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What Is the Gita?

What the Bhagavad Gita is, who speaks to whom, why it is set on a battlefield and what it asks of the listener. Start here before reading any chapter.

In brief

  • The Gita is one conversation between Arjuna and Lord Krishna on a battlefield, in eighteen chapters.
  • It reaches us through Sanjaya, who tells it to the blind king Dhritarashtra, whose question opens the book.
  • It is part of the Mahabharata, and it teaches how to act when you are torn.
  • It ends by asking the listener to think fully and then choose.

The Bhagavad Gita is one long conversation. Arjuna, a warrior, stands between two armies and cannot act. His friend Lord Krishna, who drives his chariot, answers him for eighteen chapters. A blind king, Dhritarashtra, opens the book with a question about the battlefield (Gita 1.1). His minister Sanjaya tells the rest. The whole stands inside the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic.

This hub answers a first-time reader's questions. What is the book? Who speaks to whom? Why is the teaching given in the middle of a war, and what is it for? The Gita ends by asking the listener to think it over fully and then choose (Gita 18.63), and it calls the study of this dialogue an offering (Gita 18.70).

It is the first step on the path Begin the Gita. The next step is How to Read the Gita, and The Gita Chapter Map shows what each chapter holds.

There are three readings of this topic: a simple reading, a detailed reading and a deeper reading.

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Simple New to this topic. Plain words, one idea at a time. What Is the Bhagavad Gita? A Plain Answer for First-Time Readers The Gita is one conversation, in eighteen chapters, between Arjuna and his friend Lord Krishna, who drives his chariot. 6 min · Read → In Depth Know the basics. Verse by verse, with reasons. Who Speaks in the Gita, and Why Does the Teaching Begin in a War? Four voices carry the Gita. Dhritarashtra asks, Sanjaya reports, Arjuna questions and Lord Krishna teaches. 11 min · Read → Deeper Want the text itself: Sanskrit terms, commentary, close reading. What the Gita Says About Itself: A Dialogue, a Yoga and a Book to Be Studied The closing chapter names the book three ways. It is a dialogue (18.70, 18.74), a secret yoga heard first hand (18.75), and a teaching whose study is an offering (18.70). 10 min · Read → Quick summary Short on time. The whole topic in a few minutes. What Is the Gita?: Quick Summary The Gita is one conversation between Arjuna and Lord Krishna on a battlefield, in 18 chapters. 8 min · Read →

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