Gita Acharan

K rishna says, “Those devotees are very dear to Me who do not hate any being, who are friendly and compassionate, who are nir-mama (sans-I) and nir-ahankaar (sans -I am doer), who are balanced in pain and pleasure ( sama-dukh-sukh ) and forgiving ( kshami ), who are ever content, self-controlled yogi , having firm conviction, and who have their mind and intellect dedicated to Me” (12.13 and 12.14). At the outset, this appears to run contrary to Krishna’s earlier assurance that none is dweshya (hateful) and none is priya (dear) to Him (9.29). While His blessings are available to everyone like rain, possessing these qualities is like keeping our bowl upright to collect water. ‘Not hating anyone’ is at the core of the Bhagavad Gita. Earlier Krishna advised us performing karmas (actions) by dropping hatred (5.3). When hatred becomes a part of us, shedding it becomes painful as it makes us lose a part of ourselves. It’s like removing a harmful cancerous tumour, the remov...

K rishna tells Arjuna to relinquish all actions unto Him; to be devoid of egotism ( nir-mama ) and desires ( nir-aasha ); and to fight without fever ( jvar ) (3.30). This verse is a summary of the Gita, and it answers several of our doubts in daily life. Our first doubt is ‘What to do’, which arises because we are not happy with what we are doing as we feel that happiness is elsewhere in another action. But this verse advises us to ‘do the job in hand’, which may have been chosen by us or thrust upon us, to the best of our abilities. It could be as cruel and complex as the Kurukshetra war, where one would kill or be killed. Scientifically, our complex human body is the evolution from a single cell where each action (division) is linked to the previous one. So, any action on hand is always a result of a series of past actions and there is no stand-alone action. The next question is, ‘How to do it’. The verse advises us to act by dropping ahankaar , desires and fever aris...

K rishna says that one attains peace when one remains unmoved by desires, like an ocean that is unmoved by the waters entering it (2.70). He further says that nir-mama (sans -I) and nir-ahankaar (sans -I am doer) are the paths for peace (2.71) to reach the eternal state. None are deluded after attaining it (2.72).   Krishna gives the example of the ocean and rivers - the ocean being the eternal state ( moksha - ultimate freedom, joy and compassion) and rivers being the stimuli constantly received by the senses. Like an ocean, one remains stable and steady after attaining the eternal state, even when temptations and desires keep entering them. Secondly, when rivers meet the ocean, they lose their existence. Similarly, when desires enter a person in the eternal state, they lose their existence. Thirdly, if one thing that makes us miserable, it’s the reaction ( akarma ) generated in us by the stimulations of the external world and our inability to control it. Hence...