Srimad Bhagavad Gita by Swami Mahaprajnananda

The Bhagavad Gita, popularly known as the Gita, comprises eighteen chapters in the Mahabhārata. It takes the form of an inspired dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna on the battle-field of Kurukshetra. The setting of the battle-field contributes a dramatic element to the book and relates religion to the realities of life. It is that living dialogue which the discerning man finds going on constantly in his own heart between his everyday worldly self and his higher Self.

The Gita is one of the most important religious classics of the world. The Gita is a compendium of the essential meaning of the Vedas, India’s Book of Wisdom.

No amount of critical study or hearing, however, will enable a reader to grasp the real meaning of the Gita unless he/she is equipped with the four qualifications laid down for the spiritual aspirant. He must possess the power of discriminating between the Real and the unreal; he must cultivate will to renounce the unreal; he must be endowed with the “six spiritual virtues,” namely, control of the senses, control of the mind, forbearance, withdrawal from the distracting objects of the world, faith, and one-pointedness of mind; lastly, he must have an intense longing for liberation from the illusory experiences of the relative world. Equipped with these four qualifications, he may come to understand the profound meaning of the scripture. Spirituality is the transformation of life, not the satisfaction of intellectual curiosity. It is being and becoming, not mere knowing. Really to know God is to be God.

~ Swami Nikhilananda, 1943