I’ve read the Bhagavad Gita some double-digit number of times across a variety of translators, I can read Sanskrit, but I go through a mechanical process of converting it to English to understand it, so I lean on authors who’ve already done the effort. The three I typically recommend are: Swami Dayananda Saraswati (not an affiliate link); the pocket edition from Srinivas Fine Arts; and Sri Aurobindo’s translation with commentary, Bhagavad Gita And It’s Message(again, not an affiliate link). Swami Chinmayananda’s translation with commentary, The Holy Geeta wasn’t bad either, I just preferred the specific three I mentioned. When I do a cover to cover read, I like to do it in 1 day if I’m up for a challenge, and 7 days if I want to take my time, and these translations work well with both timelines. It’s only 700 verses, it’s not that long.

There’s a second context to the Gita that everyone forgets. We all know the story of Arjuna asking Krishna to take his chariot between the two armies assembled for the Kurukshetra War. He wanted to see all the friends, elders, and relatives he would have to kill for pointless bloodshed. One that was happening because a certain greedy prince was driven to cheat his cousins out of their birthright, but also because the king refused to stop his son when the entire court knew that his actions were adharmic. And so, after seeing the reality of the loved ones he would have to soon face in battle, he has a panic attack, and drops his bow. He then proceeds to give Krishna a detailed list of reasons why he cannot fight, and how it would actually be better if he ran away to the Himalayas to be an ascetic.

And so like any best friend would do, he first tells Arjuna to buck up and grow a spine. Before proceeding to begin the conversation we now call the Bhagavad Gita, where Sri Krishna distills the wisdom of the Upanishad in the format of a dialog where Arjuna asks a question, and Sri Krishna answers. After gaining the lens of dharma to view the world with, he was able to pick up his bow, Gandiva, and fight to reclaim his brothers’ kingdom. Going on to battle and defeat both Bhishma Pitamaha (with the help of Shikhandi/Amba) and Karna (with the help of the two curses from the brahmin whose cow he accidentally killed, and Parshurama).

But we often ignore that all of this is a narration to Dhritarashtra by Sanjaya. The blind (both literally and in judgement) king who refused to perform the duty of one who rules a kingdom, upholding dharma. Instead, he let his family divide itself for war that ultimately killed all one hundred of his sons. He was offered the chance to skip the game of Telephone, and he granted the sight to directly see the war, and he hid behind the excuse of not being able to recognize anyone given his blindness. I’d argue he was too scared to see the results of his actions, and would rather maintain some distance from it.

Dhritarashtra heard the Gita in near real time to Arjuna. And unlike the legendary warrior with a fragile sense of confidence (refer to the story of Ekalavya). He never learned. Even after the war, he still tried to kill his nephew Bhima. (Yes, we can argue that Arjuna also forgot, but he at least upheld his dharma as a kshatriya, Mahabahu, the mighty armed one).

As I stated in the introduction, I’ve read these 700 verses multiple times. You know what’s happened even more? I’ve seen men who put an ochre cloth or the like, take the platform, and quote the scripture in a way that signals to me that they have never taken the time to understand it (not here to talk about other faiths and cultures). But what do I know, I’m just some dude on the internet who spent nearly three decades referring to himself as a Hindu.

If anyone’s interested, the full 7 day schedule goes: Monday, chapters 1-2; Tuesday chapters 3-5; Wednesday, chapters 6-8; Thursday chapters 9-10; Friday, chapters 11-12; Saturday, chapters 13-16; Sunday, chapters 17-18. With specific focus on these verses: 1.21, 1.22, 1.23; 2.2, 2.3, 2.7, 2.29, 2.48, 2.55, 2.69; 3.9, 3.11, 3.37; 4.9, 4.22, 4.24, 4.34; 6.5, 6.17, 6.26; 7.3, 7.7, 7.16, 7.27; 8.9, 8.10, 8.28; 9.11, 9.27, 9.34; 10.9, 10.10, 10.17, 10.42; 11.8, 11.12, 11.55; 12.8, 12.12; 13.8, 13.9, 13.10, 13.11, 13.12, 13.18, 13.25; 14.22, 14.23, 14.24, 14.25, 14.26; 15.5, 15.19; 16.21; 17.2, 17.3, 17.8, 17.15, 17.28; 18.2, 18.30, 18.47, 18.51, 18.52, 18.53, 18.73. Again, 700 verses, it’s not that long. Most books that the American school system had us read in grade school and undergrad had more words. I can’t take credit for coming up with the schedule, I learned this in high school directly from Dr. Pranav Pandya of All World Gayatri Pariwar.