A simplified version of a simplified version of the Bhagavad Gita.

[an anarchist]

A simplified version of a simplified version of the Bhagavad Gita.

I am making this thread for myself, in order to encourage me to read the Gita again. I'll continually update as long as I have service, which is not guaranteed for me.
Feel free to comment though
Introduction
"Bhagavad Gita" means "song of God"
It is a small part of the Hindu epic "Mahabharata"
The Gita takes place at a high point of a feud between two great families. The feud revolves around a inheritance dispute that culminates into a war.
When the two houses face off in the battlefield, the champion of one house, Prince Arjuna, instructs his chariot driver between the two armies so he can observe. Overwhelmed by the site of family and loved ones divided on both sides, he declares he will not fight. The chariot driver and the Prince then discuss life and death, as well as divinity.
Thats the Gita!

The chariot driver is none other than Lord Krishna.
Krishna is a major deity is Hinduism. Worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and a supreme God in his own right.

The perspective that the Gita is told from is like this. The blind King Dhritarashta on the opposing side of Arjuna has a clairvoyant scribe Sanjaya. This scribe relays Krishna's and Arjuna's conversation to the king.

Chapter one
The clairvoyant scribe Sanjaya begins to relay to the blind King Dhritarashta what is happening on the battlefield.
Prince Arjuna and Lord Krishna ride between the two armies. Seeing families divided, Arjuna declares he will not fight and throws aside his bow. Lord Krishna turns to him and begins to speak.

 

[an anarchist]

Realizing this is gonna be a bit harder than I thought

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter two
There has never been a time where you and I have not existed nor will there be a time when we stop existing.
Krishna encourages Arjuna to fight.
Arjuna asks Krishna about people who have attained inner peace. They are not agitated by grief, lust, or anger. They are not overwhelmed or ruled by their senses or cravings.
Attachment leads to desire. Desire leads to anger and frustration, which clouds judgement. To step back from these influences and acquire peace requires committed daily spiritual practice.

 

[Sirona]

Bhagavad Gita 18.70 And I [Krishna] declare that he who studies this sacred conversation of ours [Arjuna and Krishna] worships Me by his intelligence.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter three
Two paths to inner peace: the path of contemplation (right thought) and the path of selfless service (right action).
It is not possible for any being to ever stop acting. All beings act according to their nature.
Selfish action causes all the troubles of the world. Selfless action leads to peace because it is born from God.
You are not the doer of any actions. You are a witness. When you believe you are the doer, you get attached to how it all works out in the end.
Selfish actions have their root in desires. Desires are a consequence of our senses. Stronger than our senses is the mind. Stronger than the mind is the will. Above all is the real Self, the part of you that is not deluded by the information of the sense world.

 

[metis]

Let me just say that I loved reading the Gita.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Chapter two
There has never been a time where you and I have not existed nor will there be a time when we stop existing.
Krishna encourages Arjuna to fight.
Arjuna asks Krishna about people who have attained inner peace. They are not agitated by grief, lust, or anger. They are not overwhelmed or ruled by their senses or cravings.
Attachment leads to desire. Desire leads to anger and frustration, which clouds judgement. To step back from these influences and acquire peace requires committed daily spiritual practice.

Nice effort.
The main point in the second chapter is that it has been decided that there will be a war (the other party is not ready to make even the smallest concession). That being the case and Arjuna being the General of Pandava army, what is his duty? His duty is to fight. Whether he wins or looses, profits or incurs a loss, is praised or blamed, is happy or sorrowful; that is immaterial. He is a soldier in the battlefield and none else. So, he must fight to fulfill his duty. He should not let any emotion come between him and his duty.

Kurava father was not the king because of his blindness and was substituting for Pandava father because of the latter's illness, Pandava father was the anointed king

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter four
You, I, Arjuna, and Krishna have been through many births.
When you realize you are not merely a body and become aware of your real Self, you also become aware of your unity with Krishna and cease experiencing yourself as a separate being. Freeing yourself from anger, hate, fear, and attachment, you come to live in awareness of your unity with Krishna. Ultimately, all paths leads towards him. Some people take vows, others act selflessly, others give to charity. These are all forms of sacred service, which is its own reward.
There is action in inaction and inaction in action.
To understand this will bring complete awareness of the peace at the center.
When you are free from any expectations and any sense of being able to possess anything or anyone, then nothing you do will result in evil.
Nothing purifies like spiritual wisdom.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter five
There is no difference between the renunciation of selfish activities and the performance of one’s duties without attachment to the result.
Those who commit selfless service find the Self in all creatures, and remain untouched by and service they perform. They remain aware that they are not the doers. Even when they hear, touch, smell, eat, sleep, move about, they understand this to be the action of the senses.
They are not excited by good fortune or upset by bad fortune, because they no longer depend on things of the world for happiness.
Through the practice of meditation, they focus their attention of spiritual awareness and discover Krishna as the peace at the center of things.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter six
Through meditation, one can experience unity with Krishna.
In a clean place, sit straight and do not let the mind wander. Hold the senses quiet and do not let your thoughts wander.
Temperance in all things is beneficial to meditation. When mastered, meditation brings stillness to the mind, a stillness in which the Self reveals itself. In this stillness, you will experience such joy that you will want for nothing.
This work must be approached patiently and persistently, always gently bringing the restless mind back to a single point.
Meditation is challenging if you are not accustomed to self control.
The mind becomes a friend to the one who controls it and an enemy to the one who is controlled by it.
Those who attempt the spiritual life are never lost. Upon death, they are reborn into conditions suitable for further development.
The wisdom acquired in the previous life will reawaken in them and nothing will be lost.
Devoting yourself to the all-pervasive Presence is superior to all other pursuits.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter seven
Practice so your mind is always on Krishna, and you will want nothing else.
Krishna creates everything. Everything depends on and is sustained by Krishna.
Life is made up of three primary dispositions: sattva (harmony, truth, and goodness), rajas (activity and passion), and tamas (inactivity, indifference, and ignorance). They come from Krishna, but he is not in them. These qualities make up all of creation. Many people cannot see Krishna through the illusion created by these qualities; to these people, the material world seems to be the only reality.
Anyone who follows the spiritual path is blessed.
The variety of forms in creation distracts some people. They fail to see Krishna's true nature.
There are those who have freed themselves from this illusion because they know Krishna is the source of all life.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter eight
Arjuna asks the following questions: what is God (Brahman)? What is matter (adhibhuta)? What is spirit (adhyatma)? What is the nature of action? What is sacrifice and how is it to be offered? How are the wise aware of you at the hour of death?
Lord Krishna is God. Sacrifice is when you acknowledge and honor him as the Lord within you.
Those who remember Krishna at the hour of death will go to him. Whatever occupies your time at the hour will determine your next reality. Keep your mind on Krishna as you do your duty.
When death approaches, close the doorways of your senses and direct your mind inwardly towards your heart center. Then focus your energy to your head, saying the sacred syllable "Aum" to pass on to bliss.
Those who are attached to nothing else easily reach Krishna. Those who reach him will no longer be reborn.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter nine
Krishna brings forth and supports all beings, but he is not confined in them. Through the movement of his subtle energies of creation, he produces a multiplicity of forms from the unity of himself, over and over again.
Foolish people who do not look beyond the form of things are deluded and empty. The wise know Krishna to be the origin of all and give full attention to him.
Spiritual wisdom may be acquired through study, and those who study will see Krishna's presence everywhere. He is in every ritual, spiritual practice, or offering. When seekers seek, he is the one they are seeking. He is what is, and what is not.
If ones worship of full of love and faith, Krishna accepts it as intended for him, whether one realizes it or not. Without knowledge of Krishna, though, one will be reborn. Offer all your work and action to him, and you will be free.
To those who worship Krishna, he will come to life in them.
Anyone who takes refuge in him will find peace.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter ten
All qualities of being - discrimination, wisdom, understanding, truth, self control, peace, pleasure, etc. - have their source in Krishna.
Krishna is the spirit at the seat of consciousness in all beings. He is the innermost self. All comes from an infinitesimal fragment of him.

 

[an anarchist]

A lot of what I cut out is really beautiful

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter eleven
Arjuna asks Krishna to see him in his true form. Krishna grants Arjuna a spiritual vision for this purpose.
Within the body of God, the variety of forms of creation appeared united as one.
Arjuna, nearly overwhelmed, attempts to describe the undescribable.
Arjuna sees Krishna as beyond the duality of being and non being. He sees and knows Krishna. Krishna is the parent of creation.
Arjuna asks Krishna to return to a gentler form.
Through unfailing devotion, one can see, know, and be united with Krishna.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter twelve
By setting your heart on Krishna with unfailing devotion is the better way to worship him.
It is difficult for the physical to realize the nonphysical, for the visible to see the invisible.
So Krishna recommends that you quiet your mind and fix your thoughts on him. If you cannot do this, learn to do so through the regular practice of meditation. If you lack the will for self discipline, practice selfless service. If you cannot, then practice being unattached to the results of your action and do all for Krishna.
Understanding your actions is important. More beneficial than understanding is the regular practice of meditation. Better still is giving up the attachment to the results of your actions because of the immediate peace that follows.
To those who seek Krishna as their goal in life, he loves deeply.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter thirteen
Think of the body of creation as a field, and the part of you at is aware of creation as the knower.
Creation consists of the five parts of sense perception, and the three components of the mind, which are the ego (ahankara); discrimination (buddhi); and reason (manas) as well as all undifferentiated energy from which these things evolve.
It is in this field, through the interaction of the mentioned elements, that all arises.
Those who know this are unmoved. Those who know that they are the knowers are free from selfish entanglement.
The Self within you is without senses, yet it functions through the senses. It is beyond time and form, completely independent.
Both the field and the knower are endless. The knower is the source of every action, but the field is where sensations exist. The knower witnesses it all.
Whoever realizes this relationship steps out of the cycle of birth and death and is united with Krishna.
Whatever path they follow, they realize that everything exists as a result of the interaction of the knower and the known. They recognize that the knower, their true self, remains unmoved. It neither acts nor is touched by action.
Those who see this find peace.

 

[Aupmanyav]

One of these days I am going to sit down and write what I can towards your nice attempt. Thanks.

 

[an anarchist]

Chapter fourteen
Three qualities of the material nature bind everything together.
The first quality (sattva) is harmony, truth, and goodness. The second quality (rajas) is energy or passion. The third quality (tamas) is indifference and ignorance.
At any time, in anything, one of these three qualities is dominant and establishes the nature of a thing. For example, when truth dominates, wisdom shines from that person. When passion dominates, that person is driven by a desire to satisfy their passion through attachment. When indifference dominates, that person is easily confused.
Those who live in truth evolve upward. Those who live in passion stay where they are. Those who live in indifference sink further into confusion.
The knower is beyond the three qualities.
They are unmoved by any of this. Established in inner peace where Krishna dwells, they stay unchanged through good times and bad times.