This is the first podcast in a new series, Gita Wisdom: Long Island Series, recorded at EverVeda. In this class, we cover the following:
- Why read the Bhagavad Gita?
- How to chant verses from the Gita
- What is bhakti?
- And we touch briefly on the topics of enlightenment and spiritual progress
Stream
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Homework
Read the Preface and Introduction to Bhagavad Gita As It Is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Mentioned in this podcast
Abbreviations used in these notes: BG for Bhagavad Gita
Handouts
Books
Verses
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca
dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre
samavetā yuyutsavaḥ
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva
kim akurvata sañjayaDhṛtarāṣṭra said: O Sañjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukṣetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?
In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.
The Personality of Godhead said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!
Vocabulary
- Bhakti (also Bhakti-yoga) Devotional service to God
- Darshan Vision: both physical as well as metaphysical: “vision of truth”
- Gunas The three dominant behavioral types: sattva (goodness, creation, light and harmony), rajas (passion, preservation, ambition), and tamas (ignorance, inertia, destruction)
- Parampara “Super-soul,” God in the heart of each being as witness and well-wisher accompanying each soul through its many births
- Siddhis The eight mystic powers achieved through intense yoga practice
Other
Vaishnava Pranam
vāñchā-kalpatarubhyaś ca
kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo
vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥI offer my respectful obeisances unto all the Vaiṣṇava devotees of the Lord. They can fulfill the desires of everyone, just like desire trees, and they are full of compassion for the fallen souls.
Recommended Reading
Gita Wisdom: An Introduction to India’s Essential Yoga Text
Bhagavad Gita As It Is
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