Gita Acharan

Lord Krishna reveals what is pure sankhya (awareness) from verse 2.11 to 2.53, which was completely new territory for Arjun. Arjun wanted to know (2.54) about sthithpragna (one with coherent wisdom/intellect) who has attained samadhi (established in self) and how a sthithpragna speaks, sits and walks. Through clarifications to Arjun, (2.54 onwards) Krishna sets the standards and benchmarks to help our comparison seeking mind, which always looks for benchmarks against which to measure ourselves as we make progress in our spiritual journey. Krishna says (2.54) that the sthithpragna casts off all desires of the mind and is content in the atma (self) by atma . When one is content with the self, desires (motivations) automatically drop. As desires drop, all their actions (doing) become nishkama karma (unmotivated action).  Our basic desire is to be different than what we are. We get bored too quickly. This is captured in economics as “satisfied desire (need) no more mo...

In the normal course of our lives we get perplexed when we hear conflicting opinions on the same subject -be it news, philosophy, others’ experiences and beliefs. Krishna says (2.53) that we will attain yoga when intellect remains nischal (non-oscillating) and steady in samadhi (established in self) despite hearing various opinions.   The best metaphor for this verse is the tree with its visible upper portion and an invisible lower portion consisting of the root system. The upper part gets disturbed to different degrees based on the strength of the winds, while on the other hand the root system is not affected by them. While the upper portion oscillates to external forces, the inner part remains nischal in samadhi and keeps doing its duty of providing stability as well as nutrition. The same is nothing but yoga for the tree where the external part oscillates and the internal one is nischal .  At an ignorant level, we have a wavering intellect which automat...

Krishna says (2.52) that when we cross moha-kalilam (darkness of delusion) using intellect, we become indifferent to what is being heard or will be heard. This implies that when we overcome moha , the inputs brought by our senses will lose the power to influence us at will. Krishna chose ‘hearing’ as the metaphor here, as we are frequently influenced by the words of others, both praise and criticism; gossip and rumours. Moha , like Ahankaar , is difficult to describe in the absence of the right words to describe it. Basically, it is our inability to distinguish between what is ours and what is not. It’s the sense of ownership, in the present as well as the future, of physical possessions and feelings. Though, in truth, we are actually not the owners of the same. While we try to cling to what is not ours, we don't have a clue about what is truly ours (dehi/atma /soul). Krishna calls this phenomenon ' Kalilam ' or spiritual darkness.  Krishna further says that wh...

Krishna says(2.51) that the wise use their balanced intellect and renounce the fruits of action to reach a state beyond polarities and get liberated from the bonds of birth and death. For a long time, humanity believed that the Sun rotates around a stationary earth and only later was it discovered that it is the Earth which is rotating around the Sun. Finally, our understanding aligned with the existential truth, implying that the problem was due to our misinterpretation of the truth which arose out of the illusion brought about by the limitations of our senses. Same is the case with our illusion about birth and death. Krishna starts the Gita by explaining about ' dehi ' (the one who lives in the body - atma ) which pervades all and is unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient(2.20). He further says that  atma changes physical bodies like we discard worn out garments to wear new ones(2.22). When he says that with balanced intellect one gets liberated from the bonds o...