The first chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, is all about atmosphere - It sets the tone for the coming discourses in a dramatic fashion. Grief, it is said, can be a powerful trigger for transformation. It was so in Arjuna's case, when he lost his nerve as he stood in the middle of the battlefield. Disillusioned and in a state of emotional breakdown, he launches into a series of arguments against the war to a silent Lord Krishna.

This condition of Arjuna is not new. It lies hidden within each of us and appears when we are poised to act, crippling us of our capabilites. It is for this condition that Lord Krishna provides a remedy in the following discourses that we call the Bhagavad-Gita.