The Teaching of the Gita at Kurukshetra

On the battlefield, Krishna as Arjuna's charioteer lifted him out of despair with the timeless teaching of the soul, action, knowledge and devotion: the Bhagavad Gita.

Before the war, both Arjuna and Duryodhana came to Krishna for help. Krishna offered his vast army to one side and himself, unarmed, to the other. Duryodhana chose the army; Arjuna chose Krishna alone, and the Lord became his charioteer. This choice already holds the heart of the Gita: to have God with us is greater than any outward strength.

On the field of Kurukshetra the two armies stood ready. Arjuna asked Krishna to place the chariot between them so that he could see whom he must fight. There he saw his grandsire Bhishma, his teacher Drona, cousins, uncles and friends. His limbs trembled, his bow Gandiva slipped from his hand, and he said that he would not fight even for the kingdom of the three worlds. The first chapter of the Gita ends with Arjuna sitting down in the chariot, overwhelmed with grief.

Krishna's teaching begins in the second chapter. The soul, he says, is never born and never dies; it is not slain when the body is slain. As a person casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, the embodied soul leaves old bodies and enters new ones. So the wise do not grieve.

He then teaches karma yoga, the path of selfless action. In the well-known verse (Chapter 2, verse 47) he says that our right is to our duty alone, never to its fruits; we should not act for the sake of reward, nor become attached to inaction. Work done as an offering, with an even mind in success and failure, becomes yoga and purifies the heart.

Across eighteen chapters Krishna also explains the path of knowledge, meditation, the nature of the three gunas and, above all, bhakti, loving devotion. He promises that one who remembers him with love is never lost. At the end, in Chapter 18, verse 66, he gives his most intimate word: abandon all other supports and take refuge in me alone; I will free you from all sins, do not grieve.

Arjuna's doubts were dispelled. He said that his delusion was gone and that he would do as Krishna said. He lifted his bow again, not in anger but as a servant of dharma. The Gita remains the living voice of Shri Krishna, guiding every person who stands confused at a crossroads of life.

Source

Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva; Bhagavad Gita, chapters 1–18

Place

Kurukshetra

Gita Refs

1.47, 2.20, 2.22, 2.47, 18.66, 18.73

Lesson

Do your duty with devotion, without attachment to its fruits, and take refuge in the Lord.