The Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita, the Poem
The Bhagavad Gita is a Sanskrit poem of great antiquity. The Bhagavad Gita (sometimes referred to as the Bhagwat Gita) teaches you how to live a life of true inner courage.

And the Bhagavad Gita has a wonderful quality:

The verses of the Bhagavad Gita can transport you to a higher plane – and make you become aware of a place deep inside you that is absolutely silent and still and is beyond the reach of time and grief. These verses of the Bhagavad Gita are so enlightening, noble and beautiful that they affect you deeply and bring you an enormous sense of emotional freedom. (For more on the Bhagavad Gita, see the Preface to The Bhagavad Gita of Inner Courage by Prof. Kev Nair.)

The Bhagavad Gita – “the Song of the Lord” – is one of the world’s most revered of sacred books. It is an inspirational poem composed in Sanskrit.

The Bhagavad Gita (sometimes referred to as the Bhagwat Gita) belongs to the pre-Christian era, and is based on the Hindu view of the ultimate reality. It speaks about the timeless truths about ourselves and tells us how to realize them – so that we can free ourselves of all our griefs and fears, and live our life with true inner peace, dealing with whatever happens effectively.

Universal Truth
The Bhagavad Gita’s theme is universal – one that cuts across all class differences, gender differences and religious affiliations. And the Bhagavad Gita's message – the message of inner peace and inner courage – is of urgent importance to every human being in the world, no matter where or what period of history they live in, and no matter what their age is. All this makes the Bhagavad Gita a book of eternal relevance and of enduring value. (For more on the Bhagavad Gita, see "Part I - Bhagavad Gita, The Poem" in The Bhagavad Gita of Inner Courage by Prof. Kev Nair.)

Summary of the Bhagavad Gita
What is the Bhagavad Gita all about? The Bhagavad Gita is a treatise on every human being’s supreme dharma to go on remaining calm and to do their worldly duties prudently – by defeating the thoughts and events that constantly try to prevent them from doing so.

The external battle-oriented setting of the Bhagavad Gita is simply a metaphor for the battle-oriented setting that exists in the mind of every human being. Yes, every human being, without exception – even the most enlightened of them. Negative as well as positive thoughts and emotions refuse to leave our mind and to let us be in charge of it. The Bhagavad Gita is a treatise that teaches us how to defeat these usurpers, so that we take our mind back from them and rule it according to the laws of dharma, rather than of passing thoughts and emotions. - For more on the summary of the Bhagavad Gita, see "Part III - Central Teachings of The Gita" in The Bhagavad Gita of Inner Courage by Prof. Kev Nair.

The whole focus of the Bhagavad Gita is on teaching you a single, all-important, lesson: What is important for true joy in life, the Bhagavad Gita teaches, is not that painful events, results or thoughts must not happen – or that only pleasurable events, results or thoughts must happen. What is important, the Bhagavad Gita teaches, is this: No matter how painful or pleasurable the events, results and thoughts that happen appear to be, you must have the courage and determination to stay anchored to this understanding. And must have the courage and determination, the Bhagavad Gita teaches, to do your duty calmly, holding your mind still, undeterred by them all.

The Bhagavad Gita teaches you why this is so. And the Bhagavad Gita teaches you how to acquire the knowledge, skill and devotion required to achieve this courage and determination.

The Bhagavad Gita presents these teachings in the form of a dialogue that took place on a battlefield between Arjuna, a warrior prince, and Krishna, the Lord of the Universe in human form, acting as Arjuna’s charioteer. - For more on the summary of the Bhagavad Gita, see "Part III - Central Teachings of The Gita" in The Bhagavad Gita of Inner Courage by Prof. Kev Nair.

Note: Some of the more common alternate spellings by which The Bhagavad Gita is referred to include Bhagavad-Gita (with a dash in between the words), Bagavad Gita, Bhagwat Gita, Bhagawad Gita, Bhagavad Geeta, Bhagavad Geetha, Bhagavath Gita, Bagavat Gita, Bhagavat Gita, Bagavath Gita etc.