The Gita as guru

The Bhagvad Gita presents Krishn as the ultimate Guru (and charioteer) to Arjun. The Kurukshetra war is not just an external conflict between the Kauravas and Pandavas but also an intense internal struggle for Arjun, who grapples with the thought of fighting his own kin.

Krishn resolves Arjun's inner turmoil through counselling and mentoring across 17 chapters of the Gita. He guides Arjun to perform his material duty as a warrior and to fulfil his transcendental duty to defend righteousness. He clarifies that by taking on his relatives, Arjun would only be destroying their mortal bodies and not their immortal souls. He then elaborates on yog: performing duties with detachment, surrendering to God through devotional service, and acquiring divine knowledge to defend righteousness. Krishn's teachings guide Arjun to the transcendental realm.

This mentoring culminates in the revelation of paths for devotees to attain divine bliss, and overcome the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Arjun represents humanity and Krishn represents divinity, and the Gita remains eternally relevant as the spiritual guru to humans. Ultimately, we all need a guru, who can guide us to success in material life and an acharya to lead us to God. Most importantly, we always need the eternal Guru - God. As we progress, a gradual shift from materialism to transcendentalism becomes essential to attain moksha.