The Breakdown🔗

1.45 Alas, we are preparing to commit greatly sinful acts of killing our kinsmen,

Driven by the desire to enjoy royal happiness.

1.46 I would consider it better for the Kaurava to kill me unarmed and unresisting, Rather than for me to fight them.

1.47 Sanjaya said:

Having said this on the battlefield, Arjuna cast aside his bow and arrows

And sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed with grief.

Arjuna was ready to give up. He was all set to run away from the battlefield and escape from the reality of his duty.

He had convinced himself through his own illusory arguments that what he had embarked upon was pure evil, nothing but evil and therefore wanted no part of it. He said, 'I am ready to lay down arms and be defenseless. Let Duryodhana and his men kill me.'

For a kshatriya to say this means one of two things: his act is one of total surrender or of a feeling of the helplessness of extreme confusion. A kshatriya warrior, a supreme warrior such as Arjuna knows no fear. It is neither fear of his death nor fear of injury that compels him to say what he did.

As I remarked earlier, Arjuna was not in a mode of total surrender, not yet. He was not in the mode of ahimsa, nonviolence. He was not in tune with the cosmic consciousness to say that 'Killing others is killing myself, as I feel they are one with me.' His arguments about killing his kinsmen being like killing himself were born out of his ego and not out of self-realization.

Arjuna's desperation, his feeling of helplessness arose from his dilemma, which was becoming more extreme by the minute. Arjuna was an intelligent man, a thoughtful man. He was a man accustomed to the light of clarity but who was now in darkness. He did not know where he was headed. He was confused between what he was required to do as a kshatriya prince, and the apparent contradiction of that with the scriptural truths of morality.

Arjuna's distress was complete. He sat down, unable to bear the weight of his emotions. He put down his bow and arrows, which signified that he was out of the battle.

Arjuna's delusion was complete. He was as far away from reality as he could possibly get. The greatest of warriors of his time, the greatest of men, was in the depths of despair based on the inner turmoil that he was going through.

The inner conflict between his upbringing and value systems, his samskaras and what he was about to do by waging war against his kinsmen, had reduced him to a pitiable wreck, who had now abandoned his weapons and collapsed inside his chariot. Arjuna, at this point was no example of a true kshatriya.

Arjuna was now a true example of mankind. He was being human. He was torn between darkness and light. He was in deep conflict between the unconscious samskaras that were driving him and the reality of what he ought to be doing. The clarity that would come about with the help of the great master, would be his enlightenment.

The darkness that surrounded Arjuna at this stage was maya, the illusion that prevents all human beings from perceiving the Truth of Reality that pervades all of our experiences. Ma ya, iti maya, that which is not real but appears as absolute is maya. Maya is not unreal in the sense that it does not exist. Maya truly exists as reality. It veils, it covers Reality, the ultimate Truth, the Truth of our inner awareness, the Truth of our inner divinity; and therefore it is un-real, an illusion.

Had Arjuna been Krishna, had Arjuna been enlightened, he would not have been tormented with the play of his maya. Had Arjuna been a Duryodhana, or even a Bhima whose individual consciousness was not awakened, he would have accepted the maya without question, and again not be tormented by it. But, Arjuna is intelligent. He is partially awakened, a seeker. He is in the presence of the greatest of all masters. He is struggling to rid himself of his maya and seek clarity.

It is Arjuna's ego that created the maya in him. His own identity and his own identification with who he was, along with his conviction that he should preserve his lineage - all these factors created the illusion in him that he was something other than who he was. These created the scepter of doubt in him that he should do something other than what he was there to do.

All of us come into this world with no identity. As we grow we collect labels describing ourselves - mother, father, brother, sister, relative, employer, employees, colleagues, enemies and so on. We become so associated with the labels and their accessories that we forget who we really are. Our life is then about seeking fulfillment in the wrong places.

A small story:

Every one in the village knew Yogi Maharaj to be an eccentric man. One day when friends and neighbors found him walking up and down in front of his house, beneath the street lamp, they did not take any notice. 'That is Yogi,' they said and moved on.

But when they found him there late at night, still walking up and down, they were concerned. 'Yogi, what are you doing?' they asked.

'Oh, nothing,' he said.

'Why are you walking up and down outside your home, instead of sleeping?' they asked.

'Oh, I am searching for my gold ring,' he replied. 'It is precious, an heirloom from many generations ago. I must find it.'

'Ok', they answered. 'We will help you,' and they searched along with him. Even after several hours they could not find the ring.

His neighbor, who knew Yogi Maharaj well, suddenly had a doubt. 'Where did you lose that ring, Yogi?' he asked.

'Oh, it was inside a box in my bedroom, but I cannot find it now, that is why I am searching here,' said Yogi.

'If you lost it in your bedroom, why are you looking for it under the street lamp?' demanded the neighbor. 'Yes, yes, why out here?' chorused the other friends.

'Oh,' said Yogi, 'there is no light in my bedroom. I can only search where there is light. That is why I am out here.'

This is how it is for most of us! We search for happiness in the external world because that is where we have been taught to look for fulfillment. We have learned only how to look outside. Unfortunately, the truth about the fleeting nature of sensory fulfillment is not well known. We keep believing that our bliss is outside of ourselves rather than at the core of our being. We have not learned how to look within and experience it.

Happiness comes from within. Eternal happiness that constantly flows as bliss is always from within. You cannot find it outside. You cannot reach it through material possessions, through relationships, through selfish philanthropy. It is a state of no mind that you reach within yourself.

As very young children we were all in bliss. Have you ever seen an unhappy baby, except when it is physically disturbed by hunger, thirst or pain? A young child is forever in bliss, always curious, always seeking, always energetic. As we grow, as we learn from others, we are taught to shift our attention away from that bliss. We learn from elders, from teachers, from people around us who have been at it longer than us. In short, we learn how to stop feeling blissful.

Just as we learned how to stop feeling blissful, we can also learn how to 'un-stop' that stopping of bliss. We can relearn how to connect with our blissful nature again. We can learn to become aware of who we really are.

That is the process Arjuna was going through. He had lost his awareness of inner bliss because of his samskaras and was in the deep throngs of despair. The process of relearning the process of transformation at the hands of the master was about to begin. If we become aware of that process, if we follow that process carefully over the eighteen chapters that the master takes His disciple through, we too can become aware.

Sankara says beautifully:

If you imbibe even a little of the Bhagavad Gita, if you drink even a drop of the Ganga water, if you think even once about that great master Krishna, you will never have to face Death.

Q: Master, how does the tale of a war help us in dayto-day issues? There have been hundreds, if not thousands of wars in the history of mankind, and many have been well documented. These have not stopped other wars. They have not helped humankind learn. How does one expect Bhagavad Gita to transform peoples' attitudes?

Mahabharata is not merely the tale of a war. It is a tale of many lives, which get involved in a war. The war itself is incidental to the story of the Pandava and Kaurava princes. What led to the war, how it could have been avoided and most importantly why it was not avoided are the experiences from this epic.

Contrary to most accounts of wars, written as historical documents, Bhagavad Gita is about how an expression of the divine convinces its human aspect to go to war as a part of fulfilling its responsibilities.

Bhagavad Gita is not about war; it is about how one should act in awareness, whatever be the circumstances before us. We cannot always choose the events of our lives but we can choose to live them with awareness and spiritual maturity.

The scriptural authority of Gita stems from the assurance of Krishna guaranteeing Arjuna that His words are the Truth. It is the Divine instructing the human. You may not know or even believe that some one like Krishna ever lived on this planet Earth. But many great masters throughout the ages have meditated upon these truths expounded by Krishna and affirmed them with their own direct experiences. I affirm them with my own inner experiences of the cosmic truth. Every word of this scripture resounds inTruth.

The truth of the Bhagavad Gita exists at many levels. What you read from a translation or even a commentary is still only superficial. It is at the physical level. There are many more energy levels at which the Bhagavad Gita needs to be understood. These can only be conveyed in the intimacy of the master-disciple relationship.

Any personal transformation is dependent upon two things. First, we must want to be transformed. No master, no book, nothing can be of help if we do not wish to transform. We must seek to be transformed. The universe is not bothered about whether we are transformed or not; it is up to us. Second, we must be in the present moment in order for that transformation, that alchemy to happen. You cannot live in the past or fantasize about the future and expect to be transformed.

That is why meditation is such a powerful tool of personal transformation. In fact it is the only real tool of personal transformation in addition to the enlightened master. No one can meditate on our behalf; we need to do it for ourselves. With practice, meditation immediately brings us into the present moment. We can be transformed, liberated, enlightened.

Unlike addictions that lower our consciousness and require more and more for the same effect, meditation raises our consciousness and takes less and less to get the same and deeper benefits. With experience, we will find that we flow through our days in mindful awareness and bliss.

Bhagavad Gita is meditation. Each verse is a sutra that we can meditate upon. These verses, these profound truths, will take us deeper into inner awareness in meditation as we contemplate upon them and transform ourselves as nothing else can. That is why Sankara says that even a little reading of the Bhagavad Gita will liberate us.

Metaphorically, this epic is the story of our own inner war. It is the fight between our positive and negative tendencies, our fear and greed. In many ways we are at war from the moment we are socialized and conditioned.

Unfortunately, we are constantly at odds with ourselves. We do not know how to accept and celebrate everything that happens in the inner world and the outer world. We have yet to learn that life is good and our nature is bliss. So we struggle to define and bring 'order' to everything in life with the hope that we can succeed in being happy or at least not unhappy. In doing this we only bring chaos and suffering to ourselves and others.

Mahabharata is the story of this inner war. That is why this great expression, the Bhagavad Gita, touches and transforms us even today. It is Arjuna's story but it is our story as well!

Thus ends the first chapter of the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, called as Arjuna VishadaYoga, in the Brahmavidya Yogashastra Bhagavad Gita Upanishad.

Scientific Research on Bhagavad Gita

Several institutions have conducted experiments using scientific and statistically supported techniques to verify the truth behind the Bhagavad Gita. Notable amongst them is the work carried out by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose findings are published through Maharishi Ved Vigyan Vishwa Vidyapeetam.

Studies conducted using meditation techniques related to truths expressed in the verses of the Bhagavad Gita have shown that the quality of life is significantly improved through meditation. These studies have found that meditators experience a greater sense of peace resulting in a reduced tendency towards conflict.

Meditators gain greater respect for and appreciation of others. Their own inner fulfilment increases resulting in improved self-respect and self-reliance, leading to Self Actualization.

One's ability to focus along with brain function integration is enhanced. These have resulted in greater comprehension, creativity, faster response time in decision-making and superior psychomotor coordination.

Stress levels have been shown to decrease with enhanced sensory perception and overall health. The tendency towards depression has been clearly shown to decrease.

There is enough evidence to show that as a result of meditation, individuals gain a better ethical lifestyle that in turn improves their interaction with others in the community, resulting in less conflict and crime. Group meditation was significantly correlated to a reduction in conflict worldwide.

Meditation leads to higher levels of consciousness. Through the research tools of Applied Kinesiology, Dr. David Hawkins (author of the book Power vs. Force) and others have shown that human consciousness has risen in the last few decades, crossing a critical milestone for the first time in human history. Dr. Hawkins' research also documents that the Bhagavad Gita is at the very highest level of Truth conveyed to humanity.

We acknowledge with gratitude the work done by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi institutions and Dr. David Hawkins in establishing the truth of this great scripture.

Glossary of Key Characters in the Bhagavad Gita

Pandava's Side:

Kaurava's Side:

Meaning of Common Sanskrit Words

For purposes of simplicity, the phonetic of Sanskrit has not been faithfully followed in this work. No accents and other guides have been used.

Aswattama is spelt as also Asvattama, Aswathama, Aswatama etc., all being accepted.

Correctly pronounced, Atma is Aatma; however in the English format a is used both for a and aa, e for e and ee and so on. The letter s as used here can be pronounced as s or ss or sh; for instance Siva is pronounced with a sibilant sound*, neither quite s* nor sh. Many words here spelt with 's' can as well be spelt as 'sh'.

[In the glossary, however, letters have been indicated in brackets to facilitate pronunciation as intended in the Sanskrit text*.]*

This glossary is not meant to be a pronunciation guide, merely an explanatory aid. It is merely a compilation of common words*.*

A(a)bharana: adornment; vastra(a)bharana is adornment with clothes

Abhy(a)asa: exercise; practice

A(a)cha(a)rya: teacher; literally 'one who walks with'

Advaita: concept of non-duality; that individual self and the cosmic SELF are one and the same; as different from the concepts of d*vaita* and v*isishta(a)dvaita,* which consider self and SELF to be mutually exclusive

A(a)ha(a)ra: food; also with reference to sensory inputs as in pratya(a)ha(a)ra

A(a)jna: order, command; the third eye energy centre

A(a)ka(a)sa: space, sky; subtlest form of energy of universe

Amruta, amrit: divine nectar whose consumption leads to immortality

Ana(a)hata: that which is not created; heart energy centre

A(a)nanda: bliss; very often used to refer to joy, happiness etc.

Anjana: collyrium, black pigment used to paint the eye lashes

A(a)pas: water

Aarti: worshipping with a flame, light, as with a lamp lit with oiled wick, or burning camphor

A(a)shirwa(a)d: blessing

Ashta(a)nga yoga: eight fold path to enlightenment prescribed by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra

A(a)shraya: grounded in reality; a(a)shraya-dosha, defect related to reality

A(a)tma, A(a)tman: individual Self; part of the universal Brahman

Beedi: local Hindu cigarette

Beeja: seed; beeja-mantra refers to the single syllable mantras used to invoke certain deities, e.g., gam for Ganesha.

Bhagava(a)n: literally God; often used for an enlightened master

Bha(a)vana: visualization

Bhakti: devotion; bhakta, a devotee

Brahma: the Creator; one of the Hindu trinity of supreme Gods, the other two being Vishnu, and Shiva

Brahmacha(a)ri: literally one who moves with the true reality, Brahman, one without fantasies, but usually taken to mean a celibate; brahmacharya is the quality or state of being a brahmachaari

Brahman: ultimate reality of the Divine, universal ntelligent energy

Bra(a)hman: person belonging to the class engaged in Vedic studies, priestly class

Buddhi: mind, intelligence; mind is also called by other names, manas, chitta etc.

Buddhu: a fool

Chakra: literally a 'wheel'; refers to energy centres in the mind-body system

Chakshu: eye, intelligent power behind senses

Chanda(a)la: an untouchable; usually one who skins animals.

Chandana: sandalwood

Chitta: mind; also manas, buddhi.

Dakshina(a)yana: Sun's southward movement starting 21st June

Darshan: vision; usually referred to seeing divinity

Dharma: righteousness

Dhee: wisdom.

Deeksha: grace bestowed by the Master and the energy transferred by the Master onto disciple at initiation or any other time, may be through a mantra, a touch, a glance or even a thought

Dosha: defect

Dhya(a)na: meditation

Drishti: sight, seeing with mental eye

Gada: weapon; similar to a mace; also Gada(a)yudha

Gopi, Gopika: literally a cowherd; usually referred to the devotees, who played with Krishna, and were lost in Him

Gopura, gopuram: temple tower

Grihasta: a householder, a married person; coming from the word griha, meaning house

Guna: the three human behavioural characteristics or predispositions; satva, rajas and tamas

Guru: Master; literally one who leads from gu (darkness) to ru (light)

Gurukul, Gurukulam: literally 'tradition of guru', refers to the ancient education system in which children were handed over to a guru at a very young age by parents for upbringing and education

Homa: ritual to Agni, the God of fire; metaphorically represents the transfer of energy from the energy of A(a)ka(a)sa (space), through V(a)ayu (Air), Agni (Fire), A(a)pas (Water), and Prithvi (Earth) to humans. Also y(a)aga, yagna

Iccha: desire

Ida: along with pingala and sushumna the virtual energy pathways through which pranic energy flows

Ithiha(a)sa: legend, epic, mythological stories; also pura(a)na

Jaati: birth; jaati-dosha, defect related to birth

Ja(a)grata: wakefulness

Japa: literally 'muttering'; continuous repetition of the name of divinity

Jeeva samadhi: burial place of an enlightened Master, where his spirit lives on

Jiva (pronounced as jeeva) means living

Jyotisha: Astrology; jyotishi is an astrologer

Kaivalya: liberation; same as moksha, nirva(a)na

Ka(a)la: time; also maha(a)ka(a)la

Kalpa: vast period of time; Yuga is a fraction of Kalpa

Kalpana: imagination

Karma: spiritual law of cause and effect, driven by va(a)sana and samska(a)ra

Kosha: energy layer surrounding body; there are 5 such layers. These are: annamaya or body, Pra(a)namaya or breath, manomaya or thoughts, vigya(a)namaya or sleep and a(a)nandamaya or bliss koshas

Kriya: action

Kshana: moment in time; refers to time between two thoughts

Kshatriya: caste or varna of warriors

Kundalini: energy that resides at the root chakra 'mula(a)dha(a)ra'(pronounced as moolaadha(a)ra)

Maha(a): great; as in maharshi, great sage; maha(a)va(a)kya, great scriptural saying

Ma(a)la: a garland, a necklace; rudra(a)ksha mala is a garland made of the seeds of the rudra(a)ksha tree

Mananam: thinking, meditation

Manas: mind; also buddhi, chitta

Mandir: temple

Mangala: auspicious; mangal sutra, literally auspicious thread, the yellow or gold thread or necklace a married Hindu woman wears

Mantra: a sound, a formula; sometimes a word or a set of words, which because of their inherent sounds, have energizing properties. Mantras are used as sacred chants to worship the Divine; mantra, tantra and yantra are approaches in spiritual evolution

Ma(a)ya: that which is not, not reality, illusion; all life is ma(a)ya according to advaita

Moksha: liberation; same as nirva(a)na, sama(a)dhi, turiya etc.

Mula(a)dha(a)ra: the first energy centre, moola is root; a(a)dhara is foundation, here existence

Nadi: river

Naadi: nerve; also an energy pathway that is not physical

Na(a)ga: a snake; a na(a)ga-sa(a)dhu is an ascetic belonging to a group that wears no clothes

Namaska(a)r: traditional greeting with raised hands, with palms closed

Na(a)nta: without end

Na(a)ri: woman

Nidhidhy(a)asan: what is expressed

Nimitta: reason; nimitta-dosha, defect based on reason

Nirva(a)na: liberation; same as moksha, sama(a)dhi

Niyama: the second of eight paths of Patanjali's Ashta(a)nga Yoga; refers to a number of day-to-day rules of observance for a spiritual path

Pa(a)pa: sin

Phala: fruit; phalasruti refers to result of worship

Paramahamsa: literally the 'supreme swan'; refers to an enlightened being

Parikrama: the ritual of going around a holy location, such as a hill or water spot

Parivra(a)jaka: wandering by an ascetic monk

Pingala: please see Ida.

Pra(a)na: life energy; also refers to breath; pra(a)na(a)ya(a)ma is control of breath

Pratya(a)hara: literally 'staying away from food'; in this case refers to control of all senses as part of the eight fold ashta(a)nga yoga

Prithvi: earth energy

Purohit: priest

Puja (pronounced as pooja): normally any worship, but often referred to a ritualistic worship

Punya: merit, beneficence

Pura(a)na: epics and mythological stories such as Maha(a)bha(a)rata, Ra(a)ma(a)yana etc.

Purna (prounounced *poorna*): literally 'complete'; refers in the advaita context to reality

Rajas, rajasic: the mid characteristic of the three human guna or behaviour mode, referring to aggressive action

Putra: son; putri: daughter

Rakta: blood

Ra(a)tri: night

Rishi: a sage

Sa(a)dhana: practice, usually a spiritual practice

Sa(a)dhu: literally a 'good person'; refers to an ascetic; same as sanya(a)si

Sahasrana(a)ma: thousand names of God; available for many Gods and Goddesses, which devotees recite

Sahasrara: lotus with thousand petals; the crown energy centre

Sakti: energy; intelligent energy; Para(a)sakti refers to universal energy, divinity; considered feminine; masculine aspect of Para(a)sakti is purusha

Sama(a)dhi: state of no-mind, no-thoughts; literally, becoming one's original state; liberated, enlightened state. Three levels of samadhi are referred to as sahaja, which is transient, savikalpa, in which the person is no longer capable of normal activities, and nirvikalpa, where the liberated person performs activities as before.

Samsaya: doubt

Samska(a)ra: embedded memories of unfulfilled desires stored in the subconscious that drive one into decisions, into karmic action

Samyama: complete concentration

Sankalpa: decision

Sanya(a)s: giving up worldly life; sanya(a)si or sanya(a)sin, a monk, an ascetic

sanya(a)sini, refers to a female monk

Sa(a)stra: sacred texts

Satva, sa(a)tvic: the highest guna of spiritual calmness

Siddhi: extraordinary powers attained through spiritual practice

Sishya: disciple

Simha: lion; Simha-Swapna: nightmare

Shiva: rejuvenator in the trinity; often spelt as Shiva. Shiva also means 'causeless auspiciousness'; in this sense, Shivara(a)tri, the day when Shiva is worshipped is that moment when the power of this causeless auspiciousness is intense

Smarana: remembrance; constantly remembering the divine

Smruti: literally 'that which is remembered'; refers to later day Hindu works which are rules, regulations, laws and epics, such as Manu's works, Puranas etc.

Sraddha: trust, faith, belief, confidence

Sravan: hearing

Srishti: creation, which is created

Sruti: literally 'that which is heard'; refers to the ancient scriptures of Veda, Upanishad and

Bhagavad Gita: considered to be words of God

Stotra: devotional verses, to be recited or sung

Sudra: caste or varna of manual labourers

Sutra: literally 'thread'; refers to epigrams, short verses which impart spiritual techniques

Sunya: literally zero; however, Buddha uses this word to mean reality

Sushumna: Please see 'ida'

Swa(a)dishtha(a)na: where Self is established; the groin or spleen energy centre

Swapna: dream

Swatantra: free

Tamas, taamasic: the lowest guna of laziness or inaction

Tantra: esoteric Hindu techniques used in spiritual evolution

Tapas: severe spiritual endeavour, penance

Thatagata: Buddhahood, state of being such…a pali word

Tirta: water; tirtam is a holy river and a pilgrimage centre

Trika(a)la: all three time zones, past, present and future; trika(a)lajna(a)ni is one who can see all three at the same time; an enlightened being is beyond time and space

Turiya (pronounced tureeya): state of samadhi, no-mind

Upanishad: literally 'sitting below alongside' referring to a disciple learning from the master;

refers to the ancient Hindu scriptures which along with the Veda, form sruti

Uttara(a)yana: Sun's northward movement

Vaisya: caste or varna of tradesmen

Va(a)naprastha: the third stage in one's life, (the first stage being that of a student, and the second that of householder) when a householder, man or woman, gives up worldly activities and focuses on spiritual goals

Varna: literally colour; refers to the caste grouping in the traditional Hindu social system; originally based on aptitude, and later corrupted to privilege of birth

Va(a)sana: the subtle essence of memories and desires, samska(a)ra, that get carried forward from birth to birth

Vastra: clothes

Vastra(a)harana: removal of clothes, often used to refer to Draupadi's predicament in the

Maha(a)bha(a)rata, when she was unsuccessfully disrobed

by the Kaurava prince

Va(a)yu: air

Veda: literally knowledge; refers to ancient Hindu scriptures, believed to have been received by enlightened rishi at the being level; also called sruti, along with Upanishad

Vibhuti (pronounced vibhooti): sacred ash worn by many Hindus on forehead; said to remind themselves of the transient nature of life; of glories too

Vidhi: literally law, natural law; interpreted as fate or destiny

Vidya: knowledge, education

Visha(a)da: depression, dilemma etc.

Vishnu: preserver in the trinity; His incarnations include Krishna, Rama etc. in ten incarnations; also means 'all encompassing'

Vishwarupa (pronounced *vishwaroopa)*: universal form

Yama: discipline as well as death; One of the eight fold paths prescribed in Patanjali's

Ashta(a)nga Yoga; refers to spiritual regulations of satya (truth), ahimsa (non violence), aparigraha (living simply); asteya (not coveting other's properties) and brahmacharya (giving up fantasies); yama is also the name of the Hindu God of justice and death

Yantra: literally 'tool'; usually a mystical and powerful graphic diagram, such as the Sri Chakra, inscribed on a copper plate, and sanctified in a ritual blessed by a divine presence or an enlightened Master

Yoga: literally union, union of the individual self and the divine SELF; often taken to mean

Hatha yoga, which is one of the components of yogasana, relating to specific body postures

Yuga: a long period of time as defined in Hindu scriptures; there are four yugas: satya, treta, dwa(a)para and kali, the present being kali yuga

Invocation Verses

! Paaqaa-ya p/itbaaioQataM Bagavata naaraayaNaona svayaM / vyaasaona ga/iqataM puraNamauinanaa maQyao mahaBaartM AWOtamaRtvaiYa-NaIM BagavatIM AYTadSaaQyaaiyanaIM Amba %vaamanausandQaaima Bagavad\gaIto BavaWoiYaNaIM

Om paarthaaya pratibodhitaam bhagavataa naaraayanena svayam Vyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratam Advaitaamrutavarshineem Bhagavateem ashtaadsaadhyaayineem Amba tvaamanusandadhaami bhagavadgeete bhavadveshineem

OM, I meditate upon you, Bhagavad Gita the affectionate Mother, the Divine Mother showering the nectar of non duality and destroying rebirth, (who was) incorporated into the Mahaabhaarata of eighteen chapters by sage Vyasa, the author of the Puraanaas, and imparted to Arjuna by Lord Narayana, Himself.

vasaudovasautM dovaM kmsacaaNaUrmad-nama\ dovakIprmaanandM kRYNaM vando jagad\gauruM

Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Chaanura Mardanam Devakee Paramaanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum

I salute you Lord Krishna, Teacher to the world, son of Vasudeva and Supreme bliss of Devaki, Destroyer of Kamsa and Chaanura.