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Bhagavad Gita - Introduction

 

Bhagavad Gītā means “The Song of God”.  It was written in Sanskrit by an unknown author at some point between 500 BCE and 300 CE.  For Hindus it is their most loved scripture.  For yoga students it is an important text because it is (probably) the first text to present the four principal yogas: Jñāna (spiritual), Bhakti (emotional) mental (Rāja) and material (Karma).  Hatha Yoga was a later development.  Its main teaching is the importance of dharma - one’s purpose in life, or spiritual duty.  Through the practice of yoga we can come to understand and carry out our dharma.  In fact the Bhagavad Gītā says that it is better to do our own duty badly than to do someone else’s duty well.  By presenting the four main yogas, the Bhagavad Gītā  allows us to choose the one appropriate to ourselves.

 

The Bhagavad Gītā is a small part of the great Indian epic The Mahābhārata.  Some scholars believe that it was composed separately and added to the Mahabharata at some stage in its history; others believe that it has always been an integral part of the Mahābhārata.  Whichever is the truth does not really matter, as it is possible to study the Gītā on its own, with only a little knowledge of its place in the greater work.

 

At this point in the story we are on a battlefield called “Kurukṣetra”, where a great battle is about to begin.  On the battlefield are the Kauravas preparing to fight the Pandavas, who are their cousins.  Arjuna is one of the Pandavas; Krishna is acting as Arjuna’s charioteer. (Krishna is in fact an avatar, i.e. an incarnation of God.  In pictures, he is shown as very beautiful, with blue-black skin and eyes shaped like lotus petals; he is usually dressed in yellow, and has a peacock feather on his head.  Some people think that he may have been an actual historical figure, living perhaps between 3000-1500 BCE.)