Gita Acharan

Once, an invader on horseback from Central Asia had occupied Delhi and wanted to have a victory procession. An elephant was decorated and upon mounting it, he asked for the reins of the elephant. When told that it is controlled by a mahout, he jumped down and summoned his horse, saying that he never rides on something whose reins are not in his hands.  Similarly, we need to introspect as to whether we hold the reins to our happiness and emotions or someone else. All of us think that we hold these reins, but the reality is that the reins are often with someone else. It could be a friend, someone in the family or workplace whose moods, words, opinions, praise and criticism make us happy or unhappy; a thing like food, drink or physical possession; a favorable or unfavorable situation; even our past or future.  In this regard, Krishna says that he's a yogi who, at any time before liberation from the body, is able to master every impulse of lust (kaam) and anger (krodh...

Krishna says that those established in brahman (absolute), having a firm understanding of divine knowledge and not hampered by delusion, neither rejoice in getting something pleasant nor grieve on experiencing the unpleasant (5.20). We label situations and people as pleasant and unpleasant and essentially, it's dropping labelling (2.50).  Krishna repeatedly tells Arjun to come out of the moha (delusion) which arises out of wrong identification of what is ours and what is not. The biggest delusion we have is that we can attain happiness through our senses. On the other hand, Krishna gives a solution for unending happiness when he says that those who are not attached to external sense pleasures realize divine bliss in the self. Being united with God through Yoga, they experience unending happiness (5.21).  Krishna cautions that the pleasures that arise from contact with the sense objects, though appearing as enjoyable to worldly-minded people, are verily a source o...

Krishna says that whose mind and intellect are established in 'that' (spirit) and whose sins have been dispelled by awareness reach a state of no return (5.17). Unaware living is like living in darkness, where we keep falling and hurting ourselves. The next level is like experiencing some flashes of light where one attains awareness for a moment but falls back into ignorance. The final stage is like having permanent light like sunlight where the awareness attains a critical level and one never returns from there. This state of no return is also referred to as moksha , the ultimate freedom. It's not 'my' freedom but freedom from 'me' as all suffering is because of 'me'. Samatva (equanimity) happens when one attains the state of no return and in this regard, Krishna says that the wise view a learned and cultured Brahamana, a cow, an elephant, and even a dog or dog eater as the same (5.18). Samatva is one of the foundational pillars of the...