Gita Acharan

A rjuna enquires, while practising ‘ vairagya’ with ‘ shraddha’ (trust), if one dies before attaining perfection in yoga (union) (6.37), does he have to start the practice all over again (6.38). Krishna assures that such a person who has fallen from yoga will never get destroyed (6.40). He is born in the home of the pure or wealthy (6.41) or yogis , otherwise, such births are harder (6.42). United with the knowledge acquired in his former body, he strives for perfection (6.43) and transcends with practice ( abhyaas ) (6.44) to attain the supreme goal after many births (6.45). An earthen pot is the best example to understand the intricacies involved. When a pot is made, it always encloses some space. An important point to note is that when the pot is moved from one place to another, the space enclosed by it does not move along with the pot. Instead, the pot encloses new space. Secondly, depending on the contents stored in it, the pot acquires certain characteristics l...

K rishna talked about establishing in oneness, whatever may be the mode of living, to attain infinite bliss (6.28 & 6.31). There are three major issues faced by us to attain oneness. One is that it is called by different names in various cultures, and to compound the complexity, the paths prescribed by these cultures appear to contradict one another. Secondly, our mind is trained to divide which prevents us from attaining oneness. Thirdly, we tend to reject what we don’t know and ‘oneness’ is completely new terrain for all of us. Reflecting on these difficulties Arjuna asks how to control the mind. Krishna says, “No doubt, the mind is restless and difficult to control, but it can be controlled by practice ( abhyaas ) and dispassion ( vairagya ) (6.35). Take my word that yoga is hard to attain by the ungoverned man, but it can be attained through striving” (6.36). Krishna had earlier advised regular practice (6.23) of controlling senses with determination (6.26) to bri...

A couple of centuries ago no one in Europe knew about the existence of the Americas. When Columbus reached there, it was beyond his comprehension that there was a massive continent waiting to be discovered . As his knowledge was limited to the geography of the day, he mistook it to be Asia and the rest is history. While explaining such a phenomenon, contemporary psychology speaks of two modes of thinking called System One and System Two. These correspond to the mind ( mann ) and the intellect ( buddhi ). Krishna earlier said that intellect is superior to mind and mind is superior to senses (3.43). The mind is automatic, spontaneous and responsible for our physical survival. Intellect invests significant effort and attention in addressing complex issues. We often use ‘mind’ for the activities of ‘intellect’ to obtain instantaneous results or conclusions. Such conclusions are bound to be flawed - like those of Columbus - because they lack solid evidence, as gathering evide...

A s Paramatma , Krishna says, “For he who perceives Me everywhere and sees all in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me” (6.30). This verse is the foundation for bhakti yoga where practitioners perceive Paramatma everywhere and in every situation. The mantra of ‘It Is Him’ - ‘It’ being any person thing or a situation, can do miracles if we let it go deeper by repetition. Once we come to this realisation, we begin to perceive the Paramatma in everyone and everything -whether a person is friend or enemy, helping or harming, praising or criticising; whether something is as precious as gold or as worthless as stone; whether situations are favorable or challenging, frightening or comforting; whether the moment brings pleasure or pain, success or failure. Krishna says in whatever way people are devoted to me, in that measure I manifest myself to them (4.11) and to me none is hateful and none is dear (9.29). This needs to be kept in mind to understand when Krishna...