GLIMPSES OF GITA - The Preface

Parthaaya thathsadrusa saarathina thvayaiva
Yow darshithow swacharanow saranam vrajethi
Shoyopi mahyamihathow karadarsithowthe
Sree Venkatesa charanow saranam prapadhye

As in Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatham Prabhatti, I salute Lord Krishna as "You are Kannan of Gita.You then asked Arjuna to surrender to your feet. And in like manner you are directing mortals to surrender”. As a true Vaishnavite, I am also surrendering to SRIMAN NARAYANAN and dedicate this humble work to HIS lotus feet.

SRIMAD Bhagavad Gita -Song of the Lord, the Great epic poem of the Hindus consisting of 694 verseswritten in Sanskrit is divided into 18 chapters. It appears as Chapters 23 to 40 of Bhishma parva, the sixth of Mahabharatha's's 18 books. There are two great important chapters in the Mahabharata, one is this treasure Srimad Bhagavad Gita and the other is Sri Vishnu Sahasra Namam. Srimad Bhagavad Gita popularly known as Gita is narrated by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battle field of kurukshetra where armies of the Royal cousins the Pandavas and the Kauravas face each other for the decisive battle to led their long running feud. Arjuna
backs out of the battle saying that it will not be possible to kill his own cousins and other kith and kin on the opponent side.

Krishna at this point starts explaining Arjuna the duty that Arjuna has to do in the battle field as a warrior. Gita debates the right and wrong of the conflicts and the duty (karma) to follow. Krishna also narrates the relationship between God and human being and how to redeem the deeds of the past life and the present one. Krishna having realized that Arjuna is keen on the knowledge of karma explains him in detail all the three way (yogas) union with God viz; Karma (Duty),Jnana (Knowledge),and Bhakthi(Devotion) yogas. Krishna also explains the nature of Atman (soul) which can never die or be destroyed only the body dies. The death is inevitable to all the living beings and as a warrior Arjuna has the duty to fight for victory and should not mourn over the deaths. The real sin is not in killing but failing in dharma the duty to perform. Krishna reveals to Arjuna His cosmic form as Vishnu governing the entire Universe at this stage Arjuna overwhelmed and burst into hymns of praise and ashamed of having addressed Krishna as comrade and friend and acts to the commands of Krishna.

Gita gives the summary of Hindu religious thoughts and practices and much of it is based on the Upanishads, the last part of Vedas the sacred treasure of the Hindus. Gita is full of teachings, the secret call of the divinity for all souls to love HIM, to talk the journey to HIM, and to be blissfully united with HIM. Every scholars of Gita exhibited a new facet of thought and so it remains eternally new and fresh one. There is not a single word in this which may be described as just flattering. Gita not only raises the question of the appropriate action for Arjuna to adopt but also defines the experiences of challenges facing every human being. It also speaks deeply to each of us for at some point, face the unique battlefield in the outer world as within. Throughout, LORD Krishna offers not only that we must act but also how we must to act to fight our individual battles. The axial core of Gita is this perpetual existence in tension that encounter, but not without purpose. This book aims only a philosophical teachings practical to the present society which thinks as though Gita is only for senior citizens .From eachsloka of Srimad Bhagavath Gita, a moral is derived and presented as axioms of immortal Gita as"GLIMPSES OF GITA".

My humble Samarpanams to LORD KRISHNA and Balavakamvrathavarshi SRI VELUKKUDI KRISHNAN SWAMIGAL
Ever in divine service