Bhagawad-giitaa भगवद्गीता, more popularly known as giitaa (गीता) is a 700-verse scripture that forms a part of Mahaabhaarata(महाभारत), the longest epic poem in Sanskrit, yet it stands as an independent text with the name ‘bhagawad-giitaa’ and enjoys the highest regard among all philosophical Hindu scriptures.

Giitaa is more popular even than the wedas themselves and the upanishads, the philosophical supplements to wedas and most people consider giitaa to be an Upanishad in its own right, in which sense it is called giitopanishad (गीतोपनिषद्).

Giitaa is a dialogue between Shriikrishna (श्रीकृष्ण) and Prince Arjuna (अर्जुन) in the middle of the battlefield, just before the Kurukshetra war began. Arjuna faced a dilemma about fighting with and slaying his own near and dear ones in a war over a disputed empire. Shriikrishna acted as his counsel, explaining him about the various facets of the life of a warrior prince and reminding him about his supreme duty in the event of a war.

Shriikrishna dwelled upon other aspects of human life as well, primarily discussing the eternal nature of the soul and its separate existence from the body, reiterating that one cannot destroy the soul. He also elaborated on various philosophies, especially the ones discussed in the Upanishads, thus conferring the status of an Upanishad itself on the giitaa.

It shows us three paths of life, viz. Bhaktimaarga (भक्तिमार्ग) path of devotion, Karmamarg (कर्ममार्ग) path of action and Gyanamarg (ज्ञानमार्ग) path of knowledge, further proclaiming that although each path is supreme in its own right, they are not mutually exclusive and that they all finally lead to the same destination, i.e. the ‘Eternal Truth’.

Giitaa seems to have incorporated the thoughts of all the six orthodox philosophical doctrines of India, namely saankhya (सांख्य), yoga (योग), nyaaya (न्याय), waiseshika(वैशेषिक), miimaansaa (मीमांसा), and wedanta (वेदान्त). Thus, one who understands giitaa, can safely assume that he has understood the essence of all these. With this, giitaa is widely open to interpretation and hence, most thinkers find at least a few verses in giitaa that support their views. This seems to be the primary reason why giitaa enjoys acceptance in even the most contradictory schools of philosophical thought.

Giitaa is considered by many modern thinkers as a manual for life that guides us towards the right path in life and enables us to handle the situations of life in a positive and fruitful way. It may not provide a solution to all our problems, but guides us towards the right way to find the solution. Many of the principles expounded in the giitaa have also been considered by management-gurus to be of benefit to the modern manager, and hence select portions of giitaa are also incorporated into management syllabi throughout not only Indian, but also foreign Universities. Giitaa has been widely translated and commented upon in all the major languages of the world and most of the thinkers in the world find some similarities between their theories and giitaa. This prompts them to consider giitaa as an all-pervasive scripture which touches upon every aspect of human life. This year Giitaa jayantii is on 6th December 2011.

The following verse, which is in the विषम meter, indicates that giitaa is the nectar-like essence, extracted from cows in the form of Upanishads, by a milkman named Shriikrishna for the thirsty Arjuna.