The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Indian spiritual text. The background of this text is a battlefield and the battle is between two royal families who are also relatives. The two main characters of this text are Krishna, the incarnate God, and Arjuna, the greatest archer of his time. Arjuna is a highly ethical and moral man who upholds high values. His relatives, who are his opponents in the battlefield, are corrupt and pure evil. They have taken away his Kingdom through deceit and Arjuna has no option but to engage in war to regain his kingdom. This text covers the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna in the battlefield before the start of the battle. The main focus of the essay is on the first three chapters of the text covered in class. The first chapter deals with the dilemma and depression of Arjuna in the battlefield. The second chapter deals with the real identity of a human beings and the third chapter deals with the how to perform action in the world. All these teachings explained in the chapters are still relevant today.
In the first chapter Arjuna is in a dilemma. He was at the time the best archer and in the midst of war which is against his own relatives. The war was against injustice caused to him by his relatives who had taken away his kingdom. Arjuna had no other option but to engage in war to regain his kingdom. He could have just gone on ahead and fought the war and regained his kingdom. But because he was a moral and ethical person, he felt the need to question the war and why engage in it. He reflects upon the consequence of his actions on the community and the country and not just on himself.
The first chapter has a greater relevance even in modern times. Our life is nothing short of a battlefield. We, many times in life, are faced with tough situations. This chapter provides us guidelines as to what should one do when faced with a difficult choice in life. A person, like Arjuna, should pause