45 results
Article
Fear of what others will say can stop us from doing what we should. Why the Lord speaks to Arjuna in the language of duty and reputation, and how the very next verse loosens the grip of that fear.
Level: Simple English 5 min Duty, Honour and Fear
Article
Tired and ready to do nothing? The Gita says no one can stop acting, even for a moment (3.5), and that a still body with a busy mind is no rest (3.6). It offers a better way (3.7).
Level: Simple English 6 min Can We Simply Stop Acting?
Article
How the Gita builds evenness of mind in three steps, taken verse by verse: bearing pleasure and pain, acting the same in gain and loss, and seeing the same Self in all. With misreadings, an example and a practice.
Level: In Depth English 12 min Equanimity
Article
A verse-by-verse reading of Gita 2.39–46 and 2.52–53: how the teaching of the self becomes a steady, resolute intellect, what scatters the mind, and how the mind comes to rest so that yoga can happen.
Level: In Depth English 11 min Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect
Article
Why does the Lord, right after the teaching of the self, speak of duty, reputation and what people will say? Seven verses in order, where the argument stops, common misreadings, an example and three questions to carry.
Level: In Depth English 9 min Duty, Honour and Fear
Article
A map of the twenty verses of Gita chapter 12: Arjuna's question, the four steps for a mind that will not stay, and the devotee the Lord holds dear, with a guide to the reading for each part.
Level: In Depth English 12 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview
Article
Why does willpower alone not end our confusion? Read Gita 7.14-15 in order: the illusory energy is the Lord's own power, what taking refuge asks of us, and why some people do not turn to Him.
Level: In Depth English 10 min The Illusory Energy and Surrender
Article
In Gita 12.13-20 the Lord lists over thirty marks and says of each group, 'such a one is dear to Me'. The marks fall into four relationships and hang from one centre. Each verse explained, with a table, common misreadings, an example and a seven-day practice.
Level: In Depth English 13 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord
Article
A chapter-by-chapter map of the Bhagavad Gita: the name, size and job of each of the eighteen chapters, and how Arjuna's questions carry the book from despair to decision.
Level: In Depth English 14 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Article
Eight verses on why a person acts against his own will: Arjuna's question, the enemy named, how it covers knowledge, where it sits, and the order in which it is met. Each verse in plain words.
Level: In Depth English 11 min The Enemy Called Desire
Article
Gita 2.62–63 walks from dwelling on an object through attachment, desire, anger, delusion, confused memory and lost intellect to ruin. Each step in plain words, with the neighbouring verses.
Level: In Depth English 12 min From Thought to Ruin
Article
What does Arjuna ask in the Gita, when, and why? Fourteen main questions in the order of the book, what each shows about his state of mind, the first line of Lord Krishna's answer, and where to read the full reply.
Level: In Depth English 14 min Arjuna's Questions
Article
What the Gita means by one's own duty: how it follows from one's nature, why liking and disliking must not choose it, why another's way brings fear, and how work becomes worship. Verse by verse, with misreadings, an example and a practice.
Level: In Depth English 15 min One's Own Duty
Article
The Gita says 'I do nothing' in one place and counts the doer among five causes in another. Read the verses from 3.27 to 18.17 in order, and see how pride and guilt both grow lighter without effort being lost.
Level: In Depth English 13 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
Four voices carry the Bhagavad Gita: a blind king asks, his minister reports, Arjuna questions and Lord Krishna teaches. See why the teaching is given on a battlefield and how Arjuna's questions move it along.
Level: In Depth English 11 min What Is the Gita?
Article
If action binds and knowledge is higher, why not stop acting? Gita 3.1 to 3.8 explained in order: no one can stop, the pretender, the better way, and why action beats inaction.
Level: In Depth English 12 min Can We Simply Stop Acting?
Article
Do Arjuna's questions only open the door to the Gita, or do they shape it? Their wording, three threads that run through them, the echo of that wording in the replies, two streams of commentators, and objections answered.
Level: Deeper English 15 min Arjuna's Questions
Article
Arjuna asks why he must act if knowledge is higher. The Lord's reply (3.4 to 3.8) shows that freedom lies in the claim and not in the motion. A close reading, the traditions and the objections.
Level: Deeper English 16 min Can We Simply Stop Acting?
Article
Is Gita 2.62–63 a law of the mind or a warning? Three streams of commentary, six objections and the questions the verses raise, answered from the Gita and the tradition.
Level: Deeper English 17 min From Thought to Ruin
Article
The Gita says nature performs all action, then counts the doer among five causes. Why these claims do not clash, where 18.16–17 is hard, and where the commentators divide: a verse-by-verse reading.
Level: Deeper English 16 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
A close reading of Gita 2.39–46 and 2.52–53: what the single resolute intellect is, why talk of enjoyment and power blocks it, how the passage fits the Vedas, hearing and the Lord's care, and the difficulties it raises.
Level: Deeper English 16 min Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect
Article
A close reading of nine Gita verses on evenness of mind: what 'bearing' pleasure and pain means, how one can see all alike and still act differently, and how the Gita and its tradition answer the doubts that remain.
Level: Deeper English 15 min Equanimity
Article
Is 'be merely an instrument' a command to kill, a statement of fate, or something else? A close reading of Gita 11.31-35, the idea of the instrument across the Gita, two streams of commentators, and objections answered.
Level: Deeper English 18 min Merely an Instrument
Article
A close reading of Gita 12.1-5. The Lord says both the devotee and the worshipper of the unmanifest reach Him, yet calls the devotee most united. The hard questions, two streams of commentators, and answers from the Gita and the tradition to the questions the verses raise.
Level: Deeper English 12 min Devotion or the Unmanifest
Article
Gita 12.13-20 lists over thirty marks and keeps saying 'such a one is dear to Me'. Is it a test? How can anyone be dear to a Lord who is equal to all? A close reading, two streams of commentators, five objections and five questions answered.
Level: Deeper English 18 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord
Article
A close reading of Gita 18.49 to 18.56: how action stops binding, what the mind must gather and give up, the road from the state of Brahman to devotion, the hard questions, and the commentators' two streams.
Level: Deeper English 19 min Freedom Through Action
Article
After teaching the imperishable self, the Lord speaks to Arjuna in the language of duty, reputation and what others will say. A verse-by-verse reading of 2.31-37, the real difficulties, two streams of commentary, and why it is not a general case for war.
Level: Deeper English 12 min Duty, Honour and Fear
Article
Gita chapter 12 seems to pull two ways in four places: who is best, the order of the steps, giving up undertakings against working for the Lord, and disturbing no one. The wording of each verse, the commentators' streams and the open questions.
Level: Deeper English 14 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview
Article
Is the order of the Gita's eighteen chapters an argument or a gathering? A close look at the narrator's frame, Arjuna's sixteen questions, the verse counts, the chapter names and the verses that return.
Level: Deeper English 12 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Article
A close reading of Gita 7.14-15. If the illusory energy is the Lord's own power, how can people be blamed? How refuge and effort fit, five hard questions answered, two streams of commentary, and answers from the Gita and the tradition to the questions left over.
Level: Deeper English 14 min The Illusory Energy and Surrender
Article
A close reading of the two Gita passages on one's own duty: why the same verse stands in chapter 3 and chapter 18, what the four patterns of work describe, how it sits with equal vision and surrender, with objections answered.
Level: Deeper English 19 min One's Own Duty
Article
In its closing verses the Bhagavad Gita names itself a dialogue, a secret yoga and a teaching to be studied as an offering, then leaves the choice to the listener. A close reading with objections and replies.
Level: Deeper English 10 min What Is the Gita?
Article
Does the Gita name an outside force or a state of the person as what drives us against our will? Three streams of commentary, seven objections and the questions Gita 3.36–43 raises, answered from the Gita and the tradition.
Level: Deeper English 14 min The Enemy Called Desire
Quick summary
A short revision of Arjuna's fourteen questions in the Gita: where each one comes, what puzzle of the mind lies behind it, and where the answer is found.
English 11 min Arjuna's Questions
Quick summary
When tired and ready to give up everything, is it possible to stop acting? In Gita 3.1 to 3.8 the Lord tells that giving up action does not bring freedom, and what the right road is.
English 7 min Can We Simply Stop Acting?
Quick summary
The twelfth chapter in short: the form or the formless, a ladder of practice when the mind will not stay, and the marks of the devotee dear to the Lord, all on one page.
English 10 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview
Quick summary
After the teaching of the self, the Lord speaks to Arjuna in the language of duty, honour and the fear of disgrace. A short revision of Gita 2.31-37: the seven verses, how far the argument goes, and the turn to an even mind in the next verse.
English 7 min Duty, Honour and Fear
Quick summary
Keeping the mind the same in pleasure and pain, gain and loss, honour and insult is the Gita's equanimity. It is not going numb or giving up work, but going on with one's work with a calm mind in every condition.
English 11 min Equanimity
Quick summary
How does dwelling on a thing lead a person to ruin? The seven steps are in two verses of the Gita (2.62-63), and here also the place where the chain is most easily broken.
English 8 min From Thought to Ruin
Quick summary
At the end of the twelfth chapter the Lord draws the picture of one dear to Him: free of hatred, friendly and compassionate, even in pleasure and pain, skilful and steady. Three readings of verses 12.13-20 and the question of what 'dear' means.
English 12 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord
Quick summary
A quick summary of the eighteen chapters of the Gita: the name, verse count and work of each chapter, in five groups, so that the whole map can be revised and explained to someone.
English 13 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Quick summary
Why does a person do wrong even when he knows what is right, as if someone were dragging him? In Gita 3.36 to 3.43 the Lord answers this and shows in what order this enemy is to be met.
English 8 min The Enemy Called Desire
Quick summary
Why do we repeat the same mistake even when we know better? In Gita 7.14-15 the Lord tells that the energy that pulls the mind is His own, that the way across is surrender, and why some do not come to that way.
English 8 min The Illusory Energy and Surrender
Quick summary
What is the Gita, who is speaking to whom, why did this conversation happen on a battlefield, and what is the book for? Answers in three readings for someone reading the Gita for the first time.
English 8 min What Is the Gita?
Quick summary
The Gita says that the qualities of nature do all action and the self is not the doer, yet it counts the doer among the five causes of every action. Gita 3.27-29, 5.8-14 and 18.13-17 on the mistake of 'I do everything' and its remedy.
English 9 min Who Is the Doer?