• Bhisma - Bhisma fights against Arjuna, as one of the elders of the opposing Kaurava family. Arjuna and Sanjaya make it a point to extol Bhisma's courage and will

• Brahma - Brahma is one of the most revered Hindu deities, and is also known as the Creator. Brahma shouldn't be confused with Brahman, which is a concept, as opposed to a manifested deity.
• Buddha - Krishna makes reference to the Buddha, or Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni, who renounced all material possessions and his worldly life to seek enlightenment. He found nirvana in the course of his journey during the sixth century B.C.

• Dhritarashtra - Dhritarashtra is the king of the Kurus. Blind since birth, he serves as the king of Hastinapura, but is not the rightful ruler. The Gita begins with Dritarashtra aiming to keep the kingdom in the hands of his family, and willing to battle against Arjuna, the rightful heir, in order to keep it. Dhritarashtra's sons are the Kauravas, who fight against Arjuna and his Pandava brothers

• Drona - Drona is the general of the Kaurava army who fights against Arjuna and his Pandava brothers

• Duryodhana - Duryodhana is the son of Dhriharashtra, who tries to bequeath him a kingdom which isn't rightfully his. Duryodhana, then, is the antagonist of the upcoming battle documented in the Gita, and Arjuna's chief enemy in battle.

• Gandiva - Arjuna's bow, gifted from the deities, is called gandiva

• Garuda - Garuda is the eagle which serves as the deity Vishnu's form of transport

• Indra - Indra is mentioned in the Gita as the god of battle
• Duryodhana - Duryodhana is the son of Dhriharashtra, who tries to bequeath him a kingdom which isn't rightfully his. Duryodhana, then, is the antagonist of the upcoming battle documented in the Gita, and Arjuna's chief enemy in battle.

• Gandiva - Arjuna's bow, gifted from the deities, is called gandiva

• Garuda - Garuda is the eagle which serves as the deity Vishnu's form of transport

• Indra - Indra is mentioned in the Gita as the god of battle.

• Janaka - Janaka is referenced by Krishna as a king in ancient times who was wise, ruled effectively, and found a saatvic way of presiding over his people.

• Kauravas - The Kauravas are the sons of Kuru, or rather the sons of Dhritarashtra. Duryodhana and his brothers are the Kauravas and they fight against Arjuna and the Pandavas.

• Krishna - Krishna is technically an incarnation of Vishnu, and is the main character of the Gita. Here in battle, he serves as Arjuna's charioteer, and comes to earth precisely to help Arjuna see his dharmic duty. In the Gita, Krishna asserts full ominpotence as the ultimate deity, and reveals both his human and most divine form. Krishna's name literally means 'The Dark Lord.'

• Madhava - Madhava is another name for Krishna.

• Manu - Manu is known as the father of the human race, or the "first man" of mankind.

• Pandavas - The sons of "Pandu" are the Pandavas, and include Arjuna and his brothers Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva, and Yudhishthira. Arjuna and the Pandavas have to fight the Kauravas for the kingdom of Hastinapura because the Pandavas have the rightful claim to it. The Pandavas are considered the forces of good in this battle, while the Kauravas are considered the forces of evil.

• Pritha - Pritha is mentioned in passing as Arjuna's mother.

• Rama - Rama was the son of Dasharatha and the king of Ayodha. He is famous for being the titular hero of the Ramayana, who slayed the demon Ravana to rescue his wife Sita. Rama, like Krishna, is an incarnation of Vishnu.

• Sanjaya - Sanjaya is the wise sage who recounts the Gita epic to the blind king Dritarashtra, who cannot witness what is happening on the battlefield.

• Shiva -Shiva completes the "Trinity" of deities with Brahma and Vishnu -- and is also known as the Destroyer.

• Vishnu - Vishnu is the Preserver, responsible for maintaining the cycle of dharma and karma in the world -- and thus comes to the earth in various incarnations, including Krishna, to right the balance of good and evil.

• Yudhishthira - Arjuna's brother, and the rightful heir to the kingdom.

A number of Eastern religions preach a strict form of asceticism which involves learning to renounce action and will. Renunciation becomes a process, then, of casting off worldly possessions and obligations and proceeding on a quest for nirvana, as the Buddha did. But Hinduism, as dictated by the Gita, urges yoga instead of renunciation. Yoga is literally "skill in action," or the process of using selfless action -- action designed only to unite with the divine -- as the true process to achieving enlightenment. For we cannot help but act, says Krishna. It is our nature -- and because of that, we must learn to act in accordance with the divine, not as the result and in service to our own egos, which are nothing more than destructive illusions.

• Karma vs. Dharma - 

The terms dharma and karma often get confused by introductory Hinduism students and with good reason -- they are both products of the samsaric cycle of birth and death, but they have entirely different spheres of purpose. Karma is the accumulation of debt of action in the course of a person's samsaric cycle. Every action has a reaction and over the course of a lifetime, if one is accordance with the divine, he will gradually work off his or her karma. If he is acting selfishly and for ego, then he will accumulate more karma to work off. Reborn, each person finds their "dharma" or duty in order to work off this karma. Some are born to wealthy families, others to poor ones, some to spiritual families, others to evil-doing ones. The question isn't what you are born to, but how you use your life to dissolve as much karma as possible in order to end the samsaric cycle.
• Proof vs. Faith - 

One of the more subtle themes in the Gita is the contrast between faith and evidence -- and humanity's inclination to want to "see" something in order to believe it. Indeed, one of the central tenants of Buddhism is that we must believe what we see -- and spend our lives trying to see as clearly as possible. But Arjuna keeps asking for evidence, or practicalities of how to achieve yoga and meditation, and Krishna finally offers him the sight of him in his most powerful form. Why Krishna doesn't demand total faith is an interesting tension in the Gita, and one that requires careful attention.

• Theory vs. Action -
Arjuna is constantly asking Krishna for pragmatic advice of how to put the Gita into concrete action. This emphasis on action is at the core of the entire work. What Krishna gives Arjuna, then, are clear steps and hierarchies for achieving the path of yoga. First off, he says meditation is the most important element, for meditation allows a focus on the divine that will inform every aspect of one's life. Second, there is selfless service, and finally, though not as powerful, one can also turn to blind renunciation. Krishna sees an enlightenment as a process that requires self-control and self-discipline in a series of concrete steps.

• Seen vs. Unseen - 

Krishna makes the distinction between the seen world and the unseen world -- both products of his divine lila, or play. The unseen world is the purusha, of which all things are born. It is the spiritually unseen realm that informs everything that comes of prakriti, the material world. As humans, we have a tendency to put a primacy only on what we see instead of believing in a higher realm. Krishna wants Arjuna to have faith in the unseen as the guide of all his actions.

• Jinana vs. Vijanana -

Jinana is knowledge - and Krishna preaches knowledge as the first step towards true nirvana. The self-awareness that comes with understanding the role of the divine in everything we do will help guide a person towards yoga. But this is not enough. Krishna also encourages vijanana, or the act of using jinana in life, as the key to finding spiritual peace. Vijnana is simply yogic action -- or being able to maintain self-awareness at every moment in life -- even at the moment of death.

• Ahimsa - the sanskrit word for nonviolence.

• Akasha - the sanskrit word for the sky.

• Akshara - the equivalent of the syllable Om; a verbal equivalent of the eternal.

• Ashvattha - a holy tree, which Krishna references his depictions of the extent of divine power.

• Atman - the Self or deepest part of the soul in every being that is often concealed by illusions, deceit and delusion.

• Avatar - an avatar is a form that a God takes in order to come to Earth. Since Gods do not come to Earth in their most powerful, divine forms, they take the shape of animals, humans, or other recognizable earthly creatures.

• Bhagavad Gita -The Gita literally means 'Song of our Lord' and recounts the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna before Arjuna goes to fight the Kaurvas for the kingdom of Hastinapura.

• Bhakti - the sanskrit word for love and devotion.

• Karma - the most important concept in the gita, explaining the cycle of birth and rebirth. People have a debt of karma to work off in their lifetime, and do so either by fulfilling or avoiding their dharma. Every action has a karmic consequence and so karma either accumulates or dissolves until the cycle of birth and rebirth ends.

'I see a vacant swat,' replied the Ghost, 'in the poor chimney corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.'
'No, no,' said Scrooge. 'Oh no, kind Spirit! say he will be spared.'
'If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race,' returned the Ghost, 'will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.'
Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.
'Man,' said the Ghost, 'if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man's child. Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust.'" - pg 250

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.  May that be truly said of us, and all of us!  And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!" - pg 275