Gita Acharan

  K rishna says that in karma yoga , the buddhi (intellect) is coherent and the intellect of those who are irresolute is bahu-shakha (many-branched) (2.41). S amatva (equanimity) is yoga , which is the balance between the pairs of polarities we face, like pleasure and pain; winning and losing; and profit and loss (2.48 & 2.38). Karma yoga is the path to transcend these polarities, ultimately leading to a coherent intellect. On the other hand, an imbalanced intellect robs us of our ‘peace of mind’. Our general presumption is that ‘peace of mind’ automatically follows pleasure, winning and profit. Krishna dispels this notion when he says that a coherent intellect brought about by the practice of karma yoga gives us peace of mind by helping us transcend polarities. An irresolute intellect keeps dividing situations, outcomes and people as good or bad. Our behaviour is deeply influenced by such divisions. In the workplace, we apply one yardstick to those below us ...

  S amatva (equanimity) is a common thread that runs across the Gita. Lord Krishna highlights samatva-bhaav , samatva-drishti and samatva-buddhi at various places. Samatva is easy to understand but difficult to internalize. The degree of samatva within us is an indicator of our progress on the spiritual journey. The Gita begins with our relationship to things, gradually extends that understanding to people, and ultimately teaches us to remain balanced in situations such as praise and criticism. Krishna asks us to regard gold and a stone alike, and to look upon a cow, an elephant, and a dog with equal vision -without assigning greater value to some and lesser value to others. In the case of people, the difficulty is that we tend to identify with one or more artificial divisions based on culture, religion, caste, nationality, race and gender. The ability to overcome the divisions and to treat two different people equally is the first step towards samatva. Krishna te...