Sokolov

Lesson Plans for Bhagavad Gita

Introduction Day: Show document What is the Bhagavad Gita? and the visuals
illustrated versions of the BG. Explain the premise of the epic poemthe two
armies, Arjuna with Krishna in the chariot, and the philosophical debate that follows.
Give context to the Hindu notion of God: Three forms (Thank you to Justin Maaia,
for helping me here)
Brahman=God beyond God; God is not a thing, but the possibility of all things; it
can help to think of Brahman as the ocean, and we are the sea spraywe have an
ILLUSION of Separation, but we are really all just part of God.
Brahman takes on the form of Vishnu to help human beings. Vishnu takes on
different forms to appeal to different kinds of people. Krishna is one of his Avatars,
or identities. Krishna is the form of God as seen in the BG.
Life is all a continuous cycle, with birth-maturity-death-and reincarnation. You
reincarnate until in your last life you become one with Brahman. Until then, you
need to get good Kharma to reincarnate to a better life. The way to get good karma
is to perform good Dharma, or duty.

Pages 41-60: Frame Story; Teach Students to Track terms

Chapter: Arjunas Despairremember, chapter titles are important ways of
preparing yourself for what is to come
What is a frame story? How I Married Your Mother as an example. What is its
purpose?
Definition: A frame story is a literary technique of a story within a story, whereby
an introductory narrative is presented to set the stage for the main narrative to
come.
What is your impression of the King by the question he asks and the way he asks it?
-He sounds inquisitive, genuinely curioushopeful of a good outcome for his
armythe battle is a place of righteousnesshe is on a first name basis
with a poethe respects a poets word
-And then what do we learn of him within a few pages? Which side is King
Dhritarashtra on? Opposite side of Arjuna, who is on the Pandava side.
-Arjuna even calls the Kings son evil-minded (43).

So why does the text begin with the ENEMY King asking about his army?

Day 2: Context Day: Documentary on The BG from Annendale Learner site, as

well as tooling the site for its timeline and character lists
Day 3: Pages 61-87:
CH 3: Start Gunas chart. Look at excerpts from note on translation to give context
to Gunas chart, as it defines the gunas.
Look at fighting referenceshow they move from literal to metaphorical (67, 70)

Ch 4: Examine give and take between A and K. What questions does A have? How
does K respond? Look at how K tries to reach A (top of 72) and is encouraging (73)
Look at diversity of worship as a kind of differentiated learning (78)
Discuss whether the Gita is repetitive or circular, adding new info as we go along by
studying stanza on p 74
Do SIMILE ACTIVITY: Pages 69, 79examine similes, and write your own
Do meditation activity from p 77 [students liked the guided meditation I did to ask
them to visualize themselves at home, doing their homework in the subject they
most resist, and doing it calmly and peacefully]

Day 4 Have students pick a stanza and write about it in order to fuel discussion.
Student-led discussion.

General idea for any day: If you have to pick only ONE stanza per chapter to best
represent the ideas in the chapter, which stanza would it be, and why?

Visual activity: Illustrate a stanza or a chapter

88-112:
WARM UP QUESTION TO WRITE ON: [this will prepare students for the close reading
to come]
1) Pick Impt stanza to you
2) Paraphrase it
3) Interpret it with a close reading
4) Present it to class
5) Time permitting, meditate, and acknowledge restless thoughts (93)
6) Write your own philosophical question and answer it

113-130
1) Write your own stanzas to continue the I am poem (101 and 116-117 and
125-129))
2) What is the thesis of The Secret of Life chapter?
3) What is important about Arjunas interjection in the Divine Manifestations
chapter? (123) Hes not asking a question anymore for the first 4 stanzas.
And his question, when he gets to it, is about getting close to God.
4) Show images of these Gods, or have students find them? [didnt have time
for this]

CLOSE READING DAY: The assignment is: Choose EITHER the first stanza
from page 79 OR the third stanza from page 114 to do a close reading
paragraph on. Both stanzas are SIMILES. Answer these two questions in
your paragraph:
1 How does the literary device of a simile help Krishna make his
argument?
2 How might this simile apply to the Bhagavad Gita as a whole (or how
does this simile help you understand the BG as a whole?)
Tips: For structure, I recommend answering the first question and
ending with the second question. Make sure to use quotations from
the stanza to support your argument.

IDEA: Take out all the Arjuna questions and look at them in order to study their
progression; What do you make of how Arjuna is asking two and three stanza
questions now? (95 and 96) [I started to develop this lesson plan, but didnt wind
up doing it. I need to think about it more].

131-143: GOD HEAD CHAPTER. Warm up: Ask a discussion question. I collect
questions in the basket. Is this chapter climactic? Why? What leads to it? What is
its effect? How is K showing his Godhead a kind of argument? [THIS WORKED
WELL!]

144-163: Continue GUNAS charts

For 164-198: Revisit the Frame StoryWhat is significant about returning to the frame story at the end?
The focus drifts away from war to the spiritual teachings. With Sanjaya focused on Krishnas teachings,
we as readers can focus on the teachings, too. Why dont we hear the Kings voice?

ON PEER EDIT DAY, SHOW THEM the PURDUE MLA cite about texts with no authors and text with
translators for how to properly cite the BG. Hand out guidelines for peer editing. Have them circle each
others ISs its things, this, etcgo around and be available for questions.