Gita Acharan

I n our daily life, we receive various stimuli through our senses and keep responding to them. In this context, Krishna says that the knower of truth, united with self, thinks that “I do nothing at all even while I see, hear, touch, smell, eat, walk, sleep, breath (5.8) - talk, evaluate and accept. The senses move among sense-objects” (5.9). In this existential verse, Krishna is describing the peak experience of the knower of truth. Secondly, these verses are very easy to understand but very difficult to inculcate as they require subjugation of senses which are powerful. For example, we regularly experience emotions arising out of praise and criticism. Praise makes us forget ourselves like the proverbial crow dropping its meat upon hearing praise from the fox about its singing ability. Similarly, when criticized, our response varies from silence to verbal to physical depending on the degree of criticism and the strength of the critic. We take these stimuli to be true and ...

O ut of ignorance, one tends to grab material possessions and performs motivated actions with ahankaar . When the first ray of awareness sets in, one starts thinking of renunciation like Arjuna is doing here. The confusion lies in what to renounce. Our usual tendency is to label all karmas (actions) as good or bad and we want to drop undesirable karmas . Instead, we should renounce our tendency of labelling rather than our external karmas . In fact, there is no real renunciation of karmas as we renounce one karma and end up doing another one under the influence of our gunas . On the other hand, Krishna presents a complete paradigm shift regarding renunciation and says that one should always be a nitya-sannyasi (perpetual renunciant), i.e. one who neither hates nor desires; is free from the pairs of opposites ( dwandwa-atheeth ) and is liberated from all entanglements (5.3). Renouncing hatred is the first step in this direction. This could be towards anything that goes...

A rjuna asks, “O Krishna, you praise renunciation of actions ( karma-sannyas ) and yet you also advise their performance at the same time. Tell me with certainty, which is the better path” (5.1). On an earlier occasion too, Arjuna was looking for certainty between the paths of sankhya (wisdom or awareness) and karma (3.1). Krishna, however, does not advise renunciation of karma (action) and instead, he says that one doesn’t attain siddhi (perfection) by renouncing karma (3.4). One is compelled to perform karmas as per his gunas (qualities or characters) (3.5). In fact, even maintenance of the human body is not possible without karma (3.8). Clarity comes from the subsequent reply of Krishna. Karma has two sides. One is the executor or karta and another is karma-phal (fruits of action). Dropping the sense of doership ( kartapan ) by realising that gunas are the real karta is referred to by Arjuna as karma-sannyas . He subsequently refers to doing karma witho...

K rishna says, “He who has relinquished actions by yoga and has torn apart his doubts by wisdom, becomes poised in the self; actions don’t bind him (4.41). Therefore, take shelter in yoga by cutting this ignorance-borne doubt dwelling in your heart with the sword of wisdom” (4.42). Krishna advises us to use the sword of wisdom to free ourselves from the bondage of action ( karma bandhan ). ‘Regret’ is a name for karma bandhan that binds us for both executed and unexecuted actions which resulted in the damage of things or relationships. Similarly, ‘blame’ is another name for karma bandhan arising from the actions or inactions of others that affect our lives negatively. The sword of wisdom is the instrument that helps us extricate ourselves from the complex web of regret and blame. The fourth chapter of the Gita is called ‘Jnana Karma Sannyas Yoga ’. It starts with how Paramatma performs karmas and goes on to tell us that all karmas should be performed like yajna ...

O nce the Creator was thinking about where to conceal ‘That’ wisdom after attaining which nothing is left to be attained. His wife suggests a high mountain or a deep sea, but both were discarded as man can climb or swim. It was then decided to keep this wisdom inside man, while man searches for it outside for lifetimes. This metaphor makes it easy for us to understand when Krishna says, “Certainly, nothing in this world is as sanctifying as wisdom. In due course of time, he who has perfected yoga finds it in the self” (4.38). The essence is that ‘wisdom’ is in the self and by the same measure everyone has it. It’s the question of realising it both in self as well as in others. Krishna further says, “ Shraddha-vaan (one with shraddha ) and jitendriya (one who won senses) attain wisdom leading to parama-shanti (supreme peace)” (4.39). Krishna gives contrast and says, “The ignorant, devoid of shraddha is ruined and there is no happiness for him in this world or the other...

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...

I n the Gita, terms such as anaasakti and veet-raag express the very essence of its teachings. While aasakti (attachment) and virakti (detachment) are two polarities, anaasakti transcends these polarities. Similarly, veet-raag is neither raag (fondness) nor viraag (aversion) but transcends both. These polarities are nothing but the manifestations of ahankaar (I am a doer) and once ahankaar is dropped, we transcend all polarities and attain moksha - the ultimate freedom. In this context, Krishna says, “One who is liberated, devoid of attachment, with mind established in wisdom and acting for yajna ; his whole action is dissolved” (4.23). ‘I’ is identification with our possessions; friends and enemies; likes and dislikes; and thoughts and feelings. Dropping them brings temporary emptiness leading to pain, fear, anger and resentment, therefore, dropping the ‘I’ is no easy task. In reality, what we need to drop is the sense of ownership, identification, and doership,...

The question of vikarma (prohibited action) or sin is very intriguing. Arjun is also in this very dilemma and says that sin alone will accrue by killing relations in battle (1.36). In fact, cultures have defined various karmas (actions) as sins and the list changes with time. In the modern context, countries have their penal codes which mandate some actions to be crimes or sins and thus punishable when committed. In any case, we keep punishing ourselves through guilt, regret and shame when such perceived sins are performed by us.  In this context, Krishna says that "One hoping for nought, with controlled mind and body, having relinquished all possessions, doing mere bodily actions, incurs no sin (4.21)." Krishna earlier talked about sin and told Arjun, "To treat pleasure and pain; profit and loss; victory and defeat alike and do battle, whereby he would not incur any sin (2.38)." The subtle issue to be understood in evaluating sin is that we normally e...

K rishna says that the issue of karma and akarma is very intricate and even the wise are confounded about the subtleties of karma and akarma (4.16) and clarified that sage is the one whose pursuits are free from kaam and sankalp ( kaam-sankalp-varjitah ) and whose actions are burnt by the fire of knowledge (4.19). To help us understand karma and akarma , Krishna gives glimpses of akarma in karma and says, “Having renounced attachment to fruits of action, the ever content ( nitya-tript ), depends on nothing, he doesn’t do anything though he is engaged in action” (4.20). The crux is that such an ever-content person doesn’t do anything though he is engaged in action. Firstly, the sense of doership disappears when attachment to fruits of action is renounced. Secondly, ‘ever content’ doesn’t have any motive to perform any particular action but keeps engaging in actions bestowed by the existence. This is nothing but nishkaam-karma or unmotivated action. Thirdly, he ...

E very culture evolved some ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ for peace in society and with the evolution of justice systems, some ‘don’ts’ have come to be recognised as punishable offences. Criminal jurisprudence holds that a crime requires both intent and action. Intent is the thought behind the crime and action is the physical part. Proof of both components is essential to convict any person of a crime. If we take the intent as sankalp (will or purpose or motive or resolve) and execution as kaam (desire), we can understand Krishna’s saying, “He whose pursuits are free from kaam and sankalp ( kaam-sankalp-varjitah ); whose actions are burnt by the fire of knowledge, him the wise call a pandit (sage)” (4.19). Society is satisfied as long as there is no crime, even if one is roaming around with criminal intent. Krishna says that we should drop kaam and subsequently should even drop sankalp indicating that both action as well as intent should be dropped. Suppression of desires ca...

K rishna says, “Even the wise are confused here as to what is karma (action) and what is akarma (inaction)? Now, I shall explain to you the secret of karma , by knowing which, you will be liberated from bondage (4.16). Nature of karma (right and prescribed) is very difficult to comprehend. You must also understand the nature of vikarma (forbidden action or sin) and of akarma (4.17). Those who see karma in akarma and akarma in karma are truly wise amongst men. Though performing all kinds of actions, they are yogis and masters of all their actions” (4.18). A contemplative person once observed an animal escaping into a forest. Moments later, a butcher comes by and asks him if he has seen the animal. The person is on the horns of a dilemma, as the truth would result in the death of the animal while uttering a lie is immoral. If we sum up all forbidden actions of all cultures and religions, living would be impossible. Hence, Krishna indicates that these issues are i...

K rishna says that actions do not taint Him nor does He have a longing for the fruits of action. He also says that whoever realises Him is thus not bound by actions (4.14). This reinforces Krishna’s words that we have right over karmas (actions) but not over karma-phal (fruits of action) (2.47). As Paramatma , even He follows the same. He further said that liberated souls in ancient times acted with this understanding of His transcendental nature. He suggests that we perform our duty, following in their footsteps (4.15). In the normal course of our lives, we perform karmas to obtain karma-phal . However, when we are told to drop karma-phal , we tend to drop karmas as well. Krishna here reveals a completely different paradigm for renunciation. His advice is that we continue doing karmas , but by dropping attachment to both karma-phal and kartapan . His advice to Arjuna to fight the war, which is just another karma , should be seen in this context. It is a difficult...

T he world as we perceive it consists of both truth and falsehood. A careful examination reveals that falsehood is often nothing more than a misinterpretation of truth, arising from our circumstances or from the limitations of our senses and mind. For example, our image in a mirror is ‘ asat ’ or unreal, for it has no existence of its own and depends entirely on our presence before the mirror. Similarly, in the well-known rope and snake analogy, the rope is the truth, and the snake is the falsehood that cannot exist without the rope. But, till this realisation dawns, all our thoughts and actions would be based on falsehood, oftentimes, continuing for generations across society. Similarly, if we consider any technology as the metaphorical truth, its malefic use is falsehood. A loudspeaker can be used to propagate good and also to instigate the gullible into violence. Similarly, today’s social media, the metaphorical truth, is falsehood when used malevolently. The insight...

K rishna gives insight into the relationship between the all-powerful unmanifested and manifested when he says, “In whatever way people are devoted to Me, in that measure, I manifest Myself to them. All men, in every manner, pursue a path to Me” (4.11). It is akin to the fact that all of us are destined to live on the same earth throughout our lives, irrespective of our lifestyle or circumstances. In the same way, different paths ultimately converge upon the same underlying reality. This is firstly an assurance from the Lord that whatever path we pursue and however contradictory these paths may appear, all of them are paths to the Paramatma . Secondly, the Lord responds like a multi-dimensional mirror that reflects as well as resonates our feelings, thoughts and actions. Thirdly, when we sow a seed, it takes time to attain its full potential as a tree and this time lag prevents us from fully understanding this principle of resonance of Paramatma . If we fill our lives w...

I n the Gita, both Arjuna and Krishna use ‘I’ and ‘Me’, but the meaning and context of usage are entirely different. Arjuna’s ‘I’ is divisive or exclusive and Krishna’s ‘I’ is inclusive. While Krishna is the ocean, we are but drops within it, living under the illusion of individuality known as ahankaar . When a drop sheds its illusion of individuality and unites with the ocean, then it becomes the ocean. Krishna indicates this when he says, “The ‘realised’ come to Me and will be free from the cycle of punar-janma (rebirth) when they realise about My life and actions which are divyam (divine)” (4.9). Certainly, realisation means inclusiveness or oneness and the ability to accept contradictions. All the actions are bound to be divine when they emerge from inclusiveness. Punar-janma , is usually interpreted as a cyclic process of the attainment of a new life after death. However, it can also be interpreted as the birth of a new situation around us. When a situation ends,...