All the trials and challenges that we may be enduring today and all that we will inevitably endure in the future are being addressed in the Bhagavad-Gita. Krishna begins by explaining the nature of the true self, the jiva. ‘na hanyate hanyamane sarire, na jayate mriyate va kadacin’ that the eternal soul is never born and never dies, it is not subjected to the forces of nature or time. But the forces of nature and time are so powerful, this maya which is based on the interaction of the three modes of nature with time and the karma, the various actions that are accelerated by that combination, it's very difficult, it's very impossible to overcome. To control the mind, to control the senses, to overcome fear, lust, envy, anger, greed, illusion, these forces from all around us and within us are very difficult to overcome. This is very much the essence of the Gita. Krishna explains how material nature works, he explains how we become bound up by Karma, how we're always being consumed at every moment we're being destroyed by time, but we can easily overcome it if we simply do one thing, take shelter of him. That is this essence of the Gita to take shelter of the lord.
