Bhagavad Gita - Study of the Gita

At the end of the Bhagavad Gita - Text and Commentary by Sri Sivananda (Sivananda Press Durban SA), we are informed that:

Study of the Gita alone is sufficient for the purpose of daily scriptural study. You will find a solution for all your doubts. The more you study with devotion and faith, the more will you get deeper knowledge, penetrative insight and clear, right thinking. Even if you live in the spirit of one verse of the Gita, all your miseries will come to an end and you will attain the goal of life--immortality and eternal peace.

The Gita is a gospel for the whole world. It is meant for the generality of mankind. It was given over five thousand years ago on the battlefield of Kurushetra by Lord Krishna to Arjuna.

None but the Lord can bring out such an unprecedented and marvellous book, which gives peace to the readers, which helps and guides them in the attainment of supreme bliss. This itself proves clearly that God exists, that He is an embodiment of knowledge and that one can attain perfection or liberation by realizing Him alone.

The whole world is a big battlefield. The real Kurushetra is within you. The battle of Mahabharata is still raging within you. Ignorance is Dhritarashtra. The individual soul is Arjuna. The Indweller in your heart is Lord Krishna, the charioteer. The body is your chariot. The senses are the horses. Mind, egoism, senses, mental expressions, latent tendencies, cravings, likes and dislikes, lust, jealousy, greed, pride and hypocrisy are your dire enemies.

As the Gita contains subtle and profound teachings, you should study it under a qualified teacher--a preceptor who is established in the Absolute--with great and intense faith, single-minded devotion and purity. Only then will the truths of the Gita be revealed unto you like a fruit on the palm of your hand.

We are informed good commentaries, written by sages of Self-realisation will help us greatly. This is needed as worldly-minded people, however intellectual they are, cannot grasp the meaning of the essential teachings of the Gita. It is stated that worldly minded people will have unnecessary discussions and debates. However, If they study the Gita with reverence and faith under a qualified teacher, all their doubts will vanish. They will realise that there is a close connection between one verse and another in all the chapters. Repetitions in the Gita and the Upanishads are useful repetitions.

It is pointed how that Lord Krishna speaks from different levels of consciousness in different texts like the Gita and the Upanishads. So in order to know the right significance of the verses, the help of a teacher is necessary to understand. Sivananda tells us that Lord Krishna praises each Yoga in order to create interest in the aspirant in his particular path or Yoga. You must remember that the Gita is a book for the people of the world at large. It was not meant for Arjuna alone. Each Yoga is as efficacious and potent as the others.

India is held in high esteem by the Westerners on account of the Gita. Mahatma Gandhi once visited one of the largest libraries in London and asked the librarian, "What spiritual book is issued most frequently?" The librarian replied, "The Gita."

Sivananda ends with May the blessings of Lord Krishna be upon you all1 May the Gita be your centre, ideal and goal. Blessed is the man who studies the Gita daily! Twice blessed is he who lives in the spirit of the Gita! Thrice blessed is he who has realised the knowledge of the Gita--Atmajnana or Self-knowledge!