"CONSCIOUS BHAGAVAD-GITA"

CONSCIOUS “BHAGAVAD – GITA”

INTRODUCTION
‘Our Inner Battle’

To begin our session with the BG, we must go back to the Mahabharata, of which the Bhagavad-gita is a part. It was spoken on the field of Kuruksetra during a great fratricidal “civil” war between the cousins for the throne of Hastinapura, today's Delhi.
Krishna, also related to them, promises not to fight on either side. He gives both leaders, the kings aspiring for power, a choice: either he will put a formidable army at their disposal, or he himself will take the side of the combatants. The Pandavas, five brothers led by Yudisthira, devoted devotees of Krishna, immediately choose Krishna, while Duryodhana, with his hundred brothers, delighted, chooses Krishna's large, well-trained army, which will fight with Krishna on Yudisthira's side.

It is a struggle for righteousness and justice... 'dharma-ksetre kuru ksetre samaveta yuyutsavah..., where the factor of Dharma principles is key... All the noble avatars of the conflict support its principles, although in reality they have no idea how to deal with the complexities of Dharma, while others exploit its “imperfections” against their enemies. The whole scene is set against the backdrop of the goodness of Krishna's devotees, the Pandavas (sons of Pandu), and the ignorance mixed with passion of the sons of the materially and spiritually blind Drtarastra (Pandu's brother).
Thus, the battle is between the higher guna of goodness and the lower gunas of passion and ignorance.
It is an unequal battle, because the pure path of goodness that the Pandavas strive to follow unwaveringly is opposed by the darkness, hypocrisy, deceit and brutality of Dritarashtra's sons.

The first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita introduces us to this place of pilgrimage, hallowed for centuries, the field of Kurukshetra, where Krishna stands with his friend Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, between two armies ready for battle. We can imagine these two armies of millions, the splendour and wealth of their leaders, the powerful elephants and horses trained for battle, the fear for their lives and the ferocity of the fight.
Krishna then presents his gita, “The Song of Bhagavata”, or the song leading to devotion to God. In a short dialogue lasting about 30 minutes, he explains to Arjuna, who is devastated by the prospect of fighting his loved ones, the basics of God consciousness. He lifts Arjuna's heart above his doubts and the “Internal Battle” born of the mode of goodness, placing him on a platform above goodness, on a platform of transcendence.
Arjuna becomes a cult figure here, a representative of all those who face their “inner battle” with the world of illusion, the gunas of goodness, passion and ignorance, in order to rise above the gunas of material nature to transcendence and devotion to God, Krishna. The culmination of this transformation is complete dedication to Krishna, Saranagati – Surrender.

The beginning of BG is difficult, the tension created before the battle itself is unbelievable, incredible feelings are tearing everyone apart. Even reading the first verses for the first time is like a breakthrough, because either you get through this “Internal Battle” or you fall, succumbing to the heavy pressure of these events and your own dilemmas. Krishna breaks through this pattern in an incredible way, raising Arjuna's consciousness above his feelings for his loved ones and his opponents.
On the surface, the BG is a collection of commands and teachings proclaimed by Krishna, but internally it is a difficult focus on detachment from material consciousness. Step by step, Krishna reveals the secrets of such detachment...