This document has four articles

1. Bhagavad Gita Home Study Course

2. Gita Study Groups in the Bay Area
3. Why Study the Gita?
4. How to form Bhagavad Gita Study groups.
Bhagavad Gita Home Study Course

"In the Gita find you will yourself;

The self hitherto unknown but sought after,
The self that is strangely missed and searched for,
The self that you love to be,
That you are. "
-- Swami Dayananda
The Bhagavad Gita Home Study Course has been designed and taught by Sri Swami
Dayananda Saraswati. Each of the 700 verses of the Gita is presented in the devanagiri
script with transliteration, word-for-word meaning, and an English transliteration. Swamiji
has provided extensive commentary in keeping with the traditional commentary of Adi
Sankara. Based on the classes taught by Swamiji to students attending the three year
resident course at the gurukulam, the Gita Home Study Program offers a methodical and
comprehensive program of self study.
Ordering Information:
Please send a check for US $210.00 (COST: US $200.00 + S&H US $10.00 within US)
made payable to -- Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Attn: Book & Tape Dept., P O Box 1059,
Saylorsburg PA-18353. If paying by credit card (Visa/MC/Discover/AmEx) the number may
be faxed to 570.992.9617 along with your mailing address.
For inquiries, call 570.992.2339 ext.1-567 or go to on-line bookstore

Gita Study Groups in Bay Area

There are four Gita Home Study groups currently operating:
1. In Fremont on alternate Saturdays from 4:30 to 6pm
2. In Cupertino on alternate Tuesdays from 7:30 to 9pm
3. At Cisco on Mondays lunch time
4. In Almaden every Tuesday 2 to 4pm. Alternate Tuesday in Fremont & Almaden.

members and finishing Ch2 (contact casakaji@msn.com)

Please contact Dr Anjali Deshmukh at anjalidesh@yahoo.com for further information about
Gita Home Study
Why Study the Gita?
by Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Gita-sugita kartavya
kim anyaih sastra-vistaraih
Praising the Bhagavadgita, this verse says that the Gita has to be studied well, gita-sugita
kartavya; what will you gain by studying other books in detail, kim anyaih sastra-vistaraih?
This verse presents the Gita as a book to be studied, a book containing everything that one
has to know through the scriptures [Vedas]. It doesn't belittle the efficacy or the necessity
of studying other scriptural books; it only points out that the study of the Gita amounts to
the study of other scriptures.
The source books of the spiritual wisdom [of India] are the four Vedas: rig-veda, yajurveda, sama-veda, and atharva-veda. The vedas are fulfilled in the last portion called
Vedanta or Upanishads. Another famous Sanskrit verse likens these Upanishads to a cow
and the Gita becomes the cow's milk: sarvopanisadogavah, dogdha gopala-nandanah partho
vatsah sudhibhokta dughdham gitamrtam mahat. The Gita, the milk, is milked by Lord
Krishna himself, who is presented as an avatar of the Lord in the Mahabharata and in the
Bhagavata. He is the one who is teaching the Gita to Arjuna. Arjuna serves as the calf to
whom the milk, the message of the Gita, is given.
What Constitutes a Scripture?
A scripture is something that has a message with a lasting, universal value. What is relevant
now, may not be relevant later; nor may it have been relevant before. A scripture's
message should be relevant to me as an individual and to you; it should be relevant to
anyone at any time and place. Only when a message addresses certain problems that are
always there for a human deing does it have lasting relevance. Because the Vedas and the
Gita have that kind of a message, they are a scripture.
The Gita Contains Two Main Topics
The Gita is recognized and highly respected by the scholars and the devoted lay public in
India because of its two main topics: yoga-sastra and brahma-vidya. Together they form
the body of knowledge which is very important for every individual.
Yoga-sastra
The knowledge meant to make a person mature as an individual is called yoga-sastra. A
mature individual is one who is free from conflicts, fear, agitation, guilt, and hurt.
Brahma-vidya
Brahma-vidya is knowledge of the whole, the knowledge that liberates a person. A person
who has become mature by yoga has something more to accomplish - total freedom,

generally called moksha. To know Brahman is to know the truth of oneself as the whole, as
complete. The discovery of this fact frees you from all sense of limitation and isolation.
So the first message of the Gita, yoga-sastra, helps you to gain maturity as a person, as an
individual. It helps one to become relatively composed, tranquil, alert and free - in short, a
cheerful person. You are then fit to gain brahma-vidya, knowledge that you are the whole,
knowledge that frees you from the notion of being a small, limited, mortal being. These two
topics of the Gita, which form the very essence of all four Vedas, make the Gita a scripture
with a message that is relevant for everyone.
The Context of the Gita
The Gita itself is set in a battlefield, not in the Himalayas, or in a forest. Arjuna is face-toface with a problem born of conflict between his familial affections and the call of duty. On
one side, it seems to be necessary for him to perform his duty, which is to fight the war.
Then, there is another equally powerful pull - his affection for his family and teachers and
his own self respect, which conflict with the concept of duty. Caught betwen the horns of
duty and affection, Arjuna is confused as he stands between the two forces on the
battlefield.
The battle has been declared because Duryodhana has usurped the kingdom. The rightful
rulers were the Pandavas, Arjuna and his four brothers, who had been in exile for thirteen
years. When they returned to claim the kingdom back as it was promised, Duryodhana who
had enjoyed absolute power didn't want to give up the kingdom.
The Pandavas had tried to avoid a war by asking Krishna to act as a mediator. Krishna went
to Duryodhana to work out a solution that both parties would be happy with. Duryodhana
wouldn't give the kingdom back nor even share the kingdom with the Pandavas. He would
not give a district, a county, a village with five houses, nor a house with five rooms; not
even a square inch of land would he give. He said, "Let them either go back into the forest
or meet me in the battlefield." Thus, Krishna's attempt to negotiate had failed and there
was no way of avoiding war. Arjuna and his brothers were supposed to be the rulers;
Duryodhana, their cousin, was occupying the kingdom improperly. Arjuna, who was
considered the greatest archer of the time, was now called upon to fight to uphold dharma.
Given this situation, the Gita opens. Arjuna is seated in a chariot driven by Lord Krishna and
drawn by white horses. He has been waiting for this day to settle his account with
Duryodhana. Duryodhana had wronged him in a number of incidents throughout his life, but
he could do nothing. Now the day has come. Arjuna is a flame of fury and he wants to
know, "In this battlefiled, who are the people with whom I should fight?" He asks Krishna to
place the chariot between the two forces.
Arjuna's Conflict
When Arjuna looked, he found highly respected people like Drona, his own teacher,
Bhishma, his grandfather, and many relatives and acquaintances with whom he had to fight.
He said, "What is the use of fighting all these people? Without killing them, I'm not going to
get the kingdom back. And what is the use of getting the kingdom back by destroying the
people in whose company I would be happy?" Arjuna saw that in war nobody is a winner. "I
don't care for the kingdom, nor am I interested in royal comforts. I don't see anything to be
gained by the war. I see a black, dark future; therefore, I'm not interested in this fight."

Arjuna gave up his bow and arrows. Then, Krishna spoke to Arjuna to enthuse him, urging
him to do his duty.
Arjuna becomes a Sisya
While caught between the call of duty and his emotions, Arjuna begins to appreciate a
fundamental problem, the problem of a human being. That problem takes posession of his
mind and he wants to find a solution. Finding a teacher in Lord Krishna, he presents himself
to Krishna as a Sisya, a disciple. Arjuna was always a devotee, but not a sisya; he finds
himself a sisya on the battlefield. Lord Krishna accepts Arjuna as a disciple and teaches him
in the succeeding 17 chapers of the Gita.
Throughout the Gita the yoga-sastra is given; telling one the ways and means to be a
mature person free from conflicts, fear, hurt, and guilt. Along with the yoga message is the
brahma-vidya, knowledge of the reality of yourself being the essence of everything, your
being the whole. The Gita has all that is to be learned from the four Vedas, which are a vast
literature. Therefore, the Gita has to be studied, and if it is understood well, everything is
well understood.
Bhagavad Gita Study Group
In getting a group started, if you already have at least 4-5 people interested, that is a good
start; 6-10 would be ideal. But even if only two of you want to start, consider it a good
beginning. Let your friends know about your starting a group and ask them to spread the
word.
By choice of the participants, the groups usually begin to meet every other week for one
and a half to two hours. At some point you may choose to meet once a week.
Your group may decide to meet at one persons home regularly or to rotate from home to
home. Keep in mind it is best to meet at relatively convenient locations. If rotating from
home to home, each host can be the moderator for that session. If you choose to meet in
one home regularly, still the leadership can rotate amongst all of you. In the case that
anyone is for any reason not comfortable to lead, then of course do not insist. There is no
hard and fast rule about this.
It is easiest to make it clear to participants at the outset, even before they join the group,
that the content and format of the meetings are based on The Gita Home Study Course
authored by Swami Dayananda Saraswati and based on the Sankaras Bhasya. Explain that
it is a methodical class-like unfoldment of the material and not intended to be a comparative
study where participants bring their own Gita.
It is highly recommended by Pujya Swamiji that each group start with the introduction when
it meets for the first time. The introduction itself contains a wealth of insights about how the
Gita is to be approached and how the study can best proceed.
In keeping with the tradition the group follows a format of beginning with prayers, usually
the Gita Dhyana Slokas . The moderator, at the beginning of the class provides a brief
summary of what was covered in the previous meeting. Each participant reads one topic or
one page, and discussions as needed can take place in between. Ideally the group will

blossom into a family-like support group where all will feel equally comfortable to question
and discuss freely.
Gita is a pertinent text to be viewed in terms of life-problems and as such, discussions and
questions including issues from peoples daily lives can be beneficial to all participants.
However, to stay focused, it is best to have a sense of proportion in not letting the
discussions wander off the theme at hand.
It is important to begin and end the study group meetings on time. Food can be served at
the end of the class and should the meeting times necessitate people coming to the class
straight from work, then light snacks can be provided before the class.
It is also highly beneficial to hold a simultaneous Vedic Heritage Program for the children if
the need is there. One of the parents can teach the class with the help of the Vedic Heritage
Teaching manuals. Having a babysitter who can keep the children constructively engaged
during the duration of the sessions is also another option.