The great Indian epic, Mahabharata, with a staggering number of about 1.8 million words, the text is roughly ten times the length of Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey combined or about four times the length of the Ramayana. It is a major Sanskrit epic of ancient India and is highly respected in Hinduism, alongside the Ramayana.
The Mahabharata narrates the War of Kurukshetra, a war of succession between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, and its consequences. This narrative is also about taking the right actions and eliminating the evil ones from one’s life. This narrative is represented in the form of the Bhagavad Gita.
The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit: ”Song of God”) is deeply integrated into the Mahabharata and offers profound and timeless insights that go beyond the boundaries of the epic itself. Gita is an episode recorded in the Mahabharata in the form of a conversation between Prince Arjuna and Lord Krishna, the eighth avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu.
Arjuna, a prince who must face his evil cousins to restore righteousness and fulfil his Dharma, was an avid archer however resistant to fighting the war. Arjuna refrained from fighting, not out of fear of death but because he was unsure whether fighting was the right thing to do. Krishna, on the contrary, explains to him that he must fight the battle because of a Hindu concept known as Dharma. Dharma is the belief that everyone has a purpose and is accountable for carrying it out. Every individual has a predestined duty, and Arjuna’s duty in this situation is to fight as a warrior, in the battle of Kurukshetra.
However, Arjuna is not convinced and sees his friends and family on the other side of the battlefield, and is worried about their potential death and suffering. Krishna conveys to Arjuna that the people are immortal and death is merely an illusion. Krishna explains that having an excessive amount of gunas prevents individuals from seeing beyond the illusion of death. These gunas create a distorted perception of reality. Once this illusion is dispelled, one can comprehend the presence of the Atman within themselves and recognize their connection to the divine entity, Brahman. Consequently, the physical body is regarded as a temporary vessel that will eventually merge with the divine whole. This understanding allows individuals to fulfil their Dharma, knowing that pain and suffering are transient experiences of the body. By acknowledging the Atman within, one can transcend the cycle of reincarnation. Failing to achieve this in one’s lifetime necessitates another attempt in the next life. Ultimately, Arjuna decides to engage in battle.
According to the sacred text Bhagavat Gita and Bhagavat Puranas, Krishna is the supreme God who oversees millions of demigods and according to Krishna, happiness can only be found by understanding oneself and connecting with the divine.
Lord Krishna Quotes
Here are ten Lord Krishna quotes from Bhagavad Gita:
“You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of the work. You should never engage in action for the sake of Reward, nor should you long for Inaction.”
“We behold what we are, and we are what we behold.”
“It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.”
“The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument.”
“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is!”
“Neither in this world nor elsewhere is there any happiness in store for him who always doubts.”
“The wise man lets go of all results, whether good or bad and is focused on the action alone.”
“He who has let go of hatred
who treats all beings with kindness
and compassion, who is always serene,
unmoved by pain or pleasure,
free of the “I” and “mine,”
self-controlled, firm and patient,
his whole mind focused on me —
that is the man I love best.”
“For even if the greatest sinner worships me with all his soul, he must be considered righteous, because of his righteous will. And he shall soon become pure and reach everlasting peace. For this is my word of promise, that he who loves me shall not perish.”
“Perform all thy actions with mind concentrated on the Divine, renouncing attachment and looking upon success and failure with an equal eye. Spirituality implies equanimity.”
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