SREEMAD BHAGAVATGITA
Vasudhevasutham dhevam kamsachaaNooramardhanam
Dhevakeeparamaanandham krshNam vandhe jagathgurum
Salutations to Krishna, the son of Vasudheva, the destroyer of Kamsa and ChaaNoora, the source of joy for dhevaki and the great preceptor of mankind.
Lord Narayana incarnated as Krishna . as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki, not only to destroy the evil minded ones like Kamsa and Chanura and several others during His incarnation which ended only after the Mahabharatha war, but He showed the humanity the way to immortality through His discourse on the Gita. There are few other Gitas found in the puranas such as Ramagita, uddhavagita etc., dealing with the self knowledge but the Gita said by Krishna alone gets the name Bhagavatgita.
The Gita discourse was not an accidental happening impelled by the intention of Krishna to dispel the confusion in the mind of Arjuna because the confusion itself was the divine will of the Lord. In fact nothing happens by accident in this world, but only by the will of the Lord. The purpose of creating confusion in the mind of Arjuna by the deliberate stationing of the chariot in front of Bheeshma and Drona , was to give out the Gita to the world.
But why should the Lord choose the battle field to do so? It is the mercy of the Lord to uplift the humanity from the ills of samsara by bringing down the teachings of the Upanishads to the level of he common man. The Upanishads were taught by the rshis to those who were already aware of the transitory nature of the world and its pleasures and wished to have the divine wisdom. Hence the texts of these are in a higher level which only those who have learned the Vedas and the sasthras could understand. But Bhagavtgita is for all like the milk of the cow. The gopalanandhana, the cowherd boy, who know well how to milk the cow, has milked the cows called upanishads and gave out the milk to all.
Hence Bhagavatgita is the gospel of mankind. It is not only for the recluse but for the man right in the middle of the world, which is the battle field, the kurukshethra. The body is called kshethra , a field of activity and hence it is a kurukshethra, where the good and evil thoughts are always at war. The way to attain peace is to enlist the help of the Lord as Arjuna did, so that the Parthasarathy becomes 'naam paarttha sarathy,' the one whom we could see and the one who will lead our chariot , namely the mind and body.
It is a myth to think that the Gita is for old age. Help is needed for a man while he is fighting and not when he retires from the battle of life exhausted when both his mind and body become weak. Therefore the wisdom of Gita must be imparted while being young, so that the seed is sown, which will grow into a tree that gives fruits later.
Gita is essential in all walks of life. Whether one is a student, or an executive or a householder, he will be more efficient in his work if he has mastered the principles of Gita. It was said in the battle field to make Arjuna do his duty efficiently. A proper study of Gita can help a man throughout his life and also after.
Bhagavatgita is extolled in Mahabharatha as follows:
geethaa sugeethaa karthavyaa kimanyaih SaasthrasangrahaiH
yaa svayam padhmanaabhasya mukhapadhmaath vinisrthaa
Why do we need other sasthras when Bhagavtgita that sprang from the lotus- faced Lord Padmanabha Himself?
sarvaSaasthramayee geethaa sarvadhevamayo hariH
sarvatheerThamayee gangaa sarvavedhamayo manuH
Gita is the epitome of all sasthras. Lord Hari is the abode of all devas. Ganges is the essence of all sacred waters and manusmrthi is the summary of the Vedas.
Geethaa gangaa cha gaayathree govindhethi hrdhi sThithe
Chathurgakaarasamyukthe punarjanma na vidhyathe
To one in whose heart these four `ga'kaaraas, namely, geetha, ganaga, gaayathri and Govindha are found, has no rebirth.
bhaarathaamrthasarvasyageethaayaah maThithasya cha
saaram udDhrthya krshNena arjunasya mukhe hutham
(MAHABHARATHA- BHEESHMAPARVA)
Krishna churned the nectarine ocean of Mahabharatha, (which is panchamo vedaH) and took its essence and fed Arjuna as Bhagavath gita. In the Gitadhyanasloka of Bhagavatgita we have the same idea expressed differently and more poetically.
Sarvopanishdho gaavo dhogDhaa gopaalanandhanaH
paarTho vathsassuDheerbhokthaa dhugDham geethaamrtham mahath
All the Upanishads,( the essence of the Vedas) became the cows the one who milked them being the son of a cowherd, the calf was Partha and the milk, gitamruta and the consumers of the milk were sudheeh the people with right thinking. Who seek the wisdom of the scriptures .Arjuna was the calf to induce the cow to give the milk.
We shall enjoy the nectar of Gita drop by drop by taking the slokas one by one.
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