Gītā Jayantī 2016

Gītā Jayantī falls on Mārgaśīrṣa Śukla Ekādaśī (the eleventh day of Mārgaśīrṣa's bright fortnight) and commemorates the day Lord Kṛṣṇa recited the Bhagavad Gītā to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, approximately 5,100 years ago. This is the birthday of scripture itself: the moment when 700 timeless verses were first spoken.

The Bhagavad Gītā ("Song of the Lord") is embedded in the Mahābhārata's Bhīṣma Parva. Arjuna, overwhelmed by grief at the prospect of fighting his teachers and kinsmen, lays down his bow. Kṛṣṇa, his charioteer, responds with 18 chapters of teaching that span the full spectrum of Hindu philosophy: karma yoga (the yoga of action), jñāna yoga (the yoga of knowledge), bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion), and rāja yoga (the yoga of meditation).

The day is also called Mokṣadā Ekādaśī: the Ekādaśī that gives liberation (mokṣa). A fast observed on this Ekādaśī is believed to free the souls of departed ancestors. Devotees typically spend the day reciting the Gītā (all 18 chapters or key sections like Chapter 2), attending discourses, and donating copies of the scripture.

In Kurukṣetra itself, Gītā Jayantī is celebrated with great ceremony at the site where Kṛṣṇa is said to have spoken the Gītā (near the Brahma Sarovar tank) with all-night recitations and lamp offerings.