SHRI VIDYA NIKETAN SCHOOL AND COLLEGE http://www.svnsc.com He also wanted the kingdom. The king- THE BHAGAVAD-GITA dom was divided into two halves be- (For Children and Beginners) tween the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Duryodhana was not satisfied with his INTRODUCTION share. He wanted the entire kingdom for himself. He tried several evil plots to kill Jai: Grandma, I have a hard time the Pandavas and take away their king- understanding the teachings of the dom. Somehow he took over the entire Bhagavad-Gita. Would you help me? kingdom of the Pandavas and refused to give it back without a war. All peace Grandma: Of course, Jai, I will be talks by Lord Krishna and others failed, glad to. You should know that this holy so the big war of Mahabharata could not book teaches us how to live happily in be avoided. the world. It is an ancient holy book of The Pandavas didn’t want to fight, Hindu Dharma (also known as Sanatana but they had only two choices: fight for Dharma or Hinduism), but it can be un- their right because it was their duty or derstood and followed by people of any run away from war and accept defeat for faith. The Gita has eighteen (18) chap- the sake of peace and nonviolence. Ar- ters and a total of only 700 verses. Any- juna, one of the five Pandava brothers, one can be helped by daily practice of faced this choice in the battlefield. only a few of its teachings. He had to choose between fight- The word ‘Bhagavad’ means God ing the war and killing his most revered or The Supreme Lord, Bhagavan in San- guru, who was on the other side; his very skrit. ‘Gita’ means song. Thus The dear friends, close relatives, and many Bhagavad-Gita means the Song of God innocent warriors; or running away from or the Sacred Song, because it was sung the battlefield to be peaceful and nonvio- by Bhagavan Shri Krishna himself. lent. The entire eighteen chapters of the Here is the introduction to the Gita are the talk between confused Ar- Gita: juna and his best friend, mentor and In ancient times there was a king cousin, Lord Krishna --- an incarnation who had two sons, Dhritarashtra and of God --- on the battlefield of Kuruk- Pandu. The former was born blind; shetra near New Delhi, India, about therefore, Pandu inherited the kingdom. 5,100 years ago. This conversation was Pandu had five sons. They were called reported to the blind king, Dhritarashtra, the Pandavas. Dhritarashtra had one by his charioteer, Sanjay. It is recorded hundred sons. They were called the Kau- in the great epic, Mahabharata. ravas. Duryodhana was the eldest of the All lives, human or nonhuman, Kauravas. are sacred, and nonviolence or Ahimsa is After the death of king Pandu, his one of the most basic principles of Hin- eldest son, Yudhisthira, became the law- duism. So when Lord Krishna advises ful King. Duryodhana was very jealous. Arjuna to get up and fight, this may con- SHRI VIDYA NIKETAN SCHOOL AND COLLEGE http://www.svnsc.com 2 International Gita Society fuse you about the principle of Ahimsa if Jai: What does compassionate mean, you don’t keep in mind the background Grandma? of the war of Mahabharata. This spiritual talk between the Grandma: Compassion does not mean Supreme Lord, Krishna, and His devo- pity, Jai. That would be looking down on tee-friend, Arjuna, occurs not in a tem- others as poor, pitiful creatures. Arjuna ple, a lonely forest, or on a mountain top, was feeling their pain and their unlucky but on a battlefield on the eve of a war. situation as his own. Arjuna was a great warrior, who had fought many wars and Jai: This is an interesting story, was well prepared for the war, but sud- Grandma. Can you tell me more? denly his compassion made him not want to fight. He spoke of the evils of Grandma: If you come to where I sit war and sat down on the seat of his char- every evening, Jai, I will tell you the iot, his mind full of sorrow. He saw no whole story, one chapter each day. Just use in fighting. He did not know what to make sure your homework is done and do. you have time to listen. If you agree, let’s start tomorrow. Jai: I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to fight either. Why do people Jai: Thank you, Grandma. I’ll be fight, Grandma? Why are there wars? there to hear more. Grandma: Jai, there are not only wars CHAPTER 1 between nations, but quarrels between ARJUNA’S CONFUSION two people, quarrels between brothers and sisters, between husband and wife, Jai: I would like to know first how between friends and neighbors. The Lord Krishna and Arjuna happened main reason is that people are not able to to talk on the battlefield, Grandma. let go of their selfish motives and de- sires. Most wars are fought for posses- Grandma: It came about in this way, sion and power. But all problems could Jai. The war of Mahabharata was about be solved peacefully if people could see to begin after peace talks by Lord both sides of the problem and work out Krishna and others failed to avoid the an agreement. War should be the last re- war. When the soldiers were gathered on sort. Our holy books say: One should not the battlefield, Arjuna asked Lord commit violence towards anyone. Un- Krishna to drive his chariot between the justified killing is punishable in all cir- two armies so that he could see those cumstances. Lord Krishna urged Arjuna who were ready to fight. Seeing all his to fight for his rights, but not to kill relatives, friends, and soldiers on the bat- needlessly. It was his duty as a warrior to tlefield and fearing their destruction, he fight a declared war and establish peace became compassionate. and law and order on earth. SHRI VIDYA NIKETAN SCHOOL AND COLLEGE http://www.svnsc.com The Bhagavad-Gita for Children 3 We humans also have wars going robber must be looking for somebody to inside all of us. Our negative and posi- rob and kill, so he faced a big problem. tive forces are always fighting. The If he told the truth, the merchant would negative forces within us are represented certainly be killed. If he lied, he would by the Kauravas and the positive forces incur the sin of lying and lose his reputa- by the Pandavas.The Gita does not have tion. Any immoral act that may harm stories in it to illustrate the teachings, so others is called sin. Ahimsa (nonvio- I will add some stories from other lence) and truthfulness are two most im- sources to help you. portant teachings of all religions that we Here is a story about negative and must follow. If we have to choose be- positive thoughts fighting each other that tween these two, which one should we Lord Krishna Himself told to Arjuna in choose? This is a very difficult choice. Mahabharata. Because of his habit of telling the truth, the hermit said: “Yes, I saw some- 1. Mr. Truthful one going that way.” So the robber was able to find the merchant and kill him. There once lived a great hermit, The hermit could have saved a life by who was famous for telling the truth. He hiding the truth, but he did not think very had taken a vow not to lie and was popu- carefully and made a wrong decision. larly known as “Mr. Truthful.” No mat- Lord Krishna’s purpose in telling ter what he said, everyone believed him Arjuna this story was to teach Arjuna because he had earned a great reputation that sometimes we have to choose be- in the community where he lived and did tween a rock and a hard place. Lord his spiritual practices. Krishna told Arjuna that the hermit One evening, a robber was chas- shared with the robber the sin of killing a ing a merchant to rob and kill him. The life. The robber could not have found the merchant was running for his life. To es- merchant if the hermit had not told the cape from the robber, the merchant ran truth. So when two noble principles con- towards the forest where the hermit lived flict with each other, we have to know outside the village. which one is the higher principle. The merchant felt very safe be- Ahimsa has the highest priority, so the cause there was no way the robber could hermit should have lied in this situation find out where he was hiding in the jun- to save a life. One may not tell a truth gle. But the hermit had seen the direction that harms a person in any way. It isn’t in which the merchant went. easy to apply Dharma (or righteousness) The robber came to the hermit’s to real life situations because what is cottage and paid his respects. The robber Dharma and what is Adharma (or un- knew that the hermit would tell only the righteousness) can sometimes be very truth and could be trusted, so he asked difficult to decide. In such a situation, him whether he had seen somebody run- expert advice should be sought. ning away. The hermit knew that the SHRI VIDYA NIKETAN SCHOOL AND COLLEGE http://www.svnsc.com 4 International Gita Society Lord Krishna gave another exam- respected.