Vaishnava Philosophy The Bhagavad-gita As It Is The song of God Bhagavad-gita means "the song of God." It was spoken by Lord Krishna to His friend and eternal servant Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers, the heroes of the epic Mahabharata. The 18 chapters of the Bhagavad-gita are from the middle of the Mahabharata and comprise the core teaching of that history of India. The 700 verses of the Bhagavad-gita were spoken in about 45 minutes. They were spoken 3,134 years before the birth of Christ on a battlefield about 80 km. north of Delhi, in India. That battlefield, called Kuruksetra, still exists today. The external reason for the Bhagavad-gita's being spoken is the refusal of the great warrior and general Arjuna to fight on the battlefield of Kuruksetra due to the illusion that had momentarily overcome him. Krishna therefore gave him perfect instruction, which cleared up his illusion and ultimately led to the victory of the Pandavas and the reestablishment of righteousness and purity in the kingdom. The internal reason is to enable us, the fallen conditioned souls of this material world, to hear directly from Krishna how to free ourselves from illusion and return to our original position of eternal, loving devotional service to the Lord. Although many editions of the Bhagavad-gita have been published in the world, most scholars agree that only the Bhagavad-gita As It Is truly represents the words of Krishna as they are understood by Krishna's sincere followers. Indeed, although many persons had translated the text before Srila Prabhupada presented his book, the study of these other versions had not resulted in anyone becoming a devotee of Lord Krishna -- which is the whole point of the Gita. Since one may judge a thing by the results it brings, the result that thousands of people have transformed their lives by devotion to Krishna owing to the publication and distribution of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is proves that Krishna's purpose is best fulfilled through this Bhaktivedanta Book Trust edition.

© 1997 BBTI, Inc.

Feedback @

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare