"The content of the Gita is the conversation between Lord Krishna and the Pandava Prince Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra War. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma about fighting his own cousins, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince, and elaborates on different Yogic[5] and Vedanticphilosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu theologyand also as a practical, self-contained guide to life. During the discourse, Lord Krishna reveals His identity as the Supreme Being Himself (Svayam Bhagavan), blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring vision of His divine universal form" (Courtesy of Wikipedia).
There are many parallels between the Gita and other religious texts. For example: "Whatever you do, make it an offering to me--the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering."
The Gita continues: "In this way you will be freed from the bondage of karma, and from its results both pleasant and painful."
The thesis of the Gita is that people act in three basic ways: doing good out of devotion to God (Krishna), doing good out of desire for reward, and laziness or doing bad things. Those who do good out of devotion to God will reach nirvana, or freedom from reincarnation. Those who do good desiring rewards will live according to their good acts in a heaven-like state until the karma from their actions has played out, at which time they will be reborn in a more pleasant life than their previous life. Those who are lazy and do bad things will be reborn in a worse situation than that which they were born in before.
These are interesting concepts - that all people are reincarnated until they learn to live outside of the pleasure and pain present in all things. The idea that people are judged and will live for eternity based on their actions for just 75 years out of that eternity seems odd, so these ideas that people constantly have the opportunity to improve themselves and their motivations are good. However, this also serves to justify oppression and poor treatment of others, especially the poor, with the assumption that they must have been "bad" in a previous life to "deserve" what they are experiencing now (e.g. the caste system).
Throughout the Gita, Krishna is trying to teach Arjuna that although some people can live solitary lives seeking knowledge, another way to approach God (Krishna) which He actually recommends more, is to live the lives and do the work they were meant to do, but to live outside of judgment - to meditate upon God constantly as one goes about his or her daily activities which will allow him or her to see each situation as it is rather than labeling it as good or bad.
I actually tried out this concept this week with my new job, and found it to be quite useful. Although my coworkers are not as invested in the job as I feel I am, I was able (at least in small moments) to focus on how I could best serve the children (my work) without labeling the situation as good or bad. It also helped to meditate a couple of times a day to clear my mind.
I enjoyed reading the Gita which is quite short, and found Easwaran's translation and descriptions to be quite helpful in understanding the history behind it. It is nice to understand a bit more about other world religions.
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