Gita Acharan

I n the Kurukshetra war, Arjuna’s despondency is due to his feeling that he is committing a sin. He feels that killing one’s teachers, relatives and friends (1.36) is nothing but sin and that he should refrain from such sinful actions (1.38). He is even more perturbed by the fact that he and his brothers were preparing to kill their own brethren out of greed for the kingdom (1.45). Krishna repeatedly speaks to Arjuna about sin on various occasions to put things in perspective. Krishna says, “Even if you are the most sinful of sinners, you shall safely cross the sea of sin by the raft of wisdom (4.36). Just as a blazing flame reduces firewood to ashes, the fire of wisdom reduces all actions to ashes” (4.37). For Krishna sin is like darkness, which is dispelled by the light of wisdom and awareness. The darkness may have been there for a long time or it could be pitch dark, but the light instantaneously dispels it. However, this is contrary to religious preachings dealin...

T he ability to learn throughout life is a human endowment. The fundamental question is how to learn and what to learn. Krishna says, “Know ‘ Tat ’ (That) by prostration, questioning and service, the wise who have realised the truth will teach you the knowledge” (4.34). ‘ Tat ’ is also interpreted as the ‘All’, the All-pervading Reality. Krishna is giving a path to realise ‘Tat’ . Prostration is humility, humbleness, willingness to understand others’ points of view and open-mindedness which is an indication of overcoming our ahankaar . Questioning is a kind of feedback loop of electronic circuits where we question everything, we say and do till questions drop. Service is compassion.   The next question is who is realised guru and how to find them. In Srimad Bhagavatam , Krishna refers to a wise man who says that he has 24 gurus and learnt pardoning from the Earth; innocence from a child; detachment from air; avoiding hoarding from honeybees; Equanimity from the Su...

K rishna talked about yajna (selfless actions) at two places (3.9 to 3.15 and 4.23 to 4.32). He cautions that motivated actions bind us ( karma bandhan ) and advises that actions should be performed without attachment (3.9). He further indicates that the selfless action of yajna holds the supreme power (3.15) and in the beginning, using this power the Creator created (3.10). He gave many instances of yajna (4.23 to 4.32) and concludes that all of them are offsprings of selfless actions and this realisation would liberate us (4.32). This is the Lord’s assurance regarding liberation. Furthermore, about sin, Krishna indicated that action arising out of an imbalance between polarities of pleasure-pain; profit-loss; victory-defeat is the sin that results in karma bandhan of perpetual guilt, regret, grudges and hatred (2.38). He further said, “One hoping for nothing and doing mere bodily actions, incurs no sin” (4.21). He concludes that by sacrifice (of attachment) the knowe...

S ome activities in the human body like the heartbeat are automatic though they may follow a set rhythm while some activities like the movement of legs and hands can be controlled. But breathing is unique as it is both automatic and can be controlled. In the context of yajna (selfless action) and breathing, Krishna says, “Some offer prana (incoming breath) into apana (outgoing breath) and apana into prana as sacrifice; some are absorbed in pranayama by restraining the courses of prana and apana ” (4.29). The duration and depth of the breath indicate the state of mind. For example, when we are angry our breath automatically becomes fast and shallow. On the contrary, by making our breath slow and deep we can control our anger. This implies that by controlling the breath, one can control the mind which gave rise to many techniques of meditation and pranayama . While explaining 112 meditation techniques to Parvati, Lord Shiva mentions 16 techniques that are purely b...

H aving ‘Fire in the Belly’ means being full of energy and enthusiasm for pursuing one’s desires, interests and duties in the physical world. When such energy is used for self-actualisation, it is called ‘yoga-agni’ or the yogic flame. In this context, Krishna says that some offer all their sense activities and the functions of life force as oblations in the wisdom-kindled yogic flame of inner control of self (4.27). In day-to-day life, we offer sense-objects like beautiful flowers and tasty food to the Paramatma . This verse takes us beyond this and says that yajna (selfless action) is offering sense activities like taste, beauty or smell themselves and not merely sense-objects. Senses keep connecting us to the external world through attachment to sense-objects and when these senses are sacrificed, what remains is unity with oneness. Krishna further says that some devotees offer as oblations wealth, self-discipline, and the methods of yoga ; while other individuals...

Y ajna symbolises sacrifice or selfless actions. In this context, Krishna says, “Some yogis perform sacrifices to gods; others perform sacrifice by offering sacrifice itself in the fire of Brahma (Supreme God)” (4.25). For someone living without awareness, living is just gathering, preserving and feeling proud of possessions. The next stage of living is sacrificing things, thoughts and feelings. It’s like sacrificing the seeds of ahankaar (I am a doer) into the fire rather than letting them multiply on the fertile soil of the mind. The third stage is transcending even the act of sacrifice, realizing that all is Brahma . It is the sacrifice of ahankaar itself, the subtle sense of “I am the doer” that survives even in sacrifice. It can be said that the mind-oriented karma yogi keeps looking for action and performing sacrifice is the path for him. The intellect-oriented jnana yogi seeks pure awareness, and he sacrifices the sacrifice itself. While the former is seque...