200hr The Bhagavad Gita

For this lesson we will use the following text book:

• The Bhagavad Gita with Translation by Juan Mascaro

As we delve into the Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God, it is important to note that it is a small portion of the great epic poem, the Mahabharata. In the Mahabharata, the stage is set for a great battle to occur, so without knowing the Mahabharata, you may misunderstand the importance of the Bhagavad Gita.

The Mahabharata narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins. One family is evil (the Kauravas) and one family is honourable (the Pandavas). Throughout the story, the evil family continuously bullies the honourable family. Arjuna is destined to be a warrior and instead of standing up for his family, he is a bit of a doormat and shirks his responsibilities. His family is banished to the forest due to a rigged game of dice that Arjuna lost at. After twelve plus years, when they return from fulfilling their sentence for losing the game, the Kauravas still will not return the land to the Pandavas, which is rightfully theirs.  

As the evil family continues to wreak havoc, Krishna becomes impatient and comes to earth in human form to assist Arjuna to go to battle and fight for his family, to fight for righteousness and his kingdom before any more harm is done. This is where the Bhagavad Gita begins.  

So, it is important to note two things. One, before ever going to battle, time and time again Arjuna’s family tried to make peace with the Kauravas family. They avoided fighting and tried to resolve the family issues in a positive way, but evil prevailed. The battle of the Bhagavad Gita is a last resort, when all else failed. It was not a hasty decision.

To take this symbolically, we generally do not face our inner demons until it is the last resort, when every other way we have tried to bargain with them has failed. So as a spiritual journey, we must now slay our inner demons and allow our soul to move on to fulfil its life’s dharma or duty. If you wish to watch a play on the Mahabharata, you can view it here.

Please work your way through the lessons, finishing by answering the questions for each lesson.

Throughout the lessons there will be some videos for you to watch. Some will be from SOYA and some from other public sources.

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