Study Questions for the Bhagavad Gita
Internet Resources:
A
glossary of terms in the Bhagavad Gita
A
more extensive glossary of Hindu terms
Stephen
Mitchell discusses the Bhagavad Gita on NPR
The
Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit
Listen
to the Bhagavad Gita sung in Sanskrit by Sri Vidyabhushana
Listen
to chapter 5 of the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit
Download
an English translation of the complete Bhagavad Gita MP3
(Note:
this is not the Mitchell translation)
Visit
Krishna's
Internet Radio Station: chantandbehappy.com
(there are some lectures on the Bhagavad Gita here)
More
information and
audio links at: http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/
- Why does Arjuna refuse to fight the Kauravas? Does he have
a good reason?
- What do you make of Krishna's response to Arjuna? In what
ways does it surprise you? Does it adequately respond to Arjuna's
concerns?
- What, according to Krishna, is the proper mode of human action (karma)?
How is the relationship between action (karma) and duty (dharma)
discussed in this poem?
- What does the word "yoga" mean in this poem? How many
different kinds of yoga are there? (Hint: look at the
chapter titles.)
- Compare Arjuna's situation to that of Achilles and Aeneas. In
what ways are these warriors similar? In what ways are they
different? In what ways is the idea of "duty" similar or
different for them?
- What, according to Krishna, is the fundamental condition of human
existence?
- Do you find anything contradictory or incomplete in Krishna's
instruction to Arjuna? Why does Krishna discuss so many different
ways of fulfilling one's duty (dharma)?
- Compare the interaction of gods and morals in the Bhagavad
Gita to the interaction of gods and mortals in the Iliad
and the Aeneid.
- When Krishna reveals his true form to Arjuna in ch. 11, what does
he look like? How does Arjuna respond?
- How does the discussion between Krishna and Arjuna change after
ch. 11?