Bhagavat Gita for Beginers.

The following experience was obtained from the blog http://debu7370.blogspot.com/2010/06/shri-shirdi-sai-speaks-25th-june.html.

Introduction
Jai: Grandma, I have a hard time understanding the teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita. Would you help me?
Grandma: Of course, Jai, I will be glad to. You should know that this holy book teaches us how to live happily in the world. It is an ancient holy book of Hindu Dharma (also known as Sanātana Dharma or Hinduism), but it can be understood and followed by people of any faith. The Gita has eighteen (18) chapters and a total of only 700 verses. Anyone can be helped by daily practice of only a few of its teachings.
The word ‘Bhagavad’ means God or The Supreme Lord, Bhagavān in Sanskrit. ‘Gita’ means song. Thus The Bhagavad-Gita means the Song of God or the Sacred Song, because it was sung by Bhagavān Shri Krishna himself.

Here is the introduction to the Gita:
In ancient times there was a king who had two sons, Dhritarāshtra and Pāndu. The former was born blind; therefore, Pāndu inherited the kingdom. Pāndu had five sons. They were called the Pāndavas. Dhritarāshtra had one hundred sons. They were called the Kauravas. Duryodhana was the eldest of the Kauravas.

After the death of king Pāndu, his eldest son, Yudhisthira, became the lawful King. Duryodhana was very jealous. He also wanted the kingdom. The kingdom was divided into two halves between the Pāndavas and the Kauravas. Duryodhana was not satisfied with his share. He wanted the entire kingdom for himself. He tried several evil plots to kill the Pāndavas and take away their kingdom. Somehow he took over the entire kingdom of the Pāndavas and refused to give it back without a war. All peace talks by Lord Krishna and others failed, so the big war of Mahābhārata could not be avoided.

The Pāndavas didn’t want to fight, but they had only two choices: fight for their right because it was their duty or run away from war and accept defeat for the sake of peace and nonviolence. Arjuna, one of the five Pāndava brothers, faced this choice in the battlefield.
He had to choose between fighting the war and killing his most revered guru, who was on the other side; his very dear friends, close relatives, and many innocent warriors; or running away from the battlefield to be peaceful and nonviolent. The entire eighteen chapters of the Gita are the talk between confused Arjuna and his best friend, mentor and cousin, Lord Krishna --- an incarnation of God --- on the battlefield of Kurukshetra near New Delhi, India, about 5,100 years ago. This conversation was reported to the blind king, Dhritarāshtra, by his charioteer, Sanjay. It is recorded in the great epic, Mahābhārata.
All lives, human or nonhuman, are sacred, and nonviolence or Ahimsā is one of the most basic principles of Hinduism. So when Lord Krishna advises Arjuna to get up and fight, this may confuse you about the principle of Ahimsā if you don’t keep in mind the background of the war of Mahābhārata.
This spiritual talk between the Supreme Lord, Krishna, and His devotee-friend, Arjuna, occurs not in a temple, a lonely forest, or on a mountain top, but on a battlefield on the eve of a war.
Jai: This is an interesting story, Grandma. Can you tell me more?
Grandma: If you come to where I sit every evening, Jai, I will tell you the whole story, one chapter each day. Just make sure your homework is done and you have time to listen. If you agree, let’s start tomorrow.
Jai: Thank you, Grandma. I’ll be there to hear more.

 CHAPTER 1
ARJUNA’S CONFUSION Jai: I would like to know first how Lord Krishna and Arjuna happened to talk on the battlefield, Grandma.Grandma: It came about in this way, Jai. The war of Mahābhārata was about to begin after peace talks by Lord Krishna and others failed to avoid the war. When the soldiers were gathered on the battlefield, Arjuna asked Lord Krishna to drive his chariot between the two armies so that he could see those who were ready to fight. Seeing all his relatives, friends, and soldiers on the battlefield and fearing their destruction, he became compassionate.
Jai: What does compassionate mean, Grandma?
Grandma: Compassion does not mean pity, Jai. That would be looking down on others as poor, pitiful creatures. Arjuna was feeling their pain and their unlucky situation as his own. Arjuna was a great warrior, who had fought many wars and was well prepared for the war, but suddenly his compassion made him not want to fight. He spoke of the evils of war and sat down on the seat of his chariot, his mind full of sorrow. He saw no use in fighting. He did not know what to do. Jai: I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to fight either. Why do people fight, Grandma? Why are there wars?
Grandma: Jai, there are not only wars between nations, but quarrels between two people, quarrels between brothers and sisters, between husband and wife, between friends and neighbors. The main reason is that people are not able to let go of their selfish motives and desires. Most wars are fought for possession and power. But all problems could be solved peacefully if people could see both sides of the problem and work out an agreement. War should be the last resort. Our holy books say: One should not commit violence towards anyone. Unjustified killing is punishable in all circumstances. Lord Krishna urged Arjuna to fight for his rights, but not to kill needlessly. It was his duty as a warrior to fight a declared war and establish peace and law and order on earth.
We humans also have wars going inside all of us. Our negative and positive forces are always fighting. The negative forces within us are represented by the Kauravas and the positive forces by the Pāndavas.The Gita does not have stories in it to illustrate the teachings, so I will add some stories from other sources to help you.
Here is a story about negative and positive thoughts fighting each other that Lord Krishna Himself told to Arjuna in Mahābhārata. 

1. Mr. TruthfulThere once lived a great hermit, who was famous for telling the truth. He had taken a vow not to lie and was popularly known as “Mr. Truthful.” No matter what he said, everyone believed him because he had earned a great reputation in the community where he lived and did his spiritual practices.
One evening, a robber was chasing a merchant to rob and kill him. The merchant was running for his life. To escape from the robber, the merchant ran towards the forest where the hermit lived outside the village.
The merchant felt very safe because there was no way the robber could find out where he was hiding in the jungle. But the hermit had seen the direction in which the merchant went.
The robber came to the hermit’s cottage and paid his respects. The robber knew that the hermit would tell only the truth and could be trusted, so he asked him whether he had seen somebody running away. The hermit knew that the robber must be looking for somebody to rob and kill, so he faced a big problem. If he told the truth, the merchant would certainly be killed. If he lied, he would incur the sin of lying and lose his reputation. Any immoral act that may harm others is called sin. Ahimsā (nonviolence) and truthfulness are two most important teachings of all religions that we must follow. If we have to choose between these two, which one should we choose? This is a very difficult choice.
Because of his habit of telling the truth, the hermit said: “Yes, I saw someone going that way.” So the robber was able to find the merchant and kill him. The hermit could have saved a life by hiding the truth, but he did not think very carefully and made a wrong decision.
Lord Krishna’s purpose in telling Arjuna this story was to teach Arjuna that sometimes we have to choose between a rock and a hard place. Lord Krishna told Arjuna that the hermit shared with the robber the sin of killing a life. The robber could not have found the merchant if the hermit had not told the truth. So when two noble principles conflict with each other, we have to know which one is the higher principle. Ahimsa has the highest priority, so the hermit should have lied in this situation to save a life. One may not tell a truth that harms a person in any way. It isn’t easy to apply Dharma (or righteousness) to real life situations because what is Dharma and what is Adharma (or unrighteousness) can sometimes be very difficult to decide. In such a situation, expert advice should be sought.  

Lord Krishna gave another example of a robber coming to a village to rob and kill the villagers. In this situation, killing the robber would be an act of nonviolence because killing one person may save many lives. Lord Krishna Himself, on several occasions, had to make such decisions to win the war of Mahābhārata and put an end to all the evil-doers.
Remember, Jai, do not tell a lie, and do not kill any living being or hurt anybody, but saving a life comes first.

Chapter 1 summary: Arjuna asked his charioteer friend, Lord Krishna, to drive his chariot between the two armies so that he could see the Pāndava’s army. Arjuna felt great compassion to see his friends and relatives on the opposite side, whom he must kill to win the war. He became confused, spoke of the evils of war, and refused to fight.