Concepts and Issues
  This  section of the Gita is the fulcrum around which all its teachings revolve. The  basic issue is how to live a God-realized life by continuing to perform the  duties with a disinterested attitude? What are the techniques available to get  rid off egoism and a sense of mine? A comprehensive knowledge of life is given  here by understanding which all human sufferings could be relieved by getting  over duality and conflicts.

As this Chapter  symbolizes all the teachings of the Gita it’s full summing up is given below  for an easy recapitulation of the issues involved.

I ~ ARJUNA’S DESPONDENT CONDITION ~ VERSES 1-10
1. Arjuna continues in his state of dejection. His  personality is destroyed by his overwhelming emotions erupting at the sight of  his near and dear ones on the battlefront.
2. Assuming a false sense of renunciation, he  argues that he would rather live on alms than slay noble elders like Bhishma  and Drona and that even an undisputed sovereignty over all the worlds would not  drive away his grief.
3. Arguing thus, he expresses his unwillingness to  fight and completely spent he becomes silent.

II ~ INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF THE EMBODIED ~ VERSES 11 –  30

Krishna  starts the sermon of the Gita by stating that:
1. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for  the dead.
2. The Self within is eternal, indestructible.
3. The bodies enveloping the Self are ephemeral.  They have a beginning and an end.
4. Death is certain for the born and birth for the  dead.
5. Beings constantly pass through the repeated  stages of unmanifest, manifest and again unmanifest. So why grieve over the  inevitable?
6. The indwelling Self remains eternally the same.

III ~ YOUR DUTY TO ACT ~ 31 – 40

Krishna  explains to Arjuna the importance of performing his duty.
1. A kshatriya (warrior) is fortunate to find an  opportunity to fight a righteous battle.
2. Abandoning such an opportunity will only incur  infamy and sin.
3. In victory a kshatriya enjoys sovereignty over  the worlds. If slain in battle he will gain heaven.
4. Therefore, Krishna advises Arjuna to arise from  his paralyzed state and fight the battle without concern for the results.

The  knowledge imparted up to verse 38 in this chapter is Sankhya. Thereafter  Krishna turns towards Karma Yoga, the practice of which will eradicate the deepest  fear in Arjuna.

IV ~ DESIRE RIDDEN ACTIONS ~ VERSES 41 – 44
1. Those who fanatically adhere to mechanical  rituals are the irresolute whose desires dissipate their minds. They eulogize  the ritualistic portion of the Vedas and declare in flowery speech that there  is nothing beyond these rituals.
2. Despite regular performance of the rituals their  attention in life remains focused on enjoying the pleasures and power in the  world.
3. Such people possess a vacillating mind unable to  concentrate and meditate on the Supreme Self.

V ~ DESIRELESS ACTIONS LEAD TO SELF-REALIZATION ~  VERSES 45 – 53
1. The Vedas deal with three gunas – sattwa, rajas  and tamas. They explain the process of evolution from tamas to rajas and from  rajas to sattwa. Krishna advises Arjuna to free himself from the endless pairs  of opposites that plague this world and rise to the state of sattwa. To free  himself from the mania of acquiring and preserving and instead slowly merge  with the Self.
2. An enlightened soul remains ever in supreme  peace and bliss. In that state he will find even the Vedas as redundant to him  as a pond would be in a flooded village.

Krishna  induces Arjuna
1. To act steadfastly towards the goal of  Realization without worldly attachments and remain balanced in success or  failure. and to keep the mind calm and composed while the body acts dynamically  towards the higher ideal.
2. The process of pursuing the supreme goal  steadfastly with an equanimous mind is Yoga.    Continuing on the path of yoga one sheds vasanas / desires and the mind  turns introvert. An introverted mind alone can meditate and realize the supreme  Self.

VI ~ DESCRIPTION OF AN ENLIGHTENED SOUL ~ VERSES 54 –  72

Arjuna  asks Krishna to describe the nature of enlightened Soul.
1. How would he express himself in the world?
2. What happens to him internally?
3. How does he contact the external world?

The last eighteen verses of this  chapter give a brilliant exposition of a Self-realized soul. Reveling in the  bliss of the Self the enlightened one stays free from all egocentric attachments  and desires. In the state of absolute fulfillment all worldly enjoyments fall  into insignificance. He is like a river which has entered the ocean. Having  reached that supreme state he has merged with eternity.