Gita Acharan

Truth, Reality and God are one. Realised ones described the same with various names and phrases using the language of their times. On the occasion of Christmas, some such phrases used by Jesus and the Bible which find an echo in the Gita will highlight this aspect.  Equanimity or Samatva is one of the foundations of the Gita and Krishna tells us to treat various things; people (friends, relatives and enemies) and feelings (praise and criticism) as the same. Jesus said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". It's treating subordinates the way we want our bosses to treat us; treating neighbours the way we want them to treat us. This simple yardstick can take us to the pinnacle of Equanimity.  Similarly, it is quoted in the Bible (Matthew 25:29), "For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away". This looks difficult to comprehend as we admire tak...

It is said that every morning we are born again which is a rebirth from a 'time' point of view. In this regard, Krishna says that Brahma (creator) too has a day and night but of a different time scale (8.17). At the dawn of the day, all manifested (creation) appears and dissolves back at the dusk of the night of Brahma (8.18). This is invariably a cyclic process (8.19). Anything under the influence of time is cyclic. Krishna says that there exists higher than the un-manifested, yet another un-manifested, eternal, the absolute, which remains untouched by the cycle of cosmic dissolution (8.20). A seed is the best example to understand this verse. Inside a seed an un-manifested tree is hidden and the cycle of seed-tree-seed continues. But, there is a creative force beyond both of them which makes this cycle possible and Krishna is hinting at this creative force that is beyond time. Understanding something beyond time is a difficult task for the mind. Scientifically, th...

Krishna said that my noble devotees, having obtained Me, are no more subject to rebirth (8.16) which otherwise is the abode of grief (8.15). Understanding punar-janma or rebirth is important in this context.  While rebirth is usually interpreted as attaining a new life after death which is akin to its literal translation, it can also be interpreted as the birth of a new situation around us. Situations keep developing around us on a regular basis which are grasped by the senses with their cognitive biases. When a situation ends, the ripples generated by it in us would give birth to many more situations because of our responses or behaviour. Krishna called this cyclic process an abode of grief. But for those who attained Paramatma , these sense inputs disappear like rivers in an ocean. Hence there is no scope to create new situations whereas the existence might continue creating them. We don't have any control over outer situations but we can change ourselves so that the...

The Bhagavad Gita was a live conversation where Krishna was observing Arjun in totality. Krishna must have observed an expression of doubt or disbelief on Arjun's face when Krishna mentioned 'to remember HIM all the times and fight' (8.7) as Arjun was resisting the 'work at hand' (Kurukshetra battle). This tendency of resistance to the work at hand is still prevalent. Krishna immediately describes HIMself as the Omnipresent, Eternal, the Great Ruler, Subtler than the finest atom, Supporter of all, of inconceivable form, Shines like the sun, beyond darkness (8.9). When existence has to describe itself even words fall short.  Krishna gives two paths to remember HIM. One is the path of awareness and says, "He attains the Supreme Effulgent Lord whose mind, stabilized by yoga , is immovably fixed on the thought of Him" (8.8).  The mind is evolved to divide the sensations brought by senses and this division is the birthplace of polarities of pleasure...