Course Overview

The Bhagavad Gita often referred to as the Gita , is a Hindu scripture, likely composed in the second or first century BCE,^[7] which forms part of the epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Indian religious thought, including the Vedic concept of dharma (duty, rightful action); Sankhya-based yoga and jnana (knowledge); and bhakti (devotion).^[8][b] Among the Hindu traditions, the Gita holds a unique pan-Hindu influence as the most prominent sacred text and is a central text in the Vedanta and Vaishnava traditions.

While traditionally attributed to the sage Veda Vyasa, the Gita is historiographically regarded as a composite work by multiple authors.^[9][10][11] Incorporating teachings from the Upanishads and the samkhya yoga philosophy, the Gita is set in a narrative framework of dialogue between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer guide Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, at the onset of the Kurukshetra War.

While the Gita praises the benefits of yoga^[12][13] in releasing man's inner essence from the bounds of desire and the wheel of rebirth, the text stresses the Brahmanic idea of living according to one's duty or dharma, in contrast to the ascetic ideal of seeking liberation by avoiding all karma.^[12] Facing the perils of war, Arjuna hesitates to perform his duty (dharma) as a warrior. Krishna persuades him to commence in battle, arguing that while following one's dharma, one should not consider oneself to be the agent of action, but attribute all of one's actions to God (bhakti).

Chapters and content:

The Bhagavad Gita contains 18 chapters and 700 verses found in the Bhishma Parva of the epic Mahabharata.^{[140][web 2]} Because of differences in recensions, the verses of the Gita may be numbered in the full text of the Mahabharata as chapters 6.25–42 or as chapters 6.23–40.^{[web 3]} The number of verses in each chapter vary in some manuscripts of the Gita discovered on the Indian subcontinent. However, variant readings are relatively few in contrast to the numerous versions of the Mahabharata it is found embedded in.

The original Bhagavad Gita has no chapter titles. Some Sanskrit editions that separate the Gita from the epic as an independent text, as well as translators, however, add chapter titles. For example, Swami Chidbhavananda describes each of the eighteen chapters as a separate yoga because each chapter, like yoga, "trains the body and the mind". He labels the first chapter "Arjuna Vishada Yogam" or the "Yoga of Arjuna's Dejection". Sir Edwin Arnold titled this chapter in his 1885 translation as "The Distress of Arjuna"

The chapters are:

Course Curriculum

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