Here are some of my favorite passages:2:47 - You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.2:48 - Perform your duty equiposed, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachement to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.5:20 - A person who neither rejoinces upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God, is already situated in transcendence.6:6 - For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remian the greatest enemy.6:16 - There is no possibility of one's becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.12:6-20 - But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Prtha - for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death. Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt. My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upone Me without deviation, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way develop a desire to attain Me. If you cannot practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga, then just try to work for Me, because by working for Me you will come to the perfect stage. If, however, you are unable to work in this consciousness of Me, then try to act giving up all results of your work and try to be self-situated. If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is mediation, and better than mediation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind. One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, slef controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me - such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me. He by whome no one is put into difficulty and who is not distrubed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me. My devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and not striving for some result, is very dear to Me. One who neither rejoices nor grieves, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things - such a devotee is very dear to Me. One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, hapiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn't care for any residence , who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service - such a person is very dear to Me. Those who follow this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engage themselves with faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very, very dear to Me.
I've only read the translations and purports of the book, so I can't really understand the sanskrit. I was determined to read this book after reading The Science of Self Realization by the same author. Its the central text used by Krishna devotees in temples. The author founded the ISKCON movement which flourished in the 60's and 70's in the UK and USA. The books message is that Bhakti Yoga is the best way to unite with God, who is Krishna, and that chanting the maha-mantra is the most important part of that practice. It is the tale of a soldier faced with the prospect of killing his kinsmen. Arjuna the soldier discovers that his charioteer Krishna is God, who reveals his universal form to him, and instructs Arjuna in three forms of yoga, Bhakti being the highest form.From Yahoo answers a better explantion: the bhagavad gita s a hindu scripture, it is a verse that is essentially a conversation between krishna and arjuna at the start of the kurukshetra war, where arjuna is confused and unsure and full of doubt and krishna talks to him, explaining his duties as a warrior. the text is a philosophical exploration of the five basic truths: Ishvara (The Supreme Controller) Jiva (Living beings/the soul) Prakrti (Matter) Dharma (Duty) Kala (Time) it discusses the soul and dharma (total harmony and responsibility and duty) and explains that even though you may die at war, your soul will live on because you are only shedding your human form. but that duty is vital because that it what keeps the cosmos in balance and allows the human mind enlightenment and balance.
What do You think about Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (1997)?
I wouldn't say that Srila Prabhupad was departing wildly from his purports... but his understanding came from his own realisations and that of Sri Baladeva Vidyabhushana's commentary under the traditional religion of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which in itself fervent in their beliefs in the Gita and the Bhagavata Purana.
—Andrew
The Bhagavadgita (“Song of the Lord”) is an influential Indian religious text. In quasi-dialogue form, it is relatively brief, consisting of 700 verses divided into 18 chapters. A book revered by 950 million people, the Bhagavad-gita explores the themes of harmony and purpose, work and attitude, love and reciprocation. The purpose of Bhagavad-gita is to deliver mankind from the nescience of material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, and in the same way Arjuna also was in difficulty in having to fight in the battle of Kurukshetra. Arjuna surrendered unto Shri Krishna, and consequently this Bhagavad-gita was spoken. Not only Arjuna, but every one of us is full of anxieties because of this material existence. Bhagavad-gita teaches us that, our very existence is in the atmosphere of nonexistence. Actually we are not meant to be threatened by nonexistence. Our existence is eternal. But somehow or other we are put into asat. Asat refers to that which does not exist.According to ISKCON philosophy , out of so many human beings who are suffering, there are a few who are actually inquiring about their position, as to what they are, why they are put into this awkward position and so on. Unless one is awakened to this position of questioning his suffering, unless he realizes that he doesn't want suffering but rather wants to make a solution to all suffering, then one is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiry is awakened in one's mind. In the Brahma-sutra this inquiry is called brahma jijnasa. Athato brahma jijnasa. Every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure unless he inquires about the nature of the Absolute Truth.Therefore those who begin to question why they are suffering or where they came from and where they shall go after death and what is the purpose of our life are proper students for understanding Bhagavad-gita.Paraphrasing Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."
—Vivek Misra
This book clearly describes what psychedelics feel like, and can induce transcendental states of mind. However if one finds themselves sober, this book serves as a great reminder for the things one has experienced in their greatest moments of eternal truth. Being a deist I find that this book is somewhat command-like, the idea of a vegetarian diet for example, and the length of one's sleep, however there are some gold truths in this book that one will find and can easily compare and contrast with other religious books, such as the bible, the tao te ching, the book of mormon, which seek to describe the same thing.
—Neill Tumulac
