Life is a puzzle, to understand which, we need to study the Vedas. But the Vedas are not easily comprehended. Sages like Bharadwaja spent centuries trying to fathom the Vedas, but did not succeed. What then is the solution? The Bhagavad Gita provides the answers to our questions. Although Lord Krishna advised Arjuna on the battlefield, His advice was intended for all mankind, for we are no better than Arjuna. Like Arjuna, we too are caught up in familial ties, and are unable to distinguish right from wrong. The Gita is in eighteen chapters, and these can be divided into three segments, elaborated V. Sowmyanarayanan, in a discourse.
The first segment of six chapters deals with yoga and talks of what is jnana yoga, karma yoga etc. These six chapters talk of what should be done for the atma to be liberated. The second set of six chapters, that is chapter seven to chapter twelve, tells us how jnana and karma yoga should culminate in bhakti yoga. Chapters thirteen to eighteen talk of how Lord Narayana differs from others, why He is Sarvesvara. The last segment of six chapters also goes over all the concepts discussed previously. None of the three schools of philosophy can be established without the Bhagavad Gita.
The Gita is the essence of all the Sastras, just as the Ganges is the ultimate among all rivers and just as Hari is Supreme among all devas. It is said that among the verses in the Gita, 620 are told by Krishna; 57 by Arjuna; 67 by Sanjaya and one by Dhritharashtra. All the three schools of philosophy have commentaries on the Gita. As far as Visishtadvaita is concerned, while Ramanujacharya wrote Gita Bhashya, Vedanta Desika wrote Tatparya Chandrika, which is a commentary on Ramanuja’s Gita Bhashya. Gita is Saranagati Sastra.
