Gita Jayanti

Gita Jayanti commemorates the sacred dialogue of the Bhagavad Gita, traditionally understood to have been spoken by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra just before the Mahabharata war. Seeing relatives, teachers and friends on both sides, Arjuna is overwhelmed by grief and moral confusion and lowers his bow. Krishna responds not with a simple command to fight, but with a far-reaching teaching on duty, the eternal Self, disciplined action, knowledge, meditation, devotion and surrender to the Divine. The eighteen chapters of that dialogue became one of Hindu philosophy's most influential texts. Gita Jayanti falls on Mokshada Ekadashi, and devotees often read or recite the Gita, discuss its teachings and reflect on how to act rightly when personal emotion and responsibility come into conflict.

Gita Jayanti is valued for devotion, family tradition and the spiritual or seasonal meaning attached to the day.

It shares its tithi with Mokshada Ekadashi, which this app carries separately. Many keep the ekadashi fast and the Gita reading as one observance.