GUIDE TO THE GUIDE

This work is intended as a companion guide to Bhagavad-gétä As It Is by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupäda, published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. The purpose of this guide is to assist the professor in helping the student better understand and appreciate the profound concepts and interlocking structure of Bhagavad-gétä. It is designed as a supplement to the text of the Gétä, not as a substitute for it. The philosophical sublimeness and literary eloquence of this jewel of Indian wisdom are apparent to anyone who gives it a careful and sympathetic reading. That sublimeness and that eloquence, needless to say, do not survive in the summaries and comments of this handbook. But by focusing the reader’s attention on key verses, by diagraming the Gétä’s natural flow from one idea to the next, and by providing relevant background and historical information, this work may help make the reading of the Gétä more gratifying and instructive. Although most teachers will prefer to use the guide themselves as a teaching aid, some may wish to make it directly available to the students as a helpful study guide.

The main body of this guide consists of brief but thorough summaries for each of the Gétä’s eighteen chapters, followed by a section of questions and answers covering the major elements of each chapter. One will find many discussions from the chapter summaries repeated in the question-and-answer section, so that the instructor (or student) who chooses to use only the summaries or only the questions and answers will not miss any of the essential elements of the Gétä. In some cases, the question-and-answer section gives somewhat more detail. To get the most from this guide, however, one should use the summaries and questions together. One will find, also, that the tone and approach of the discussions in both sections follow that of the commentary of Swami Bhaktivedanta. For this reason, the teacher or student will find this guide most profitable to use in conjunction with the BBT edition of Bhagavad-gétä.

Following the question-and-answer section is a suggested syllabus for teaching the Gétä. Understanding that certain survey courses (such as courses in world religions or world literature) may spend only a short time on the Gétä, whereas more specialized courses (such as courses in Hinduism or Indian philosophy) will spend a longer period, we have provided three separate syllabi, adapted to one-, two- and three-week studies of the Gétä. In each case, a separate syllabus is given for classes that meet twice and those that meet three times weekly. When the Gétä is covered in three weeks, the student reads the whole work; when it is covered in one or two, he reads major selections.

Preceding the chapter summaries, questions and syllabi are some useful introductory materials. "The Significance of Bhagavad-gitä" briefly discusses the Gétä in its historical and literary context and sheds light on Kåñëa, the speaker of the Gétä. "Bhagavad-gétä: A Philosophical Synopsis" provides an overview of the Gétä’s teachings. Finally, "Setting the Scene" recounts the immediate historical situation that leads to Kåñëa’s revealing eternal wisdom to the warrior Arjuna on the Battlefield of Kurukñetra.