Bhagavad-gītā should be taken up in a spirit of devotee of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. One should not think that he is equal, on the same level of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or one should not think that He is an ordinary personality, maybe a very great personality. No. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
So at least theoretically, on the statement of Bhagavad-gītā or on the statement, assertion, of Arjuna, the person who is trying to understand the Bhagavad-gītā, we should accept Śrī Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and then, with that submissive spirit . . . unless one receives this Bhagavad-gītā in a submissive spirit and aural reception, it is very difficult to understand Bhagavad-gītā, because it is a great mystery.
So in this Bhagavad-gītā . . . we may survey what is this Bhagavad-gītā. This Bhagavad-gītā is meant for delivering persons . . . persons from the nescience of this material existence. Every man is in difficulty in so many ways, as Arjuna also was in difficulty in the matter of fighting the battle of Kurukṣetra. And as such, he surrendered unto Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and therefore this Bhagavad-gītā was spoken.
Similarly, not only Arjuna, but every one of us is always full of anxieties due to our this material existence. Asad-grahāt. It is . . . our existence is in the environment or atmosphere of nonexistence. But actually, we are not nonexistent. Our existence is eternal, but some way or other we are put into this asat. Asat means which does not exist.
Now out of so many human being who are actually inquiring about his position as to what he is, why he is put into this awkward position of suffering . . . unless one is awakened to this position that, "Why I am suffering? I do not want all these sufferings. I have tried to make a solution of all these sufferings, but I have failed," unless one is in that position, he is not to be considered a perfect human being. Humanity begins when this sort of inquiries are awakened in one's mind.
In the Brahma-sūtra this enquiry is called brahma-jijñāsā. Athāto brahma jijñāsā. And every activity of the human being is to be considered a failure without having this enquiry in his mind. So persons who have awakened this enquiry into his mind as to "What I am, why I am suffering, wherefrom I have come or where I shall go after death," when these inquiries come, are awakened in the mind of a sane human being, then he is practically the right student for understanding Bhagavad-gītā.
And he must be śraddhāvān. Śraddhāvān. He must have respect, a fond respect in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such a person, as the ideal person was Arjuna. So Lord Kṛṣṇa, He descends, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati (BG 4.7). Just to establish the real purpose of life. When man forgets the real purpose of life, the mission of human form of life, then it is called dharmasya glāniḥ, the disturbance of the occupation of human being.
So in that circumstances, out of many, many human being, who awakens, one who awakens the spirit of understanding his position, for him this Bhagavad-gītā is spoken. We are just like swallowed by the tigress of nescience, and Lord being causelessly merciful upon the living entities, especially for the human being, He spoke Bhagavad-gītā, making His friend Arjuna as the student.
Arjuna was certainly, being an associate of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he was above all ignorance. But still, Arjuna was put into ignorance in the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra just to question about the problems of life to the Supreme Lord so that the Lord can explain them for the benefit of future generation of human being to chalk out the plan of his life and act in that way so that his life, his mission of human life, can be perfect.
So in this Bhagavad-gītā the subject matter is comprehending five different truths. The first truth is what is God. It is the preliminary study of the science of God. So that science of God is explained here. Next, the constitutional position of the living entities, jīva. Īśvara and jīva. The Lord, the Supreme Lord, He is called īśvara.
Īśvara means controller, and jīva, the living entities, are . . . jīvas, the living entities, they are not īśvara, or the controller. They are controlled. Artificially if I say that "I am not controlled, I am free," this is not the sign of a sane man. A living being is controlled in every respect. At least, in his conditioned life he is controlled.
So in this Bhagavad-gītā the subject matter comprehends about the īśvara, the supreme controller, and about the controlled living entities and prakṛti, the nature, the material nature. And next, the time, duration of existence of the whole universe, or this manifestation of the material nature, and the duration of time, or the eternal time: and karma. Karma means activity.