June 2, 2025 • 15 mins
THE BHAGAVAD GITA : PART 1
Welcome to SHE Asked - Tools for Practical Hope
Today, Anna briefly introduces an ancient text that has made a profound impact on her life. The Bhagavad Gita - a Hindu Scripture that dates back to 2nd Century BCE has influenced a countless scholars around the world, and cultural leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Carl Jung, and J. Robert Oppenheimer.
The story centers on a conversation between the warrior Arjuna and Krishna (representing God). Through Arjuna's questions arise four key lessons:
- Know who you are to understand your purpose
- Know whatever you're facing right now IS your purpose
- Dutifully fulfill this purpose and let go of the outcome
- Dutifully serve in devotion of your community and higher power
These are four of several interpretations of this sacred script. Subscribe and follow along to learn more about the highly adored and venerated Bhagavad Gita.
Coach with Anna at annamcbride.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi everyone.
It's Anna McBride.
Welcome back to.
She Asks the tools of practicalhope.
In this show, we explore topicsof growth, healing and recovery
, offering you tips andguidelines to help you along
your personal journey.
Today I want to share with youabout a story that shaped my
(00:25):
life, has impacted it in so manyways and continues to.
It actually is one of myfavorite things to talk about.
The story is called the BhagavadGita.
It's an ancient text that comesfrom India and it's a story
that I was first introduced towhen I was a freshman in college
back in 1981.
(00:47):
I was a literature major and wehad to read several different
types of literature, but thiswas one and I didn't get it.
I didn't understand it.
The translation that we wereoffered seemed a little dry and
a little bit didactic.
And yet I did what everystudent did I read as best as I
could.
(01:07):
I got all the spark notes andthe cheat sheets and the things
to help me get through the examson it, and then I put it away.
I let it go and went on with mylife.
At a certain point I got intoyoga and meditation.
This was probably another 12years later.
I was already a mother andmarried.
And as a part of my meditation,yoga studies, I came back to
(01:32):
this story and I kept saying tomyself this seems so familiar.
And then I remembered about it,and yet I still didn't fully
appreciate the impact it wouldhave on my life.
But at this time I was ready tobetter understand it.
And yet I still didn't fullyappreciate the impact it would
have on my life, but at thistime I was ready to better
understand it.
So I actually startedcollecting translations of it.
To date I have over 15translations of the story and
(01:56):
I've studied it with meditationteachers and over in India.
I even went to the origin townwhere this major war that the
story is about took place.
The war was called theMahabharata and the town is
called Kshetru, which is in apart of India near New Delhi.
So what is the story about?
(02:17):
The story is about aconversation that happens
between a man, a characterthat's portrayed as a man, and
God.
Or, in the case of that story,the man was an archer named
Arjuna and the God wasrepresented by a charioteer
character named Krishna.
(02:38):
And in the Indian culture, inHindi especially, they have many
names for God, 108 to be exact,maybe more than that.
And yet, for the purposes ofthis text, when God is
represented as a man, he isalways called Krishna, and so in
(03:00):
this story, krishna opens up onthe eve of a great battle that
was about to take place, andArjuna is having what's known as
a crisis of faith.
He is known as being one of thebest, if not the best, archer
of all time, and this was theway that wars happened back then
.
They used bow and arrows andnot guns, and the way
(03:23):
transportation happened backthen it was with a chariot and
horses.
So Arjuna was about to go tobattle and lead his side of the
battle for sake of land, and heknew that to fight over land
meant that he was reallyfighting family relatives,
however stretched apart theywere.
They were fighting over landand he did not want to
(03:46):
participate in that.
He did not want to kill onemore person for land.
For sake of not reallydescribing it perfectly, I just
want you to know that he washaving this crisis and he was
really hoping somebody couldhelp him with that answer.
In walks Krishna, and he showsup as this charioteer that's
(04:07):
going to help lead him intobattle, and he begins this
conversation with Arjuna and heasks Arjuna, what do you really
need to know?
And Arjuna says I don't knowwhy I'm here.
I don't know why I'm alwaysbeing called to this service.
Why is it that I have to killone more person for land?
(04:30):
And Krishna, in his wisdom,replied to him of course you
don't know who you are or whyyou're here, because you don't
really know who you truly are atyour essence.
You don't know who you are, andif you don't know who you are,
you don't know why you have todo what you do.
Another thing that's importantto know about the Indian culture
(04:52):
is that they have what's knownas a caste system.
That means is that you wereborn to your purpose.
You were born to what you aremeant to be, and at the time
that Arjuna was alive, it wasthis practice, which is somewhat
disassembled now, as Iunderstand it, but back then you
were definitely born to acertain role, and there was no
(05:15):
getting out of that role.
Arjuna was born to be a warrior, so, for all extents and
purposes, that's all he wassupposed to be doing.
He couldn't go off and dosomething else.
Well, this conversation that hehad with God was all about
understanding.
Why is it that he needs to dowhat he's doing?
(05:35):
And so they got into thisconversation, which speaks to
one of the main themes of thisstory, and that is it is
important to know why you'rehere.
It's important to know who youare, so that if you know who you
are, you'll know what to do.
And I find that in my lifeexperience, this is one question
(05:55):
that I contemplate, not onlyfor myself, but that I get to
have with many people who getdiscouraged that they're not
quite achieving what they thinkthey're supposed to achieve.
They haven't found theirpurpose in life.
I certainly was someone likethat.
Now I've come to appreciate,having read this story over and
(06:17):
over and talked about it so manytimes, that the purpose is
actually a lot simpler than youthink.
Often we mistake what's rightin front of us as being just a
problem, when really it couldhave a lot of meaning and be
very purposeful Right now.
Whatever you're facing is yourpurpose.
(06:39):
Right now, whatever challengeyou are dealing with is your
purpose.
The story teaches us that righthere, right now, whatever is
going on is the only thing we'resupposed to be focusing on.
So for you, if that is, let'ssay, marriage, or if that is
(07:02):
parenthood, or if that isworking as a volunteer in some
capacity, or teaching, or beinga sister or a brother or a
cousin, or dealing with death,or dealing with financial
challenges or dealing with anykind of situation.
That is your purpose, becauseall we have is what's happening
(07:24):
right now.
In back to the story of Arjuna,krishna said you are a warrior.
That is why you are here atthis moment facing this battle,
and for you to think that that'snot a good enough calling for
you is to question what'shappening right now.
And since that's all we have,you need to accept that that's
(07:47):
why you're here.
As the conversation continued,krishna was able to explain to
Arjuna that he may think thatit's over land that they're
fighting about, that all they'redoing is fighting over dirt,
when really he said that whatthey were fighting over was
their right to be there, theright to hold space on that land
(08:10):
, to be alive, to be connected.
And Krishna said to him this isworth fighting for.
You have to be present,completely present, to know the
meaning of that and often, asyou might know, I certainly aim
to appreciate is most of us areworried about where we were
(08:31):
yesterday or where we're headedtomorrow.
So few of us really stay thatpresent to really understand the
purpose of this moment, bigtheme in that story.
Then he said to Arjuna not onlyis it important that you know
why you're here, it's importantthat you just do just that, that
(08:52):
one thing.
Whatever.
That one thing or that twothings or those three things are
no more than that.
That's what you're meant to do.
So many of us think like I'msupposed to be doing everything,
tons of things.
I certainly was one of those.
I thought I was supposed to bea writer, an athlete, a mother,
a wife, a sister, a student, and, yes, these are different roles
(09:16):
that I was playing, butessentially there was only
really one thing that I'm hereto do, and that is to be Anna
Anna at her core, and Anna hasto really know who Anna is, to
know what my real purpose inthis life is about.
It can go deep, but this ispart of why it's such an amazing
(09:39):
story, because it really asksus to go deep within and
understand that we have deepermeanings within us and we have
to stop looking outside of us inorder to find the answers.
The third thing that comes fromthis story is this idea of
having an outlook that lets goof the outcome.
(10:00):
Most people think that I've gotto do something to be
successful and then make a lotof money, and then I make people
happy and I get married and Ihave children, and then I live
happily ever after.
Well, maybe.
However, the story of Arjunaand what Krishna was leading him
(10:20):
to, or guiding him to be, isknow your duty, do it full out
and let go of the outcome.
You don't know if you're goingto win.
You don't know if you're goingto lose.
Yet if you are present for theprocess, that's what matters.
Be present, be connected towhat's going on and let go of
(10:43):
where you may end up, becausewhere you may end up may be
different than what you think.
It actually might be better.
The fourth lesson from thisstory is that we are all meant
to be of service, and so the waythat Krishna described that to
Arjuna is that everything thatman is doing is meant to be in
(11:04):
devotion devotion to God, be indevotion to higher power, to
spirit, to life.
We're meant to be here to helpadd value, to take care of each
other, to be of service.
I love this theme the mostbecause it's what's guided me in
my life.
I was raised by a mother whowas always guided to service,
(11:28):
and it's been a main theme in myfamily of origin and in my life
how can I be of service toothers?
And it's a really great lessonto take from this story, because
if we can be of service, we canaim for higher things, and as I
get older, it's really the onlything I want to do is to find
(11:50):
ways to be of service.
Certainly, I have to take careof myself.
Certainly, I have to find a wayto have an income, yet for me,
the true income comes out of mebeing of service.
And when I'm of service and I'mable to help people connect
(12:11):
with stories that lead tohealing, then that's me doing my
part on this earth.
At this time.
It's the best I can do.
Now here's another thing aboutthe story that I think is pretty
great.
It's influenced a lot of people.
Some of the people you'll know,and then some that you might
not think of Henry David Thoreau, walt Whitman, mahatma Gandhi,
(12:40):
joseph Campbell, to name fourbig hitters all were Bhagavad
Gita carriers and they embodiedit and lived it in their life.
In fact, the hero's journey issupposedly based on that story.
There's so many writings byHenry David Thoreau and Walt
Whitman that are all based onthat story.
They changed the trajectory oftheir lives all these people
(13:00):
I've mentioned because of theBhagavad Gita the idea of
knowing what your purpose is,living it full out, letting go
of the outcome and doing it inservice and making that the
cornerstone of their life.
This is why we keep talkingabout these people, because
they're living a life ofintegrity, finding a way to be
(13:23):
of service and bringing thosethemes alive.
So I told you that I have 15translations of this story.
My favorite one is one that waswritten by a man named Stephen
Cope, c-o-p-e, and his book iscalled the Great Work of your
Life and it has a collection ofmodern-day protagonists.
(13:45):
Henry David Thoreau, mahatmaGandhi, walt Whitman and even
Viktor Frankl are mentioned inthat book as people who were
influenced and based their liveson that great story.
And I think that when I hear astory of how somebody can really
live a life of integrity,really live a life of meaning,
(14:07):
of the life of meaning, itinspires me to want to do better
.
And that story, the BhagavadGita, has guided me from age 18
to where I am now, some fourdecades later, where I can
really embody it.
Now I understand it.
It took this long for me toreally really get it, talking
(14:30):
about it, finding ways to bringit alive in my life and share it
with friends and family andstudents and clients Wherever I
can.
I talk about the story becauseI think there's no greater
purpose than to know who you areand then to find a way to be of
service.
And when you can do those twothings, you will be successful,
(14:54):
you will find your way and, moreimportantly, you will add to
the healing on this planet.
Being of service is one of myhot buttons and one of the
things that I love to talk about, and I hope that this is giving
you some information about agreat story that could hopefully
(15:14):
inspire you and help you tothink about who you are, why
you're here and how is it thatyou can be of more service.
So thank you for letting meshare that with you.
This is Anna McBride, with sheAsked, and until soon, be well.
Hi everyone.
It's Anna McBride.
Welcome back to.
She Asks the tools of practicalhope.
In this show, we explore topicsof growth, healing and recovery
, offering you tips andguidelines to help you along
your personal journey.
Today I want to share with youabout a story that shaped my
(00:25):
life, has impacted it in so manyways and continues to.
It actually is one of myfavorite things to talk about.
The story is called the BhagavadGita.
It's an ancient text that comesfrom India and it's a story
that I was first introduced towhen I was a freshman in college
back in 1981.
(00:47):
I was a literature major and wehad to read several different
types of literature, but thiswas one and I didn't get it.
I didn't understand it.
The translation that we wereoffered seemed a little dry and
a little bit didactic.
And yet I did what everystudent did I read as best as I
could.
(01:07):
I got all the spark notes andthe cheat sheets and the things
to help me get through the examson it, and then I put it away.
I let it go and went on with mylife.
At a certain point I got intoyoga and meditation.
This was probably another 12years later.
I was already a mother andmarried.
And as a part of my meditation,yoga studies, I came back to
(01:32):
this story and I kept saying tomyself this seems so familiar.
And then I remembered about it,and yet I still didn't fully
appreciate the impact it wouldhave on my life.
But at this time I was ready tobetter understand it.
And yet I still didn't fullyappreciate the impact it would
have on my life, but at thistime I was ready to better
understand it.
So I actually startedcollecting translations of it.
To date I have over 15translations of the story and
(01:56):
I've studied it with meditationteachers and over in India.
I even went to the origin townwhere this major war that the
story is about took place.
The war was called theMahabharata and the town is
called Kshetru, which is in apart of India near New Delhi.
So what is the story about?
(02:17):
The story is about aconversation that happens
between a man, a characterthat's portrayed as a man, and
God.
Or, in the case of that story,the man was an archer named
Arjuna and the God wasrepresented by a charioteer
character named Krishna.
(02:38):
And in the Indian culture, inHindi especially, they have many
names for God, 108 to be exact,maybe more than that.
And yet, for the purposes ofthis text, when God is
represented as a man, he isalways called Krishna, and so in
(03:00):
this story, krishna opens up onthe eve of a great battle that
was about to take place, andArjuna is having what's known as
a crisis of faith.
He is known as being one of thebest, if not the best, archer
of all time, and this was theway that wars happened back then
.
They used bow and arrows andnot guns, and the way
(03:23):
transportation happened backthen it was with a chariot and
horses.
So Arjuna was about to go tobattle and lead his side of the
battle for sake of land, and heknew that to fight over land
meant that he was reallyfighting family relatives,
however stretched apart theywere.
They were fighting over landand he did not want to
(03:46):
participate in that.
He did not want to kill onemore person for land.
For sake of not reallydescribing it perfectly, I just
want you to know that he washaving this crisis and he was
really hoping somebody couldhelp him with that answer.
In walks Krishna, and he showsup as this charioteer that's
(04:07):
going to help lead him intobattle, and he begins this
conversation with Arjuna and heasks Arjuna, what do you really
need to know?
And Arjuna says I don't knowwhy I'm here.
I don't know why I'm alwaysbeing called to this service.
Why is it that I have to killone more person for land?
(04:30):
And Krishna, in his wisdom,replied to him of course you
don't know who you are or whyyou're here, because you don't
really know who you truly are atyour essence.
You don't know who you are, andif you don't know who you are,
you don't know why you have todo what you do.
Another thing that's importantto know about the Indian culture
(04:52):
is that they have what's knownas a caste system.
That means is that you wereborn to your purpose.
You were born to what you aremeant to be, and at the time
that Arjuna was alive, it wasthis practice, which is somewhat
disassembled now, as Iunderstand it, but back then you
were definitely born to acertain role, and there was no
(05:15):
getting out of that role.
Arjuna was born to be a warrior, so, for all extents and
purposes, that's all he wassupposed to be doing.
He couldn't go off and dosomething else.
Well, this conversation that hehad with God was all about
understanding.
Why is it that he needs to dowhat he's doing?
(05:35):
And so they got into thisconversation, which speaks to
one of the main themes of thisstory, and that is it is
important to know why you'rehere.
It's important to know who youare, so that if you know who you
are, you'll know what to do.
And I find that in my lifeexperience, this is one question
(05:55):
that I contemplate, not onlyfor myself, but that I get to
have with many people who getdiscouraged that they're not
quite achieving what they thinkthey're supposed to achieve.
They haven't found theirpurpose in life.
I certainly was someone likethat.
Now I've come to appreciate,having read this story over and
(06:17):
over and talked about it so manytimes, that the purpose is
actually a lot simpler than youthink.
Often we mistake what's rightin front of us as being just a
problem, when really it couldhave a lot of meaning and be
very purposeful Right now.
Whatever you're facing is yourpurpose.
(06:39):
Right now, whatever challengeyou are dealing with is your
purpose.
The story teaches us that righthere, right now, whatever is
going on is the only thing we'resupposed to be focusing on.
So for you, if that is, let'ssay, marriage, or if that is
(07:02):
parenthood, or if that isworking as a volunteer in some
capacity, or teaching, or beinga sister or a brother or a
cousin, or dealing with death,or dealing with financial
challenges or dealing with anykind of situation.
That is your purpose, becauseall we have is what's happening
(07:24):
right now.
In back to the story of Arjuna,krishna said you are a warrior.
That is why you are here atthis moment facing this battle,
and for you to think that that'snot a good enough calling for
you is to question what'shappening right now.
And since that's all we have,you need to accept that that's
(07:47):
why you're here.
As the conversation continued,krishna was able to explain to
Arjuna that he may think thatit's over land that they're
fighting about, that all they'redoing is fighting over dirt,
when really he said that whatthey were fighting over was
their right to be there, theright to hold space on that land
(08:10):
, to be alive, to be connected.
And Krishna said to him this isworth fighting for.
You have to be present,completely present, to know the
meaning of that and often, asyou might know, I certainly aim
to appreciate is most of us areworried about where we were
(08:31):
yesterday or where we're headedtomorrow.
So few of us really stay thatpresent to really understand the
purpose of this moment, bigtheme in that story.
Then he said to Arjuna not onlyis it important that you know
why you're here, it's importantthat you just do just that, that
(08:52):
one thing.
Whatever.
That one thing or that twothings or those three things are
no more than that.
That's what you're meant to do.
So many of us think like I'msupposed to be doing everything,
tons of things.
I certainly was one of those.
I thought I was supposed to bea writer, an athlete, a mother,
a wife, a sister, a student, and, yes, these are different roles
(09:16):
that I was playing, butessentially there was only
really one thing that I'm hereto do, and that is to be Anna
Anna at her core, and Anna hasto really know who Anna is, to
know what my real purpose inthis life is about.
It can go deep, but this ispart of why it's such an amazing
(09:39):
story, because it really asksus to go deep within and
understand that we have deepermeanings within us and we have
to stop looking outside of us inorder to find the answers.
The third thing that comes fromthis story is this idea of
having an outlook that lets goof the outcome.
(10:00):
Most people think that I've gotto do something to be
successful and then make a lotof money, and then I make people
happy and I get married and Ihave children, and then I live
happily ever after.
Well, maybe.
However, the story of Arjunaand what Krishna was leading him
(10:20):
to, or guiding him to be, isknow your duty, do it full out
and let go of the outcome.
You don't know if you're goingto win.
You don't know if you're goingto lose.
Yet if you are present for theprocess, that's what matters.
Be present, be connected towhat's going on and let go of
(10:43):
where you may end up, becausewhere you may end up may be
different than what you think.
It actually might be better.
The fourth lesson from thisstory is that we are all meant
to be of service, and so the waythat Krishna described that to
Arjuna is that everything thatman is doing is meant to be in
(11:04):
devotion devotion to God, be indevotion to higher power, to
spirit, to life.
We're meant to be here to helpadd value, to take care of each
other, to be of service.
I love this theme the mostbecause it's what's guided me in
my life.
I was raised by a mother whowas always guided to service,
(11:28):
and it's been a main theme in myfamily of origin and in my life
how can I be of service toothers?
And it's a really great lessonto take from this story, because
if we can be of service, we canaim for higher things, and as I
get older, it's really the onlything I want to do is to find
(11:50):
ways to be of service.
Certainly, I have to take careof myself.
Certainly, I have to find a wayto have an income, yet for me,
the true income comes out of mebeing of service.
And when I'm of service and I'mable to help people connect
(12:11):
with stories that lead tohealing, then that's me doing my
part on this earth.
At this time.
It's the best I can do.
Now here's another thing aboutthe story that I think is pretty
great.
It's influenced a lot of people.
Some of the people you'll know,and then some that you might
not think of Henry David Thoreau, walt Whitman, mahatma Gandhi,
(12:40):
joseph Campbell, to name fourbig hitters all were Bhagavad
Gita carriers and they embodiedit and lived it in their life.
In fact, the hero's journey issupposedly based on that story.
There's so many writings byHenry David Thoreau and Walt
Whitman that are all based onthat story.
They changed the trajectory oftheir lives all these people
(13:00):
I've mentioned because of theBhagavad Gita the idea of
knowing what your purpose is,living it full out, letting go
of the outcome and doing it inservice and making that the
cornerstone of their life.
This is why we keep talkingabout these people, because
they're living a life ofintegrity, finding a way to be
(13:23):
of service and bringing thosethemes alive.
So I told you that I have 15translations of this story.
My favorite one is one that waswritten by a man named Stephen
Cope, c-o-p-e, and his book iscalled the Great Work of your
Life and it has a collection ofmodern-day protagonists.
(13:45):
Henry David Thoreau, mahatmaGandhi, walt Whitman and even
Viktor Frankl are mentioned inthat book as people who were
influenced and based their liveson that great story.
And I think that when I hear astory of how somebody can really
live a life of integrity,really live a life of meaning,
(14:07):
of the life of meaning, itinspires me to want to do better
.
And that story, the BhagavadGita, has guided me from age 18
to where I am now, some fourdecades later, where I can
really embody it.
Now I understand it.
It took this long for me toreally really get it, talking
(14:30):
about it, finding ways to bringit alive in my life and share it
with friends and family andstudents and clients Wherever I
can.
I talk about the story becauseI think there's no greater
purpose than to know who you areand then to find a way to be of
service.
And when you can do those twothings, you will be successful,
(14:54):
you will find your way and, moreimportantly, you will add to
the healing on this planet.
Being of service is one of myhot buttons and one of the
things that I love to talk about, and I hope that this is giving
you some information about agreat story that could hopefully
(15:14):
inspire you and help you tothink about who you are, why
you're here and how is it thatyou can be of more service.
So thank you for letting meshare that with you.
This is Anna McBride, with sheAsked, and until soon, be well.
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