| the family tree... |
key:
male female
marriage children
male female
marriage children
| the bhagavad gita |
back story...
santanu (a king) fell in love with a woman named ganga. she married him on the condition that he never ask her about her business or
she would have to leave him. ganga gave santanu seven children, and every time a child was born she would toss him in the river and the
child would drown. after their eighth child was born, santanu - despite the promise he had made to ganga - could not take the death of yet
another child and he stopped her from drowning this son, bhishma. it was only then that he learned that his beloved wife was actually the
holy river flowing through lord siva's head, and that by drowning her children she was simply sending them back to the source, receiving
them back into her womb to live with her in bliss. adhering to the condition of their marriage, ganga went away, taking their child with her to
educate him.
(note: "santanu" means "one who is peace." "ganga" symbolizes pure intellect. their marriage signifies the need for peacefulness to
mix with discrimination. the drowning of their seven children is symbolic of the changes the human soul must go through on the path to
enlightenment.)
santanu, needless to say, was sad to have lost both his wife and his son. in addition, as a king, he needed an heir to the throne. in
time, he fell in love with a woman named satyavati who worked as a boat taxi. the caste system forbid them to marry because she was of a
lower station in life; however, satyavati's father gave his blessing if their son would be heir to the throne. the only problem was, santanu's
son, bhishma, though gone, was still alive and therefore was the one true heir. as long as he lay claim to the throne, santanu could not
marry satyavati. at the age of 16, bhishma returned to his father, renounced the throne and took a vow of celibacy so that his father could
marry the woman he loved. santanu and satyavati had two sons together, chitrangada and vichitravirya, both of whom died at a young age.
as reward for his selfless sacrifice, bhishma was blessed with the power to live as long as he liked and to die at will.
some time later, bhishma - a great warrior - went to the meeting place where women could choose their husbands. bhishma, in a show of
prowess, snatched up three of the woman for his half-brother vichitravirya. one of the woman, amba, demanded bhishma to marry her
himself, since he was the warrior who had snatched her up. bhishma, having taken a vow of celibacy, refused. amba wanted to kill him, but
the blessing bestowed on bhishma prevented this, so amba committed suicide, vowing to become his killer in her next life. vichitravirya
married the remaining two women, ambika and ambalika, but died soon after. with vichitravirya dead and no heir to the throne, the sage
vyasa allowed for both women to become impregnated by immaculate conception. at the time of conception, ambika, in reaction to vyasa's
less than handsome face, closed her eyes in fright and gave birth to a blind son, dritarastra. ambalika, also becoming frightened, turned
pale and gave birth to a sickly son, pandu. ambalika's maid was also impregnated and gave birth to a son, vidhura, who grew up to be a
very wise man and advisor of the court.
dritarastra married a wise woman named gandhari. in an effort to be one with her husband, she blinded herself with a bandage and gave
birth - not to a child but to a mass of flesh. the sage vyasa divided the shapeless mass into 100 children, called the kauravas, the leader
of whom was duryodhana.
pandu married two women, kunti and madri. after being married for a time and having no children, pandu happened upon two deer
procreating. he killed the doe, who, upon her death, was transformed into a great sage who cursed pandu with death if he ever went to one
of his wives aroused. that is how pandu later died. kunti and madri were impregnated by a sage and gave birth to 5 sons altogether. kunti
gave birth to yudisthira, bhima and arjuna; madri gave birth to sahadeva and nakula. together these 5 sons were known as the pandavas,
and were adopted by their blind uncle, dritarastra, and raised as his own sons.
as they grew up, the pandavas excelled in every way. they were heroic warriors and benevolent rulers, and because of this duryodhana
and the other kauravas cultivated a great hatred and jealousy for their cousins, which led to a scheme to murder them. for a religious
festival, duryodhana invited the pandavas to stay in a new palace that had been built with flammable materials, planning to set the palace
on fire, killing the pandavas and their mother, kunti. having been warned in time, the pandavas and their mother escaped unharmed, with
duryodhana believing them dead. they disappeared into the forest and lived as brahmins for a period of time, until one day they heard
about an archery contest. the winner of the contest would marry the daughter of a neighboring king. being great warriors, the brothers
entered the contest, and arjuna won the hand of the king's daughter, draupadi. the brothers delighted back to the forest to share the news
with their mother, crying for her to come look at the wonderful treasure. before realizing that the prize of which they spoke was actually a
woman, kunti directed them to share equally between them their new prize. as her word was sacred to her sons, once uttered it was too late
to take back. draupadi became the wife of all five sons of pandu.
with the news of the contest and the subsequent marriage reaching the ears of the kauravas, duryodhana discovered that the brothers
were, in fact, alive and well and now allied by marriage to a powerful ruler. duryodhana longed to continue the feud, but bhishma advised
the kauravas to send for the pandavas and offer them their rightful half of the kingdom. the kauravas agreed, but gave their cousins the
worst of the land. the pandavas, however, were able to turn that land into a thriving city, and crowned their eldest, yudisthira, as their king.
the pandavas lived in glory, and duryodhana hated them all the more for it.
yudishthira was an excellent king and a pious and virtuous man. he possessed, however, a great flaw: a dangerous weakness for
gambling, particularly for dice games. knowing this weakness, duryodhana organized a dice game in which yudisthira was sure to lose.
yudisthira ended up losing not only his kingdom but his freedom: the pandavas were once again forced to return to the forest to live in
hiding. the exile was to last for 12 years, at the end of which they must return and live in disguise for one full year before reclaiming the
throne. the pandavas complied, but upon return 13 years later duryodhana refused to hand over their kingdom. yudisthira said he would
be content with even just one village for himself and for each of his brothers, but duryodhana, driven by greed, would not agree even to this
small request. civil war ensued. krishna, a friend of the pandavas, offered his assistance to each side, the kauravas and pandavas. to one
he would give his army, and to the other he would give his counsel. arjuna was allowed the first choice, and wisely chose krishna's counsel.
duryodhana rejoiced and accepted krishna's army.
the sage vyasa offered the old blind king, dritarastra, divine vision so that he could see every detail of the war between his countrymen.
the king refused, however, not wanting to see his kinsmen killing each other in battle. the gift of divine sight was then bestowed upon
dritarastra's charioteer, sanjeya. it was sanjeya who narrated the story of the war, the dialogue between arjuna and krishna, which we read
as the bhagavad gita.
the war lasted 18 years, destined to end only after the death of bhishma. bhishma, who was required, as a member of the court, to fight
on the side of the kauravas, with his power to choose his death agreed to die at the hands of the pandavas. duryodhana was then killed,
the kauravas defeated, and the pandavas became the undisputed rulers of india.
the eighteen chapters of the bhagavad gita can be broken down into 3 sections. the first 6 chapters deal primarily with karma yoga, the
yoga of action. chapters 7 through 12 explain the practice of bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. the last 6 chapters have to do with jnana
yoga, the yoga of knowledge. this is signifcant of the necessary balance between the three paths, the need for a yoga of synthesis, a
synthesis of the hand, heart, and head.
santanu (a king) fell in love with a woman named ganga. she married him on the condition that he never ask her about her business or
she would have to leave him. ganga gave santanu seven children, and every time a child was born she would toss him in the river and the
child would drown. after their eighth child was born, santanu - despite the promise he had made to ganga - could not take the death of yet
another child and he stopped her from drowning this son, bhishma. it was only then that he learned that his beloved wife was actually the
holy river flowing through lord siva's head, and that by drowning her children she was simply sending them back to the source, receiving
them back into her womb to live with her in bliss. adhering to the condition of their marriage, ganga went away, taking their child with her to
educate him.
(note: "santanu" means "one who is peace." "ganga" symbolizes pure intellect. their marriage signifies the need for peacefulness to
mix with discrimination. the drowning of their seven children is symbolic of the changes the human soul must go through on the path to
enlightenment.)
santanu, needless to say, was sad to have lost both his wife and his son. in addition, as a king, he needed an heir to the throne. in
time, he fell in love with a woman named satyavati who worked as a boat taxi. the caste system forbid them to marry because she was of a
lower station in life; however, satyavati's father gave his blessing if their son would be heir to the throne. the only problem was, santanu's
son, bhishma, though gone, was still alive and therefore was the one true heir. as long as he lay claim to the throne, santanu could not
marry satyavati. at the age of 16, bhishma returned to his father, renounced the throne and took a vow of celibacy so that his father could
marry the woman he loved. santanu and satyavati had two sons together, chitrangada and vichitravirya, both of whom died at a young age.
as reward for his selfless sacrifice, bhishma was blessed with the power to live as long as he liked and to die at will.
some time later, bhishma - a great warrior - went to the meeting place where women could choose their husbands. bhishma, in a show of
prowess, snatched up three of the woman for his half-brother vichitravirya. one of the woman, amba, demanded bhishma to marry her
himself, since he was the warrior who had snatched her up. bhishma, having taken a vow of celibacy, refused. amba wanted to kill him, but
the blessing bestowed on bhishma prevented this, so amba committed suicide, vowing to become his killer in her next life. vichitravirya
married the remaining two women, ambika and ambalika, but died soon after. with vichitravirya dead and no heir to the throne, the sage
vyasa allowed for both women to become impregnated by immaculate conception. at the time of conception, ambika, in reaction to vyasa's
less than handsome face, closed her eyes in fright and gave birth to a blind son, dritarastra. ambalika, also becoming frightened, turned
pale and gave birth to a sickly son, pandu. ambalika's maid was also impregnated and gave birth to a son, vidhura, who grew up to be a
very wise man and advisor of the court.
dritarastra married a wise woman named gandhari. in an effort to be one with her husband, she blinded herself with a bandage and gave
birth - not to a child but to a mass of flesh. the sage vyasa divided the shapeless mass into 100 children, called the kauravas, the leader
of whom was duryodhana.
pandu married two women, kunti and madri. after being married for a time and having no children, pandu happened upon two deer
procreating. he killed the doe, who, upon her death, was transformed into a great sage who cursed pandu with death if he ever went to one
of his wives aroused. that is how pandu later died. kunti and madri were impregnated by a sage and gave birth to 5 sons altogether. kunti
gave birth to yudisthira, bhima and arjuna; madri gave birth to sahadeva and nakula. together these 5 sons were known as the pandavas,
and were adopted by their blind uncle, dritarastra, and raised as his own sons.
as they grew up, the pandavas excelled in every way. they were heroic warriors and benevolent rulers, and because of this duryodhana
and the other kauravas cultivated a great hatred and jealousy for their cousins, which led to a scheme to murder them. for a religious
festival, duryodhana invited the pandavas to stay in a new palace that had been built with flammable materials, planning to set the palace
on fire, killing the pandavas and their mother, kunti. having been warned in time, the pandavas and their mother escaped unharmed, with
duryodhana believing them dead. they disappeared into the forest and lived as brahmins for a period of time, until one day they heard
about an archery contest. the winner of the contest would marry the daughter of a neighboring king. being great warriors, the brothers
entered the contest, and arjuna won the hand of the king's daughter, draupadi. the brothers delighted back to the forest to share the news
with their mother, crying for her to come look at the wonderful treasure. before realizing that the prize of which they spoke was actually a
woman, kunti directed them to share equally between them their new prize. as her word was sacred to her sons, once uttered it was too late
to take back. draupadi became the wife of all five sons of pandu.
with the news of the contest and the subsequent marriage reaching the ears of the kauravas, duryodhana discovered that the brothers
were, in fact, alive and well and now allied by marriage to a powerful ruler. duryodhana longed to continue the feud, but bhishma advised
the kauravas to send for the pandavas and offer them their rightful half of the kingdom. the kauravas agreed, but gave their cousins the
worst of the land. the pandavas, however, were able to turn that land into a thriving city, and crowned their eldest, yudisthira, as their king.
the pandavas lived in glory, and duryodhana hated them all the more for it.
yudishthira was an excellent king and a pious and virtuous man. he possessed, however, a great flaw: a dangerous weakness for
gambling, particularly for dice games. knowing this weakness, duryodhana organized a dice game in which yudisthira was sure to lose.
yudisthira ended up losing not only his kingdom but his freedom: the pandavas were once again forced to return to the forest to live in
hiding. the exile was to last for 12 years, at the end of which they must return and live in disguise for one full year before reclaiming the
throne. the pandavas complied, but upon return 13 years later duryodhana refused to hand over their kingdom. yudisthira said he would
be content with even just one village for himself and for each of his brothers, but duryodhana, driven by greed, would not agree even to this
small request. civil war ensued. krishna, a friend of the pandavas, offered his assistance to each side, the kauravas and pandavas. to one
he would give his army, and to the other he would give his counsel. arjuna was allowed the first choice, and wisely chose krishna's counsel.
duryodhana rejoiced and accepted krishna's army.
the sage vyasa offered the old blind king, dritarastra, divine vision so that he could see every detail of the war between his countrymen.
the king refused, however, not wanting to see his kinsmen killing each other in battle. the gift of divine sight was then bestowed upon
dritarastra's charioteer, sanjeya. it was sanjeya who narrated the story of the war, the dialogue between arjuna and krishna, which we read
as the bhagavad gita.
the war lasted 18 years, destined to end only after the death of bhishma. bhishma, who was required, as a member of the court, to fight
on the side of the kauravas, with his power to choose his death agreed to die at the hands of the pandavas. duryodhana was then killed,
the kauravas defeated, and the pandavas became the undisputed rulers of india.
the eighteen chapters of the bhagavad gita can be broken down into 3 sections. the first 6 chapters deal primarily with karma yoga, the
yoga of action. chapters 7 through 12 explain the practice of bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. the last 6 chapters have to do with jnana
yoga, the yoga of knowledge. this is signifcant of the necessary balance between the three paths, the need for a yoga of synthesis, a
synthesis of the hand, heart, and head.
| pandavas |
| kauravas |
| satyavati |
| sahadeva nakula |
| yudisthira bhima arjuna |
| duryodhana and 99 brothers |
| draupadi |
| madri |
| kunti |
| gandhari |
| dritarastr a |
| pandu |
| vidhura |
| ambika |
| ambalika's maid |
| ambalika |
| amba |
| vichitraviry a |
| chitrangada |
| bhishma |
| ganga |
| santanu |
introduction...
the story of the bhagavad gita starts at the end of an age - the dwapara yuga - and ends at the beginning of another - the kali yuga. it
is a story told in dialogue between krishna, an incarnation of the god vishnu, and arjuna, krishna’s disciple and leader of an army
engaged in civil war. the gita is much more, however, than a mere story: it holds many valuable lessons meant for anyone and everyone on
the spiritual path – regardless of culture or religion. it offers us guidance on how to perform our daily sadhana (spiritual practice) in the
midst of the many conflicts and obstacles we face in our daily lives. it teaches us about letting go of our attachments and desires, tuning
into the divine guide within each and every one of us, and surrendering to oneself, to our true nature, which is sat-chid-ananda (existence-
knowledge-bliss absolute).
the bhagavad gita, which means “song of god,� is part of a much larger work known as the mahabharata. the mahabharata is an
epic poem with approximately 100,000 verses (over 700 of which comprise the bhagavad gita) and contains an underlying message of truth
and righteousness. some characters in the mahabharata serve as examples to be emulated, and produce in the reader a moral
awakening. other characters serve as examples not to be followed, and teach the reader how not to act.
human nature, both in the individual and in society at large, must go through many experiences, good and bad, in order to become
pure. in life, there will be pain, there will be suffering; we cannot escape this. the mahabharata offers insights on how to change our
perception of this suffering. pain has a molding force which can bring out the best in us. true suffering develops moral strength and
discipline. nature exists so that we may overcome it.
the story of the bhagavad gita starts at the end of an age - the dwapara yuga - and ends at the beginning of another - the kali yuga. it
is a story told in dialogue between krishna, an incarnation of the god vishnu, and arjuna, krishna’s disciple and leader of an army
engaged in civil war. the gita is much more, however, than a mere story: it holds many valuable lessons meant for anyone and everyone on
the spiritual path – regardless of culture or religion. it offers us guidance on how to perform our daily sadhana (spiritual practice) in the
midst of the many conflicts and obstacles we face in our daily lives. it teaches us about letting go of our attachments and desires, tuning
into the divine guide within each and every one of us, and surrendering to oneself, to our true nature, which is sat-chid-ananda (existence-
knowledge-bliss absolute).
the bhagavad gita, which means “song of god,� is part of a much larger work known as the mahabharata. the mahabharata is an
epic poem with approximately 100,000 verses (over 700 of which comprise the bhagavad gita) and contains an underlying message of truth
and righteousness. some characters in the mahabharata serve as examples to be emulated, and produce in the reader a moral
awakening. other characters serve as examples not to be followed, and teach the reader how not to act.
human nature, both in the individual and in society at large, must go through many experiences, good and bad, in order to become
pure. in life, there will be pain, there will be suffering; we cannot escape this. the mahabharata offers insights on how to change our
perception of this suffering. pain has a molding force which can bring out the best in us. true suffering develops moral strength and
discipline. nature exists so that we may overcome it.
*note: this study guide is meant as a companion to the bhagavad gita as translated by swami sivananda, the publication of which includes
commentary and explanation by swami sivananda. any direct quotations are taken from this publication, which may be purchased from the
sivananda vedanta organization. the notes contained in this study guide, with the exception of any direct quotations, are based upon jami
lacerte's study of this translation of the gita, both on her own and under the guidance of swami sadasivananda and brahma swaroop
chaitanya of the sivananda vedanta organization.
commentary and explanation by swami sivananda. any direct quotations are taken from this publication, which may be purchased from the
sivananda vedanta organization. the notes contained in this study guide, with the exception of any direct quotations, are based upon jami
lacerte's study of this translation of the gita, both on her own and under the guidance of swami sadasivananda and brahma swaroop
chaitanya of the sivananda vedanta organization.