Some comments from last discussions:

Last session was interesting. Almost everyone present spoke on their initial take on BG. The primary question that we looked at was : What attitude should we have while studying BG. Couple of contrasting views emerged :

1. One opinion was we should read BG as if we were Arjuna himself - making pariprashna to Krishna.

2. The second opinion was, we cannot compare ourselves with Arjuna and that everyone will take back knowledge/info based on what level of attention they pay.

We also chanted the first 5 shlokas of BG. In the next session, we will be taking each shloka individually for discussion.

It was mentioned that this might be a good opportunity to take up learning Sanskrit (why should we do this?). As we progress through the Chapters, we can also learn meanings of different Sanskrit words and their usage.

My personal goal is to learn to chant BG by rote before we complete discussing the 700 shlokas. Anyone else interested in this?

Regards,
Gopal

Bhagavad Gita : Initial thoughts

Under study circle we will be discussing Bhagavad Gita.

Some initial thoughts:
1. What is the need for Chapter 1?
Is it just to build up the scene or has some other purpose?

o Why should we take up Bhagavad Gita?
o What do expect to learn from it?
o What is the attitude with which we read Bhagavad Gita?
o Why Gitopadesh was for to Arjuna, why not Yudhishtra or Bheeshma or Bheema?
o Why did Bhagavan teach the Gita to Arjuna at the war-zone, why not somewhere else?
o Who else participated in Bhagavad Gita? Significance of Dhrutarashtra (blind) and Samjaya (divine gift).
o Veda-vyasa, the organizer of Vedas and the author of Brahmasutra is also considered by many as the actual composer of Gita....


- Arjuna as a qualified disciple
- Arjuna as one with forethought
- Arjuna the warrior - action oriented - means what he says
- Arjuna has trikarna-shuddhi

2. What shlokas characterize the chapter?