Hari OM,

A) Revisited why Bhagawad Geeta is the book of choice for our study.
1. Knowledge of the Upanishads
2. Narrated by Lord Krishna himself
3. Both the philosophy and the practical means to live the philosophy.
4. Narrated on the battlefield and not in forests and caves,  Relevant
to the battlefield we face in our minds..

B)  Setting the stage.- Chapter 1 :  Arjuna's delusion
1.The Kurukshetra war has not yet started, both armies are facing each
other.  Arjuna the Pandava Prince tells his charioteer Lord Krishna to
take the chariot to the middle of the armies.  He wants to survey
the Kaurava Army.
Lord Krishna does so and says "Behold Arjuna, the vast Kaurava army"
There are the only words that Lord Krishna says in Chapter 1.

2.  These words are very pithy but extremely potent,  Arjuna sees his
cousins, family, teachers, friends and even Bheeshma the Grandsire all
arrayed against him. Arjuna is a brave prince extremely educated and
accomplished but even he breaks down and refuses to fight.  He starts
justifying his refusal to fight based on 3 ideas.
   a) Killing near and dear ones is wrong
   b) Is this his duty or Dharma and
   c) That he will incur grave sin.
Arjuna rambles on showing all the characteristics of a deluded
psychotic person,  some of the physical conditions like hair standing
on end, skin burning, legs becoming weak are signs of extreme nervous
break down.
Krishna says nothing does nothing simply smiles and keeps looking at Arjuna...
This picture is no different from that one of a psychiatric patient in
a doctor's office.  Bhagawad Geeta is the "Krishna Cure" for the
"Arjuna Disease".

3.  Beginning of Chapter 2  Krishna berates Arjuna and tries to
through caustic words shake him out of his delusion.  Arjuna is not
affected and simply refuses to fights puts his mighty Gandiva bow down
and sits down in his chariot in the middle of the battlefield.

4.  Krishna now starts his logical explanation.  He first goes after
the fact that Arjuna does not want to KILL.  Krishna brings out the
theory of reincarnation. explains to Arjuna that just as we change
clothes so to does the soul change bodies from one birth to the next.
The soul is eternal, beginning less, it is not born, and hence does
not die it cannot be killed, so if no one is killed then no one is
doing the killing either.    So why should Arjuna grieve. (verses
11-30)

5. Krishna then goes after the concept of Duty and Sin.  He explains
to Arjuna that the Duty of a Kshatriya is to wage a righteous war.
Not doing ones duty itself is SIN.  Duty is to be done irrespective of
the outcome. When any action is done the outcome is bound to happen.
the outcome may be a success of a failure however while doing the
action one cannot be thinking about the outcome.  One needs to act for
the sake of the action itself.

See you all on 10/7.