In plain words
But we do not understand what is in those seven hundred ślokas. If we want to recognise the essence of this Bhagavad Gītā, it is enough to take two things as our basis. Some say the Bhagavad Gītā teaches Bhakti. Some say it teaches Dharma. Some say it teaches karma. Some are saying it gives the experience of Mokṣa. These commentators, each according to his own cleverness, have gone on commenting on it in many ways. Within these commentaries, Kṛṣṇa's word has slipped away, who knows where. In multiplying these many meanings, the real meaning is lost and harmful meanings grow fat. The very first śloka in the Bhagavad Gītā:
On the field of Dharma, the field of the Kurus, gathered together, eager to fight, my sons and the Pāṇḍavas, what did they do, Sañjaya?
What is the very first word in this very first śloka? ‘Dharma’. And now the very last śloka:
Wherever is Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of yoga, wherever is Pārtha, the archer, there are fortune, victory, prosperity and steadfast justice: this is my conviction.
The very last word in this last śloka is ‘mama’. Join the two, this ‘mama’ and ‘Dharma’, the first word in that first śloka, and it teaches ‘mama Dharma’. We must try to recognise who should practise Dharma, and in what way.
To perform all karmas as being for the pleasure of God is the right Dharma
One and the same Dharma does not hold for everyone. One man is a brahmacārī, another a householder, one a vānaprastha, another a sannyāsī. There are separate Dharmas suited to each one's station. Not only this: one man may be a student.