You know, whenever I read the Bhagavad Gita, especially commentaries upon it, explanations,

there are different approaches to it. Some say the central teaching

of the Gita is Bhakti, devotion. Some say the central teaching of the Gita is action.

Sri Krishna relentlessly urges Arjuna into action.

Some say it is duty.

Another way of looking at the Bhagavad Gita is that it is a manual on spiritual life

with teachings about God and avatara and meditation and so on. All of which no doubt are true.

But if you actually look at the Bhagavad Gita itself, when Sri Krishna starts teaching Arjuna,

the first thing he teaches Arjuna is probably the central message of Vedanta.

I'm saying it very carefully, central message of Vedant.

I did not say central message of Gita because the central message of Gita and the central

message of Vedant are one and the same.

The Gita is part of Vedantta.

Gita in itself may have a unique approach to it.

There may be something special in the Gita over and above the general message of Vedantah.

But first of all, we must appreciate the central teaching, the general message of Vedantanth. And that is, without any doubt, the teaching on the general message of Vedantha and that is without any

doubt the teaching on the Atman that is our subject this morning you might think

Atman who or what is that it's you it's our real nature what we are if you notice what Sri Krishna starts off with in the second chapter,

after Arjuna has finished his lamentations and his questions and his doubts,

Sri Krishna starts off by teaching Arjuna the doctrine of the Atman.

What we really are, not what we think of ourselves, but what we really

are. And this is the central teaching of Vedantah that if we would really know ourselves as we

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