What is the message of the Bhagavad Gita?

There are eminent scholars who have come up with a way to express the crux of the entire Gita in as simple terms as possible.

To go over their meanings, it is better to get some context of the first and last shlokas of the Bhagavad Gita.

The first shloka goes thus:

धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः ।
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥

dharmakShetre kurukShetre samavetA yuyutsavaH
mAmakAH pANDavAshchaiva kimakurvata sa~njaya

The last shloka is:

यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः ।
तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥

yatra yogeshvaraH kR^iShNo yatra pArtho dhanurdharaH
tatra shrIrvijayo bhUtirdhruvA nItirmatirmama

Now let’s look at the meaning of each word in the two shlokas.

धर्मक्षेत्रे	dharmakShetre	in the place of pilgrimage
कुरुक्षेत्रे	kurukShetre	in the place named Kuruksetra
समवेताः	samavetAH	assembled
युयुत्सवः	yuyutsavaH	desiring to fight
मामकाः	mAmakAH	my party (sons)
पाण्डवाः	pANDavAH	the sons of Pandu
च	cha	and
एव	eva	certainly
किं	kiM	what
अकुर्वत	akurvata	did they do
सञ्जय	sa~njaya	O Sanjaya.
यत्र	yatra	where
योगेश्वरः	yogeshvaraH	the master of mysticism
कृष्णः	kR^iShNaH	Lord KRiShNa
यत्र	yatra	where
पार्थः	pArthaH	the son of Pritha
धनुर्धरः	dhanurdharaH	the carrier of the bow and arrow
तत्र	tatra	there
श्रीः	shrIH	opulence
विजयः	vijayaH	victory
भूतिः	bhUtiH	exceptional power
ध्रुवा	dhruvA	certain
नीतिः	nItiH	morality
मतिर्मम	matirmama	my opinion.

In One Word

If you take the first syllable of the first shloka and the last syllable of the last shloka (the 700th verse), the word formed is : धर्म (dharma).

So Bhagavad Gita is about Dharma.

In Two Words

If you take the first word of the first shloka and the last word of the last shloka (the 700th verse), the word formed is : धर्म (dharma) मम (mama).

So Bhagavad Gita is about My Dharma.

In Four Words

If you take the first two words, “धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे” (dharmakShetre kurukShetre), you can form a short four word phrase: क्षेत्रे क्षेत्रे धर्म कुरु (kShetre kShetre dharma kuru).

In all the “Kshetrams” do your dharma. A simple translation of “Kshetra” is “temple”.

But if you analyze carefully, there is an entire chapter in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13 entitled : “Kṣhetra Kṣhetrajña Vibhāga Yoga”.

Here Lord Krishna defines Kshetra as the body, the mind, and everything.

In this context, it again refers back to whatever you identify yourself as, do dharma.

---

I think the message is very clear.

Dharma. 

My Dharma. 

Whatever you identify yourself as, do Dharma.

---

Happy reading the Bhagavad Gita!