Gita Acharan

K rishna mentioned that four types of devotees worship him; to remove their difficulties ( aarta ), to attain success ( artharthi ), to obtain knowledge ( jigyasu ) and a jnani (wise) (7.16). He elaborates about the jnani and says that the jnani who is nitya-yukta (ever steadfast) with single pointed devotion is the best among all devotees. I am extremely dear to jnani and he is dear to me (7.17). At the end of many janma (births), such a person attains wisdom and reaches Me (7.19). The phrase ‘many janma ’ is usually interpreted to mean that we should go through many births to become the jnani . Another interpretation is also possible by taking ‘ janma ’ as a generic word rather than specific to the creation of our physical body. It can be ‘ janma ’ of a situation or circumstance around us which is a continuous process. These can be favourable or painful, but each of them has the potential to teach us something. It is about how quickly we learn without getting attac...

  E xistence is the coherence of manifested (man) and unmanifested ( Paramatma ). Basic interactions happen at a man-to-man level with disregard to Paramatma ; Krishna termed this as the path of demons (7.15). The next level of interaction is between man and Paramatma . This transition starts as one gets tired of chasing mirages or is vexed by misery. In this regard, Krishna says these interactions or worship between man and Paramatma are of four types. The first category of worshippers wants to get rid of their difficulties, the second want to attain wealth, success or peace of mind, the third want to attain knowledge and the fourth are jnani (wise) (7.16). He says that the first three, who are otherwise deprived of wisdom, approach different forms (Gods) to fulfil their desires (7.20). This is like consulting the concerned doctor based on the ailment. He further says that when they worship with shraddha (devotion or trust), He (Krishna) makes that shraddha unf...

K rishna describes his higher nature ( para-prakriti ) which is the life-element beyond the three gunas . His lower nature ( apara-prakriti ), consisting of eight elements viz. fire, earth, water, air, space, mind, intellect and ahankaar, is under the hypnotic spell of the gunas . While the former (higher nature) is referred to as the unmanifested which is eternal, indestructible and immeasurable, the latter (lower nature) as manifested which is limited in many ways. For easy understanding, man can be taken as manifested and Paramatma as unmanifested which is beyond senses. The first level of interaction is between man and man which is the result of our identification with the manifested - the next level being between man and Paramatma . At the man-to-man level, things and resources are scarce like water in a puddle whereas it’s like the ocean at Paramatma’s level. The mind which is trained to compare keeps constantly comparing what we have against what others possess ...

K rishna mentioned about three gunas (characteristics) which are born of prakriti (nature) and all of us are made to perform different karmas (actions) by them (3.5). In reality, all karmas are performed by gunas (3.27) and these are nothing but the interactions between gunas . Satva guna is the attachment to knowledge; rajo guna is the attachment to action and tamas leads to ignorance and laziness. In this regard, Krishna further says, “All the manifestations of satva, tamo and rajo gunas emerge from Me. Though they are in Me, I am not in them” (7.12). This paradoxical verse can be understood with the metaphor of clouds and sky where the clouds are in the sky, but the sky is not in the clouds, and the clouds can’t exist without the sky. It’s like waves being in the ocean but the ocean is not in the waves. He further elaborates that deluded by the three modes of nature, mortal beings are unable to know Me as eternal and beyond all gunas (7.13). Krishna earlie...

K rishna described his para-prakriti (higher nature) as the ‘life element’ that supports the universe (7.5). He gives the example of the string that supports the gems to form a beautiful ornament (7.7). He gives some more examples of the same in the following verses. While describing ‘life element’, Krishna earlier said that ‘none knows ‘this’ at all even though many describe it in many ways’ (2.29). ‘None’ stands for someone who is trying to understand ‘this’ through indriyas (senses) whereas the ‘life element’ is beyond the senses. This fact needs to be kept in mind to understand the following verses where He describes ‘life element’. Krishna says, “I am the ras in the water, the light in the Sun and the Moon, the sacred syllable pranvaakshar ( Om ) in the Vedas , the sound in space, and the manliness in man” (7.8). Ras is often translated as taste or sapidity, but both fall short of its true meaning, for Krishna is referring to the life-nurturing essence of wate...