Krishna and the Gita itself
Gita Jayanti
The day the Gita was spoken at Kurukshetra.
Tithi: Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi (Mokshada)
In the simplest words
The birthday of a book: the day Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield, teaching the whole world how to act without fear.
The story & purpose
On Mokshada Ekadashi, between two armies, Krishna spoke the seven hundred verses to a friend who had lost his way. The Gita is honoured as a jayanti, a birth, because tradition counts the day the teaching entered the world as a birthday of light.
The rest of the story
Reading one chapter, or a single verse with full attention, is the day's real observance; at Kurukshetra thousands recite it together for days.
What is done
Gita path
Reading of chapters or the whole, alone or in groups; many keep the Mokshada Ekadashi fast.
Shloka jaap
Key verses, 2.47 and 18.66, taken as the day's jaap.
Best timings
Ekadashi fast per family tradition; path any time of day.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition; for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Kurukshetra holds a week-long Gita Mahotsav around the day.
The Gita sits inside the Mahabharata's Bhishma Parva: eighteen chapters for eighteen days of war.
Margashirsha is the month Krishna names as his own in the Gita itself: 'of months I am Margashirsha' (10.35).
Mantras of this festival
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
Karmanye Vadhikaraste — Gita 2.47
Begin jaap →सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज । अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥
Sarva Dharman Parityajya — Gita 18.66
Begin jaap →ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Dvadashakshara — the twelve-syllable mantra
Begin jaap →