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Arjuna on the Field: Quick Summary

Arjuna is ready. He lifts his bow and himself asks Krishna to place the chariot between the two armies (1.20-21).

English 9 min Arjuna on the Field

Quick summary

Arjuna's Despondency: Quick Summary

Seeing his own people before him, Arjuna's body gives way: his limbs weaken and the bow begins to slip from his hand (1.29-30).

English 11 min Arjuna's Despondency

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Arjuna's Questions: Quick Summary

The Gita moves by Arjuna's questions, and the Lord sends none of them back (3.1-2).

English 11 min Arjuna's Questions

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Merely an Instrument: Quick Summary

The Lord calls Himself Time and says that even without Arjuna the warriors on the other side will not remain (11.32).

English 10 min Merely an Instrument

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The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance: Quick Summary

The 18 chapters and 701 verses of the Gita move in the order of Arjuna's questions: from sitting down in despair to decision.

English 13 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance

Quick summary

What Is the Gita?: Quick Summary

The Gita is one conversation between Arjuna and Lord Krishna on a battlefield, in 18 chapters.

English 8 min What Is the Gita?

Article

Arjuna Before the Teaching: A Close Reading of Gita 1.28 to 2.10

Arjuna's collapse comes in an order. The body gives way first (1.29-30), then his sense of what victory is worth (1.31-35), then his reasons (1.36-44), and at last the reasons turn on him (1.45-47).

Deeper English 18 min Arjuna's Despondency

Article

Why the Gita Begins With a Man Who Cannot Go On: Gita 1.28 to 2.10, Verse by Verse

The Gita opens with a hero who cannot go on. His body gives way first (1.29-30), then his reasons pile up against fighting (1.31-44), and then he throws down his bow (1.47).

In Depth English 13 min Arjuna's Despondency

Article

From a Raised Bow to a Sinking Heart: Arjuna Between the Two Armies (Gita 1.20–27)

Arjuna arrives on the field ready: his bow is raised, and he asks to stand between the armies to see whom he must fight (1.20–23).

In Depth English 11 min Arjuna on the Field

Article

How the Gita Is Built: The Frame, Arjuna's Questions, the Verse Counts and the Chapter Names

The Gita presents itself as one dialogue inside a frame: Dhritarashtra asks what happened, and Sanjaya tells it from start to finish.

Deeper English 12 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance

Article

The Eighteen Chapters of the Gita in Order: What Each Chapter Does and Why It Comes Next

Each of the eighteen chapters has one clear job, and Arjuna's questions are what move the talk from one chapter to the next.

In Depth English 14 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance

Article

What the Gita Says About Itself: A Dialogue, a Yoga and a Book to Be Studied

The closing chapter names the book three ways. It is a dialogue (18.70, 18.74), a secret yoga heard first hand (18.75), and a teaching whose study is an offering (18.70).

Deeper English 10 min What Is the Gita?

Article

Who Moves the Scene? A Close Reading of Gita 1.20–27

Arjuna sets the terms of the scene: he asks to stand between the armies so that he can see whom he must fight (1.21–22).

Deeper English 15 min Arjuna on the Field

Article

Who Speaks in the Gita, and Why Does the Teaching Begin in a War?

Four voices carry the Gita. Dhritarashtra asks, Sanjaya reports, Arjuna questions and Lord Krishna teaches.

In Depth English 11 min What Is the Gita?

Article

Arjuna's Questions in the Gita: Wording, Order and Replies, a Closer Reading

The questions shape the Gita: three threads run through them, the call for one decisive answer (2.7, 3.2, 5.1), the marks of the ideal person (2.54, 14.21), and which of two is better (5.1, 12.1).

Deeper English 15 min Arjuna's Questions

Article

What Arjuna Asks in the Gita: The Fourteen Main Questions, One by One

Arjuna's questions change with his state of mind: first confusion (2.54, 3.1-2, 5.1), then the difficulty of practice (6.33-39), then the wish to know (8.1-2, 13.1, 14.21), then the wish to see (11.3-4).

In Depth English 14 min Arjuna's Questions

Article

What Does 'Be Merely an Instrument' Mean? Gita 11.31-35 Verse by Verse

'Be merely an instrument' means do your own action, and give up the claim to be the sole author of the outcome and the fear that comes with it (11.33).

In Depth English 14 min Merely an Instrument