Lecture on Bhagavad-gītā [2.58] by Tattvavit dāsa

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1. Hasti Gopala dasa says:

   7. April 2023 at 10:23 pm

   First class prabhu.

   Now I suggest that the readers read the full chapter.
   This is the prime chapter. The main teaching of the Gita as Srila Prabhupada has stated many times is
   ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ the spirit soul is not the body. teaching that principle alone will alleviate mass suffering at this time.

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2. Hasti Gopala dasa says:

   7. April 2023 at 10:23 pm

   Chapter Two.

   https://prabhupadagita.com/2012/04/24/chapter-2a-contents-of-the-gita-summarized/

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3. Hasti Gopala dasa says:

   8. April 2023 at 4:21 pm

   From Srila Prabhupadas guide to the Bhagavad Gita. Guide link below.

   STBG 3: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BHAGAVAD-GITA

   Bhagavad-Gita, a philosophical poem comprising seven hundred
   Sanskrit verses, is one of the most important philosophical and literary
   works known to man. More commentaries have been written upon the
   Gita than on any other philosophical oreligious text in history. As a
   classic of timeless wisdom, it is the main literary support for the oldest
   surviving spiritual culture in the world – that of India’s Vedic civilization.
   Not only has the Gita directed the religious life of many centuries of
   Hindus, but, owing to the pervasive influence of religious concepts in
   Vedic civilization, the Gita has shaped India’s social, ethical, cultural and
   even political life as well. Attesting to India’s nearly universal acceptance
   of the Gita, practically every sectarian cult and school of Hindu thought,
   representing a vast spectrum of religious and philosophical views,
   accepts Bhagavad-Gita as the summon bonum guide to spiritual truth.
   The Gita, therefore, more than any other single historical source,
   provides penetrating insight into the metaphysical and psychological
   foundation of India’s Vedic culture, both ancient and contemporary.
   The influence of Bhagavad-Gita, however, is not limited to India. The Gita
   has deeply affected the thinking of generations of philosophers,
   theologians, educators, scientists and authors in the West as well. Henry
   David Thoreau reveals in his journal, “Every morning I bathe my intellect
   in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita… in
   comparison with which our modern civilization and literature seem puny
   and trivial.”
   The Gita has long been considered the essence of Vedic philosophy and
   spirituality. As the essence of the 108 Upanisads, it is sometimes
   referred to as Gitopanisad.
   Although widely published and read by itself, Bhagavad-Gita originally
   appears as an episode of the Mahabharata, a great historical epic, in
   which it occupies chapters 25 though 42 in the Bhisma Parva.
   Authorship of the Mahabharata is traditionally attributed to the great
   sage Vedavyasa (Srila Vyasadeva). It was Vyasa, “the literary incarnation
   of God,” who, according to orthodox Vedic historiography, put the eternal
   Vedic wisdom into writing at the onset of the Kali-yuga, the current age
   of spiritual darkness. After compiling the four principal Vedas, the
   Upanisads, and the Vedanta-sutra, he decided to compile the Puranas
   and the Mahabharata for the benefit of the common people who could
   not sufficiently assimilate the lofty philosophical teachings of the earlier
   works. By exposure to the philosophical conclusions of the Vedas
   through the medium of ostensibly historical narrations, the common
   man would more readily understand and benefit from Vedic truth. Thus,
   Bhagavad-Gita, the essence of Vedic wisdom, was injected into the
   Mahabharata, an action-packed narrative of an important era in ancient
   Indian politics.
   Bhagavad-Gita comes to us in the form of a battlefield dialogue between
   Lord Sri Krsna and the warrior Arjuna. The dialogue occurs just before
   the onset of the first military engagement of the Kuruksetra War, a great
   fratricidal war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas to determine
   India’s political destiny.
   (Details of the historical background of the war are described in the brief
   essay, “Setting the Scene,” which precedes the chapter summaries.)
   Arjuna, forgetful of his prescribed duty as a ksatriya (warrior) whose duty
   is to fight for a righteous cause in a holy war, decides, for personally
   motivated reasons, not to fight. Krsna, Who has agreed to act as the
   driver of Arjuna’s chariot, sees His friend and devotee in illusion and
   perplexity and proceeds to enlighten Arjuna regarding his immediate
   social duty (varna-dharma) as a warrior and, more important, his eternal
   duty or nature (sanatana-dharma) as an eternal spiritual entity in
   relationship with God. Thus the relevance and universality of Krsna’s
   teachings transcend the immediate historical setting of Arjuna’s battle
   field dilemma.
   Krsna speaks for the benefit of all souls who have forgotten their eternal
   nature, the ultimate goal of existence, and their eternal relationship with
   Him.
   As we read the Gita, we read a narration by Sanjaya, a disciple of
   Vyasadeva’s, to the blind King Dhatarastra, the father of the impious
   Kauravas. Situated far from the battlefield, Sanjaya relates the holy
   discourse as it is revealed to him by Vyasadeva through supernatural
   vision.

   http://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/news/books/pdf/The%20Gita%20Study%20Guide.pdf

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