What is the Bhagavad Gītā actually about?

how to act rightly and stay at peace when life puts you in an impossible spot.

The Gītā is a 700-verse conversation in 18 chapters, set in the Bhīṣma Parva of the Mahābhārata. On the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, the warrior Arjuna sees his teachers and cousins on the other side and collapses in grief and confusion. Kṛṣṇa, his friend and charioteer, answers him.

The answer covers far more than one war. It explains the undying self (ātman), how to act without being bound by action (karma-yoga), how to steady the mind (dhyāna), how to know the truth (jñāna) and how to love God (bhakti). It ends by leaving the choice to Arjuna.

Different teachers read its centre differently: Śaṅkara saw it pointing to knowledge of the Self, Rāmānuja and Madhva to loving surrender to God, and Tilak and Gandhi to selfless action. Most readers find all three woven together.

Source: Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma Parva · 18 chapters, 700 verses

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