Read the Gita through Arjuna's situation and the Mahabharata setting.
22 results
Article
Afraid that whatever goes wrong will be your doing? In the Gita the Lord tells Arjuna to be merely an instrument. A plain meaning, an example, what it is not, and one small practice for today.
Level: Simple English 6 min Merely an Instrument
Article
Should you ask the question you keep to yourself, or stay quiet? The Gita starts from Arjuna's questions. See how he asks, what Lord Krishna does, and a simple way to ask a question of your own.
Level: Simple English 5 min Arjuna's Questions
Article
The Bhagavad Gita is one conversation between Arjuna and Lord Krishna on a battlefield, in eighteen chapters, about how to act when you are torn. Here is who speaks, why, and what it asks of you.
Level: Simple English 6 min What Is the Gita?
Article
When a decision is too heavy to carry, Arjuna shows the first step: say plainly what is wrong, admit you do not know, and ask. A simple reading of Gita 1.28 to 2.10.
Level: Simple English 5 min Arjuna's Despondency
Article
You decide firmly, then meet the people the decision touches, and your resolve shakes. Arjuna's pause between the two armies shows why looking comes first, and what to do next.
Level: Simple English 4 min Arjuna on the Field
Article
Arjuna asks to see whom he must fight, Lord Krishna grants it and says one word, and the sight of his own people changes everything. A verse-by-verse reading of Gita 1.20–27 and why the Gita begins here.
Level: In Depth English 11 min Arjuna on the Field
Article
A chapter-by-chapter map of the Bhagavad Gita: the name, size and job of each of the eighteen chapters, and how Arjuna's questions carry the book from despair to decision.
Level: In Depth English 14 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Article
What does Arjuna ask in the Gita, when, and why? Fourteen main questions in the order of the book, what each shows about his state of mind, the first line of Lord Krishna's answer, and where to read the full reply.
Level: In Depth English 14 min Arjuna's Questions
Article
Why did the Lord tell Arjuna to be merely an instrument? Gita 11.31-35 in order: Arjuna's question, 'I am Time', the four named warriors, Arjuna's trembling, common misunderstandings, an example and a practice.
Level: In Depth English 14 min Merely an Instrument
Article
Four voices carry the Bhagavad Gita: a blind king asks, his minister reports, Arjuna questions and Lord Krishna teaches. See why the teaching is given on a battlefield and how Arjuna's questions move it along.
Level: In Depth English 11 min What Is the Gita?
Article
Gita 1.28 to 2.10 read in order: how Arjuna's body, feelings and reasons give way, what Lord Krishna says first, and the one verse (2.7) where he stops arguing and asks to be taught.
Level: In Depth English 13 min Arjuna's Despondency
Article
A close reading of Gita 1.28 to 2.10: how Arjuna's body, feeling and reasons give way in turn, what Lord Krishna's first words answer, and why his last move is a request.
Level: Deeper English 18 min Arjuna's Despondency
Article
Do Arjuna's questions only open the door to the Gita, or do they shape it? Their wording, three threads that run through them, the echo of that wording in the replies, two streams of commentators, and objections answered.
Level: Deeper English 15 min Arjuna's Questions
Article
Is the order of the Gita's eighteen chapters an argument or a gathering? A close look at the narrator's frame, Arjuna's sixteen questions, the verse counts, the chapter names and the verses that return.
Level: Deeper English 12 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Article
In its closing verses the Bhagavad Gita names itself a dialogue, a secret yoga and a teaching to be studied as an offering, then leaves the choice to the listener. A close reading with objections and replies.
Level: Deeper English 10 min What Is the Gita?
Article
Arjuna asks to see, Lord Krishna places the chariot and says one word, and the sight of his own people undoes Arjuna's resolve. A close reading of Gita 1.20–27, with parallels, readings and objections.
Level: Deeper English 15 min Arjuna on the Field
Quick summary
Arjuna lifts his bow and asks Krishna to drive the chariot between the two armies, and then sees his own people on both sides. A short revision of Gita 1.20-27, the moment from which the need for teaching begins.
English 9 min Arjuna on the Field
Quick summary
Why does the Gita begin with its hero breaking down? Arjuna's body gives way, he lets go of his bow, then he turns to Krishna as a disciple seeking refuge, and the teaching begins from there.
English 11 min Arjuna's Despondency
Quick summary
A short revision of Arjuna's fourteen questions in the Gita: where each one comes, what puzzle of the mind lies behind it, and where the answer is found.
English 11 min Arjuna's Questions
Quick summary
In fear at the cosmic form, Arjuna asks who the terrible form is. The Lord says 'I am Time' and 'be merely an instrument'. A short revision of Gita 11.31-35: the verses, their meaning and Arjuna's trembling reply.
English 10 min Merely an Instrument
Quick summary
A quick summary of the eighteen chapters of the Gita: the name, verse count and work of each chapter, in five groups, so that the whole map can be revised and explained to someone.
English 13 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Quick summary
What is the Gita, who is speaking to whom, why did this conversation happen on a battlefield, and what is the book for? Answers in three readings for someone reading the Gita for the first time.
English 8 min What Is the Gita?