the Pandavas first met Krishna when
they went to Panchala to win Draupadi’s hand. Right after
Yudhishthira declared war against his cousins, the elders in
the family became worried. They knew that the war would
bring terrible destruction and chaos. They consulted Krishna.
Krishna was a good friend to the Pandavas, was similar in
age to both Kauravas and Pandavas and was a powerful king
himself. The elders believed both sides would listen to his
counsel. He got both sides together to hold peace talks but his
efforts failed. Duryodhana was hungry for blood and refused
to call off the war. In the end, Krishna had to accept that the
war was inevitable. He offered both sides an option; one side
could have his armies while the other side could have him.
He also added that he wouldn’t be doing any fighting himself.
Duryodhana immediately called dibs on Krishna’s armies and
the Pandavas went off with Krishna on their side.
On one chilly day in November, dawn was breaking across
the field of Kurukshetra. The sky was bathed in a golden light
awash with crimson edges that hinted at the coming of a new
day. This day was a very important one for the people standing
on the field below. There were men of all sorts down there,
young and old, brave and weak, leaders and their followers all
gathered together in two distinct groups.
This was the day they were going to fight a war.
Now, let us have a look at the players down on the field. On
one side were the Kauravas. They were led by Bhishma the
12
Invincible, the oldest man on the field and grand uncle to both
the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Eleven Kaurava battalions
stood in perfect order with chariots, elephants and foot soldiers
in shining armor. The great warriors of the Kaurava side stood
proud and strong. The supreme commander of their forces,
Bhishma Pitamaha, Duryodhana, the great teacher Dronacharya,
warriors like Karna, Kripa, Vikarna and Dronacharya’s son
Ashwatthama, all stood in full glory keeping up the morale
of their forces.
On the opposite side of field, stood the Pandava army. They
had only seven battalions on their side, against the might of the
Kaurava army, but that did not scare them one bit. Each and
every soldier on the Pandava side believed and knew in their
hearts that they were fighting on the side of justice and good.
In fact, it was the warriors on the other side who were looking
a bit tense despite having a larger army. Remember how
Yudhishthira declared war on Hastinapura because Duryodhana
cheated the Pandavas of their kingdom and position in society
and refused to give it back? Well, after the war was declared,
people began to choose sides. Most of the leaders and soldiers
in Duryodhana’s army joined him because of some who owned
King Dhritarashtra a debt or were coerced to defend Hastinapura
for other reasons. Nobody believed the Kauravas were in the
right. Even Bhishma Pitamaha, the supreme commander had
only agreed to fight for them under the condition that he would
not be required to kill any of the Pandava brothers.
When morality is not on your side, the size of the enemy’s
army hardly matters. If a soldier does not believe in the cause,
then he tends to lose his spirit anytime in the middle of a
13
battle. They are not good men to have by your side in a war. In
such a case, defeat is almost guaranteed. This was the general
consensus in the Kaurava army.
Sitting far away in the throne room in the kingdom of
Hastinapura, King Dhritarashtra was worrying about the same
thing. Beside him was his charioteer, Sanjaya, who was blessed
by the gods with divine sight and hearing. It meant he could
see people and listen to conversations happening hundreds of
kilometers away. He would keep track of events unfolding at
the battlefield and keep the king updated on the details of the
war, at all times.
Here’s an interesting fact to note. King Dhritarashtra’s question
to Sanjaya is the first verse that begins the Bhagvad Gita; and
only time the king speaks throughout the entire Gita.
Answering the King's question, Sanjaya begins narrating
what he can see in the far off battlefield of Kurushetra; and
thus comes into existence as one of the most enlightening
conversations in the world.
But before the first arrow was released, before the first drop
of blood was shed, Arjuna came to Krishna and had the
Conversation.
Before we begin, let us read the prayer. According to
tradition, before reading the Gita we are supposed pray to the
Mahabharata, to Vyasa for dictating it, to the Gita itself and
to Supreme Lord Krishna, to ask for their blessings and their
wisdom to help us understand this wondrous text. Gita prayer
is a nine verse prayer, but in lieu of that, we can pray with
these three shlokas:-
14
Student Takeaways:-
Students most often than not, study to get good results. The
equation inside their minds is, hard work brings good results
and thus they should work hard, not because studying is
their duty as a student, but because they care more about
the fruits of the labour.
The amount of labour to be invested in is calculated on
the basis of amount of fruit required and needed. All their
hard work is then invested in worrying about the end result,
rather than the actual hard work. Utilization of this wasted
energy into putting more work, will yield better results.
One of the key differences between Toppers and Average
students is that Toppers work on Roots whereas Average
students are always worried about FRUITS.
The toppers follow this interesting concept of BDH model
that differs from DHB that is followed by the average
students. DHB is Do-Have-Be concept, which means Do
the Work, Have results and Be Happy. Here the student’s
happiness depends on the result that comes in the end.
This approach produces a lot of stress as you are chasing
the end goal. The more successful model is BDH. Be-Do-
Have concept which on the contrary says Be Happy, Do the
work and Have the results; and works the best for academic
success. Being Happy boosts your work productivity and
end results. Focus on the journey, not the end results!
Point to Ponder:- You can make a list of actions you did
in the past week without expecting any results, and see for
yourself what you need to do in your path of righteousness.
Fun fact:- This shloka is perhaps the whole essence of The
Gita! If you think about it, the whole book revolves around
the same message. Pretty interesting?