SRIMAD BHAGAVAD-GITA
Introductory Overview

om ajnana-timirandasya jnananjnana salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena tasmai sri gurave namah

I offer my most humble obeisances to my spiritual master who has opened my eyes which were blinded by ignorance with the light of knowledge.

raja-vidya raja-guhyam pavitram idam uttamam
pratyak savagamam dharmyam susukham kartum avyayam

This knowledge is the king of all wisdom, the king of all that is confidential. It is the purest and the topmost and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization it is the perfection of all religion and everlastingly joyful to perform. Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 9, verse 2

Bhagavad-Gita Trust is freely offering this presentation of Srimad Bhagavad-Gita to the Earth as a gift to humanity.

It is our humble but earnest request that this information be made easily available to every culture in this world. The knowledge found within the Bhagavad-Gita is incomparable as it gives specific information regarding the purpose of human existence, the immortality of the soul and our eternal relationship with God. This information applies to each and every one of us without exception. Without realization of our divine relationship with the God it is impossible to establish our eternal relationship with Him. This divine relationship is our natural constitutional position and every human beings birthright.

There are three paths which lead directly to establishing a relationship with God. According to the authority of Bhagavad-Gita these paths have been designated as the yoga of perfect actions, the yoga of perfect devotion and the yoga of perfect knowledge. These three paths with great care and attention have been fully explained in the Bhagavad-Gita which comprises chapters 23 through 40 in the Bhishma-Parva section of Mahabharata.

The Bhagavad-Gita consists of 18 chapters. Each chapter is called a yoga. Yoga is the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the Ultimate Consciousness. So each chapter is a highly specialized yoga revealing the path of attaining realization of the Ultimate Truth. The first six chapters have been classified as the Karma Yoga section as they mainly deal with the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the Ultimate Consciousness through actions. These chapters are:

Chapter 1 : Visada Yoga
Chapter 2 : Sankhya Yoga
Chapter 3 : Karma Yoga
Chapter 4 : Jnana Yoga
Chapter 5 : Karma Vairagya Yoga
Chapter 6 : Abhyasa Yoga

The middle six chapters have been designated as the Bhakti Yoga section as they principally are pertaining with the science of the individual consciousness attaning communion with the Ultimate Consciousness by the path of devotion.

Chapter 7 : Paramahamsa Vijnana Yoga
Chapter 8 : Aksara-Parabrahman Yoga
Chapter 9 : Raja-Vidya-Guhya Yoga
Chapter 10 : Vibhuti-Vistara-Yoga
Chapter 11 : Visvarupa-Darsana Yoga
Chapter 12 : Bhakti Yoga

The final six chapters are regarded as the Jnana Yoga section as they are primarily concerned with the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the Ultimate Consciousness through the intellect.

Chapter 13 : Ksetra-Ksetrajna Vibhaga Yoga
Chapter 14 : Gunatraya-Vibhaga Yoga
Chapter 15 : Purusottama Yoga
Chapter 16 : Daivasura-Sampad-Vibhaga Yoga
Chapter 17 : Sraddhatraya-Vibhaga Yoga
Chapter 18 : Moksa-Opadesa Yoga

Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-Gita on the battlefield of Kuruksetra in 3102 B.C.; just prior to the commencement of the Mahabharata war. This date corresponds to 1700 years before Moses, 2500 years before Buddha, 3000 years before Jesus and 3800 years before Mohammed. So first and foremost it should be clearly understood that the eternal knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita has not been influenced by Buddhism, Christianity, Hebrewism or Islam; for these religions did not exist at that time an