Foreword
Hello, wonderful Steemians. I hope you are all doing very well. Welcome to today's post which is going to serve as an introduction to my first read which is "Bhagavad Gita". I have chosen this ancient epic because in India they say that Bhagavad Gita is the entry point to the "Ancient Indian Culture" for anyone who wants to know more about India. By India I do not mean the geographical location that is present-day India. Rather I am referring to India as a culture, which people used to follow back then. With time, this culture has shrunken to present day India (the country).
Well, so anyone ever interested in the Indian culture has came across the name of this epic atleast once or twice in his/her life. This epic can tell us the mentality of people back then. As my journey is about to find more about the Indian culture, so I have decided to start with this epic which the world today knows by the name of "Bhagavad Gita" or just "Gita".
Getting Started
Bhagavad Gita has an unusual origin, unlike many other Indian scriptures which were recited or written by sages during what I would call on regular days or after gaining knowledge from tapa (deep meditation).
Bhagavad Gita has its origins on the battlefield, in which the battle was on the verge to begin between first cousins called Kauravas and Pandavas. As strange as it sounds, but one of the greatest warriors of that era named Arjuna who was one of the 5 Pandava brothers known to have single-handedly defeated entire Armies, Demons and even Gods got so scared thinking of the outcome of war which would destroy his entire family's legacy and members that he dropped his weapons on the battlefield itself right in front of his enemies.
Though Arjuna had fought many battles before and thus was not new to war, but the very idea of killing his friends, family, elders, gurus for the sake of throne shook him at the core of his heart. He dropped his weapons, was trembling with fear and didn't know what to do. In this situation, he seeked refuge in the guidance of his friend named Krishna who was serving as a charioteer for Arjuna in this war. Krishna himself was a king but was serving as Arjuna's Charioteer in the war on the request of Pandavas.
Krishna, Pandavas and Kauravas had fought countless wars before. But Arjuna was the only one who dropped his weapons in the battlefield not willing to kill his brothers, friends and elders.
The recitation of Bhagavad Gita consists of the dialogs which happened between these two friends Arjuna and Krishna after Arjuna seeked Krishna's refuge for guidance on what he should do as he was not able to pick weapons against his family members even though he knew most of the warriors in the Kaurava clan would not think twice before killing him whenever they got a chance.
Those who do not know about what events led to this war within the family, I'll point out the context on the go wherever required. As Bhagavad Gita focuses on the dialog between Arjuna and Krishna, so this series will be mostly about this dialog.