Gita Jayanti: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Gita Jayanti is the day tradition gives to the Bhagavad Gita: the day Krishna spoke it to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. It is kept on the Ekadashi of the bright half of Margashirsha, in early winter, which is also called Mokshada Ekadashi, so many families fast on it as well.

Families and temples read the Gita on this day: a favourite verse, a chapter, or all eighteen chapters in one sitting. Children recite the verses they have learned, many give a copy of the Gita as a gift, and Kurukshetra holds a great gathering. Many families begin a plan of reading a chapter a day for eighteen days.

Why it is kept

The Gita in the Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Mahabharata's sixth book, the Bhishma Parva (sections 25 to 42 in K. M. Ganguli's translation). The two armies stand ready at Kurukshetra. Sanjaya, given the power to see the field from afar, tells the blind king Dhritarashtra what is happening (Gita 1.1). Arjuna asks his charioteer Krishna to drive between the armies, sees his teachers, cousins and friends on the other side, and loses heart. Krishna's answer, in seven hundred verses, is the Gita: on the self that is never born and never dies, on doing one's duty without being driven by the results, on devotion, knowledge and action, and on the vision of the divine in all beings.

Why this day. The epic does not name the tithi of the teaching; tradition keeps it on the bright Ekadashi of Margashirsha. In the Gita's tenth chapter Krishna names, among the months, Margashirsha as one of his own glories, and many families link that verse with this day.

Many readings. Great teachers of every school have written on the Gita, among them Shankara (Advaita), Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita) and Madhva (Dvaita), and later the Gaudiya and other Vaishnava teachers, and they read its key verses differently. Gita Jayanti belongs to all of them; the library shows each reading with its school.

The texts behind the story

• Bhagavad Gita, 1.1
• Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva, sections 25–42 (the Bhagavad Gita). K. M. Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (Calcutta: P. C. Roy, 1883–96), Project Gutenberg volume 2. Public domain in the US; India status not yet confirmed, so summarised, not quoted. (Bhishma Parva, Sections XXV–XLII)
• Bhagavad Gita, 10.35

When it is kept

Gita Jayanti is kept on Mokshada Ekadashi, the Shukla Ekadashi of Margashirsha, on the Ekadashi fast day of your tradition. Smarta rule: the day on which Ekadashi is present at sunrise at your location, as in the Nirnayasindhu and Dharmasindhu, with their exceptions when no sunrise has Ekadashi or Dvadashi is too short. Vaishnava rule, as computed by the GCal program: Ekadashi must already be present at arunodaya, 96 minutes before sunrise; if Dashami still touches that time, the fast moves to the next day, and in some years special Dvadashi rules move it again. So Smarta and Vaishnava calendars can keep Gita Jayanti on different days; the app shows the day for the tradition you choose.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Gita Jayanti 2027: Puja falls on Thursday, December 9, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule, computed for this city). The date is the same in New Delhi.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Smarta (Nirnayasindhu, Dharmasindhu): Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi present at sunrise
• Vaishnava (GCal): Ekadashi present at arunodaya, with the mahadvadashi rules
• Kurukshetra: the Gita Jayanti gathering

Why the day can differ

The Ekadashi starts at one instant everywhere, but sunrise does not, so cities can keep Gita Jayanti on different dates. In some years, for example, Washington DC keeps it a day earlier than New Delhi. The Smarta and Vaishnava rules can also give different days in the same city. Temples follow their own calendar, so ask your temple which day it keeps.

How to keep it at home

1. Bathe and set a copy of the Bhagavad Gita on a clean cloth, with a picture of Krishna and Arjuna on the chariot if you have one. Light a lamp and incense and offer flowers and tulsi leaves.
2. Read the Gita: one chapter, a set of favourite verses, or, with family and friends taking turns, all eighteen chapters. Many families read chapter 12 on devotion or chapter 15, and many recite the Gita Dhyanam before they begin.
3. Let children recite the verses they know, and talk about one verse together: what it says, and how the schools read it differently.
4. Do the aarti, and give: many families give a copy of the Gita to someone who would read it, or food to people in need. Begin an eighteen-day plan of one chapter a day if you wish.

Fasting

Many families keep the Mokshada Ekadashi fast: no grains or beans, with fruit, milk, nuts and fasting foods, or a stricter fast by tradition. The fast is broken the next morning (parana) on Dvadashi, within the time your calendar gives. Anyone who is pregnant, unwell, diabetic, elderly or on regular medicine should keep a light fast, or none, and talk to a doctor first.

Food

Ekadashi food on the day: fruit, milk, makhana, sabudana and potatoes, with no grains or beans. After parana the next morning, families share a simple meal and the prasad offered to Krishna, such as kheer or panchamrit.

Prayers read at this time

• Bhagavad Gita

For children

Before a great battle, the brave archer Arjuna looked across the field and saw his own teachers and cousins on the other side. He felt sad and confused, and put down his bow. His friend Krishna, who was driving his chariot, talked with him and helped him understand what was right to do. Their talk became a book of seven hundred verses called the Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God. On Gita Jayanti families read it together.

Something to do together

Choose one short verse of the Gita with a grown-up, learn it a line at a time, and say it to the family at the evening prayer. Draw Krishna and Arjuna on their chariot.

Sources

• Panchang engine rules gita-jayanti and ekadashi (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources each lists: the Nirnayasindhu and Dharmasindhu (via A. Hudli's summary) and the GCal algorithm documentation.
• A. Hudli, Ekadashi rules from the Nirnayasindhu, Dharmasindhu and Kala-Madhava (Advaita-L, 2010), the engine's source for the Smarta rule.
• Vaisnava Events Calculation in GCAL (GCal algorithm documentation, 2008), the engine's source for the Vaishnava rule.
• Bhagavad Gita
• K. M. Ganguli (tr.), The Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva, sections 25–42. Public domain in the US; India status unconfirmed.