Gita Acharan

In the verse 2.48, Krishna asks Arjun, "To be steadfast in yoga ( yoga being equanimity) while performing karma (actions) by renouncing the sangam (union/identify) with polarities like success and failure." In other words, whatever we do would be harmonious when we stop identifying with polarities.  Our daily life involves making a series of decisions and choices. The ever judging mind keeps choosing from the available options and Krishna categorises them into pleasure/pain, profit/loss, win/lose (2.38) and success/failure. Equanimity is to treat polarities as equal which is ordinarily referred to as transcending them. When this realisation sinks in, the mind becomes powerless and achieves choiceless awareness. It's the ability to be non-judgmental while we are still capable of judging but not being asleep, intoxicated or sedated. It's being alive in the present moment by just being an observer.  The practical route to attain equanimity while performin...

Karna and Arjun were born to Kunti but ended up fighting for the opposite sides. Karna was cursed because of which his knowledge and experience of warfare didn't come to his rescue during the crucial fight with Arjun. He lost the war and was killed.  This situation applies to all of us as we're like Karna, we learn a lot during our lives, gain knowledge and experience. But at crucial moments we think and act on our instincts rather than out of awareness, as the depth of our awareness is below the required threshold. Krishna is fully aware of this and repeatedly explains the reality and truth from different angles in the Gita, so that the awareness sinks deeper and crosses the required threshold - the event horizon. The Gita emphasizes that we have an inner self and an outer self, which are like two banks of a river. Usually we identify with the outer self, consisting of the physical body, our emotions, thoughts and the world around us. Krishna tells us to realise th...

Krishna says that we have the right to do karma (action) but have no right over karma-phal (fruits of action). This does not mean that we gravitate towards akarma , which is inaction or mere reaction to circumstances.  Though Krishna uses the word akarma (whose literal meaning is inaction), the context suggests that it connotes 'reaction'. Verse (2.47) talks of awareness and compassion; awareness that karma and Karma-phal are separate and compassion towards others and ourselves.  Krishna says that without performing karma , our survival is impossible (3.8) as maintenance of the physical body requires karma like eating etc. The Gunas ( satva, tamo and rajo) constantly drive us towards karma (3.5). Hence, there is hardly any place for akarma .  If we observe our tendencies while going though the news, we'll realise the number of reactions these activities (karmas) generate when we see, hear or read about our shared myths and beliefs like religion, cast...

Vahi Arjun Vahi Baan (Same Arjun Same Arrow), is often used to describe a situation when a successful/competent person fails to perform.  Arjun, as a warrior, never lost a war. During the latter part of his life, he lost a minor battle in which he was supposed to save some family members from a group of bandits. He explains this situation to his brother and says: "I don't know what happened. I'm the same Arjun and these are the same arrows that had won the Kurukshetra war, but this time my arrows could neither find their target nor had power." He explained that he had to run away and couldn't protect the family. Life's experiences tell us that this can happen to any of us. Many a time, talented sportspersons just lose their form for sometime. An actor, singer simply fails. This is attributed to Bhagya (luck), bad time etc. and for sure nobody knows why. There is hardly any scientific explanation for the same except for conjectures and surmises. ...

We are usually not prescient enough to understand whether the karma-phal (fruits of action) we currently desire will be good for us down the line. As in a failed relationship, at one moment, the only karma-phal a couple wanted was to be together but after some time they only want to separate. In fact, many regrets that people have today is on account of getting the karma phal which they desired desperately and which, over time, proved disastrous. On the contrary, going by general experience, many feel that the best thing that happened to them was not getting the karma-phal coveted by them at some point of time in the past.  These life experiences gathered over a period of time will help us understand the iconic verse 2.47 in the Gita, where Krishna says that we have the right to do karma (action) but have no rights over the karma-phal . These experiences can be used to see this verse through the lens of polarity/duality (dwandwa) . The world is polar and everything...