Gita Acharan

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 “Those sammohit (hypnotised) by the gunas (qualities or characters) of nature are attached to the functions of the gunas ; one with perfect knowledge should not unsettle the ignorant whose knowledge is imperfect” (3.29). Apart from being the real karta (doer), gunas have the ability to hypnotise and cast a spell on us that makes us forget our true nature. We remain spellbound until we realise that we are under their spell. Krishna talks about the ignorant and the wise. The ignorant are under the hypnotic spell ( maya ) of gunas and feel that they are karta (3.27). They want to achieve, be important, get noticed and fight for entitlements. Simultaneously, they take others in the family, workplace and society to be karta and expect them to behave or perform as per their expectations. This results in perpetual guilt, regret, anger and misery. The second stage is awareness which comes with a time lapse following an incident. This time lapse can be...

K rishna says that “ Karmas (actions) in all situations are performed by the gunas (qualities or characters) of nature; one who is deluded by ahankaar thinks ‘I am doer’ (3.27). One with true insight into the distinctions between gunas and karmas knows that gunas interact with gunas and hence he’s not attached” (3.28). A recurring theme in the Gita is that all actions we see around are merely interactions among the gunas . The three gunas, namely satva, tamo and rajo are present in each one of us in different proportions. Satva guna is the attachment to knowledge; rajo guna is the attachment to action and tamas leads to ignorance and laziness. It should be noted that no guna is superior or inferior to any other guna . They are all responsible for one form of attachment or the other. For example, if a person has a high percentage of rajo guna , he/she will be strongly inclined towards action and may find it difficult to sleep. Therefore, a certain percentage ...

A fruit absorbs nutrients from its parent tree to grow and ripen. It then gets detached from the tree to start its own journey. The journey from falling away from the parent tree to growing into a tree of one’s own is marked by many actions. An immature fruit, on the other hand, must remain attached to the parent tree till it ripens.    A ripe fruit shouldn’t lure an immature fruit to leave the tree, as the unripe fruit is not yet ready to start an independent journey. It would perish if it didn’t spend time getting the required nourishment from the parent tree. In a similar vein, Krishna advises the wise not to unsettle the ignorant, who are attached to action (3.26). The ignorant would also attain wisdom through experience offered by the existence. This is an extension of what Krishna said about individuals who forcefully control the organs of action, but whose mind still revolves around thoughts of sense-objects (3.6). He calls them hypocrites who are delud...

I n our daily life, we get attached to action and this attachment is termed as aasakti (interest or attachment) or we are detached from it which is virakti (hatred or disinterest). However, Krishna refers to a third state, anaasakti (dropping both attachment and detachment) which is beyond both. He says that the avidwan (ignorant) act with an attachment to action and the vidwan (wise) act unattached, for the welfare of the world (3.25). Actions based on aasakti and virakti can make us miserable. The presence of a loved one ( aasakti ) brings us happiness and their absence makes us unhappy. Similarly, the presence of a hated one ( virakti ) makes us unhappy and their absence brings relief. Hence, both aasakti as well as virakti swing us between the polarities of pleasure and pain. Krishna, therefore, advises us to transcend both and be anaasakt , while performing any action.   The welfare of the world can be equated to compassion which flows when the actions are...

C hildren always look up to their parents to understand the world, learn new things, manners, behaviours etc. That’s why it’s said that the best way to raise a child is to lead by example and truly walk the talk. Similar dependence continues in the later stages too. It might be dependence on friends, teachers, mentors etc. This implies that there are people who depend on us and look to us for guidance. Whatever we do influences them. It is in this context that Krishna says whatever a superior being does, other people imitate and his actions set a standard for the people of the world (3.21). Krishna further explains “There is nothing in three worlds that should be done by Me, nor anything unattained that has to be attained (3.22); yet I engage in action. If at any time I do not continue to perform actions, without pause, men would wholly imitate My way (3.23). These worlds would perish if I did not perform action. I would be the cause for dire confusion, and I would also be ...

K rishna assures us that by performing karma (actions) without attachment, one reaches the supreme (3.19) and gives the example of King Janak who attained perfection by action alone (3.20). Krishna emphasises the point that a king who lives in luxuries and has several responsibilities can also attain the supreme by performing all actions without attachment, implying that we too can similarly reach the supreme, irrespective of our circumstances. In history, there are very few instances where two enlightened people have interacted. One such conversation is between King Janak and sage Ashtavakra, known as the Ashtavakra Gita, which is rated as one of the best for seekers. As per legend, a guru once sent one of his disciples, who lived modestly with a few loincloths and a begging bowl, to Janak for the final lesson. He comes to Janak and wonders why his guru sent him to this man who lives amid luxuries. But he stays back in the palace as per the instructions of his guru...