The Preface

      I found that reading the Preface after I had finished The Gita allowed me to be truly curious about the book and the religion.  My questions were not answered right away which allowed me to really consider the text and think for myself.
     One question that troubled me until the very end, however, was how Sri Krishna-- a god, a human being-- could be Brahman.  From all of our discussions in class I had gathered that people do not pray to Brahman because it is not a being.  The Preface helped me to answer this question by pointing out that maybe the conversation was not between two people at all.  Even though we have pointed out that the actual battle that they are discussing may not be real, this idea was something that had never crossed my mind.  The author says in the Preface,  "The Gita is not an external dialogue but an internal one: between the ordinary human personality, full of questions about the meaning of life, and our deepest Self, which is divine."  Krishna even admits this in the book when he says, "I am the true Self in the heart of every creature, Arjuna, and the beginning, middle, and end of their existence" (10:20).
     The conversation "takes place in the depths of consciousness and Krishna is not some external being, human or superhuman, but the spark of divinity that lies at the core of the human personality."
     Arjuna must be experiencing some sort of self-realization, realizing Atman.  If interpreted in this way, it would make complete sense that Krishna is Brahman as the Preface states: "Atman is Brahman: the Self in each person is not different from the Godhead."