Although I am from a temple going traditional Hindu family. I was not introduced to the Hindu holy book "Bhagavad Gita" at early age. I remember searching for ways to kill my boredom during one summer holidays in +2(12th standard, around 14 years of age). During that time, I took a small book of Bhagavad Gita. I initially thought that is the summarized version, as all the religious books I saw till then are simply huge. To my surprise, that small book is all of Bhagavad Gita. I came to know then that, this book is only 700 poems in Sanskrit. Luckily, they gave Telugu translation next to every poem.
As a teenager and someone who is not religious, it is not easy for me to understand easily. One thing I like in this book is, it is not something dedicated to just praise the Lord. Rather, it is a discussion between 2 people. Krishna, who is the Lord and Arjuna, who is a confused person. At no place in the book, I see Arjuna just blindly accepting what Krishna says. Arjuna questions Krishna again and again. He questions when he doesn't understand or he doesn't agree with Krishna. He treats Krishna as a guide but not God.
Another surprise for me is the variety of topics included in the book. Before reading it, I thought that the book is basically a war book and praise to Lord. Where Krishna encourages Arjuna to perform his duty as warrior. But, I was totally wrong there. Here Krishna only reasons with Arjuna on why he has to perform his duty. In this book, Krishna also explains about Karma yoga(performing worldly duties), Karma Sanyasa(withdrawing from worldly duties and pleasures), why Karma Yoga needs to be performed before going in the path of Karma Sanyasa, how can one be involved in all worldly tasks while not getting attached to any, what is the way a person be like, qualities of people, good food to consume, and so on. Yes, there is a chapter dedicated in praising Lord Krishna. But it is only one of the eighteen chapters.
I read this book 3 times, yet I don't understand fully. This might be because, I only try to read true translation to Telugu. Many of the words difficult to understand even after translation. I did try to read Iskan version of Bhagavad Gita, but I didn't like the way they tried to over emphasize about God(This is only my personal opinion). So, I didn't continue reading it. I am hoping to start reading the book one more time soon.
I do encourage people to read Bhagavad Gita book. But, I suggest everyone to read only translation to your convenience language. Won't suggest to read someone else's interpretation of this great book.
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