We know from the story of Mahabharata that:

1. Shri Krishna wanted Arjun to fight the Kurukshetra war.
2. Arjun was Shri Krishna’s most beloved friend.
3. Arjun was also Shri Krishna’s little sister Subhadra’s husband.

But, none of these were the reason why Arjun was fortunate to hear this supreme knowledge that we call Bhagavad Gita and witness the Vishwaroop.

As we saw so far, Arjun was following a path that most of us would follow when faced with difficult situations in life.

Like most of us, he was trying to give up, run away, and put a philosophical spin on the situation to prove how that was the best option.

That’s why the first reaction from Shri Krishna was in the form of scolding.

But, unlike us, Arjun said something else to make him eligible for Bhagavad Gita:

कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभाव: पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेता: |
यच्छ्रेय: स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् || 2.7 ||
My mind is confused about my duties, and emotions are overpowering me. Please guide me! I am your disciple, I take refuge in you.

And he didn’t stop there, he also said this:

न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्याद्य च्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम् |
अवाप्य भूमावसपत्नमृद्धं राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम् ||2.8||
I don’t see any way to drive this grief away. It is drying up my senses. Even if I win Indra’s kingdom, I won’t be able to come out of distress.

In short, while we all try to prove ourselves right, Arjun did a few things differently:

1. He accepted that he was confused about his duties and was overpowered by emotions.
2. Most importantly, knowing his situation, he requested Shri Krishna to help him, guide him, be his guru.

And only after that, Shri Krishna starts to give the knowledge of Bhagavad Gita to him.

So, this way, Arjun was neither lucky nor favored for being a friend. He got what he got because he acknowledged his situation and approached Krishna as a Guru with complete faith in his wisdom and was ready to follow his guidance.

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In our lives too, we are always confused about our duties and are continuously overpowered by our weak hearts/emotions.

But, instead of acknowledging that and taking refuge in the teaching of Bhagavad Gita, we let ourselves be governed by confusion and overpowering emotions.

Instead, if we follow Arjun’s example, Shri Krishna will himself come to guide us in one form or another.

This is the key to understanding the essence of the Bhagavad Gita.

All the Best!