Bhagavad Gita

A book which I have been reading since my childhood;  not sure  how many number of times and how many variations, but this is 68 of 2020 and it continues to be a Treasure house of wisdom.

Some facts about Bhagavad Gita:

 1 It is popularly known as the Gita, the Sanskrit word Geeta means a song. Since this song is sung by Shri Krishna The God incarnate this is called Bhagavad Gita or the song of God 

2. The Geeta has 700 versus which are divided into 18 chapters it forms a part of the Epic Mahabharata in the Bhishma Parva chapters 25 to 42 

3 Every chapter of the Gita is regarded as a yoga that is a way to self perfection and has a separate name such as Jnana yoga,Karma Yoga, ,Bhakti yoga and so on. These names are mentioned at the end of each chapter 

4 the book is in the form of a dialogue between Arjuna who is seriously addressed as Partha, Pandav , Bharat, Mahabhao and so on and Shri Krishna.  Arjuna was one of the five Pandava brothers who have been deprived of their Right To Rule The Kingdom and were much persecuted by the rival Kauravas  cousins. After all negotiations and alternatives filled the Pandavas were forced to wage a war against Kauravas.

 5 Shri Krishna The God incarnate councils Arjuna,  he uses the personal pronoun me throughout the dialogue I or me in the Gita refers to God or ultimate reality 

 6. the term self refers to body or mind or  ego the terms Self or Atma refers to the deepest code for divinity of one of our being

7. Shri Krishna draws Arjun's attention to is inherent strength and wisdom that originate from his divine core within called Atma

 8 The war is supposed to have been fought in Kurukshetra a small town in the state of Haryana some 120 km from the modern day Cosmopolitan city of New Delhi

 9 Kurukshetra however can also be symbolically understood as the battlefield of life with pandavas representing forces of good and the Kauravas the evil forces of wickedness born of an impure, undisciplined and indiscriminate mind

 10 Gita deals with various issues such as the result of selfish and unselfish works the process of meditation, devotion to God methods to control ones passion and temper and how to be spiritually and morally free and strong.

Interstingly as I voice type today lying on my bed a little unwell, as I say Kauravas, the phone listens and types it as Coronavirus.