(For further explanations, consult the verse(s)-with
"purports" cited at the conclusion of each answer.)
Chapter One
Q1. Why does Arjuna decide not to fight in the Battle of Kuruksetra?
A. When Krsna, in response to Arjuna's request, draws Arjuna's chariot between the
opposing armies, Arjuna sees his relatives and friends assembled in the ranks of both
armies. Seeing their militant spirit and foreseeing their imminent death, Arjuna is
overwhelmed with grief and compassion and decides not to fight. Not yet understanding the
higher purpose of the battle (that Krsna desires the demoniac armies annihilated), Arjuna
analyzes the entire situation in terms of his own interests. He thus decides that he is
not interested in achieving military victory and winning a kingdom at the expense of the
lives of his friends and relatives and the welfare of society. (1.21-46)
Chapter Two
Q1. What does Krsna mean when He tells Arjuna, "While speaking learned words
you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief"?
A. Krsna is intimating that it is the eternal soul (self), and not the temporary material
body, which is ultimately important. Arjuna's compassion for his relatives was
misdirected, being aimed exclusively at their temporary bodily welfare. Because of
identifying the outward material body with the self, Arjuna had forgotten that the actual
self, the soul, being spiritual and eternal, cannot be slain. Only the temporary material
body is slain. Therefore, Arjuna's lamenting the death of the opposing soldiers was due
only to illusion. (2.11)
Q2. What is the nature of the soul as distinct from the body?
A. The soul, or self, is beginningless, eternal and unchanging. It cannot be destroyed or
altered by any means, material or spiritual. Being transcendental and atomic, the soul
cannot be perceived, ascertained, measured or apprehended by material senses or
instruments. Each soul is eternally a distinct and individual conscious entity. (2.11-30)
Q3. What is transmigration (reincarnation)?
A. "Transmigration" means change of body. When situated within a temporary
material body, the eternal, unchanging soul transforms (ages) from childhood to adulthood
to old age. Even during the life cycle of a particular body, therefore, the soul is
transmigrating. When the material body, through disease, old age, or other circumstances,
becomes uninhabitable for the soul, the soul leaves the body ("dies") and enters
a new body within the womb of a mother and "takes birth." (The transmigrating
soul is awarded a new body by nature in accordance with his karma, or activities.) (2.13, 22)
Q4. How does Krsna describe the person in "transcendental consciousness"?
A. Such a person, fully cognizant of his spiritual identity and separateness from matter,
is not interested in material pleasure. Thus he controls his outward senses. With
controlled senses and with mind and intelligence fixed on the Supreme, he is unaffected by
material dualities such as happiness and distress, loss and gain. Such a person, at the
end of the present body, attains the spiritual world. (2.54-72)
Chapter Three
Q1. Can one achieve freedom from karmic reactions by abstaining from activity?
A. No. The soul is active by nature; it can never remain inactive. In the conditioned
state of material existence, the modes of material nature force the embodied soul to act
under their control. One can be released from karmic reactions, however, by engaging in
active "works of devotion," or karma-yoga. (3.4-8)
Q2. What is karma-yoga?
A. In his conditioned state, the jiva performs self-centered activities directed toward
bodily gratification. Under the law of karma, he has to suffer or enjoy the reactions to
the pious and impious acts he performs in the pursuit of sense gratification. These karmic
reactions force him to take repeated births in the material world. Karma-yoga, "the
art of work," is a means by which he can escape this material entanglement. In
karma-yoga, one performs duties according to the directions of the scriptures (the Vedas).
Such activities purify and elevate the performer to the platform of performing activities
for the satisfaction of Visnu (Krsna). Selfless activity, performed in the service of the
Supreme, yields no material reactions and thus frees one from bondage to matter. (3.1-3, 9-35)
Q3. What does Krsna call "the destroyer of knowledge and self-realization"?
A. Kama, or lust, the desire for material sense gratification, impels the conditioned jiva
to try to enjoy and exploit material sense objects. In the pursuit of sense gratification,
the bound jiva performs sinful acts, which bind him to repeated birth and death. The more
materially absorbed he becomes, the more he forgets his position as a transcendental
living entity. Understanding the transcendental nature of the soul, one should conquer
lust, Krsna tells Arjuna, by controlling the senses. (3.36-43)
Chapter Four
Q1. What is the nature and purpose of Krsna's descending to the material world ?
A. Whereas the ordinary conditioned jiva is forced to assume a material form under the
supervision of the law of karma, Krsna descends to the material world in His own eternal,
transcendental form by His independent will. He appears in the material world in His
original form as an incarnation or expansion whenever it is necessary to reestablish the
principles of religion (dharma). Krsna states that one who understands the nature of His
appearance and activities reaches the spiritual world. (4.4-9)
Q2. How does transcendental knowledge free one from karmic reactions?
A. "Transcendental knowledge," or the understanding that the self is not
material but eternal and transcendental to matter, frees one from karmic reactions because
when situated in that knowledge one ceases to perform fruitive activities directed toward
material sense gratification One realizes sense gratification to be merely temporary and
illusory pleasure. In the absence of fruitive activities to gratify the senses, there are
no karmic reactions to bind one. (4.18-24, 36-42)
Q3. Why and how does one approach a spiritual master? What is the criterion of a genuine
guru?
A. Since transcendental knowledge is beyond the range of material sense perception and
empiric speculation, one has to approach a guru, one who has realized the truth in a line
of "disciplic succession" originating with God. The disciple approaches a bona
fide guru in a submissive attitude, always prepared to render service and eager to submit
humble inquiries regarding spiritual advancement. When the student is thus qualified, the
guru imparts transcendental knowledge to him. (4.34)
Chapter Five
Q1. What are the characteristics of the devotional worker (karma-yogi)? What are
his realization, his mode of activity and his ultimate destination ?
A. The person acting in karma-yoga does not identify with the actions of his body, mind
and senses, for he understands his real position as transcendental to the material body.
Understanding further that he and everything in his possession belong to Krsna, he engages
his body, senses, mind and intellect in His service. Acting in such an unattached,
devotional manner, rather than acting for personal sense gratification, he is unaffected
by reactions to work. Thus his work elevates him to the position of full enlightenment
regarding his self and the Supreme Self (Krsna), and he proceeds "straight on the
path of liberation." (5.7-17)
Q2. What are the characteristics of the self-realized person (the "humble sage,"
"liberated person," "perfect mystic," Brahman-realized or Krsna
conscious person) ?
A. The self-realized soul is not illusioned by the false identification of the material
body with his true self. He realizes himself to be a fragmental part of God. His mind is
steady because he is not disturbed by temporary gains and losses of material things. Fixed
in transcendental knowledge, he views all beings with equal vision and works for their
ultimate spiritual welfare. Unattracted by material sense pleasure, he enjoys "the
pleasure within," concentrating on the Supreme. (5.18-28)
Q3. The self-realized person, Krsna tells Arjuna, is "always busy working for the
welfare of all sentient beings." What is the nature of such welfare activity?
A. In light of the temporality of the material body and the eternality of the real self,
the self-realized person views bodily oriented welfare activity as insufficient.
Attributing suffering to a lack of consciousness of God (Krsna), he works to instill God
consciousness in others. (5.25)
Chapter Six
Q1. In yoga practice, what is the purpose of controlling the mind?
A. The soul is entrapped by matter because of the conditioned mind's attraction to
material nature. The uncontrolled mind intensifies the soul's material bondage. The
purpose of yoga is to control the mind (with the intelligence) and to draw it away from
attachment to material sense objects. Krsna advises Arjuna (at the end of Chapter Six and
also later in the Gita) to control the mind by concentrating it on Him in devotional
service (bhakti-yoga). (6.5-7, 26, 36)
Q2. What is dhyana-yoga? How is it performed?
A. Dhyana means "meditation." Dhyana-yoga (technically known as astanga-yoga, or
"the eightfold path") is a mechanical system for controlling the mind and senses
through restraining one's breath, focusing one's mind, and so on. This culminates in
samadhi, or mental absorption in the Supreme, specifically in Paramatma, the form of Krsna
within the heart. In a secluded place, the dhyana-yogi sits on a particular type of seat,
assumes the proper meditational posture and stares at the tip of the nose with half-closed
eyes. Then, "with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from
sex life," the yogi meditates on Paramatma, making Him "the ultimate goal of
life." (6.10-19, 31)
Q3. Why does Arjuna reject the meditational system described by Krsna ?
A. Arjuna says, "The system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and
unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady." The requirements of
dhyana-yoga (leaving home, finding a completely secluded place, mechanically controlling
the mind, and so on) seem to Arjuna too difficult for him, or for any ordinary man.
(6.33-36)
Q4. Which yoga system does Krsna recommend to Arjuna as the foremost, at the conclusion of
the chapter? Why?
A. Krsna says, "Of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping
Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the
highest of all." Krsna thus extols bhakti-yoga, the devotional path, because bhakti
(devotion to Krsna) is, according to the Gita, the sanatana-dharma (eternal constitutional
position) of the living entity. (6.47)
Chapter Seven
Q1. What are Krsna's two basic energies, and what is their interrelationship?
What is Krsna's relationship with these two energies?
A. Krsna's "inferior" energy (matter, or apara prakrti) consists of eight gross
and subtle material elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and false
ego. It is the "stuff" of the material world. Krsna's "superior"
energy (spirit, or para prakrti) consists of the living entities (jivas), who are
qualitatively one with Him. Under the influence of material nature, the jivas identify
with the material energy and try to predominate and enjoy matter. When freed from this
influence, the jiva attains mukti, or liberation. Krsna is the origin and controller of
both energies. (7.4-7)
Q2. What are the four kinds of "miscreants" who don't surrender to Krsna and the
four kinds of pious men who do?
A. The four classes of miscreants are (1) the mudhas, grossly foolish, hard-working
fruitive workers, (2) naradhamas, those who follow regulative principles of social and
political life but do not follow religious principles, (3) mayayapahrta-jnanis, those who
are highly educated or learned but are illusioned by maya, and (4) asuram bhavam asritas,
those who are openly atheistic.
The four classes of pious men are those who approach the Supreme Lord because (1) they are
distressed, (2) they need money, (3) they are inquisitive, or (4) they are searching for
knowledge of the Absolute Truth. (7.15-18)
Q3. Why does Krsna criticize the worshipers of demigods?
A. "Those whose minds are distorted by material desires" worship demigods to win
material benedictions. Because such worshipers seek material gains, which are limited and
temporary, they are "men of small intelligence." They do not know, Krsna
declares, that He is the source of their faith in the demigods as well as the actual
bestower of the demigods' favors (7.20-23)
Chapter Eight
Q1. What is the significance of the time of death for the embodied jiva?
A. The quality of the jiva's consciousness at death determines his next birth: "In
whatever condition one quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to that
state without fail." (8.6)
Q2. What advise does Krsna give Arjuna regarding the time of death? What will be the
result of following that advise?
A. Krsna tells Arjuna that one who leaves the body remembering Him attains His abode.
Because the quality of one's consciousness at death is influenced by one's consciousness
and activities during his life, Krsna instructs Arjuna to practice remembering Him while
performing his prescribed duties. By such remembrance, "one is sure to achieve the
planet of the divine, the Supreme Personality." (8.5, 7-8)
Q3. According to Krsna, how should Arjuna meditate on Him?
A. Krsna tells Arjuna, "Think of the Supreme Person as one who knows everything, who
is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the
maintainer of everything, who is beyond any material conception, who is inconceivable, and
who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun, beyond this material nature,
transcendental." (8.9)
Q4. What is the nature of the spiritual world, and how is it attained?
A. Beyond the material world, which undergoes a perpetual cycle of creation and
destruction, is the eternal, spiritual world, which is "transcendental to this
manifested and nonmanifested matter" and is never annihilated. This "highest
destination" is attained, Krsna says, by "unalloyed devotion." Once it is
attained, one never returns to the material world. (8.17-22)
Chapter Nine
Q1. How does Krsna describe His relationship with His creation (the cosmic
universe)?
A. Krsna is the source, maintainer and controller of the universe. In a perpetual cycle of
creation and destruction, He manifests the material world and, after a long period,
absorbs it back into His nature. When manifested, the entire cosmic creation rests within
Him, while He simultaneously pervades the universe through His diverse potencies. Although
maintaining and pervading the universe through His different potencies and energies, He
remains transcendental, separate and independent in His personal form. All material
activities (such as the embodiment of living beings) are carried out by the material
nature, which acts under His supreme direction. (9.4-10)
Q2. Who are "the foolish," and who are "the great souls"?
A. The foolish are those bewildered persons who, ignorant of Krsna's transcendental nature
and supreme dominion, deride His personal humanlike form. Such persons are "attracted
by demoniac and atheistic views." That is, they consider Krsna's personal form
material and therefore subordinate or inferior to His impersonal feature as the
all-pervading Brahman. The "great souls" are those who are fully aware of Krsna
as "the Supreme Personality of Godhead" and who worship Him with devotion.
(9.11-14)
Q3. How does Krsna advise Arjuna to become free from karmic reaction?
A. Arjuna will be freed from "all reactions to good and evil deeds" by making
Krsna the object and beneficiary of all actions, offerings and austerities. Although Krsna
is neutral, anyone who renders Him such service in devotion "is a friend, is in Me,
and I am a friend to Him." (9.26-29)
Chapter Ten
Q1. Whom does Krsna enlighten?
A. Those who know Krsna as the source of everything surrender unto Him with pure devotion.
To those who are so devoted, Krsna tells Arjuna, "I give the understanding by which
they can come to Me. Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with
the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance." (10.8-11)
Q2. What is the lesson Arjuna is to learn from Krsna's revelation of His divine opulences?
A. By giving Arjuna a small indication of His specific opulences as He manifests them in
His all-pervading energies, Krsna demonstrates that all wondrous phenomena manifesting
great power, beauty, grandeur and sublimeness, in either the spiritual or material world,
are merely fragmental manifestations of His divine energies and opulences. As the supreme
cause of all causes, therefore, Krsna is the supreme object of worship for all beings.
(10.19-41)
Q3. After Krsna reveals His opulences, what is His final teaching to Arjuna?
A. Krsna says, "But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With
a single fragment of Myself, I pervade and support this entire universe." In other
words, more important than knowledge of His separate opulences is the understanding that
these and all things exist because of Krsna's entering them as Paramatma (Supersoul), by
which He pervades and supports the entire universe. (10.42)
Chapter Eleven
Q1. What is the universal form (visva-rupa) revealed by Krsna to Arjuna?
A. The universal form is a colossal, terrifying, yet temporary vision of Krsna's power and
opulence in His form as the cosmic universe and His destructive form as Time. In this
spectacular vision, Arjuna can see "the unlimited expansions of the universe situated
in one place, although divided into many, many thousands." (11.9-49)
Q2. Why does Arjuna request Krsna to reveal His universal form?
A. Although he himself fully accepts Krsna as the Absolute Truth and the source of
everything, Arjuna fears that in the future others might consider Him an ordinary person.
Therefore, to establish Krsna's divinity, he requests Krsna to reveal His universal form
to show how He controls the universe although He is apart from it. Arjuna prays, "O
greatest of all beings, O supreme form, though I see here before me Your actual position,
I yet wish to see how You have entered into this cosmic manifestation; I wish to see that
form of Yours." (11.1-3)
Q3. After He returns to His original, two-armed form as Krsna, what qualification does
Krsna cite as necessary to see and understand His humanlike form ?
A. Krsna states, "My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be
understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way
can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding." He further states that one
thus engaged in pure devotional service "certainly comes to Me." (11.54-55)
Chapter Twelve
Q1. What does Krsna say in response to Arjuna's inquiry about the relative
positions of the devotee engaged in Krsna's service (bhakti) and those who worship
Brahman, the impersonal form of Krsna?
A. Krsna replies to Arjuna, "He whose mind is fixed on My personal form, always
engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith, is considered by Me to be
most perfect." But "for those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested,
impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome." Although the
"impersonalists" eventually achieve Him, their path, being indirect, is more
difficult. For the devotee who has fixed his mind upon Krsna, however, worshiping Him in
devotional love and service, Krsna is "the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth
and death." (12.1-8)
Q2. How does Krsna describe the devotee who is "very dear" to Him?
A. The devotee is free from material desires, material dualities and possessiveness, false
ego, anxiety and envy. He is "a kindly friend to all creatures," "equal to
both friends and enemies," and "equal in both happiness and distress," and
he engages in devotional service with determination, with mind and intelligence fixed on
Krsna. (12.13-20)
Chapter Thirteen
Q1. What are the three subjects discussed in this chapter? What is their
relationship?
A. Chapter Thirteen is concerned with the material body, the soul and the Supersoul
(Paramatma) and their relationship. The body is composed of twenty-four gross and subtle
material elements. It is the ksetra, or "field" of activities, for the soul, who
is therefore the ksetra-jna, or "knower of the field." The material body is
animate only because of the presence of the living spiritual soul. Beyond the soul is the
Supersoul, an expansion of Krsna who simultaneously appears in all bodies, accompanying
the individual soul as the indwelling witness, maintainer and guide. This Supersoul is
transcendental to the modes of nature and is the supreme knower in all bodies. (13.1-7,
13-35)
Q2. What is the result of understanding these three items and their relationship ?
A. By analytically understanding the body, the soul and the Supersoul, the embodied jiva
can understand (and execute) the process of liberation from the body and return to the
spiritual world. (13.24, 35)
Chapter Fourteen
Q1. What are "the modes of material nature"? What are the
characteristic effects of each of the three modes on the conditioned jiva?
A. The living entity is by nature transcendental, but when conditioned by the material
world, he acts under the spell of material nature, which is divided into three qualities,
or "modes" (gunas): the mode of goodness (sattva-guna), the mode of passion
(rajo-guna) and the mode of ignorance (tamo-guna). These three conditioning forces, acting
individually or collectively, influence the conditioned jiva's psychophysical condition
and his actions. The mode of goodness is illuminating and leads one to self-knowledge and
happiness. Conditioning by the mode of passion is characterized by fruitive activities
impelled by intense desire for material enjoyment, the end result being distress. Those
influenced by the mode of ignorance are characterized by ignorance, indolence, sleep and
madness. (14.6-18)
Q2. How can the conditioned jiva transcend the influence of the modes?
A. "One who is engaged in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at
once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman."
Since knowledge (jnana) is a component of devotion (bhakti), devotional service
(bhakti-yoga) enlightens one with knowledge of the workings of nature's modes, and it
enables one to understand his own eternal position as transcendental to the modes. With
that realization, one transcends the conditioning influence of the modes. (14.19, 26)
Q3. What is the "Brahman platform," and what lies beyond it?
A. "Brahman" means "spiritual." The Brahman platform is the
preliminary spiritual position reached by the jiva when he has become free from material
conditioning by the influence of the modes of nature. A person on the Brahman platform, in
full realization of his transcendental position, is unconcerned with and unaffected by
material dualities. He does not engage in material activities. Beyond the Brahman platform
is Krsna Himself, who says, "I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman." After
attaining the Brahman platform, the liberated jiva becomes qualified to engage in the
devotional service of Parabrahman (the Supreme Brahman), Krsna. (14.22-27)
Chapter Fifteen
Q1. What does Krsna explain about the dynamics of transmigration?
A. Krsna explains to Arjuna that one's consciousness, particularly one's consciousness at
the time of death (which has been fashioned during life), determines the type of material
body one will have next. "The living entity in the material world carries his
different conceptions of life as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body
and again quits it to take another." Assuming a new body equipped with a particular
set of senses, he proceeds to enjoy a particular set of sense objects. Krsna further
explains that the foolish cannot understand the process of transmigration, whereas the
wise can. (15.8-11)
Q2. What is "the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures"?
A. There are two classes of beings: the "fallible" (the conditioned souls in the
material world) and the "infallible" (the liberated souls in the spiritual
world). Beyond them both, however, is Krsna Himself, who maintains both the material and
spiritual worlds. Thus He is "celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that
Supreme Person." Whoever knows Him as such is "the knower of everything."
Thus he engages in devotional service to Krsna. This knowledge "is the most
confidential part of the Vedic scriptures," Krsna says. "Anyone who understands
this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection." (15.16-20)
Chapter Sixteen
Q1. What is the difference between those of "divine" qualities and
those of "demoniac" qualities?
A. The godly, or those of divine qualities, are those who live regulated lives, abiding by
the authority of scripture. Such persons attain liberation from the material world. On the
other hand, those possessing demoniac qualities are those who live unregulated lives,
acting whimsically for sense gratification, disregarding the injunctions of scripture.
Such persons are further bound by material nature. (16.5, 23-24)
Q2. What are the divine (transcendental) qualities?
A. "The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Fearlessness, purification of one's
existence, cultivation of spiritual knowledge, charity, sense control, performance of
sacrifice, study of the Vedas, austerity, simplicity, nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom
from anger, renunciation, peacefulness, aversion to faultfinding, compassion toward every
living entity, freedom from greed, gentleness, shyness, determination, vigor, forgiveness,
fortitude, cleanliness, and freedom from both envy and the passion for honor-these are the
transcendental qualities, born of the godly atmosphere, O son of Bharata." (16.1-3)
Q3. What are the characteristics of those of demoniac qualities? What is their fate?
A. The demoniac are atheistic and materialistic. Conceiving the world to have no
foundation or purpose, they act whimsically and destructively. Their ultimate goal of life
being gratification of the senses, they are absorbed in impermanent, material things.
Bound by multitudinous material desires, they obtain money by any means. The demoniac are
conceited, lusty, complacent and impudent. There is no end to their anxiety. Such demoniac
persons take birth in various lower species of life and "sink down to the most
abominable position of existence." They can never approach Krsna. (16.6-18)
Chapter Seventeen
Q1. What are the three kinds of food, sacrifice, austerity and charity in each of
the three modes of material nature (goodness, passion and ignorance) ?
A. See Chapter Seventeen, verses 7 through 22.
Q2. What is the difference between faith in the lower modes of nature (passion and
ignorance) and faith in the mode of goodness?
A. When performed in passionate and ignorant faith, activities such as sacrifice, penance
and austerity are enacted selfishly for material benefits such as wealth, power and honor.
Such acts of faith, performed without faith in the Supreme and in violation of the
scriptures, yield only impermanent, material results and are therefore useless. On the
other hand, acts of faith performed in the mode of goodness are executed according to duty
and scriptural regulations, without selfish, fruitive intentions. Such acts are performed
for the satisfaction of the Supreme, and thus they purify and elevate the performer and
gradually lead him to the platform of pure faith and devotion to Krsna. Such krsna-bhakti
(devotion to Krsna) is transcendental faith, beyond the modes of nature. (17.23-28)
Chapter Eighteen
Q1. What are the three kinds of knowledge, action, workers, intelligence,
determination, and happiness in each of the three modes of material nature?
A. See Chapter Eighteen, verses 19 through 40.
Q2. What are the four social orders, and what are the qualities of their respective modes
of work? How does a person attain perfection by acting in his particular social order?
A. According to the material modes one has assumed, one naturally conforms to one of four
fundamental occupational divisions of human society: brahmanas (teachers and priests),
ksatriyas (rulers and warriors), vaisyas, (farmers, traders, etc.) and sudras (laborers).
Krsna enumerates the qualities of these orders as follows: "Peacefulness,
self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, wisdom, knowledge and
religiousness-these are the qualities by which the brahmanas work. Heroism, power,
determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the
qualities of work for the ksatriyas. Farming, cow protection and business are the
qualities of work for the vaisyas, and for the sudras there is labor and service to
others."
By working in accordance with his respective social duty, the conditioned soul can
ultimately transcend the modes and attain spiritual perfection by offering the results of
his work to God. (18.41-48)
Q3. What does Krsna tell Arjuna is the only way to understand Him? What is the result of
such understanding?
A. Krsna says, "One can understand the Supreme Personality as He is only by
devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme Lord by such
devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God." (1 8.55)
Q4. What is Krsna's final and conclusive instruction to Arjuna?
A. Krsna says, "Give up all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall
protect you from all sinful reactions. Therefore you have nothing to fear." Krsna
thus instructs Arjuna to abandon all religious processes and duties (viz., karma-yoga,
jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga, the socio-religious duties of the social orders, endeavor for
attainment of Brahman and Paramatma, and so forth) and simply surrender unto Him and
engage, as His pure devotee, in eternal, transcendental loving service-the eternal and
supreme dharma. Krsna has described the nature of that pure devotion in the previous
verse: "Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, and offer your homage unto
Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail." (18.65-66)
Q5. At the conclusion of the dialogue, what does Krsna inquire of Arjuna, and how does
Arjuna answer?
A. "[Krsna said:] O conqueror of wealth, Arjuna, have you heard this with your mind
at perfect attention? And are your ignorance and illusion now dispelled? Arjuna said, My
dear Krsna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your
mercy, and now I am steady and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your
instructions." (18.72-73)