the universal scripture

Someone may say that this self-realization business is for the yogis and sadhus. What does it have to do with a practical person of this world with a family and a job? 

The Bhagavad Gita is a scripture specifically meant for the people who live within this world. The Bhagavad Gita is not a sectarian scripture. It is a universal scripture, which explains how to live in an artful and beautiful manner, every moment of our life.

Arjuna was the recipient of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. He was a warrior. He was a politician. He had to manage the affairs of the state, and he had to defend the laws of the state. This is very, very practical service. He was by no means a sadhu or a sannyasi (renunciate). 

And when then he was faced with a very difficult crisis - talk about crisis management. He was standing between two armies and he realized that his friends, well-wishers, and relatives were on both sides. He didn’t want to fight; he wanted to run from the problem. He told Krishna, “I’m not going to fight, I’m going to run away to be a yogi or a sadhu or a sannyasi, but Krishna, I’m not going to stay here and fight.” 

Some people say that people like me [a sannyasi] are the people who have escaped from the world, that I couldn’t face the problems of the world, that I couldn’t face practical life so I ran off to become a sadhu. Arjuna wanted to become like that. The whole reason for scripture of the Bhagavad Gita was to convince Arjuna that he had no right to run away from the problems that he was facing in his occupation. Krishna said, "You must face your problems and you must solve them. You must fight because you are a fighter. You must work; work hard. 

'But you must do it in divine consciousness, in consciousness of self realization."