Gita Jayanti: Bhagavad Gita in 18 Questions | Sri Sampati Dasa | गीता जयंती

Arjuna's 18 Questions in the Bhagavad Gita:

1. Chapter 1, Verse 21
Arjuna said: O infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see those present here, who desire to fight, and with whom I must contend in this great trial of arms.


2. Chapter 2, Verse 7
Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of weakness. In this condition, I am asking You to tell me clearly what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.


3. Chapter 2, Verse 54
Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk?


4. Chapter 3, Verses 1-2
Arjuna said: O Janārdana, O Keśava, why do You urge me to engage in this ghastly warfare if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work? My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively which will be most beneficial for me.


5. Chapter 3, Verse 36
Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?


6. Chapter 4, Verse 4
Arjuna said: The sun-god Vivasvān is senior by birth to You. How am I to understand that in the beginning You instructed this science to him?


7. Chapter 5, Verse 1
Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial?


8. Chapter 6, Verses 33-34
Arjuna said: O Madhusūdana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady. For the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind.


9. Chapter 6, Verses 37-39
Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, what is the destination of the unsuccessful transcendentalist, who in the beginning takes to the process of self-realization with faith but later desists due to worldly-mindedness and thus does not attain perfection in mysticism? O mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, does not such a man, being deviated from both spiritual and material success, perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere? This is my doubt, O Kṛṣṇa, and I ask You to dispel it completely. But for Yourself, no one is to be found who can destroy this doubt.


10. Chapter 8, Verses 1-2
Arjuna inquired: O my Lord, O Supreme Person, what is Brahman? What is the self? What are fruitive activities? What is this material manifestation? And what are the demigods? Please explain this to me. How does this Lord of sacrifice live in the body, and in which part does He reside? And how can those engaged in devotional service know You at the time of death?


11. Chapter 10, Verses 17-18
How should I meditate on You? In what various forms are You to be contemplated, O Blessed Lord? O Janārdana, again please describe in detail the mystic power of Your opulences. I am never satiated in hearing about You, for the more I hear, the more I want to taste the nectar of Your words.


12. Chapter 11, Verse 4
If You think that I am able to behold Your cosmic form, O my Lord, O master of all mystic power, then kindly show me that universal self.


13. Chapter 11, Verse 31
O Lord of lords, so fierce of form, please tell me who You are. I offer my obeisances unto You; please be gracious to me. I do not know what Your mission is, and I desire to hear of it.


14. Chapter 12, Verse 1
Arjuna inquired: Which are considered to be more perfect, those who are always properly engaged in Your devotional service or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?


15. Chapter 13, Verse 1
Arjuna said: O my dear Kṛṣṇa, I wish to know about prakṛti (nature), puruṣa (the enjoyer), and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge.


16. Chapter 14, Verse 21
Arjuna inquired: O my Lord, by what symptoms is one known who is transcendental to those modes? What is his behavior? And how does he transcend the modes of nature?


17. Chapter 17, Verse 1
Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, what is the situation of those who do not follow the principles of scripture but worship according to their own imagination? Are they in goodness, in passion, or in ignorance?


18. Chapter 18, Verse 1
Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation (sannyāsa) and of the renounced order of life (tyāga), O killer of the Keśī demon, Hṛṣīkeśa.