Interduction
7
students for understanding  Bhagavad-gītā . The sincere student should also have a firm respect for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a student was Ariuna.
Lord Kṛṣṇa descends specifically to reestablish the real purpose of life when man forgets that purpose. Even then, out of many, many human beings who awaken, there may be one who actually enters the spirit of understanding his position, and for him this  Bhagavad-gītā  is spoken. Actually we are all followed by the tiger of nescience, but the Lord is very merciful upon living entities, especially human beings. To this end He spoke the  Bhagavad-gītā , making His friend Ariuna His student.
Being an associate of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna was above all ignorance, but Arjuna was put into ignorance on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra just to question Lord Kṛṣṇa about the problems of life so that the Lord could explain them for the benefit of future generations of human beings and chalk out the plan of life. Then man could act accordingly and perfect the mission of human life.
The subject of the  Bhagavad-gītā  entails the comprehension of five basic truths. First of all, the science of God is explained and then the constitutional position of the living entities,  jīvas . There is  īśvara , which means controller, and there are  jīvas , the living entities which are controlled. If a living entity says that he is not controlled but that he is free, then he is insane. The living being is controlled in every respect, at least in his conditioned life. So in the  Bhagavad-gītā  the subject matter deals with the  īśvara , the supreme controller, and the  jīvas , the controlled living entities.  Prakṛti  (material nature) and time (the duration of existence of the whole universe or the manifestation of material nature) and  karma  (activity) are also discussed. The cosmic manifestation is full of different activities. All living entities are engaged in different activities. From  Bhagavad-gītā  we must learn what God is, what the living entities are, what  prakṛti  is, what the cosmic manifestation is and how it is controlled by time, and what the activities of the living entities are.
Out of these five basic subject matters in  Bhagavad-gītā  it is established that the Supreme Godhead, or Kṛṣṇa, or Brahman, or supreme controller, or Paramātmā—you may use whatever name you like—is the greatest of all. The living beings are in quality like the supreme controller. For instance, the Lord has control over the universal affairs, over material nature, etc., as will be explained in the later chapters of  Bhagavad-gītā . Material nature is not independent. She is acting under the directions of the Supreme Lord. As Lord Kṛṣṇa says, “ Prakṛti  is working under My direction.” When we see