Writes Gaurav Rastogi - As I read and blog the Gita, I notice that my approach to life is improving! As you will notice I haven't become a complete Karma Yogi or an Ascetic yet. Like all year-end reviews, let me rate my favorite verses/advice in ascending order of ease ...

By Gaurav Rastogi Yada Yada, desi style In Chapter 4, Krishna describes the lineal tradition by which the secret knowledge has been passed along. Arjuna protests the logical error in this statement (see opening lines of the previous blog entry). In reply, Krishna describes the concept of multiple births, and why he keeps coming back. whenever there is a decline of dharma, bhaarata, an ascendency of adharma, then myself I manifest for the deliverance of the good and for the destruction of the sinners in order to establish dharma, I come from age to age Tough job, but someone’s gotta do it!

By Gaurav Rastogi I have been traveling for the last three weeks, and have been reading the Gita on my flights, making hastily scribbled notes that are impossible to “un-scribble” when I’m trying to key in my wit and wisdom. So now I have three chapters worth of reading to write about. ACTION, WISDOM AND RENUNCIATION Chapters 3-5 flow into each other, and much of it seems to repeat. Chapter 3 (Karma Yoga- yoga of action) talks about the way to achieve freedom from endless karma. In Chapter 4 (Gnana Yoga – yoga of wisdom), Krishna shares a deeply held secret about wisdom and sacrifice. In Chapter 5 (Sanyasa Yoga – the way of renunciation), the differences and similarities between Yoga and Renunciation are clarified.

By Gaurav Rastogi The style, and other reflections I noted last time that there are some very striking things about the Bhagavad Gita that leap out at the modern reader. The writing style is very mathematical and tight and relatively free of the “Indian mystical” style that seems all the rage these days. Also, there seems to be some solid science (and science fiction) behind the assertions in Chapter 2.

By Gaurav Rastogi I’ve been reading the Bhagavad Gita for a couple of weeks now, and I’m feeling one with Arjuna already. When Chapter 1 ended, Arjuna was overwhelmed and panicked. Ditto for me. SO MANY VERSIONS, SO LITTLE TIME OK, so I cheated. I had promised that I would only read one version of the Bhagavad Gita and record my notes. Now, I’m adding internet searches on Amazon and Wiki, to my set of sources. After I posted last, I received many comments and recommendations for Gita translations. The ones most recommended seem to be Eknath Eshwaran’s version, as well as Osho’s version. I’m panicked that people might compare!

Gaurav Rastogi will be blogging his thoughts as he reads the Bhagvad Gita for the first time. He is 35, lives in the Bay Area, curiously religious but not a Sanskrit scholar. #1 WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T PANIC! FOR THOSE WHO CAME IN LATE For those not familiar with the text, here’s a brief backstory. You must know that the Bhagvad Gita is an orthogonal insert into the main story of the Mahabharata which itself is the epic story of the sons of Bharat and their Godfather-style story of deceit and sweet revenge. The Gita is set in the climactic battle scene between two sets of cousins who are fighting over property rights. The bad guys, historically speaking, are the Kauravas, who are fathered by Dhritrashtra – the blind king. The good guys are their cousins - the Pandavas – who are supported by sympathetic friends and relatives, including Krishna Vasudeva. (Vasudeva means land-owner, and was apparently a title of some sorts. Krishna just means black.)

Gaurav Rastogi will be blogging his thoughts as he reads the Bhagvad Gita for the first time. He is 35, lives in the Bay Area, is curiously religious but not a Sanskrit scholar. GITA KI KASAM KHA KAR KAHO…(PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE GITA AND SWEAR THAT…) References to the Gita are everywhere in Indian – and international - culture. As everybody knows, Bollywood criminals are asked to swear by the Gita that they will speak the truth and nothing but the truth. This sort of confers a “holy book” status on the Gita, in league with the Bible or the Quran. We grew up watching pulse-racing TV in the form of BR Chopra’s Mahabharata with its kitschy dress sense and continuous references to Karmanyeva Adhikaraste. In international culture, you might know that the book and movie - The Legend of Bagger Vance (Will Smith played the eponymous Bagger Vance, which even sounds like Bhagvan. Besides, he’s black, which is a plus) loosely translated the teachings of the Gita in the context of Golf-as-War.