"What do we mean by the Bhagavad Gita?
The term tells you what is going to be told in this book and who is the author. Both are going to be told in this one word, Bhagavad Gita. Gita means a song, a melodious song. Why?
When a subject is very difficult to grasp, or when the subject is very complex, the style of presentation used should be appealing to the mind. Otherwise, the mind of the listener tends to become distracted and drowsy. If someone sings, it is naturally very appealing to the heart. Therefore, even if the mind finds it dry, the heart will appreciate it. And that is why the Gita is in poetry. And a second reason is that the vast majority of these slokas are in Chanda or metered verse. Chanda is the limiting of the number of syllables in each line.
In prose, one can express a single idea in an enormous amount of pages. There is virtually no limit to the length of that style of writing. But in poetry, the number of words and sentences are strictly limited. The Chandas are of various styles, and in the Bhagavad Gita the type of Chanda used is the Arostok Chanda. In this style of Chanda eight syllables are used for each of the four lines encompassing every verse. Thus, there are 32 syllables assigned to over 90% of all the verses found in the Bhagavad Gita. These syllables are further characterized by their restricted length of intonation. For instance, in this Chanda the fifth, seventh and ninth syllables are designated to be pronounced in a short form. These rules of length and pronunciation of individual syllables not only enables the verse to be song melodiously, but also serves as a strict limitation on the meter and melody.
The idea is this, if you want to catch something that is vast and infinite, you should take a finite vessel, a limited vessel. If you take an unlimited thing, you simply will not catch it. So when you are trying to grasp the Lord who is vast and infinite, you require a vessel which is limited by the number of words and style of its pronunciation. It is for this reason that poetry is used. And not only poetry, the meter must be sung, for it is a 'Gita'.
At first glance, a contrast is noted, the battlefield, a place of violence is described in short meter poetry. What is described is a violent place, a place where the very violence is in the blood of the Warriors. When violence is in the blood, you cannot think of what is right and what is wrong. So for that purpose, the description has to be cooled down. Poetry and music are the best means to cool your senses. The Lord knows that if a description of the 'battlefield of the mind' is set in prose, the listener will not understand. But the moment the Lord begins to sing, his mind will become calm, the tension will go. This is the means the Lord employs to divert the listener from his tension, and therefore to acquire his attention, that he may attend to Bhagavan's words. It is for this reason that the Bhagavad Gita is sung. So, "Bhagavataha Gitaí" means firstly, that the Lord himself is the author. Secondly, the Lord is singing of his own Divine consciousness, and showing the way to approach and find it. Therefore, the contents are Bhagavan and the author is Bhagavan. Who can better be able to tell of Bhagavan, then Bhagavan himself? He is so infinite, no finite person, however great a Sage he may be will be able to understand Him in full. When the Lord tells, "This is what I am, and this is a method to approach Me", it will be the most objective description, and it will be complete in full. There will not be any ground for doubt or objection.
And finally, one will be told what they will get out of it. One will become Srimad; you will become full of Lakshmi. You will possess all eight qualities of Astha Lakshmi. Therefore, the Lord is saying that if one comprehends in full, and takes the directions into practice, finally Moksha Lakshmi will be theirs. You will be bestowed with that Grace and become Srimad.
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