ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter aims at offering a general introduction to the Bhagavad-gītā’s main themes. In this way, it surveys dharma as defining human society, moksha; the call for relinquishing birth and death altogether; the tension between dharma and moksha; the Vedic sacrifices and the humanistic view underlying them; the soul and the problem of transmigration; mental restraint as the focus of the yoga tradition; human nature as composed of the three gunas; the principle of karma; the Bhagavad-gītā’s educational doctrine, bhakti; devotion to the supreme lord; and the vision of the supreme.
