A Whistle-stop Tour of the Bhagavad Gita

You’ll certainly have been told to read this as part of any yoga teacher training, or perhaps you’ve just heard a teacher quote from it during a yoga class. Today, let me give you a little breakdown of this 700-verse Hindu scripture; part of the Indian epic, the Mahabharata. The focus is a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Lord Krishna, who serves as his charioteer and spiritual guide.

“a skilled warrior ready to fight a great war, but he’s suddenly paralysed by doubt and moral conflict”

Arjuna faces a moral and philosophical crisis battlefield; he’s a skilled warrior ready to fight a great war, but he's suddenly paralysed by doubt and moral conflict, incurred by having to make a difficult choice… the type that most of us will face in our lives. Perhaps Arjuna’s choice might be a little harder the ones we may encounter though; as in the opposite army are Arjuna’s own relatives, teachers and friends.

Throughout the text, Lord Krishna imparts wisdom on various aspects of life, dharma (duty), and spirituality, ultimately guiding Arjuna to overcome his inner turmoil. Krishna reveals that one's true self is eternal and transcends the physical body. He teaches about the paths of devotion (bhakti), knowledge (jnana), and disciplined action (karma), emphasizing the importance of selfless service and surrender to a higher power.

We can apply many of the teachings to various aspects of a yoga practice

Jnana Yoga: This path of knowledge encourages us to contemplate the nature of the self, understand the impermanence of the physical body, and recognise the eternal nature of the soul (Atman).

Karma Yoga: The Gita emphasises selfless action and doing one's duty without attachment to the results. Through a Karma Yoga practice individuals perform their actions without desire for personal gain.; we can extended this to an asana practice where we practice poses without attachment to the outcomes.

Bhakti Yoga: Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion, and the Gita underscores the importance of devotion to a higher power, in this case Lord Krishna, but we can interpret this as a connect to universal higher power.

Meditation and Mindfulness: Throughout the Bhagavad Gita, there's a strong emphasis on the importance of meditation and mindfulness. The mind is compared to a restless monkey, but through practice, it can be stilled and focused.

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