We always start by reciting ‘Asato ma sadgamaya sloka’ and we begin our lesson.
During last class we started a chat about the Bhagwat Gita. This is the story of two brothers Dhritrashtra and Pandu. Dhritrashtra was blind, so the younger brother took the throne. Dhritrashtra had 100 sons called Kaurava while the Pandu had 5 called Pandava. In this fight there was Arjuna who faced a huge dilemma due to the greed of one of his cousin called Duryodhana. He wanted all the land to himself after gambling match played between him and Pandava. He also sent his Pandava into exile for fourteen years.
After Pandava’s returned from exile, the five brothers asked for 5 villages. However, the arrogant Duryodhan said “I will not even give land where you can drive a pin. Go away!”.
Now, Pandavas had no choice but to fight for their rights and engage in a battle. During the battle, the two sides assembled in the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
Arjuna, the best archer of his time, who could kill anybody he wishes to, does not have the courage to defeat his cousins. He realized that it was not just cousins, more family members, even his guru, sided with the enemies. Arjuna had to think fast, but he just could not decide. That is when Krishna, his charioteer comes to his rescue.
This is where the Bhagwat Gita begins. Krishna gives his discourse in this book which is full of wisdom. It has 18 Chapters and 700 slokas. The conversation between Arjuna and Krishna is inspiring. We should always have one copy of Gita with us. We got inspired from the class to learn Sanskrit. I enjoyed this class greatly and I’m looking for the next few.