On the Chariot Between Two Armies: Gita Terms in the Order You Meet Them

A scene-by-scene glossary of Bhagavad Gita terms such as dharma, karma, atman and buddhi, as background for The Gita of the Awakened Self. The Bhagavad Gita opens at an odd moment. Two armies stand ready, and the greatest archer of one side asks his charioteer to drive him into the empty ground between them. Everything the text goes on to say begins from that pause. Because the setting is so vivid, it makes a good scaffold for learning the vocabulary: the words arrive roughly in the order a person needs them. This article is background on the subject, written for readers curious about The Gita of the Awakened Self (https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=yxXsEQAAQBAJ), a book that approaches the Gita through the lens of self-realization. It is a guide to terms and does not describe what the book itself says. Translations of the Gita differ widely, and the glosses below are the common ones, offered with the hedges any honest reader should keep in mind. Get the book: Google Play Books · Apple Books — The Gita of the Awakened Self by Dr. Ajarn Robert Shumake.