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But the new reader should see the first chapter merely as historical context for what is to follow, which is essentially a two-person conversation about philosophy and yogic principles, as opposed to a treatise of battle, which the first chapter seems to lay out.

The opening of the Bhagavad Gita can be intimidating because of the sheer number of names and terms that come out of Sanjaya and Dhritarashtra that will be unfamiliar to those not well-versed in Hinduism. They are free from ego - the 'I, me, mine' which cause pain. They have no attachment to the material, and live not in the senses, but in the self. They are naturally meditative, and do not respond to good fortune or bad fortune. Krishna says this kind of man is not agitated by negative emotions - lust, fear, anger. Arjuna asks what a man who has achieved perfect yoga acts like - how he sits, how he moves, how he can be recognized. When a man is unmoved by the confusion of ideas, and is united simply in the peace of action without thoughts of results, he can attain perfect yoga. Krishna tells Arjuna that the definition of a wise man is one who is unconcerned with whether things are "good or bad," but rather abandon attachments to the fruits of labor, allowing them to attain a state beyond evil. He encourages Arjuna to not see the results of action, but rather focus on the work itself - as a man within himself, without selfish attachments, alike in success and defeat. Krishna also extols the notion of yoga - or skill in action - as a path towards finding resoluteness, focus.

In Krishna's eyes, death means the attainment of heaven, and victory the enjoyment of earth, so there will be no pain in fighting. If he shirks from this battle, however, then Arjuna will incur sin, violating his dharma and his honor. Instead, as a warrior, he must follow his dharma, or duty, where nothing is higher than the war against evil. The true master, says Krishna, realizes that reality lies in the eternal such people are not affected by the temporary changes that come with the senses. These limits of the superficial body should not stop someone from doing what he must do, namely defeating evil and restoring the power of good. When Arjuna questions how he can support such sin, Krishna says there is no such thing as the killer and the killed, that the body is merely flesh - and that at the time of death he attains another body. Krishna tells Arjuna to arise with a brave heart and push forward to destroy the enemy. He casts away his bow and arrows and sits in the chariot in the middle of the battlefield. He has no need for a kingdom if it means destroying a family. Arjuna asks Krishna, who has taken the form of his charioteer, to drive them into the battle.īut as the chariot moves, Arjuna sees in the two armies the equal presence of his family, for Duryodhana, despite being his enemy, is also his cousin, and thus both sides are littered with "fathers, grandfathers, teachers, brothers, uncles, grandsons, in-laws and friends." Arjuna is overcome with despair and tells Krishna that he has no desire to fight if it means killing his kin. Each side blows their divine conchs, signaling the war is about to begin. He notes that his own army is unlimited, while the Pandavas is small.

Prince Duroydhana, considered the nemesis for our protagonist Arjuna, approaches his teacher Drona, and lists out the key members of each side. The Pandavas include Arjuna and his brothers, who have come to take back the kingdom from Dhritarashtra, who means to bequeath it to his son Duryodhana, even though the crown rightfully belongs to Arjuna's brother Yudhishthira. The blind king Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya, who has the ability to see all, to tell him about the battle between his family and the Pandavas.