”In the ancient times in India there was a great saint named Bharata, who used to live on the bank of the Ganges. That great devotee of Lord Krishna, Bharata daily used to recite the fourth chapter of the Bhagwat Gita. Devotee Bharata once went on a pilgrimage to the town of Tapodhana and worshipped Lord Krishna over there. While returning back from Tapodhana he rested below two fruit trees. While having rest under the trees he used the root of one tree as a pillow and the root of the other as his foot-rest. Under that tree he also did his prayer & recited the fourth chapter of Bhagwat Gita. When the great devotee Bharata left that place, both the trees dried up and died. The two souls living in those trees were freed & these two souls took their next birth in the family of a pious Brahmin as his daughters.
Those two daughters of the Brahmin when reached the age of seven, they went on a pilgrimage and happened to meet the great devotee of Lord Krishna, the saint Bharata. The two girls remembered everything of the past & on seeing him, they fell at his feet and said to Bharata, “O Great saint, by your greatness, we were freed from the forms of trees.” When Bharata heard their story, he was very much surprised. Then the girls told the complete story to saint Bharata.
They said, “Great saint Bharata, in a previous life we were heavenly nymphs, the Apsaras of Indralok. Once, King Indra of heaven asked us to cause the falldown of the sage Satya-Tapa, who was doing severe penance on the bank of the river Godavari. Satya-tapa was very pious & had complete control over his senses. He had become very advanced in devotional service of Lord Krishna & on seeing his devotion Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe also used to visit him daily to learn from him about the devotional service of Lord Krishna.
Seeing all this, the king of heaven, Indra was not happy & was displeased to see Satya-tapa’s purity and elevation. King Indra got worried that this powerful sage would one day want to take the position of king of heaven & he shall be thrown out of his kingdom. To prevent this, Indra sent us to the bank of the Godavari. There we danced in front of saint to disturb Satya-Tapa & agitate the sage in his penance. On seeing our dance Satya-tapa got angry with us & cursed us, saying, ‘You are fallen due to disturbing my penance & so both of you go and become fruit trees on the bank of the river Ganges.
Upon hearing his curse, we fell at his feet and begged forgiveness, for we had acted merely as Indra’s servants. When Satya-tapa saw our repentant attitude, he became pleased and told us we would live as trees only until Maharaja Bharata came in contact with us. He also blessed us that we would be able to remember our previous lives.”
Reminding saint Bharata that he had rested between two fruit trees, the two girls said they had heard his recitation of the fourth chapter of the Bhagwat Gita, After being freed from that form of life, they said, they had been born in a family of devotees. Since then they had lost all desire to enjoy this world. They had carefully been reciting the fourth chapter of the Bhagwat Gita daily
and thus had attained devotion to the lotus feet of Lord Krishna.”
Chapter Four of Bhagwat Gita is entitled "The Yoga of Knowledge, as well as, the Disciplines of Action & Knowledge."
On the battle field of Kurukshetra, when Arjuna, the disciple of Lord Krishna got infatuated & forgot his duty to fight, then Lord Krishna reminded Arjuna of his duty to fight a lawful, justful war & gave him the teachings of Bhagwad Gita. Arjuna after having been taught in the path of knowledge by Lord Krishna came back to his path of duty & fought a lawful battle against the Kauravas (his enemies) & won the battle with the grace of Lord Krishna.
Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four (4) is entitled "The Yoga of Knowledge ,as well as, the disciplines of Action & Knowledge." This Chapter has a total of 42 verses.
Verses 1 to 18 are about the Glory of God (Lord Krishna) with attributes; Karmayoga, or selfless action, described herein.
Verses 19 to 23 are about the conduct of Yogis and Sages, its glory described herein.
Verses 24 to 32 are about the different forms of sacrifices and it's fruits described herein.
Verses 33 to 42 are about the glory of Knowledge described herein.
To read complete chapter Four (4) Verse by Verse in Original Sanskrit Language Text & its English Translation.......Click here to read...........Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four (Chapter-4)
Below are some verses from fourth chapter of Bhagwat Gita:
"ajo ’pi sann avyayatma
bhutanam isvaro ’pi san
prakritim svam adhisthaya
sambhavamy atma-mayaya" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 6)
"Sri Krishna said: Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form."
"yada yada hi dharmasya
glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam srjamy aham" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 7)
"Sri Krishna said: Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O Arjuna, and a predominant rise of irreligion—at that time I descend Myself."
"paritranaya sadhunam
vinasaya cha duskritam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya
sambhavami yuge yuge" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 8)
"Sri Krishna said: To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium."
"janma karma cha me divyam
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so ’rjuna" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 9)
"Sri Krishna said: One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna."
"vita-raga-bhaya-krodha
man-maya mam upasritah
bahavo jnana-tapasa
puta mad-bhavam agatah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 10)
"Sri Krishna said: Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many human beings in the past became purified by knowledge of Me—and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me."
"tyaktva karma-phalasangam
nitya-trpto nirasrayah
karmany abhipravrtto ’pi
naiva kincit karoti sah" (Bhagwat Gita: Chapter Four verse 20)
"Sri Krishna said: Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitlike action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings."
Jai Shri Krishna
