The Bhagavad Gita

 The Bhagavad Gita

 The Bhagavad Gita is the most revered of all the Hindu texts, and has a unique pan-Hindu influence.The Gita's call for selfless action inspired many leaders of the Indian independence movement including Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi, the latter referring to it as his "spiritual dictionary".

In the Indian tradition, the Bhagavad Gita, as well as the epic Mahabharata of which it is a part, is attributed to the sage Vyasa, whose full name was Krishna Dvaipayana, also called Veda-Vyasa

The Bhagavad Gita is a poem written in the Sanskrit language.Its 700 verses are structured into several ancient Indian poetic meters, with the principal being the shloka . It has 18 chapters in total. Each shloka consists of a couplet, thus the entire text consists of 1,400 lines.

Gerald James Larson – an Indologist and scholar of classical Hindu philosophy, states that "if there is any one text that comes near to embodying the totality of what it is to be a Hindu, it would be the Bhagavad Gita.

 The text refrains from insisting on one right marga (path) to spirituality. It openly synthesizes and inclusively accepts multiple ways of life, harmonizing spiritual pursuits through action (karma), knowledge (gyaana), and devotion (bhakti)

One must do the right thing because one has determined that it is right, states Gita, without craving for its fruits, without worrying about the results, loss or gain

 Desires, selfishness, and the craving for fruits can distort one from spiritual living.

Here comes the sloka ...

Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshou Kada Chana

Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani