First Written on April 22, 2006 Revised and Updated Friday, April 03, 2009 Hare Krishna, hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna hare hare Hare Rama, hare Rama, Rama, Rama, hare hare Brief Introduction to 'Bhagvat Gita' Bhagvat Gita is the Holiest Hymns and Book of Vedic Indo Aryans also called as Hindus, because they lived on the eastern side of the giant Hindu Kush range of mountains, on the banks of Sindhu river, later called by its anglicized name Indus by English historians. 'Bhagvat Gita' in Sanskrit means the 'Song of God'. Bhagvat Gita is held in the highest esteem and pedestal amongst all Vedic literature because it is spoken by God himself and not by any human being. It is considered to be the fifth Veda because it deals with the manifestation of the 'Karma Theory'. Arjuna was the best bowman and warrior of the then known world. He, along with his brothers, friends and well wishers, were fighting evil and unjust forces and they happened to be his cousins. Every effort was made to avoid the world war of that time. This peace initiative was undertaken by no less a person other than the Supreme Lord Krishna. Being the Supreme Lord, he very well knew that such an initiative would fail. However, he wanted to set an example to the world, that a war at any cost should be avoided and every effort must be made to maintain peace. The exposition of the Bhagvat Gita was made to Arjuna on the battlefield just before the start of the war, when Arjuna became panicky and did not want to fight his own kith and kin and kill them or be killed. This started out one of the greatest dialogue on philosophy known to mankind between Lord Krishna and his warrior friend Arjuna. However, it was not the first time it was done. It was first taught to Vivasvan, the name for the Sun God at the time of Genesis. He then passed it on to Manu, the Vedic Adam, whose descendents are known as 'Manushya' meaning men, who then passed it on to King Ikshvaku, in whose dynasty the incarnation of Lord Rama, the perfect man, took place. Over the millenniums it was forgotten. I am neither competent nor qualified or authorized or a pure soul to give any explanatory text on the great exposition. Only holy men are authorized and all others are forbidden. People are requested to refer to the writings of (Late) His Holiness Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON. Lord Krishna, in human form, was Arjuna's Charioteer (one of Lord Krishna's thousand names is Parthsarathy - Parth is one of the names of Arjuna + Sarathy means the driver of the chariot - Driver of Arjuna's chariot) during the 18 day war, when 3,941,820 men were killed on both sides. It is also symbolic because the Supreme Lord always leads you from the front on the path of righteousness. He did not personally take part in the fighting. He was on the side of everlasting godly justice called 'Dharma' in Sanskrit, giving his advice and guidance. When God is present on any side, there can be no defeat. There is an erroneous belief that Vedic Aryan Hindus believe in and should worship innumerable Gods. All our Vedic literature say that there is only one God and his name is Krishna. Every religion says the same, though the God is known by different names. The 'Srimad Bhagavatham' says he is formless, because he is everywhere including sub atomic particles. The Universal form, known as 'Virata or Visva Rupa', and other forms are for neophytes according to Swami Prabhupada. In Christianity, Lord Jesus is called the Son of God. Christianity has its Holy Trinity in the God, the Son and the Holy Spirit with the Holy Cross as the symbol. Islam calls him 'Allah'. Islam calls the angels as 'Farishthay'. In Islam, God has strictly no form and hence idol worship is forbidden. Lord Buddha is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu as mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatham, First Canto which was written 2600 years before his birth. All Vedic Aryans were meat eaters, including beef, and animal sacrifices in rituals called 'Yajnas' was very common and it became indiscriminate. Lord Krishna was brought up by his foster father, the cow-herd King Nand. It was Lord Krishna, who banned eating of beef by Vedic Aryans, as cows were dear to him. Since it is God's wish, beef is not eaten by any devout Hindu from that time. Lord Buddha came in to the world to teach the concept of 'Ahimsa' and to prevent unnecessary animal killing. He, however, challenged the authority of the Vedas and propounded 'Buddhism'. According to Swami Prabhupada, this was done deliberately by him, as Vedic people started believing more in such rituals, demi gods and angels rather than the Supreme God himself. It was better that people follow and worship Buddha, as he was one of his incarnation and plenary portions. Lord Mahaveer Jain, the propounder of the Jain Faith came into the world around the same time. The concept of Vegetarianism took root. Some Vedic Aryans, who were priests and learned men called Brahmins, absorbed it into their way of life. The most recent incarnation of Lord Krishna was as Lord Chaitanya in the 15th century in a place called Navadvipa in Bengal. This incarnation became necessary to reestablish the authority of the Vedas and the supremacy of the one and only Supreme Lord Krishna. He spread the concept of "Vaishnavism" known as 'Krishna Consciousness' today. In the Vedas, the Holy Trinity of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva are Lord Krishna's plenary portions and created by him. God need not come personally to do any job. He delegates his jobs to Lord Vishnu, the preserver, and such incarnations are called avatars. Brahma is the Creator and Shiva is the Destroyer. Lord Krishna is the only God and has 100% power over everything. He has all the 64 characteristics required of God. Lord Vishnu has 93%. Lord Shiva has 84%. Lord Brahma has the lowest, around 77%. Only Lord Krishna and Lord Vishnu can offer complete liberation to any soul. Lord Brahma lives in a universe called 'Satyalok'. Lord Shiva lives in a universe called 'Kailash'. Lord Vishnu lives in a universe called 'Vaikunth". The Supreme Lord Krishna, the one and only God, resides in a universe called 'Goloka Vrindavana'. The Vedas specify the life of Brahma as 100 heavenly years which is equivalent to 4.3 billion earthly or solar years. This is divided into 14 periods called 'Manu'. We are in the period of Vamana or Visvattva Manu, which is ninth in the list. The first Manu period was known as 'Swayambhua Manu'. In the present Manu period majority of the people will be short and dwarfish. Each Manu is further divided into 4 periods known as 'Yug'. We are in the last Yug known as Kali, the Iron age, extending to 432,000 years. We are in the 5107 year. At the end of every Kali Yug, which is after 426,893 years from today, there will be a deluge and destruction. Thereafter a new Manu period takes over. Since 5 Manu periods are still left, it means 154.712 x 1014 years are still left after the deluge for the complete destruction of our universe.  As per the Vedas, the estimated life of the universe we live in is 432x1014 ( to the power of 14) earthly or solar years. This indirectly means that the present age of our universe, which falls in the 'Milky Way' Galaxy, is 277.288x1014 years approximately. Thereafter every form of life, including Brahma no longer exist and return to Godhead. Lord Shiva destroys all life, material objects and matter on the orders of Lord Krishna and goes into penance, till he is summoned again. In my humble scientific opinion, our Sun or a nearby Star in our Milky way galaxy may lose all its energy and become a 'Black Hole' devouring everything near it. Amongst God's creations only Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva exist after the complete destruction. The process of evolution starts all over again as and when the God wishes. This cycle gets repeated perennially. According to the Vedas there are billions of galaxies and billions of stars and many stars have their own universe and Brahma. This means that according to the Vedas there are other forms of intelligent species like homosapiens in the whole creation. However, because of the huge astronomical distances, the popular notion of 'alien contact' may not be possible. It is also better that nobody contacts us,  because if they do, it means they are more intelligent and advanced than us. We have enough problems in the world. It also means one more thing. The Earth's history is much more older than what is known to us. There are many archeological sites on the earth which cannot be logically explained. The one and only time the God personally came down to earth was as Lord Krishna and hence he is called Bhagvan Krishna. Bhagvan in Sanskrit means God. The others are all demi gods or angels created by him for various purposes. They are all always under his control. Demigods who dare challenge him become Demons, get killed by him at an appropriate time, when their sins become too much and get liberated and become demigods once again. In the Bhagvat Gita, the supreme lord has repeatedly said, that only he needs to be worshipped. This is confirmed by no less a personality other than (Late) His Holiness Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who was the 28th disciple in the succession to Sage Veda Vyasa, the author of the Vedas, starting from Sage Narada, who is the second disciple after Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma is considered as the first disciple of the Vedas, because he received it directly from the Supreme Lord. Lord Krishna was present on this earth some 5500 years ago. There was no succession of disciples in some millennium. Originally, Vedas was in only one form known as Yajus. Sage Veda Vyasa, also known as Krishna Dvaipaina Vedavyasa, divided it into four branches namely, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Veda. Each branch of Vedas was given to renowned sages and scholars of that time for development and propagation. The Rig Veda was given to Sage Paili. Yajur Veda was given to Sage Vaisampayana. Sama Veda was given to Sage Jaimini, who was also an astrologer and developed the 'Jaimini System'. The Atharva Veda was given to Sage Sumantu Angiras. The Purans and historical records was given to Sage Romaharshana. All the Sages are known as 'Rishis' in the Sanskrit language. The respective followers were called by that particular name of the Vedas. For example, people who follow Yajur Veda are known as Yajurvedis. The term for lineage in Sanskrit is 'Gothra'. This is considered very important because a boy and a girl of the same Gothra should not marry each other, as they are considered to be brother and sister and not good for the off springs. This has been confirmed by modern genetics. There is no branch of human knowledge that is not covered in the Vedas.  Sage Veda Vyasa is the literary incarnation of Lord Vishnu in human form. He was the son of Sage Parasara, the father of Vedic Astrology, called the Parasari System, and Princess Satyavati, daughter of a fisherman King Vasu, born out of wedlock. The conception took place in a boat on a river he was crossing and she was pushing the oars, to take advantage of the planetary positions. Satyavati later married King Santanu of the Kuru Dynasty and became a Queen. Sage Veda Vyasa also wrote the biggest epic "Mahabharata" which contains the exposition of Bhagvat Gita. This is assumed to be the fifth branch or limb of the Vedas. He composed and wrote this in a story form because ordinary people would not understand the deep philosophies contained in the four main branches of the Vedas. Sage Veda Vyasa realized that the degeneration of society had started after the Mahabharata war. Lord Krishna had departed from the earth. He was killed while he was sleeping under a tree by a Hunter called Jara, a Shudra, who mistook him for a deer because of the shining halo around his body. Lord Krishna is as dark as a cloud. Jara is the only man who accompanied Lord Krishna back to the heavens in his chariot with his mortal body. He was the only chosen one. According to Puranas, he was the King Vali in the previous birth who was killed by Lord Rama in the previous incarnation. Lord Rama shot him with an arrow hiding behind a tree, when he was wrestling his brother King Sugreev. Lord Rama was not a coward but there was a reason for his action. Lord Rama was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The moral of the story is even if you are a representative of God, you have to pay for your sins at some time. No human being can go to heavens with the mortal body, unless God desires. Even Arjuna, Lord Krishna's best friend and devotee, died a natural death like any other human being. Sage Veda Vyasa was in a despondent mood because of the death and destruction, when Sage Narada counseled and advised him to write and preach 'Srimad Bhagavatham', which is starting from the Genesis to the life and pastimes of Lord Krishna, to his son Sage Sukhdev, who in turn to Sage Suta, son of Sage Romaharshana, after whom it was passed on to holy men of successive generations. In Vedic literature, 'Srimad Bhagavatham' is called as a 'Puran'. The veracity and authenticity of the Vedas or the Bhagvat Gita or the Purans and what is said in them should not be challenged or mocked or ridiculed, whether by believers or non believers. If people do not believe in it, they are free to ignore it. However, it should be given the due respect and regard, just like any other holy literature of all religions. Footnote added on June 02, 2006: The great, pure and noble soul Sanjay, was the charioteer of the blind King Dhiridhirashatra of the Kuru dynasty. The blind King was the father of the evil sons known as Kauravs, who were fighting Warrior Arjuna and his brothers, known as Pandavs, after usurping their kingdom. Lord Krishna gave a boon to Sanjay, before the battle, by which he could see and hear what is going on in the battlefield far away and tell the blind King the developments as it happened. This also means that apart from Sage Veda Vyasa, Arjuna and Sanjay, no one else directly heard the greatest ever exposition. As a result, in the Vedas, Sanjay is held in the highest esteem, as one of the chosen few devotees of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Again, I must add some of the misconceptions about the Vedic Indo Aryan Society. It was neither racist nor caste based, originally. People were identified by their profession and not by lineage or by birth. Sanjay, was a so called lowest caste born 'Shudra', because he was a physical worker. But God chose him. God chose the following three people to hear him - a Brahmin (Learned men and scholars) - Sage Veda Vyasa, a Kshatriya (Warriors) - Arjuna and a Shudra (Physical Workers) - Sanjay. He did not choose a 'Vysya' (Merchant Class, who chase money). It is God who gives and takes away money. But he does not like moneyed people, who forget him, even though he may continue to give them more money. If God likes you, he does not give you much money, but will make sure you get what is required at the right time. However, he likes to test you more. He gives you more trials and tribulations and sometimes it can break your fighting spirit. When you are about to give up, he comes to the rescue. Obviously, he does not come down personally. He sends someone unknown to you. God has very strange ways which we humans can never understand. Srimad Bhagavatham and the Vedas repeatedly says that there is no caste. It has only 'Varana' which means a man is classified based on his profession and not by birth or lineage. The degeneration of the Vedic Indo Aryan society was started by selfish men. Sanjay Uvacha, Yatra Yogeshwar Krishno, Yatra Partho Dhanurdhar, Tatra Srir Vijaya Bhuthi, Thruva Nithir Mathir Mama: (Mahabharata, Vishnu Sahasranamam, Uttara Bhag, Hymn No. 29) Transliteration: Sanjay said, "When and where Lord Krishna is present, When and where the Bow wielding Warrior Arjuna is present, There will be peace, prosperity, victory, fame and everlasting justice" - "Uttara Bhag" in Mahabharata, Vishnu Sahasranamam, Hymn Number 29 Postscript: Amongst Christians, the first name John, is most popular. Amongst Muslims, the name Mohammed is most popular. Similarly, amongst Vedic Indo Aryans, the name Sanjay is the most popular. Explanatory text written by Madhavan T Gopalachary Reference: Srimad Bhagavatham - First Canto - written by (Late) His Holiness Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada - Published by ISKCON, Brooklyn, New York, USA - 1970. First Indian Edition published in 1962. The calculations have been done by Madhavan T Gopalachary based on various reference texts. The views, opinions and interpretations are personal. Sponsorship does not mean that the sponsors endorse them. © Copyright, Apr-09 . MMG Communications. Without prejudice. All rights reserved