In chapter nine of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna about bhakti yoga. The Lord calls it raja vidya. It is the king among vidyas, and hence the name. But in that case, it should be vidya raja. Why is it called raja vidya? The central incisors are referred to as rajadanta, because they are considered the most important teeth. Vedanta Desika points to this Sanskrit usage. This usage clearly shows that saying raja vidya is correct, explained V.S. Karunakarachariar, in a discourse. However, the word raja should not be interpreted in the narrow sense of referring to a ruler. That would limit this vidya only to kings. The word raja is used to indicate that this is a vidya for anyone with thoughts of a higher order. Anyone not preoccupied with mundane things, who wants to keep his mind on a higher plane automatically becomes a fit person to receive knowledge about this vidya.
The Bhagavad Gita can be difficult to understand, and to simplify it for us, Alavandar summarised its salient points in his Gitartha Sangraha. Ramanujacharya, of course, wrote a bhashya (commentary) for the Gita. Vedanta Desika wrote the Tatparya Chandrika, explaining the Bhagavad Gita.
The Bhagavad Gita begins with Arjuna’s confused state of mind. He tells Krishna to drive the chariot and place it between the two opposing armies, so that he (Arjuna) can look round and see the people he has to fight. Seeing on the opposite side the elders of his family, his teachers and kith and kin, Arjuna says he will not fight. How can he kill his own people, he wonders. Krishna then tells him that he will not be killing them, because the atma cannot be killed. But why is an entire chapter devoted just to Arjuna’s doubts? The reason is because doubts constitute the starting point of acquiring knowledge.
