The Bhagavad Gita, also referred to as Gita is a Hindu scripture comprising of 700 verses. Gita is a conversation between Lord Shri Krishna and Pandava prince Arjuna during the onset of Mahabharata war. Lord Krishna takes upon himself to respond to the ethical confusion shown by Arjuna due to the debacle with his cousins, and informs Prince Arjuna of his mandates and roles as a prince and fighter, elaborating on the teachings by Samkhya, Karma Yoga, Yoga, Moksha, and Inana Yoga, which are so evident in the Bhagavad Gita.
Being a religious book, it talks about the true meaning of life and connect man to divinity. There are several teachings that are highlighted by the 700 verse Bhagavad Gita. The teachings of the scripture can be grouped into four main topics. They are; Gods Universality, personality, personal emancipation, and the link between the world and a person.
The Gita teaches people to undertake their obligatory duty as an offering to God. Although Bhagavad Gita seems to support the path of devotion, the scripture’s teachings has connections with other pathways that include the path of action (Karmayoga), path of knowledge (jnanayoga), and the path of denial of connection to the fruits of one’s deeds (Karma sanyasa Yoga) (Oxtorby and Amore 67).
The path of knowledge (jnanayoga) is the first stage in the teachings of Bhagavad Gita. One gets self knowledge by way of thinking and evaluation and gets the knowledge of the importance of attaining salvation and discovery of themselves. Once the person acquires knowledge of the scripture and issue related to inner self, he or she turns to the path of action, which teaches about how an individual can fulfill ones duty towards his or her family, oneself, and the society by undertaking the obligation as a sacrifice to God.
The pathway of action culminates to Karma Sanyasa Yoga through which an individual realizes from experience, or knowledge that it is not one’s action but the attachment to the fruit of one’s action that is accountable for his or her bondage. As such, the scripture teaches one to renounce the sense of his or her actions and offer the fruits of his or her deeds to God (Easwaran 88).
The Bhagava Gita teaches people to acquire divine qualities and purity in order to experience deep commitment and absolute love for God. Service to God as taught by the scripture encourages one to surrender his or her life and time in his or service to God and mankind. When one’s devotion reaches its peak, God responds by offering great love just as promised in the scripture, and liberates one from everlasting bonds of worldly life (Easwaran 58).
If one follows the information from Bhagavad Gita, it is obvious that the scripture talks about the holistic celestial struggle that needs individual mental and physical chastity, commitment to one’s calling, and commitment to the creator to be emancipated from the bondage of the world.
Works Cited
Easwaran, Eknath. The Bhagavad Gita. New Delhi: Nilgiri Press, 2007. Print.
Oxtoby Willard and Amore Roy. World religions: Eastern Traditions. New York: Oxford University press, 2010. Print.