Geetha Jayanthi 2009

Geetha Jayanthi falls on Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi — the eleventh day of Margashirsha's bright fortnight — and commemorates the day Lord Krishna recited the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, approximately 5,100 years ago. This is the birthday of scripture itself: the moment when 700 timeless verses were first spoken.

The Bhagavad Gita — "Song of the Lord" — is embedded in the Mahabharata's Bhishma Parva. Arjuna, overwhelmed by grief at the prospect of fighting his teachers and kinsmen, lays down his bow. Krishna, his charioteer, responds with 18 chapters of teaching that span the full spectrum of Hindu philosophy: karma yoga (the yoga of action), jnana yoga (the yoga of knowledge), bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion), and raja yoga (the yoga of meditation).

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

In Kurukshetra itself, Geetha Jayanthi is celebrated with great ceremony at the site where Krishna is said to have spoken the Gita — near the Brahma Sarovar tank — with all-night recitations and lamp offerings.