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Over the passage of time, our friends, family, society and the media paint the perfect picture of 'success', and we subsequently shape our lives in determined pursuance of it. At a certain point, however, we begin to doubt whether that 'perfect life' is achievable or will actually make us happy. We begin to question the materialistic goals, aspirations and measures of success that people unquestioningly follow. We wonder: could there be some deeper purpose to life? It is this very doubt that Arjuna expresses at the onset of the Bhagavad-Gita. In response, Krishna powerfully explains the science of spiritual happiness.
**‘Gita Life’** is a humble attempt to summarise the key insights of the Bhagavad-Gita. The aim is not to draw out every single philosophical teaching, but rather to assist readers in understanding the flow, context and practical application of this timeless spiritual gem. It may also assist teachers of the Bhagavad-Gita in their attempts to share this wisdom with others.
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# Introduction
The Bhagavad-Gita is a spiritual classic. If we had to choose a single book to represent the theological and cultural traditions of India, we could certainly choose the Gita. In seven hundred power-packed verses it summarises the philosophical conclusions of the Vedas, the ancient scriptures compiled approximately 5000 years ago in the Sanskrit language.
The scope of the Bhagavad-Gita is enormous. It explores everything from religion to relationships, science to sociology, leadership to lifestyle management. Indeed, here you'll find the secrets to life, the universe and everything. In every generation, over thousands of years, it has provided ever-fresh inspiration to thinkers, leaders, and spiritualists alike.
**‘Gita Life’** is a humble attempt to summarise the key insights of this classic text. The aim is not to draw out every single philosophical teaching, but rather to assist readers in understanding the flow, highlights and practical application of this timeless literature. This book may also assist teachers of the Bhagavad-gita in their attempts to share this wisdom with others.
'Gita Life' is based on the 'Bhagavad-gita As It Is' by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada; a book which has transformed thousands of lives. His commentary expertly elucidates the profound life lessons that Lord Krishna imparts to Arjuna. Our sincere hope is that ‘Gita Life’ will inspire the reader to study Srila Prabhupada’s full translation, which can answer every question, allay every doubt, and quickly bring one face-to-face with Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
S.B. Keshava Swami
> **Note: the numbers in the brackets (after each acronym) refer to the verse numbers in the actual Bhagavad-gita e.g. Guru (1-10) - this means verses 1 to 10 are all about the subject of ‘Guru’.**
# Background
In the epic masterpiece, Mahabharata, the longest poem in the world, the history of ancient India is documented. The story, full of twists and turns, romance and tragedy, philosophy and poetry, reaches its climax at the onset of a devastating war between a family in feud.
Over 5000 years ago, innumerable troops had converged on Kurukshetra (90 miles north of present-day Delhi) for what was billed as the greatest battle ever. Through a series of intrigues and conspiracies, the evil-minded Kauravas had usurped the throne of the Pandavas. Though born in the same clan, the Kauravas (sons of Dhritarastra) and the Pandavas (sons of Pandu) were at polar opposites. The former were plagued by greed, selfishness and pride, whereas the saintly Pandavas were individuals of the highest moral stature, dedicated to virtue, devotion and righteousness. Though grossly exploited and mistreated, the Pandavas repeatedly sought amicable means to redress the injustice, but the stubborn and greedy Kauravas were unwilling to budge an inch. Military battle and a trial of arms was inevitable.
Arjuna, the talented and dynamic Pandava archer who carried a heavyweight burden of expectation, readied himself for face-off. As tumultuous battle cries pervaded the air, the distinguished warrior suddenly experienced a moment of doubt. He requested Krishna, the Supreme Person who had assumed the position of a humble driver, to steer his chariot to the middle of the battlefield. There, Arjuna registered the reality before him – the imminent suffering and death that would consume his family, friends, fellow countrymen and soldiers who had assembled on that battlefield.
This triggered an existential confusion! In desperation, Arjuna began asking questions he had never raised before. These were the ‘big’ questions, inquiries pertaining to the happiness we all so much seek. These are the questions which linger deep within us all, but remain unaddressed in most people’s lifetime. A penetrating conversation with Krishna ensued, gems of invaluable wisdom surfaced, and the Bhagavad-Gita (“song of God”) was born.
The Gita was spoken to comfort, coach and convince Arjuna in his moment of weakness. Krishna’s purpose, however, was much broader. On our own ‘battlefield of life’ we’ll all encounter moments of confusion which prompt us to venture beyond the routine treadmill of life. The Bhagavad-Gita presents timeless answers to those perennial questions, offering an opportunity to upgrade our life on every conceivable level. Ancient wisdom, eternally relevant.
> #### *“WHEN DOUBTS HAUNT ME, WHEN DISAPPOINTMENTS STARE ME IN THE FACE, AND I SEE NOT ONE RAY OF HOPE ON THE HORIZON, I TURN TO BHAGAVAD-GITA AND FIND A VERSE TO COMFORT ME; AND I IMMEDIATELY BEGIN TO SMILE IN THE MIDST OF OVERWHELMING SORROW. THOSE WHO MEDITATE ON THE GITA WILL DERIVE FRESH JOY AND NEW MEANINGS FROM IT EVERY DAY”*
>
> #### *\~ MOHANDAS K GANDHI*
# 5 Topics
The Bhagavad-gita deals with the life of here along with the life of after. It is the ultimate in self-development – helping us to rediscover authenticity, redefine success, revive our purpose, reposition our lifestyle, reconfigure our energies and, most importantly, re-encounter Divinity and re-awaken pure love. In short, Krishna empowers us to rethink life.
Krishna bases the presentation around five essential truths, which are clear, concise, logical and scientific — not just appealing to faith, belief, personality, or culture.
1. **Who Am I? ****Soul (*****atma*****)**
Our physical body is nothing more than a costume. We are spirit souls; the consciousness which animates the body. This life is merely one chapter and death is the transition to the next.
2. **Where am I? ****Material World (*****prakrti*****)** \
The world is a cosmic university, wired to make us think – “is there a deeper meaning to life?” Though we try to experience and enjoyment through material pursuits, the world inevitably frustrates us.
3. **What am I doing here? ****Activities (*****karma*****)** \
The law of action and reaction is nature’s way to educate and evolve us. Good actions are rewarded, bad actions are punished and spiritual actions bring real happiness and ultimate freedom.
4. **How long am I here? ****Time (*****kala*****)** \
Our life, the universe and everything around us moves according to the wheel of time. Over the course of time everything changes – our relationships, our fortunes, our roles, our bodies. Time helps turn our attention towards the eternal spiritual reality.
5. **Is there something beyond? ****God (*****isvara*****)** \
Our ‘human journey’ is an opportunity to reawaken our eternal relationship with God and return to the spiritual world, where every step is a dance and every word a song. Krishna explains how to do this through yoga, which literally means ‘to link.’
> #### **In conclusion: As ****souls**** living in the ****material world****, we are performing ****activities**** within the jurisdiction of ****time****, though we actually belong in the spiritual world with ****God****.**
# 01/D.O.U.B.T
OBSERVING THE ARMIES ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF THE KURUKSETRA
**The spiritual journey often starts with a doubt. Over the passage of our life, our friends, family, society and the media paint the perfect picture of ‘success’ and we subsequently build our future in determined pursuance of it. At a certain point, however, we begin to doubt whether that ‘perfect life’ is achievable or will actually make us happy. We begin to question the conventional goals, aspirations and measures of success that people unquestioningly follow. We wonder:**** *****Could there be some deeper purpose to life?***** ****While this initial doubt usually brings some uncertainty and confusion, it also brings us to the start of our spiritual journey. It is this very doubt that Arjuna expresses in Chapter One, at the onset of this sacred conversation.**
## D
[**Dhritarastra & Duryodhana (1-12)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Innumerable soldiers have assembled on the battlefield of Kuruksetra due to the selfish, deep-rooted aspirations of these two characters, hell-bent on usurping their cousins’ kingdom. Sitting in his palace, King Dhritarastra inquires about the latest events on the battlefield, while his son Duryodhana is busy firing up his army as it prepares for fratricidal war. Dhritarastra is physically blind, but he and his son are also blinded by greed, envy and material desire. When one’s mindset revolves around ‘I, me and mine’ engrossed in thoughts of selfish gain and material pleasure, then anxiety, frustration and disappointment are inevitable. Such materially entangled persons become oblivious to the ill-effects of their actions.
## O
[**Ominous Result (13-20)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
The conchshells resound, signifying the battle will soon commence, much like a referee’s whistle at the onset of a football match. The commentators study the scene and identify hidden signs in them. Despite Duryodhana’s boastful words, the ominous result of this confrontation is made clear from the onset. Too many signs indicate his inevitable defeat at the hands of the Pandavas. Those who stand on the side of purity and integrity always emerge victorious, regardless of whether the worldly odds are stacked against them. One who is a carrier of goodness and spirituality is never overcome by evil.
## U
[**Uncertainty (21-27)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Despite his righteous and noble position, Arjuna develops an uncertainty, standing in uncomfortable opposition to his family and teachers. The chariots are readied, arrows are drawn, battle cries are sounded, but Arjuna remains hesitant. He then does the unthinkable! He tells Krishna to drive to the middle of the battlefield – not for strategic warfare purposes, but to step back, hit the pause button and reconsider life. It’s impossible to capture the sheer unexpectedness of Arjuna’s act! Despite being faced with practically every pressure under the sun to dive into action, Arjuna prioritises introspection. Some things are so important that it’s not about having time, it’s about making time.
## B
[**Bewilderment (28-30)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
Foreseeing the suffering and death that is the inevitable consequence of warfare, Arjuna begins to lose his composure. At this stage, bereft of broader spiritual vision, his uncertainty transforms into bewilderment, baffled as to what his next move should be. He is plunged into existential confusion. When one lacks an understanding of his spiritual identity, his relationship with God, and the fundamental purpose behind this world, one inevitably becomes confused and frustrated by events and experiences of life.
## T
[**Turning Point (31-42)**](#user-content-fn-5)[^5]
Arjuna looks for immediate relief, offering solid arguments to justify leaving the battlefield: 1) It would be cruel and heartless to prematurely terminate the lives of so many soldiers; 2) Even an unrivalled kingdom would bring no happiness, since he’d be bereft of his near and dear ones; 3) One would surely accrue bad karma as a result of such brutal violence; 4) The wholesale killing involved would destroy the family unit and social structure, wreaking havoc for future generations. His mind overwhelmed by grief, Arjuna sets aside his weapons and resolves not to fight. Though his points sound convincing, Krishna will soon impart timeless wisdom to seismically shift his paradigms.
> ### *“THE IMPORTANT THING IS NOT TO STOP QUESTIONING. CURIOSITY HAS ITS OWN REASONING FOR EXISTING”* *\~ ALBERT EINSTEIN*
[^1]: **Bg. 1.1 - 1.12**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/)\
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[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/1/) Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: O Sañjaya, after my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu assembled in the place of pilgrimage at Kurukṣetra, desiring to fight, what did they do?\
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[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/2/) Sañjaya said: O King, after looking over the army arranged in military formation by the sons of Pāṇḍu, King Duryodhana went to his teacher and spoke the following words.\
\
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/3/) O my teacher, behold the great army of the sons of Pāṇḍu, so expertly arranged by your intelligent disciple the son of Drupada.\
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[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/4/) Here in this army are many heroic bowmen equal in fighting to Bhīma and Arjuna: great fighters like Yuyudhāna, Virāṭa and Drupada.\
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[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/5/) There are also great heroic, powerful fighters like Dhṛṣṭaketu, Cekitāna, Kāśirāja, Purujit, Kuntibhoja and Śaibya.\
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[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/6/) There are the mighty Yudhāmanyu, the very powerful Uttamaujā, the son of Subhadrā and the sons of Draupadī. All these warriors are great chariot fighters.\
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[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/7/) But for your information, O best of the brāhmaṇas, let me tell you about the captains who are especially qualified to lead my military force.\
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[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/8/) There are personalities like you, Bhīṣma, Karṇa, Kṛpa, Aśvatthāmā, Vikarṇa and the son of Somadatta called Bhūriśravā, who are always victorious in battle.\
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[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/9/) There are many other heroes who are prepared to lay down their lives for my sake. All of them are well equipped with different kinds of weapons, and all are experienced in military science.\
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[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/10/) Our strength is immeasurable, and we are perfectly protected by Grandfather Bhīṣma, whereas the strength of the Pāṇḍavas, carefully protected by Bhīma, is limited.\
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[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/11/) All of you must now give full support to Grandfather Bhīṣma, as you stand at your respective strategic points of entrance into the phalanx of the army.\
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[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/12/) Then Bhīṣma, the great valiant grandsire of the Kuru dynasty, the grandfather of the fighters, blew his conchshell very loudly, making a sound like the roar of a lion, giving Duryodhana joy.
[^2]: **Bg. 1.13 - 1.20**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/)\
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[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/13/) After that, the conchshells, drums, bugles, trumpets and horns were all suddenly sounded, and the combined sound was tumultuous.\
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[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/14/) On the other side, both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, stationed on a great chariot drawn by white horses, sounded their transcendental conchshells.\
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[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/15/) Lord Kṛṣṇa blew His conchshell, called Pāñcajanya; Arjuna blew his, the Devadatta; and Bhīma, the voracious eater and performer of herculean tasks, blew his terrific conchshell, called Pauṇḍra.\
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[TEXTS 16-18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/16-18/) King Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Kuntī, blew his conchshell, the Ananta-vijaya, and Nakula and Sahadeva blew the Sughoṣa and Maṇipuṣpaka. That great archer the King of Kāśī, the great fighter Śikhaṇḍī, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, Virāṭa, the unconquerable Sātyaki, Drupada, the sons of Draupadī, and others, O King, such as the mighty-armed son of Subhadrā, all blew their respective conchshells.\
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[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/19/) The blowing of these different conchshells became uproarious. Vibrating both in the sky and on the earth, it shattered the hearts of the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.\
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[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/20/) At that time Arjuna, the son of Pāṇḍu, seated in the chariot bearing the flag marked with Hanumān, took up his bow and prepared to shoot his arrows. O King, after looking at the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra drawn in military array, Arjuna then spoke to Lord Kṛṣṇa these words.
[^3]: **Bg. 1.21 - 1.27**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/)\
\
[TEXTS 21-22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/21-22/) Arjuna said: O infallible one, please draw my chariot between the two armies so that I may see those present here, who desire to fight, and with whom I must contend in this great trial of arms.\
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[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/23/) Let me see those who have come here to fight, wishing to please the evil-minded son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.\
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[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/24/) Sañjaya said: O descendant of Bharata, having thus been addressed by Arjuna, Lord Kṛṣṇa drew up the fine chariot in the midst of the armies of both parties.\
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[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/25/) In the presence of Bhīṣma, Droṇa and all the other chieftains of the world, the Lord said, “Just behold, Pārtha, all the Kurus assembled here.”\
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[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/26/) There Arjuna could see, within the midst of the armies of both parties, his fathers, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, and also his fathers-in-law and well-wishers.\
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[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/27/) When the son of Kuntī, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus.
[^4]: **Bg. 1.28 - 1.30**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/)\
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[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/28/) Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up.\
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[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/29/) My whole body is trembling, my hair is standing on end, my bow Gāṇḍīva is slipping from my hand, and my skin is burning.\
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[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/30/) I am now unable to stand here any longer. I am forgetting myself, and my mind is reeling. I see only causes of misfortune, O Kṛṣṇa, killer of the Keśī demon.
[^5]: **Bg. 1.31 - 1.42**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/)
[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/31/) I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I, my dear Kṛṣṇa, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom or happiness.\
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[TEXTS 32-35:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/32-35/) O Govinda, of what avail to us are a kingdom, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed on this battlefield? O Madhusūdana, when teachers, fathers, sons, grandfathers, maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, brothers-in-law and other relatives are ready to give up their lives and properties and are standing before me, why should I wish to kill them, even though they might otherwise kill me? O maintainer of all living entities, I am not prepared to fight with them even in exchange for the three worlds, let alone this earth. What pleasure will we derive from killing the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra?\
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[TEXT 36:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/36/) Sin will overcome us if we slay such aggressors. Therefore it is not proper for us to kill the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and our friends. What should we gain, O Kṛṣṇa, husband of the goddess of fortune, and how could we be happy by killing our own kinsmen?\
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[TEXTS 37-38:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/37-38/) O Janārdana, although these men, their hearts overtaken by greed, see no fault in killing one’s family or quarreling with friends, why should we, who can see the crime in destroying a family, engage in these acts of sin?\
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[TEXT 39:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/39/) With the destruction of the dynasty, the eternal family tradition is vanquished, and thus the rest of the family becomes involved in irreligion.\
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[TEXT 40:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/40/) When irreligion is prominent in the family, O Kṛṣṇa, the women of the family become polluted, and from the degradation of womanhood, O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, comes unwanted progeny.\
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[TEXT 41:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/41/) An increase of unwanted population certainly causes hellish life both for the family and for those who destroy the family tradition. The ancestors of such corrupt families fall down, because the performances for offering them food and water are entirely stopped.\
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[TEXT 42:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/1/42/) By the evil deeds of those who destroy the family tradition and thus give rise to unwanted children, all kinds of community projects and family welfare activities are devastated.
# 02/G.I.T.A
CONTENTS OF THE GITA SUMMARISED
### **Chapter Two is a succinct overview of the Gita’s philosophy. Arjuna approaches Krishna in humility and desperation, inviting Krishna to present the most fundamental truth of spiritual wisdom: the science of the soul. Krishna then explains the practical application of such wisdom, and concludes by describing the symptoms of one who has fully internalised such truths. Krishna thus summarises the spiritual journey from beginning to end. In actuality, there is no ‘end’ to the spiritual journey because it's from this point that real life begins.**
## G
[**Guru (1-10)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Desiring not to fight, but simultaneously torn and confused, Arjuna approaches Krishna in desperation. *“I am in dire need of guidance,”* he humbly submits, “*please enlighten me and mitigate my miserable misery.”* Arjuna teaches us the first fundamental step in spirituality; seeking help from an authentic guru who has mastered the spiritual art and embodies what they teach. Most things in life require a qualified teacher and the spiritual path is no different. Some believe that everything they require for their spirituality is contained within, and while there may be truth to that, we still require help to reawaken that innate spiritual consciousness. As the saying goes, *“One who accepts himself as a guru, accepts a fool for a disciple!”*
## I
[**Identity (11-30)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
In response to Arjuna’s confusion, Krishna reveals something simple but profound – “You are not this body” He says, “but an eternal, indestructible spirit soul.” We’re spiritual beings on a human journey! As the bird lives in a cage, and as the driver operates a car, we, the spirit soul, similarly inhabit, animate and utilise this body to and interact with the world. Yet we are different from this body. In ignorance of this, the soul is subjected to the process of reincarnation, accepting unnatural material bodies and the subsequent sufferings and distresses of life in this material world. This is the first teaching that the guru imparts; knowledge of who we really are. While it may seem elementary and basic, such wisdom has rarely been understood and applied. When our decisions factor in this crucial understanding, it re-routes our entire life trajectory, as Arjuna will himself experience.
## T
[**Two Duties (31-53)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Knowing our identity helps us clearly define our purpose in life. *Dharma* loosely translates as “duty” but in a deeper sense refers to intrinsic characteristics and qualities of something that cannot be avoided, neglected or negated under any circumstance. On one hand, the embodied soul has a *sva-dharma*, a worldly duty which consists of responsibilities towards family, and society. On the other hand, the soul has a *sanatana-dharma*, an eternal spiritual duty which comprises of one’s relationship with God, nature and all spirit souls. One must execute these two dimensions of *dharma* side-by-side, finding a life of integration. Krishna beautifully explains the activities and mindset of the spiritualist who is alert to both duties, and who thus leads a balanced and progressive material and spiritual life.
## A
[**Atmarama (54-72)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
One who learns this art of living elevates their consciousness and becomes an *atmarama* - a spiritually realised soul who finds pleasure in the self. Arjuna is interested to know how he can identify such a unique soul. Krishna explains that the *atmarama* is unaffected by happiness or distress, gain or loss, honour or dishonour. Transcending the dualities of this world, such a spiritualist rids himself of qualities such as fear, attachment, and anger, and remains absorbed in spiritual joy and transcendental consciousness. The *atmarama* ultimately enters into eternity, freeing himself from the imprisonment of the material world.
> ### *“WHEN I WAS 5 YEARS OLD, MY MOTHER TOLD ME THAT HAPPINESS WAS THE KEY TO LIFE. WHEN I WENT TO SCHOOL, THEY ASKED ME WHAT I WANTED TO BE WHEN I GREW UP. I WROTE DOWN ‘HAPPY’. THEY TOLD ME I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT, AND I TOLD THEM THEY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND LIFE.”* *\~ JOHN LENNON*
[^1]: **Bg. 2.1-10**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/)\
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[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/1/) Sañjaya said: Seeing Arjuna full of compassion, his mind depressed, his eyes full of tears, Madhusūdana, Kṛṣṇa, spoke the following words.\
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[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/2/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, how have these impurities come upon you? They are not at all befitting a man who knows the value of life. They lead not to higher planets but to infamy.\
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[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/3/) O son of Pṛthā, do not yield to this degrading impotence. It does not become you. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.\
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[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/4/) Arjuna said: O killer of enemies, O killer of Madhu, how can I counterattack with arrows in battle men like Bhīṣma and Droṇa, who are worthy of my worship?\
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[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/5/) It would be better to live in this world by begging than to live at the cost of the lives of great souls who are my teachers. Even though desiring worldly gain, they are superiors. If they are killed, everything we enjoy will be tainted with blood.\
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[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/6/) Nor do we know which is better – conquering them or being conquered by them. If we killed the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, we should not care to live. Yet they are now standing before us on the battlefield.\
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[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/7/) Now I am confused about my duty and have lost all composure because of miserly weakness. In this condition I am asking You to tell me for certain what is best for me. Now I am Your disciple, and a soul surrendered unto You. Please instruct me.\
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[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/8/) I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous, unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven.\
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[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/9/) Sañjaya said: Having spoken thus, Arjuna, chastiser of enemies, told Kṛṣṇa, “Govinda, I shall not fight,” and fell silent.\
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[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/10/) O descendant of Bharata, at that time Kṛṣṇa, smiling, in the midst of both the armies, spoke the following words to the grief-stricken Arjuna.
[^2]: **Bg. 2.11-30**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/)\
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[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/11/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living nor for the dead.\
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[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/12/) Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.\
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[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/13/) As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.\
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[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/14/) O son of Kuntī, the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, O scion of Bharata, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.\
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[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/15/) O best among men \[Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation.\
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[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/16/) Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent \[the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal \[the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.\
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[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/17/) That which pervades the entire body you should know to be indestructible. No one is able to destroy that imperishable soul.\
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[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/18/) The material body of the indestructible, immeasurable and eternal living entity is sure to come to an end; therefore, fight, O descendant of Bharata.\
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[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/19/) Neither he who thinks the living entity the slayer nor he who thinks it slain is in knowledge, for the self slays not nor is slain.\
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[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/20/) For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.\
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[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/21/) O Pārtha, how can a person who knows that the soul is indestructible, eternal, unborn and immutable kill anyone or cause anyone to kill?\
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[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/22/) As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.\
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[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/23/) The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.\
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[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/24/) This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.\
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[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/25/) It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body.\
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[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/26/) If, however, you think that the soul \[or the symptoms of life] will always be born and die forever, you still have no reason to lament, O mighty-armed.\
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[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/27/) One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.\
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[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/28/) All created beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their interim state, and unmanifest again when annihilated. So what need is there for lamentation?\
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[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/29/) Some look on the soul as amazing, some describe him as amazing, and some hear of him as amazing, while others, even after hearing about him, cannot understand him at all.\
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[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/30/) O descendant of Bharata, he who dwells in the body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for any living being.
[^3]: **Bg. 2.31-53**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/)\
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[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/31/) Considering your specific duty as a kṣatriya, you should know that there is no better engagement for you than fighting on religious principles; and so there is no need for hesitation.\
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[TEXT 32:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/32/) O Pārtha, happy are the kṣatriyas to whom such fighting opportunities come unsought, opening for them the doors of the heavenly planets.\
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[TEXT 33:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/33/) If, however, you do not perform your religious duty of fighting, then you will certainly incur sins for neglecting your duties and thus lose your reputation as a fighter.\
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[TEXT 34:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/34/) People will always speak of your infamy, and for a respectable person, dishonor is worse than death.\
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[TEXT 35:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/35/) The great generals who have highly esteemed your name and fame will think that you have left the battlefield out of fear only, and thus they will consider you insignificant.\
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[TEXT 36:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/36/) Your enemies will describe you in many unkind words and scorn your ability. What could be more painful for you?\
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[TEXT 37:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/37/) O son of Kuntī, either you will be killed on the battlefield and attain the heavenly planets, or you will conquer and enjoy the earthly kingdom. Therefore, get up with determination and fight.\
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[TEXT 38:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/38/) Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat – and by so doing you shall never incur sin.\
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[TEXT 39:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/39/) Thus far I have described this knowledge to you through analytical study. Now listen as I explain it in terms of working without fruitive results. O son of Pṛthā, when you act in such knowledge you can free yourself from the bondage of works.\
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[TEXT 40:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/) In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.\
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[TEXT 41:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/41/) Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched.\
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[TEXTS 42-43:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/42-43/) Men of small knowledge are very much attached to the flowery words of the Vedas, which recommend various fruitive activities for elevation to heavenly planets, resultant good birth, power, and so forth. Being desirous of sense gratification and opulent life, they say that there is nothing more than this.\
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[TEXT 44:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/44/) In the minds of those who are too attached to sense enjoyment and material opulence, and who are bewildered by such things, the resolute determination for devotional service to the Supreme Lord does not take place.\
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[TEXT 45:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/45/) The Vedas deal mainly with the subject of the three modes of material nature. O Arjuna, become transcendental to these three modes. Be free from all dualities and from all anxieties for gain and safety, and be established in the self.\
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[TEXT 46:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/46/) All purposes served by a small well can at once be served by a great reservoir of water. Similarly, all the purposes of the Vedas can be served to one who knows the purpose behind them.\
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[TEXT 47:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/47/) You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty.\
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[TEXT 48:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/48/) Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.\
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[TEXT 49:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/49/) O Dhanañjaya, keep all abominable activities far distant by devotional service, and in that consciousness surrender unto the Lord. Those who want to enjoy the fruits of their work are misers.\
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[TEXT 50:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/50/) A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad reactions even in this life. Therefore strive for yoga, which is the art of all work.\
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[TEXT 51:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/51/) By thus engaging in devotional service to the Lord, great sages or devotees free themselves from the results of work in the material world. In this way they become free from the cycle of birth and death and attain the state beyond all miseries \[by going back to Godhead].\
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[TEXT 52:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/52/) When your intelligence has passed out of the dense forest of delusion, you shall become indifferent to all that has been heard and all that is to be heard.\
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[TEXT 53:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/53/) When your mind is no longer disturbed by the flowery language of the Vedas, and when it remains fixed in the trance of self-realization, then you will have attained the divine consciousness.
[^4]: **Bg. 2.54-72**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/)
[TEXT 54:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/54/) Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, what are the symptoms of one whose consciousness is thus merged in transcendence? How does he speak, and what is his language? How does he sit, and how does he walk?
[TEXT 55:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/55/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Pārtha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense gratification, which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness.
[TEXT 56:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/56/) One who is not disturbed in mind even amidst the threefold miseries or elated when there is happiness, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.
[TEXT 57:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/57/) In the material world, one who is unaffected by whatever good or evil he may obtain, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly fixed in perfect knowledge.
[TEXT 58:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/58/) One who is able to withdraw his senses from sense objects, as the tortoise draws its limbs within the shell, is firmly fixed in perfect consciousness.
[TEXT 59:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/59/) Though the embodied soul may be restricted from sense enjoyment, the taste for sense objects remains. But, ceasing such engagements by experiencing a higher taste, he is fixed in consciousness.
[TEXT 60:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/60/) The senses are so strong and impetuous, O Arjuna, that they forcibly carry away the mind even of a man of discrimination who is endeavoring to control them.
[TEXT 61:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/61/) One who restrains his senses, keeping them under full control, and fixes his consciousness upon Me, is known as a man of steady intelligence.
[TEXT 62:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/62/) While contemplating the objects of the senses, a person develops attachment for them, and from such attachment lust develops, and from lust anger arises.
[TEXT 63:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/63/) From anger, complete delusion arises, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost, and when intelligence is lost one falls down again into the material pool.\
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[TEXT 64:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/64/) But a person free from all attachment and aversion and able to control his senses through regulative principles of freedom can obtain the complete mercy of the Lord.\
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[TEXT 65:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/65/) For one thus satisfied \[in Kṛṣṇa consciousness], the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such satisfied consciousness, one’s intelligence is soon well established.\
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[TEXT 66:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/66/) One who is not connected with the Supreme \[in Kṛṣṇa consciousness] can have neither transcendental intelligence nor a steady mind, without which there is no possibility of peace. And how can there be any happiness without peace?\
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[TEXT 67:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/67/) As a strong wind sweeps away a boat on the water, even one of the roaming senses on which the mind focuses can carry away a man’s intelligence.\
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[TEXT 68:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/68/) Therefore, O mighty-armed, one whose senses are restrained from their objects is certainly of steady intelligence.\
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[TEXT 69:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/69/) What is night for all beings is the time of awakening for the self-controlled; and the time of awakening for all beings is night for the introspective sage.\
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[TEXT 70:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/70/) A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires – that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still – can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires.\
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[TEXT 71:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/71/) A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego – he alone can attain real peace.\
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[TEXT 72:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/72/) That is the way of the spiritual and godly life, after attaining which a man is not bewildered. If one is thus situated even at the hour of death, one can enter into the kingdom of God.
# 03/T.R.E.E
KARMA-YOGA
### A tree produces many fruits, but selflessly offers them to others. In all seasons, the tree dutifully offers shade and shelter regardless of mistreatment by man or animal. When a tree is cut, it grows back with determination, strength and fresh vigour, ready to serve the world again. The life and qualities of the tree demonstrates the art of living and functioning in this world with grace, resilience and deep selflessness. When we emulate these qualities and connect our daily work to Divinity, it is known as *karma-yoga.* This chapter thus echoes the famous Biblical wisdom: “*Be in the world but not of it.*”
## T
[**Tyaga (Renunciation)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1] **(1-9)**
Arjuna, who’s in the process of digesting Krishna’s words of wisdom, still has thoughts of *tyaga* (renunciation) - leaving the battlefield and abandoning his worldly duties. He can’t see the compatibility of pursuing a spiritual life and simultaneously honouring his day-to-day roles and responsibilities. To him, they’re mutually exclusive. After all, worldly life entails awkward dealings with money, possessions, people and career to name but a few. Krishna, however, explains that true renunciation does not entail a mere abandonment of external activities. True renunciation is to give up the mentality that one is the controller and enjoyer of all his deeds. By offering the results of one’s daily work (money, knowledge, influence, and other such benefits) in service to God, knowing God to be the ultimate enjoyer and controller, one develops genuine renunciation.
## R
[**Regulation (10-16)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
Krishna has stressed that the real renunciate is the one who selflessly dedicates all activities to God. Thus, more progressive than external renunciation, is the step-by-step regulation which brings one to internal renunciation. We can first acknowledge the universal arrangements that provide all necessities of life, and regulate our activities to show gratitude. We can regulate our eating by first offering every meal to God. Such regulation of activity nurtures the selflessness and detachment which elevate one towards the ultimate renunciation that Krishna establishes as the ideal. The Bhagavad-gita thus describes several rungs on the ‘*yoga* ladder’ which take the spiritual aspirant to higher states of consciousness.
## E
[**Exemplary (17-35)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
*Karma-yoga* is thus established as the ingenious process to work in the world, connect everything to God, develop detachment and selflessness, and ultimately become fully conscious of God. Interestingly, even those perfected souls continue working in the world like everyone else. Although internally renounced, they continue functioning in the world for the sole purpose of setting an inspirational example for others to follow. Being exemplary is one of the most effective teaching tools we have. As they say *“example before precept, walk your talk, practice what you preach.”* Genuine spiritualists embody the change they wish to see in the world.
## E
[**Eternal Enemy (36-43)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
Krishna has upgraded Arjuna’s intelligence with paradigm-shifting insights that transform our vision of life. Yet Arjuna knows that we may be intellectually convinced, but having the internal resolve to follow it through is a different ball game. His question: “*Even when we know the right thing, why is it that we often act against our own will, as if impelled by force?*” Krishna then exposes the hidden enemy of every single struggling soul in this world – lust! When we are infected by this strong urge of selfishness and ‘me-centred’ mentality we do irrational and unthinkable things to satisfy our desires, even when it causes harm to ourselves and others, and diverts us from what we seek most. Lust cheats one of a progressive, successful and spiritual life and offers only meagre and temporary gratification in return. By tolerating the urges of lust and simultaneously strengthening one’s spiritual intelligence, one will be better situated to recognise, value and embrace the higher pursuits in life.
> ### *“CREATE A LIFE THAT FEELS GOOD ON THE INSIDE. NOT JUST ONE THAT LOOKS GOOD ON THE OUTSIDE”* *\~ UNKNOWN*
[^1]: **Bg. 3.1-9**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/1/) Arjuna said: O Janārdana, O Keśava, why do You want to engage me in this ghastly warfare, if You think that intelligence is better than fruitive work?
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/2/) My intelligence is bewildered by Your equivocal instructions. Therefore, please tell me decisively which will be most beneficial for me.
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/3/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O sinless Arjuna, I have already explained that there are two classes of men who try to realize the self. Some are inclined to understand it by empirical, philosophical speculation, and others by devotional service.
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/4/) Not by merely abstaining from work can one achieve freedom from reaction, nor by renunciation alone can one attain perfection.
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/5/) Everyone is forced to act helplessly according to the qualities he has acquired from the modes of material nature; therefore no one can refrain from doing something, not even for a moment.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/6/) One who restrains the senses of action but whose mind dwells on sense objects certainly deludes himself and is called a pretender.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/7/) On the other hand, if a sincere person tries to control the active senses by the mind and begins karma-yoga \[in Kṛṣṇa consciousness] without attachment, he is by far superior.
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/8/) Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot even maintain one’s physical body without work.
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/9/) Work done as a sacrifice for Viṣṇu has to be performed; otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kuntī, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage.
[^2]: **Bg. 3.10-16**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/)
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/10/) In the beginning of creation, the Lord of all creatures sent forth generations of men and demigods, along with sacrifices for Viṣṇu, and blessed them by saying, “Be thou happy by this yajña \[sacrifice] because its performance will bestow upon you everything desirable for living happily and achieving liberation.”
[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/11/) The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all.
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/12/) In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajña \[sacrifice], will supply all necessities to you. But he who enjoys such gifts without offering them to the demigods in return is certainly a thief.
[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/13/) The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/14/) All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajña \[sacrifice], and yajña is born of prescribed duties.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/15/) Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/16/) My dear Arjuna, one who does not follow in human life the cycle of sacrifice thus established by the Vedas certainly leads a life full of sin. Living only for the satisfaction of the senses, such a person lives in vain.
[^3]: **Bg. 3.17-35**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/)
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/17/) But for one who takes pleasure in the Self, whose human life is one of self-realization, and who is satisfied in the Self only, fully satiated – for him there is no duty.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/18/) A self-realized man has no purpose to fulfill in the discharge of his prescribed duties, nor has he any reason not to perform such work. Nor has he any need to depend on any other living being.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/19/) Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/20/) Kings such as Janaka attained perfection solely by performance of prescribed duties. Therefore, just for the sake of educating the people in general, you should perform your work.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/21/) Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/22/) O son of Pṛthā, there is no work prescribed for Me within all the three planetary systems. Nor am I in want of anything, nor have I a need to obtain anything – and yet I am engaged in prescribed duties.
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/23/) For if I ever failed to engage in carefully performing prescribed duties, O Pārtha, certainly all men would follow My path.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/24/) If I did not perform prescribed duties, all these worlds would be put to ruination. I would be the cause of creating unwanted population, and I would thereby destroy the peace of all living beings.
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/25/) As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, the learned may similarly act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/26/) So as not to disrupt the minds of ignorant men attached to the fruitive results of prescribed duties, a learned person should not induce them to stop work. Rather, by working in the spirit of devotion, he should engage them in all sorts of activities \[for the gradual development of Kṛṣṇa consciousness].
[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/27/) The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/28/) One who is in knowledge of the Absolute Truth, O mighty-armed, does not engage himself in the senses and sense gratification, knowing well the differences between work in devotion and work for fruitive results.
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/29/) Bewildered by the modes of material nature, the ignorant fully engage themselves in material activities and become attached. But the wise should not unsettle them, although these duties are inferior due to the performers’ lack of knowledge.
[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/30/) Therefore, O Arjuna, surrendering all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to proprietorship, and free from lethargy, fight.
[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/31/) Those persons who execute their duties according to My injunctions and who follow this teaching faithfully, without envy, become free from the bondage of fruitive actions.
[TEXT 32:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/32/) But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and do not follow them regularly are to be considered bereft of all knowledge, befooled, and ruined in their endeavors for perfection.
[TEXT 33:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/33/) Even a man of knowledge acts according to his own nature, for everyone follows the nature he has acquired from the three modes. What can repression accomplish?
[TEXT 34:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/34/) There are principles to regulate attachment and aversion pertaining to the senses and their objects. One should not come under the control of such attachment and aversion, because they are stumbling blocks on the path of self-realization.
[TEXT 35:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/35/) It is far better to discharge one’s prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another’s duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one’s own duty is better than engaging in another’s duties, for to follow another’s path is dangerous.
[^4]: **Bg. 3.36-43**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/)
[TEXT 36:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/36/) Arjuna said: O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, by what is one impelled to sinful acts, even unwillingly, as if engaged by force?
[TEXT 37:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/37/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material mode of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring sinful enemy of this world.
[TEXT 38:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/38/) As fire is covered by smoke, as a mirror is covered by dust, or as the embryo is covered by the womb, the living entity is similarly covered by different degrees of this lust.
[TEXT 39:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/39/) Thus the wise living entity’s pure consciousness becomes covered by his eternal enemy in the form of lust, which is never satisfied and which burns like fire.
[TEXT 40:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/40/) The senses, the mind and the intelligence are the sitting places of this lust. Through them lust covers the real knowledge of the living entity and bewilders him.
[TEXT 41:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/41/) Therefore, O Arjuna, best of the Bhāratas, in the very beginning curb this great symbol of sin \[lust] by regulating the senses, and slay this destroyer of knowledge and self-realization.
[TEXT 42:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/42/) The working senses are superior to dull matter; mind is higher than the senses; intelligence is still higher than the mind; and he \[the soul] is even higher than the intelligence.
[TEXT 43:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/3/43/) Thus knowing oneself to be transcendental to the material senses, mind and intelligence, O mighty-armed Arjuna, one should steady the mind by deliberate spiritual intelligence \[Kṛṣṇa consciousness] and thus – by spiritual strength – conquer this insatiable enemy known as lust.
# 04/E.A.R.S
TRANSCENDENTAL KNOWLEDGE
### Spiritual knowledge is known as sruti – *“that which is heard.”* In bygone ages, people would hear such knowledge, immediately remember it, assimilate it, and flawlessly communicate it to the next person with clarity and accuracy. From guru to disciple, the knowledge passed through many generations. Chapter Four is entitled “Transcendental Knowledge” since this wisdom empowers one to establish their divine connection with God. The famous Vedic aphorism thus encourages, *“see God through the ears rather than the eyes.”*
## E
[**Eternal Education (1-10)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Just as every device is accompanied by an instruction manual, this entire universe comes with guidelines about its purpose and function. Such knowledge is of divine origin and is imparted at the time of creation. Krishna explains how this eternal educational system was originally set up by Him. This system perpetuates in the universe through qualified and saintly teachers, who impart spiritual knowledge to the masses in a dynamic, relevant and practical way. Thus, the material creation is essentially a university to help us rediscover and reawaken our relationship with God. As the creator and maintainer, Krishna periodically appears in the world to re-inject spirituality, remove materialistic influences and re-establish the ultimate purpose of the creation.
## A
[**Accurate Application (11-15)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
Most people know something about God and religion, but their conceptions can often be quite hazy and confused. When transcendental knowledge is received through the eternal educational system it has to then be applied accurately. In three verses, Krishna clears up three common mis-applications of philosophy. Verse 11 addresses the misconception that all spiritual paths lead to the same destination – Krishna explains that while there is unity in diversity, there are also different gradations of spiritual elevation. Verse 12 addresses the misconception that Vedic scriptures talk of polytheism and the worship of many ‘gods’ - Krishna clarifies that while there are various universal controllers, there is ultimately only one God. Verse 13 addresses the misconception that the caste system we see in India today is unfair and exploitative - Krishna establishes the true purpose and criteria of such social stratification.
## R
[**Removing Reactions (16-24)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
In addition to clearing up philosophical doubts, transcendental knowledge also helps one to clear up their ‘karmic bank balance.’ Karma is a universal law of nature – for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. While bad karma is obviously undesirable, the Gita teaches that even good karma should be avoided since it also binds one to material existence. Beyond good and bad, are activities performed for a spiritual objective. Such activities, devoid of selfishness, yield no material reaction and quickly free one from the complexities and entanglements of this world. Such action is known as *akarma*.
## S
[**Sacrifice (25-42)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
In order to acquire, understand and internalise transcendental knowledge, one must make a tangible sacrifice. In other words, our intellectual faculties, in and of themselves, are insufficient in making us truly knowledgeable. Transcendental knowledge is a gift that we receive - we can know it through what we become. Sacrifices help refine one’s character so they become suitable receptacles to hold this valuable wisdom. One of the biggest sacrifices is to relinquish our pride by humbly submitting oneself before an authentic guru. By faithful service and sincere inquiry within such a relationship, the heart becomes fertile ground for spiritual knowledge to blossom.
> ### *“GOD GAVE US MOUTHS THAT CLOSE AND EARS THAT DON’T. THAT MUST TELL US SOMETHING!”*
>
> ### *\~ UNKNOWN*
[^1]: **Bg. 4.1-10**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/1/) The Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, said: I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god, Vivasvān, and Vivasvān instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn instructed it to Ikṣvāku.
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/2/) This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/3/) That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/4/) Arjuna said: The sun-god Vivasvān is senior by birth to You. How am I to understand that in the beginning You instructed this science to him?
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/5/) The Personality of Godhead said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/6/) Although I am unborn and My transcendental body never deteriorates, and although I am the Lord of all living entities, I still appear in every millennium in My original transcendental form.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/7/) Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion – at that time I descend Myself.
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/8/) To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium.
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/9/) One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/10/) Being freed from attachment, fear and anger, being fully absorbed in Me and taking refuge in Me, many, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of Me – and thus they all attained transcendental love for Me.
[^2]: **Bg. 4.11-15**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/)
[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/11/) As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/12/) Men in this world desire success in fruitive activities, and therefore they worship the demigods. Quickly, of course, men get results from fruitive work in this world.
[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/13/) According to the three modes of material nature and the work associated with them, the four divisions of human society are created by Me. And although I am the creator of this system, you should know that I am yet the nondoer, being unchangeable.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/14/) There is no work that affects Me; nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who understands this truth about Me also does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/15/) All the liberated souls in ancient times acted with this understanding of My transcendental nature. Therefore you should perform your duty, following in their footsteps.
[^3]: **Bg. 4.16-24**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/)
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/16/) Even the intelligent are bewildered in determining what is action and what is inaction. Now I shall explain to you what action is, knowing which you shall be liberated from all misfortune.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/17/) The intricacies of action are very hard to understand. Therefore one should know properly what action is, what forbidden action is and what inaction is.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/18/) One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is intelligent among men, and he is in the transcendental position, although engaged in all sorts of activities.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/19/) One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every endeavor is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages to be a worker for whom the reactions of work have been burned up by the fire of perfect knowledge.
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/20/) Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of undertakings.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/21/) Such a man of understanding acts with mind and intelligence perfectly controlled, gives up all sense of proprietorship over his possessions and acts only for the bare necessities of life. Thus working, he is not affected by sinful reactions.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/22/) He who is satisfied with gain which comes of its own accord, who is free from duality and does not envy, who is steady in both success and failure, is never entangled, although performing actions.
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/23/) The work of a man who is unattached to the modes of material nature and who is fully situated in transcendental knowledge merges entirely into transcendence.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/24/) A person who is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is sure to attain the spiritual kingdom because of his full contribution to spiritual activities, in which the consummation is absolute and that which is offered is of the same spiritual nature.
[^4]: **Bg. 4.25-42**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/)
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/25/) Some yogīs perfectly worship the demigods by offering different sacrifices to them, and some offer sacrifices in the fire of the Supreme Brahman.
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/26/) Some \[the unadulterated brahmacārīs] sacrifice the hearing process and the senses in the fire of mental control, and others \[the regulated householders] sacrifice the objects of the senses in the fire of the senses.
[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/27/) Others, who are interested in achieving self-realization through control of the mind and senses, offer the functions of all the senses, and of the life breath, as oblations into the fire of the controlled mind.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/28/) Having accepted strict vows, some become enlightened by sacrificing their possessions, and others by performing severe austerities, by practicing the yoga of eightfold mysticism, or by studying the Vedas to advance in transcendental knowledge.
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/29/) Still others, who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to remain in trance, practice by offering the movement of the outgoing breath into the incoming, and the incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Others, curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself as a sacrifice.
[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/30/) All these performers who know the meaning of sacrifice become cleansed of sinful reactions, and, having tasted the nectar of the results of sacrifices, they advance toward the supreme eternal atmosphere.
[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/31/) O best of the Kuru dynasty, without sacrifice one can never live happily on this planet or in this life: what then of the next?
[TEXT 32:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/32/) All these different types of sacrifice are approved by the Vedas, and all of them are born of different types of work. Knowing them as such, you will become liberated.
[TEXT 33:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/33/) O chastiser of the enemy, the sacrifice performed in knowledge is better than the mere sacrifice of material possessions. After all, O son of Pṛthā, all sacrifices of work culminate in transcendental knowledge.
[TEXT 34:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/34/) Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth.
[TEXT 35:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/35/) Having obtained real knowledge from a self-realized soul, you will never fall again into such illusion, for by this knowledge you will see that all living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, that they are Mine.
[TEXT 36:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/36/) Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries.
[TEXT 37:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/37/) As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities.
[TEXT 38:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/38/) In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of all mysticism. And one who has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in due course of time.
[TEXT 39:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/39/) A faithful man who is dedicated to transcendental knowledge and who subdues his senses is eligible to achieve such knowledge, and having achieved it he quickly attains the supreme spiritual peace.
[TEXT 40:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/40/) But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness; they fall down. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.
[TEXT 41:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/41/) One who acts in devotional service, renouncing the fruits of his actions, and whose doubts have been destroyed by transcendental knowledge, is situated factually in the self. Thus he is not bound by the reactions of work, O conqueror of riches.
[TEXT 42:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/4/42/) Therefore the doubts which have arisen in your heart out of ignorance should be slashed by the weapon of knowledge. Armed with yoga, O Bhārata, stand and fight.
# 05/S.T.E.P
KARMA YOGA: ACTION IN KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS
### We are active beings, constantly making plans for the future. Our thoughts become our actions, repeated actions form habits, those habits make up our character, and that character determines our destiny. As Mark Twain famously commented, *“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, but rather we are spiritual beings on a human journey.”* Every journey starts with a step and in Chapter Five Krishna explains how to take steps in the right direction. There are steps leading to further entanglement in worldly difficulties, but there are also steps leading to a life of liberation, freedom and spiritual tranquillity. The choice is ours.
## S
[**Stay in the World (1-12)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Arjuna is still confused. Despite Krishna’s explanations in Chapter Three, Arjuna still considers dutiful work and detachment from entanglement to be mutually exclusive paths. Krishna again reiterates that one who works in spiritual consciousness is automatically a renunciate. If one engages in respectable work, offering the results to God, and all the while remaining alert to the spiritual goal of life, then such work becomes worship. For most people it would be premature and immature to completely sever themselves from worldly ties in pursuance of spiritual perfection. Thus, the path of *karma-yoga* offers a progressive means of spiritual development while simultaneously staying in the world. Just as a lotus leaf is surrounded by water but remains completely dry, a *karma-yogi* stays in the world but remains untouched by materialistic influence.
## T
[**Three-Doers (13-16)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
While functioning in this world, one can easily fall into the illusion that they are the director and controller. In reality, Krishna explains that three doers are involved in any activity; the individual soul, the Supersoul, and material nature. What to speak of controlling the results of our activities, we are barely in control of our own physical and mental faculties with which we perform those activities. The individual soul can only desire. That desire is then sanctioned by God (who resides within the heart as the Supersoul). Once sanctioned, material nature arranges all the necessary facilities to perform the activity. Just as an infant lacks the ability to ride a bike but can still pretend to do so with the help of stabilisers, in this world, the individual soul is constantly supported by the Supersoul in the heart, who provides all the knowledge, inspiration and facilities to function.
## E
[**Equal Vision (17-26)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Since the Supersoul resides in every living being, the advanced spiritualist is able to see every life form, be it plant, animal, or human, as a temple of God. Different bodies are produced according to one’s past actions, yet each entity is of the same spiritual quality and offered equal respect. Thus, the spiritualist is not only free of racism, nationalism, ageism and sexism, but also ‘species-ism!’ One who sees the Supersoul everywhere also sees the hand of God, and is thus equally disposed to the constant dualities of life and even the desires which arise within oneself. We shouldn’t take the illusion too seriously!
## P
[**Peace (29)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
In touch with the eternal reality, one understands the temporary nature of our stay in this world. We come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing. In the interim, however, we claim proprietorship and develop attachments to various objects, causing us great anxiety and pain. To the extent that we develop a sense of detachment, understanding the Supreme Lord to be the proprietor and ourselves as simply caretakers, to that extent we can experience a sense of peace within. Interestingly, it is this inner peace that brings about global peace; a community of individuals who are free from attachment, greed, envy, and covetousness is what this world really needs.
> ### *“TRY NOT TO BECOME A MAN OF SUCCESS, BUT RATHER A MAN OF VALUE”* *\~ ALBERT EINSTEIN*
[^1]: **Bg 5.1-12**
**Source: ****Vedabase**
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/1/) Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, first of all You ask me to renounce work, and then again You recommend work with devotion. Now will You kindly tell me definitely which of the two is more beneficial?
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/2/) The Personality of Godhead replied: The renunciation of work and work in devotion are both good for liberation. But, of the two, work in devotional service is better than renunciation of work.
\
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/3/) One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, free from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty-armed Arjuna.
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/4/) Only the ignorant speak of devotional service \[karma-yoga] as being different from the analytical study of the material world \[Sāṅkhya]. Those who are actually learned say that he who applies himself well to one of these paths achieves the results of both.
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/5/) One who knows that the position reached by means of analytical study can also be attained by devotional service, and who therefore sees analytical study and devotional service to be on the same level, sees things as they are.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/6/) Merely renouncing all activities yet not engaging in the devotional service of the Lord cannot make one happy. But a thoughtful person engaged in devotional service can achieve the Supreme without delay.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/7/) One who works in devotion, who is a pure soul, and who controls his mind and senses is dear to everyone, and everyone is dear to him. Though always working, such a man is never entangled.
[TEXTS 8-9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/8-9/) A person in the divine consciousness, although engaged in seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving about, sleeping and breathing, always knows within himself that he actually does nothing at all. Because while speaking, evacuating, receiving, or opening or closing his eyes, he always knows that only the material senses are engaged with their objects and that he is aloof from them.
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/10/) One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme Lord, is unaffected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water.
[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/11/) The yogīs, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification.
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/12/) The steadily devoted soul attains unadulterated peace because he offers the result of all activities to Me; whereas a person who is not in union with the Divine, who is greedy for the fruits of his labor, becomes entangled.
[^2]: **Bg 5.13-16**
**Source: ****Vedabase**
[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/13/) When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates \[the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/14/) The embodied spirit, master of the city of his body, does not create activities, nor does he induce people to act, nor does he create the fruits of action. All this is enacted by the modes of material nature.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/15/) Nor does the Supreme Lord assume anyone’s sinful or pious activities. Embodied beings, however, are bewildered because of the ignorance which covers their real knowledge.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/16/) When, however, one is enlightened with the knowledge by which nescience is destroyed, then his knowledge reveals everything, as the sun lights up everything in the daytime.
[^3]: **Bg 5.17-26**
**Source: ****Vedabase**
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/17/) When one’s intelligence, mind, faith and refuge are all fixed in the Supreme, then one becomes fully cleansed of misgivings through complete knowledge and thus proceeds straight on the path of liberation.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/18/) The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater \[outcaste].
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/19/) Those whose minds are established in sameness and equanimity have already conquered the conditions of birth and death. They are flawless like Brahman, and thus they are already situated in Brahman.
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/20/) A person who neither rejoices upon achieving something pleasant nor laments upon obtaining something unpleasant, who is self-intelligent, who is unbewildered, and who knows the science of God is already situated in transcendence.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/21/) Such a liberated person is not attracted to material sense pleasure but is always in trance, enjoying the pleasure within. In this way the self-realized person enjoys unlimited happiness, for he concentrates on the Supreme.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/22/) An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kuntī, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/23/) Before giving up this present body, if one is able to tolerate the urges of the material senses and check the force of desire and anger, he is well situated and is happy in this world.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/24/) One whose happiness is within, who is active and rejoices within, and whose aim is inward is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme.
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/25/) Those who are beyond the dualities that arise from doubts, whose minds are engaged within, who are always busy working for the welfare of all living beings and who are free from all sins achieve liberation in the Supreme.
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/26/) Those who are free from anger and all material desires, who are self-realized, self-disciplined and constantly endeavoring for perfection, are assured of liberation in the Supreme in the very near future.
[^4]: **Bg 5.29**
**Source: ****Vedabase**
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/5/29/) A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.
# 06/E.A.S.Y
DHYANA YOGA
### In the previous chapter, Krishna briefly mentioned *astanga yoga* – the arduous regime of an ascetic yogi. In the present day, millions of people practice some isolated elements of this path (*hatha-yoga* and *pranayama*) to achieve physical and emotional wellbeing. In Chapter Six, however, the path of *astanga- yoga* is explained in its entirety. Krishna’s purpose in discussing the ‘eight-step path’ is primarily to establish its impracticality in the endeavour towards spiritual perfection. In an age surcharged with temptation, disturbance, and spiritual weakness, the easiest (and most advanced) path of self-realisation is *bhakti-yoga.*
## E
[**Enemy or Friend? (1-9)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
As spiritual beings, particles of consciousness, we possess two bodies, gross and subtle. The gross comprises of the visible physical frame, while the subtle consists of the invisible mind, intelligence and ego. The subtle body acts as an interface between the spirit and the gross. As spiritual beings, if we’re able to appropriately direct the mind, it acts as a friend which supports and empowers us in the progressive journey of life. If not, the mind can deviate, discourage and damage us. From day-to-day, hour-to-hour and moment-to-moment, it can operate as the unseen enemy within. To be successful in any sphere of life, one must learn the art of mental tranquillity.
## A
[**Astanga-Yoga (10-36)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
One way to control the mind is through the process of *astanga-yoga* (which includes *dhyana-yoga*, the practice of meditation). Krishna explains how the ancient path was practised in bygone ages. Living in seclusion, practising celibacy, and under strict regulations of eating and sleeping, the yogi would sit in a perfectly erect position, focusing his consciousness on the Supersoul within. Oblivious to mental and bodily distraction, the focused yogi would unwaveringly meditate for many years, maintaining complete stillness, silence and serenity. This is known as *samadhi*, or spiritual trance. After hearing of this strict discipline, Arjuna frankly admits his inability – *“This practice seems impractical and unendurable!”* he says, *“to discipline the mind is more difficult than controlling the wind!”* Krishna reasserts that disciplining the mind is essential and possible, provided one has the appropriate spiritual practice and discipline.
## S
[**Success & Failure (37-45)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Hearing about the difficulty of *astanga-yoga* causes Arjuna to doubt himself. What happens if one faithfully takes to the yogic process, but later falls away without perfecting his spiritual consciousness? Arjuna is concerned that the unsuccessful spiritualist is seemingly left in ‘no-man’s land,’ having failed to attain spiritual satisfaction and simultaneously squandered his opportunities for worldly pleasure. Krishna allays all such fears by explaining the eternal benefit of any spiritual endeavour, even if it doesn’t come to the perfectional stage. If we don’t complete the spiritual journey in one lifetime, we carry on in the next life from the same point, taking birth in a situation which facilitates our progressive spiritual evolution.
## Y
[**Yogi (46-47)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
After summarising the arduous process of *dhyana-yoga* (meditation) and *astanga-yoga*, the chapter concludes with a ray of hope. The perfection and goal of all yoga systems is to help the individual become fully conscious of God at all times. While every yoga system is certainly beneficial, the most advanced, efficient and easiest path is known as *bhakti-yoga* (the yoga of devotion). In this age, the primary practice of *bhakti-yoga* is *mantra* meditation - chanting the names of God (***Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare***). Through this process any person, from any background, can attain spiritual perfection and experience all the benefits described in this chapter and elsewhere.
> ### *“ALL BATTLES ARE FIRST WON OR LOST, IN THE MIND.”* *\~ JOAN OF ARC*
[^1]: **Bg. 6.1 - 6.9**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/1/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic, not he who lights no fire and performs no duty.
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/2/) What is called renunciation you should know to be the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, O son of Pāṇḍu, for one can never become a yogī unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification.
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/3/) For one who is a neophyte in the eightfold yoga system, work is said to be the means; and for one who is already elevated in yoga, cessation of all material activities is said to be the means.
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/4/) A person is said to be elevated in yoga when, having renounced all material desires, he neither acts for sense gratification nor engages in fruitive activities.
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/5/) One must deliver himself with the help of his mind, and not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/6/) For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/7/) For one who has conquered the mind, the Supersoul is already reached, for he has attained tranquillity. To such a man happiness and distress, heat and cold, honor and dishonor are all the same.
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/8/) A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogī \[or mystic] when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything – whether it be pebbles, stones or gold – as the same.
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/9/) A person is considered still further advanced when he regards honest well-wishers, affectionate benefactors, the neutral, mediators, the envious, friends and enemies, the pious and the sinners all with an equal mind.
[^2]: **Bg. 6.10 - 6.36**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/)
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/10/) A transcendentalist should always engage his body, mind and self in relationship with the Supreme; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from desires and feelings of possessiveness.
[TEXTS 11-12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/11-12/) To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kuśa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should be neither too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogī should then sit on it very firmly and practice yoga to purify the heart by controlling his mind, senses and activities and fixing the mind on one point.
[TEXTS 13-14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/13-14/) One should hold one’s body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose. Thus, with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/15/) Thus practicing constant control of the body, mind and activities, the mystic transcendentalist, his mind regulated, attains to the kingdom of God \[or the abode of Kṛṣṇa] by cessation of material existence.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/16/) There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogī, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/17/) He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/18/) When the yogī, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in transcendence – devoid of all material desires – he is said to be well established in yoga.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/19/) As a lamp in a windless place does not waver, so the transcendentalist, whose mind is controlled, remains always steady in his meditation on the transcendent Self.
[TEXTS 20-23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/20-23/) In the stage of perfection called trance, or samādhi, one’s mind is completely restrained from material mental activities by practice of yoga. This perfection is characterized by one’s ability to see the Self by the pure mind and to relish and rejoice in the Self. In that joyous state, one is situated in boundless transcendental happiness, realized through transcendental senses. Established thus, one never departs from the truth, and upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain. Being situated in such a position, one is never shaken, even in the midst of greatest difficulty. This indeed is actual freedom from all miseries arising from material contact.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/24/) One should engage oneself in the practice of yoga with determination and faith and not be deviated from the path. One should abandon, without exception, all material desires born of mental speculation and thus control all the senses on all sides by the mind.
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/25/) Gradually, step by step, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence sustained by full conviction, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone and should think of nothing else.
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/26/) From wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self.
[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/27/) The yogī whose mind is fixed on Me verily attains the highest perfection of transcendental happiness. He is beyond the mode of passion, he realizes his qualitative identity with the Supreme, and thus he is freed from all reactions to past deeds.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/28/) Thus the self-controlled yogī, constantly engaged in yoga practice, becomes free from all material contamination and achieves the highest stage of perfect happiness in transcendental loving service to the Lord.
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/29/) A true yogī observes Me in all beings and also sees every being in Me. Indeed, the self-realized person sees Me, the same Supreme Lord, everywhere.
[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/30/) For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.
[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/31/) Such a yogī, who engages in the worshipful service of the Supersoul, knowing that I and the Supersoul are one, remains always in Me in all circumstances.
[TEXT 32:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/32/) He is a perfect yogī who, by comparison to his own self, sees the true equality of all beings, in both their happiness and their distress, O Arjuna!
[TEXT 33:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/33/) Arjuna said: O Madhusūdana, the system of yoga which You have summarized appears impractical and unendurable to me, for the mind is restless and unsteady.
[TEXT 34:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/34/) The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it, I think, is more difficult than controlling the wind.
[TEXT 35:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/35/) Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: O mighty-armed son of Kuntī, it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the restless mind, but it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment.
[TEXT 36:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/36/) For one whose mind is unbridled, self-realization is difficult work. But he whose mind is controlled and who strives by appropriate means is assured of success. That is My opinion.
[^3]: **Bg. 6.37 - 6.45**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/)
[TEXT 37:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/37/) Arjuna said: O Kṛṣṇa, what is the destination of the unsuccessful transcendentalist, who in the beginning takes to the process of self-realization with faith but who later desists due to worldly-mindedness and thus does not attain perfection in mysticism?
[TEXT 38:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/38/) O mighty-armed Kṛṣṇa, does not such a man, who is bewildered from the path of transcendence, fall away from both spiritual and material success and perish like a riven cloud, with no position in any sphere?
[TEXT 39:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/39/) This is my doubt, O Kṛṣṇa, and I ask You to dispel it completely. But for You, no one is to be found who can destroy this doubt.
[TEXT 40:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/40/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Son of Pṛthā, a transcendentalist engaged in auspicious activities does not meet with destruction either in this world or in the spiritual world; one who does good, My friend, is never overcome by evil.
[TEXT 41:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/41/) The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.
[TEXT 42:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/42/) Or \[if unsuccessful after long practice of yoga] he takes his birth in a family of transcendentalists who are surely great in wisdom. Certainly, such a birth is rare in this world.
[TEXT 43:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/43/) On taking such a birth, he revives the divine consciousness of his previous life, and he again tries to make further progress in order to achieve complete success, O son of Kuru.
[TEXT 44:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/44/) By virtue of the divine consciousness of his previous life, he automatically becomes attracted to the yogic principles – even without seeking them. Such an inquisitive transcendentalist stands always above the ritualistic principles of the scriptures.
[TEXT 45:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/45/) And when the yogī engages himself with sincere endeavor in making further progress, being washed of all contaminations, then ultimately, achieving perfection after many, many births of practice, he attains the supreme goal.
[^4]: **Bg. 6.46 - 6.47**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/)
[TEXT 46:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/46/) A yogī is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist and greater than the fruitive worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all circumstances, be a yogī.
[TEXT 47:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/47/) And of all yogīs, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself and renders transcendental loving service to Me – he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion.
# 07/H.E.A.D
KNOWLEDGE OF THE ABSOLUTE
### Whether it’s a holiday destination, the choice of university for further studies, or the restaurant for next week’s party, most things in life require some research. While we value our gut feelings, we simultaneously utilise our intelligence and exercise discrimination. The same goes for spirituality. It is not simply an emotional feeling or practice; it requires intelligent research and information gathering. It is an affair of the head and the heart. Einstein once stated that religious practice without philosophy was simply sentimental, and in more acute situations, downright fanatic. In Chapter Seven, entitled “Knowledge of the Absolute”, we learn key philosophical truths which instil confidence and conviction in the path of devotion to Krishna.
## H
[**Hearing (1-3)** ](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
If we begin by hearing, studying and understanding God in depth and detail, then the prospect of finding Him becomes a distinct possibility. He may well be closer than we think, but without the necessary information, we’ll be completely oblivious to the fact. For example, if you wanted to identify your father, the most practical way would be to ask your mother. You could subsequently verify by a DNA test. If you wanted to find out what BBC1 was showing tonight, the obvious approach would be to consult a TV guide. You could subsequently verify by actually watching the programmes. It’s childish and irrational to solely depend on our sensory experience. Accepting a ‘higher authority,’ be it the mother or the TV guide, opens up opportunities to experience and understand things directly. Krishna begins this chapter by stressing the absolute necessity of hearing from spiritual sources, higher authorities, to grasp cosmic truths. This is known as the descending path of knowledge.
## E
[**Everywhere (4-12)** ](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
By hearing from authorised spiritual sources one can acquire Absolute knowledge of Divinity. Krishna cites the beautiful analogy of a pearl necklace. The pearls are fixed in perfect pattern, arranged as a beautiful necklace, though the thread, the essential binding factor, remains completely invisible. Similarly, God designs, creates and sustains the complex workings of the universe, yet remains invisible to the immature observer. The extreme intricacy and sophistication of the creation, however, naturally indicates the existence of higher intelligence. Krishna further explains how He is also the essence of everything within creation – the taste of water, the light of the sun and the ability in man. Through the eyes of knowledge, one can learn to see God everywhere – as the source of creation, and also within the creation.
## A
[**Accept or Reject (13-19)** ](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
If God can be perceived everywhere and His existence is so strikingly obvious, why is there still wholesale denial of Him? Resisting forceful compliance, Krishna endows each individual with the free will to ‘fly their own plane’ and decide where to repose their faith. He describes the four types of people who reject God due to their preoccupation in worldly pursuits, and the four types of people who do accept God, albeit with different motivations. Only a rare soul is able to approach God without any ulterior motive, and thus enter into a selfless relationship of love. That level of spiritual purity, Krishna says, may take thousands of births.
## D
[**Demigods (20-30)** ](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
Some worship God, while others reject him. In between however, are who worship His representatives (the demigods), and those who connect with His Impersonal feature. Those who worship demigods only derive temporary material benefits. Those who approach the Impersonal feature lose the opportunity of experiencing a direct loving relationship with the Supreme Person. Thus, although all religiosity deserves credit, one must go further and gain an accurate and precise understanding of God’s identity. If you were to be operated on, you would insist the surgeon be well-versed in the details and intricacies of the process. It is, after all, a matter of life and death. Similarly, to simply believe in God is not enough; one must understand the nature, identity and personality of God, since the vibrancy of one’s spirituality depends on it.
> ### *“PEOPLE ARE STRANGE. THEY ARE CONSTANTLY ANGERED BY TRIVIAL THINGS, BUT ON MAJOR MATTERS LIKE TOTALLY WASTING THEIR LIVES, THEY HARDLY SEEM TO NOTICE”* *\~ CHARLES BUKOWSKI*
[^1]: **Bg. 7.1 - 7.3**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/1/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Now hear, O son of Pṛthā, how by practicing yoga in full consciousness of Me, with mind attached to Me, you can know Me in full, free from doubt.
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/2/) I shall now declare unto you in full this knowledge, both phenomenal and numinous. This being known, nothing further shall remain for you to know.
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/3/) Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth.
[^2]: **Bg. 7.4 - 7.12**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/)
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/4/) Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego – all together these eight constitute My separated material energies.
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/5/) Besides these, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is another, superior energy of Mine, which comprises the living entities who are exploiting the resources of this material, inferior nature.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/6/) All created beings have their source in these two natures. Of all that is material and all that is spiritual in this world, know for certain that I am both the origin and the dissolution.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/7/) O conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/8/) O son of Kuntī, I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable oṁ in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man.
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/9/) I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the heat in fire. I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics.
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/10/) O son of Pṛthā, know that I am the original seed of all existences, the intelligence of the intelligent, and the prowess of all powerful men.
[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/11/) I am the strength of the strong, devoid of passion and desire. I am sex life which is not contrary to religious principles, O lord of the Bhāratas \[Arjuna].
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/12/) Know that all states of being – be they of goodness, passion or ignorance – are manifested by My energy. I am, in one sense, everything, but I am independent. I am not under the modes of material nature, for they, on the contrary, are within Me.
[^3]: **Bg. 7.13 - 7.19**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/)
[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/13/) Deluded by the three modes \[goodness, passion and ignorance], the whole world does not know Me, who am above the modes and inexhaustible.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/14/) This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/15/) Those miscreants who are grossly foolish, who are lowest among mankind, whose knowledge is stolen by illusion, and who partake of the atheistic nature of demons do not surrender unto Me.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/16/) O best among the Bhāratas, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me – the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/17/) Of these, the one who is in full knowledge and who is always engaged in pure devotional service is the best. For I am very dear to him, and he is dear to Me.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/18/) All these devotees are undoubtedly magnanimous souls, but he who is situated in knowledge of Me I consider to be just like My own self. Being engaged in My transcendental service, he is sure to attain Me, the highest and most perfect goal.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/19/) After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.
[^4]: **Bg. 7.20 - 7.30**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/)
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/20/) Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/21/) I am in everyone’s heart as the Supersoul. As soon as one desires to worship some demigod, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to that particular deity.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/22/) Endowed with such a faith, he endeavors to worship a particular demigod and obtains his desires. But in actuality these benefits are bestowed by Me alone.
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/23/) Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/24/) Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/25/) I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible.
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/26/) O Arjuna, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows.
[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/27/) O scion of Bharata, O conqueror of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, bewildered by dualities arisen from desire and hate.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/28/) Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life and whose sinful actions are completely eradicated are freed from the dualities of delusion, and they engage themselves in My service with determination.
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/29/) Intelligent persons who are endeavoring for liberation from old age and death take refuge in Me in devotional service. They are actually Brahman because they entirely know everything about transcendental activities.
[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/7/30/) Those in full consciousness of Me, who know Me, the Supreme Lord, to be the governing principle of the material manifestation, of the demigods, and of all methods of sacrifice, can understand and know Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, even at the time of death.
# 08/D.E.A.D
ATTAINING THE SUPREME
### It is a sign of sanity and wisdom if one takes time to contemplate their death. During yearly festivals, Latin Americans hang skulls in their houses to remind themselves. Yogis in India meditate on the banks of the Ganges where open-pyre funerals are being conducted. Although many would consider it morbid to contemplate death, it remains an uncomfortable reality of life – nobody wants it, but everyone has to face it. The Bhagavad-gita directly addresses the subject of death – how to prepare for it, what happens at that fateful moment, and what lies beyond. The thought of death need not be seen as an inconvenient truth, but rather the ultimate meditation to reinstate clarity and perspective into every aspect of our life.
## D
[**Doubts (1-4)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Doubting is a function of intelligence, and at no point in the Bhagavad-gita does Krishna reprimand Arjuna for his numerous inquiries. Krishna welcomes the dialogue, and encourages Arjuna to consider His answers and make his own decisions. This chapter begins with Arjuna’s queries on several spiritual concepts. Krishna answers seven of Arjuna’s eight questions immediately, and then dedicates the majority of the chapter to his final question - *“How can one attain a spiritual destination at the time of death?"*
## E
[**End of Life (5-8)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
Krishna explains how a person’s thoughts at the time of death sum up their consciousness and aspirations cultivated throughout life. Thus, one’s state of mind at the critical moment of departure determines the next life situation - those who remember God at death reach the kingdom of God. One may spend decades at school, but if they’re lazy, inattentive and apathetic in their studies, they won’t pass the final exam. They’ll have to retake. Similarly, the success of life is measured by how well we perform in the final exam; death. How we perform in the final exam is dependent on how diligently we prepare ourselves during the course of life. We must live with the end in mind.
## A
[**Attaining the Supreme (9-22)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
This material world is simply a temporary university designed to dispense life lessons. Experiencing the frustration and emptiness of material life, we begin looking for something beyond. C.S Lewis once said: *“If I find within myself a desire which no experience in this world can fulfil, I must conclude I was made of another world.”* As spiritual beings, life in an artificial world of matter is an incompatible situation. While the material world is rubber-stamped as a constantly changing place of misery, the spiritual world is distinguished as an eternal, all-blissful abode. There are many painstaking ways in which spiritualists attempt to attain that supreme destination, and if they are indeed successful, they never return to this temporary world again.
## D
[**Devotion (23-28)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
Since various spiritual practices have been discussed in this chapter, Krishna concludes by outlining the most effective process to attain the Supreme. *Bhakti-yoga*, the path of active service to God in a mood of devotion, is described as the most evolved spiritual path. In an age of rampant materialism and temptation, coupled with individual weakness and spiritual apathy, a highly practical and powerful spiritual process is required. Through *bhakti-yoga*, anyone can experience genuine spiritual connection very quickly. If one can consistently and progressively saturate their consciousness in Krishna, they can remember Him at the time of passing, and thus attain the supreme destination, circumventing all the technicalities and details that other spiritual processes may stress.
> ### *“REMEMBERING THAT I’LL BE DEAD SOON IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL I’VE EVER ENCOUNTERED TO HELP ME MAKE THE BIG CHOICES IN LIFE. ALMOST EVERYTHING - ALL EXTERNAL EXPECTATIONS, ALL PRIDE, ALL FEAR OF EMBARRASSMENT OR FAILURE - THESE THINGS JUST FALL AWAY IN THE FACE OF DEATH, LEAVING ONLY WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT. REMEMBERING THAT YOU ARE GOING TO DIE IS THE BEST WAY I KNOW TO AVOID THE TRAP OF THINKING YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO LOSE. YOU ARE ALREADY NAKED. THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART.”*
>
> ### *\~ STEVE JOBS*
[^1]: **Bg. 8.1 - 8.4**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/1/) Arjuna inquired: O my Lord, O Supreme Person, what is Brahman? What is the self? What are fruitive activities? What is this material manifestation? And what are the demigods? Please explain this to me.
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/2/) Who is the Lord of sacrifice, and how does He live in the body, O Madhusūdana? And how can those engaged in devotional service know You at the time of death?
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/3/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The indestructible, transcendental living entity is called Brahman, and his eternal nature is called adhyātma, the self. Action pertaining to the development of the material bodies of the living entities is called karma, or fruitive activities.
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/4/) O best of the embodied beings, the physical nature, which is constantly changing, is called adhibhūta \[the material manifestation]. The universal form of the Lord, which includes all the demigods, like those of the sun and moon, is called adhidaiva. And I, the Supreme Lord, represented as the Supersoul in the heart of every embodied being, am called adhiyajña \[the Lord of sacrifice].
[^2]: **Bg. 8.5 - 8.8**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/)
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/5/) And whoever, at the end of his life, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/6/) Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, O son of Kuntī, that state he will attain without fail.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/7/) Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of Kṛṣṇa and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/8/) He who meditates on Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Pārtha, is sure to reach Me.
[^3]: **Bg. 8.9 - 8.22**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/)
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/9/) One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun, and He is transcendental, beyond this material nature.
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/10/) One who, at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and, by the strength of yoga, with an undeviating mind, engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord in full devotion, will certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/11/) Persons who are learned in the Vedas, who utter oṁ-kāra, and who are great sages in the renounced order enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now briefly explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation.
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/12/) The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in yoga.
[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/13/) After being situated in this yoga practice and vibrating the sacred syllable oṁ, the supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/14/) For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/15/) After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogīs in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/16/) From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kuntī, never takes birth again.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/17/) By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together form the duration of Brahmā’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/18/) At the beginning of Brahmā’s day, all living entities become manifest from the unmanifest state, and thereafter, when the night falls, they are merged into the unmanifest again.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/19/) Again and again, when Brahmā’s day arrives, all living entities come into being, and with the arrival of Brahmā’s night they are helplessly annihilated.
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/20/) Yet there is another unmanifest nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and unmanifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/21/) That which the Vedāntists describe as unmanifest and infallible, that which is known as the supreme destination, that place from which, having attained it, one never returns – that is My supreme abode.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/22/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is greater than all, is attainable by unalloyed devotion. Although He is present in His abode, He is all-pervading, and everything is situated within Him.
[^4]: **Bg. 8.23 - 8.28**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/)
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/23/) O best of the Bhāratas, I shall now explain to you the different times at which, passing away from this world, the yogī does or does not come back.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/24/) Those who know the Supreme Brahman attain that Supreme by passing away from the world during the influence of the fiery god, in the light, at an auspicious moment of the day, during the fortnight of the waxing moon, or during the six months when the sun travels in the north.
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/25/) The mystic who passes away from this world during the smoke, the night, the fortnight of the waning moon, or the six months when the sun passes to the south reaches the moon planet but again comes back.
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/26/) According to Vedic opinion, there are two ways of passing from this world – one in light and one in darkness. When one passes in light, he does not come back; but when one passes in darkness, he returns.
[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/27/) Although the devotees know these two paths, O Arjuna, they are never bewildered. Therefore be always fixed in devotion.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/8/28/) A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing sacrifices, undergoing austerities, giving charity or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. Simply by performing devotional service, he attains all these, and at the end he reaches the supreme eternal abode.
# 09/K.I.N.G
THE MOST CONFIDENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
### Valuable things are generally not openly exposed - pearls are hidden within a shell, royalty is surrounded by an entourage. In the same way, the essence of the Bhagavad-gita is nestled in the middle of the conversation - the Ninth Chapter. Here, Krishna outlines the 'king' of all knowledge and the most secret of all secrets. He explains the essence of the Bhagavad-gita, guiding us to that which will fulfil us in the deepest core of our hearts.
## **K**
[**Knowledge (1-3)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
There is a notion that belief in God is intellectually immature or philosophically naive. Logical and rational analysis of the complexity, design and intricate engineering of this creation, however, makes plain that there must be some conscious intelligence behind it. To categorically deny this suggests a stubborn, irrational and illogical predisposition. Krishna thus explains that this knowledge is state-specific - one must be non-envious and faithful to understand it. Faith is not opposed to knowledge, but is actually a prerequisite for receiving it.
## **I**
[**Inconceivable Relationships (4-10)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
Grasping these truths, however, is not straightforward. Just as a child is conceived within the womb, an idea is conceived within the mind. In other words, a concept is contained within something. Since the qualities and characteristics of the Lord, however, are unlimited, they cannot be contained within any boundaries, and thus God's activities and relationships are deemed inconceivable. In this section, Krishna begins to impart knowledge of His inconceivable relationships with the universe and all living entities. This knowledge gives an indication of the unfathomable nature of Divinity, and thus exposes our inability to comprehend such matters using mundane logic and reason.
## N
[**Non-Worship (11-25)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Even after exhaustively hearing about the glories and wonder of God's personal form, there are many who still misunderstand Him. Because Krishna appears in a 'humanlike' form, some deem Him an ordinary human being and believe a personal form of God to be an elementary and preparatory concept. Others believe that God manifests innumerable forms represented by the various demigods, each of whom are worthy of worship. Others cannot perceive of anything beyond this universe, and therefore consider the cosmos to be the supreme object of worship. All such persons sidestep the worship of the Supreme Personality, whom one can see face-to-face and have a relationship with. It is not that all paths lead to the same destination, but rather that Krishna awards different results based on the motivation and understanding behind one's worship.
## G
[**Glories of Bhakti (26-34)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
Krishna thus establishes the personal form of God to be the highest and most complete manifestation of the Supreme. The greater something is, the higher the qualification to achieve it. To get into a good university you need higher grades. To buy a bigger house you need greater funds. Similarly, to approach God in the most intimate and personal way, one requires the greatest qualification - complete purity of consciousness, without any tinge of selfish motivation. Krishna explains that such purity is characterised by complete immersion of mind, body and words in selfless devotional service - hour after hour, day after day, year after year. This is Krishna consciousness, and this is the perfectional climax of the Bhagavad-gita.
> ### *"THE GOOD LIFE IS ONE INSPIRED BY LOVE AND GUIDED BY KNOWLEDGE"*
>
> ### *\~ BERTRAND RUSSEL*
[^1]: **Bg. 9.1 - 9.3**\
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/1/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/2/) This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/3/) Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.
[^2]: **Bg. 9.4 - 9.10**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/)
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/4/) By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/5/) And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everywhere, I am not a part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/6/) Understand that as the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, rests always in the sky, all created beings rest in Me.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/7/) O son of Kuntī, at the end of the millennium all material manifestations enter into My nature, and at the beginning of another millennium, by My potency, I create them again.
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/8/) The whole cosmic order is under Me. Under My will it is automatically manifested again and again, and under My will it is annihilated at the end.
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/9/) O Dhanañjaya, all this work cannot bind Me. I am ever detached from all these material activities, seated as though neutral.
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/10/) This material nature, which is one of My energies, is working under My direction, O son of Kuntī, producing all moving and nonmoving beings. Under its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.
[^3]: **Bg. 9.11 - 9.25**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/)
[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/11/) Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be.
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/12/) Those who are thus bewildered are attracted by demonic and atheistic views. In that deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their fruitive activities, and their culture of knowledge are all defeated.
[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/13/) O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/14/) Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/15/) Others, who engage in sacrifice by the cultivation of knowledge, worship the Supreme Lord as the one without a second, as diverse in many, and in the universal form.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/16/) But it is I who am the ritual, I the sacrifice, the offering to the ancestors, the healing herb, the transcendental chant. I am the butter and the fire and the offering.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/17/) I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oṁ. I am also the Ṛg, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/18/) I am the goal, the sustainer, the master, the witness, the abode, the refuge and the most dear friend. I am the creation and the annihilation, the basis of everything, the resting place and the eternal seed.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/19/) O Arjuna, I give heat, and I withhold and send forth the rain. I am immortality, and I am also death personified. Both spirit and matter are in Me.
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/20/) Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. Purified of sinful reactions, they take birth on the pious, heavenly planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/21/) When they have thus enjoyed vast heavenly sense pleasure and the results of their pious activities are exhausted, they return to this mortal planet again. Thus those who seek sense enjoyment by adhering to the principles of the three Vedas achieve only repeated birth and death.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/22/) But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/23/) Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/24/) I am the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices. Therefore, those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down.
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/25/) Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me.
[^4]: **Bg. 9.26 - 9.34**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/)
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/26/) If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, I will accept it.
[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/27/) Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, and whatever austerities you perform – do that, O son of Kuntī, as an offering to Me.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/28/) In this way you will be freed from bondage to work and its auspicious and inauspicious results. With your mind fixed on Me in this principle of renunciation, you will be liberated and come to Me.
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/29/) I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.
[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/30/) Even if one commits the most abominable action, if he is engaged in devotional service he is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination.
[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/31/) He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.
[TEXT 32:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/32/) O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth – women, vaiśyas \[merchants] and śūdras \[workers] – can attain the supreme destination.
[TEXT 33:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/33/) How much more this is so of the righteous brāhmaṇas, the devotees and the saintly kings. Therefore, having come to this temporary, miserable world, engage in loving service unto Me.
[TEXT 34:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/9/34/) Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me.
# 10/S.E.E
THE OPULENCE OF THE ABSOLUTE
### People yearn for a direct experience and perception of things. The fact that we cannot see God at work, that He hasn’t appeared in person before our eyes, relating to us face-to-face, seems to be a major sticking point. “Show me God, and then I’ll believe in Him,” the sceptics posit. In Chapter Ten, Krishna again explains how the spiritualist can simultaneously perceive God as the source of the creation and also see God within the creation. This, however, requires more than an intellectual understanding. It actually calls for transformation of one's consciousness and purification of the senses.
## S
[**Source of Everything (1-7)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Modern science follows the methodology of ascending knowledge, attempting to grasp the totality of reality by empirical research and experimentation. Krishna exposes the limitation of this approach. He explains how something which has been created cannot understand its source independently. For example, if one wanted to ascertain the identity of their father using a purely experimental approach, it would be incredibly impractical and most likely inconclusive. However, if one accepted the testimony of their mother first, and subsequently experimented, such an approach would more likely be successful. Similarly, since all material and spiritual creations have their source in Divinity, it is only by approaching Divinity that one can truly understand their identity and purpose. This is known as descending knowledge.
## E
[**Essence of Gita (8-11)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
This knowledge, which is divided into three essential stages, is summarised in four essential verses of the Bhagavad-gita. The first stage in entitled *sambandha,* or knowledge of one's relationship with God and the universe. The second stage is the practice and application of such knowledge in one's daily life, technically known as *abhideya*. The third stage is the mature fruit of such practice, which is pure spiritual awakening and unbounded love of God. This is known as *prayojana.* The Bhagavad-gita can thus be viewed as a spiritual science since there is hypothesis (*sambandha*), experiment (*abhideya*) and observation/conclusion (*prayojana*). These four verses (8-11) give a roadmap of spirituality from beginning to end.
## E
[**Everywhere (12-42)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Arjuna charmed by Krishna’s wisdom and personality, requests Him to elaborate further on His characteristics and qualities. In response, Krishna describes the most prominent among His limitless, all pervading opulences. He thus explains how one can think about Him, meditate on Him and see Him everywhere. It is not that Krishna is physically all the things He mentions, but rather that He is the very essence of them - the outstanding and extraordinary essence that makes them so special. After naming 82 opulences, Krishna concludes by stating that these simply hint at His glory since He pervades and supports the entire universe with a mere fragment of His energy. Thus, when one becomes equipped with eyes of knowledge and a heart of devotion, they see Krishna in all times, places and circumstances. Others, however, see but don’t see.
> ### *"WORSE THAN BEING BLIND, IS TO HAVE SIGHT BUT NO VISION."*
>
> ### *- HELLEN KELLER*
[^1]: **Bg. 10.1 - 10.7**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/1/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Listen again, O mighty-armed Arjuna. Because you are My dear friend, for your benefit I shall speak to you further, giving knowledge that is better than what I have already explained.
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/2/) Neither the hosts of demigods nor the great sages know My origin or opulences, for, in every respect, I am the source of the demigods and sages.
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/3/) He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginningless, as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds – he only, undeluded among men, is freed from all sins.
[TEXTS 4-5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/4-5/) Intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, control of the senses, control of the mind, happiness and distress, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, nonviolence, equanimity, satisfaction, austerity, charity, fame and infamy – all these various qualities of living beings are created by Me alone.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/6/) The seven great sages and before them the four other great sages and the Manus \[progenitors of mankind] come from Me, born from My mind, and all the living beings populating the various planets descend from them.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/7/) One who is factually convinced of this opulence and mystic power of Mine engages in unalloyed devotional service; of this there is no doubt.
[^2]: **Bg. 10.8 - 10.11**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/)
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/8/) I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from Me. The wise who perfectly know this engage in My devotional service and worship Me with all their hearts.
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/9/) The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are fully devoted to My service, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss from always enlightening one another and conversing about Me.
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/10/) To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/11/) To show them special mercy, I, dwelling in their hearts, destroy with the shining lamp of knowledge the darkness born of ignorance.
[^3]: **Bg. 10.12 - 10.42**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/)
[TEXTS 12-13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/12-13/) Arjuna said: You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala and Vyāsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/14/) O Kṛṣṇa, I totally accept as truth all that You have told me. Neither the demigods nor the demons, O Lord, can understand Your personality.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/15/) Indeed, You alone know Yourself by Your own internal potency, O Supreme Person, origin of all, Lord of all beings, God of gods, Lord of the universe!
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/16/) Please tell me in detail of Your divine opulences by which You pervade all these worlds.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/17/) O Kṛṣṇa, O supreme mystic, how shall I constantly think of You, and how shall I know You? In what various forms are You to be remembered, O Supreme Personality of Godhead?
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/18/) O Janārdana, again please describe in detail the mystic power of Your opulences. I am never satiated in hearing about You, for the more I hear the more I want to taste the nectar of Your words.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/19/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Yes, I will tell you of My splendorous manifestations, but only of those which are prominent, O Arjuna, for My opulence is limitless.
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/20/) I am the Supersoul, O Arjuna, seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/21/) Of the Ādityas I am Viṣṇu, of lights I am the radiant sun, of the Maruts I am Marīci, and among the stars I am the moon.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/22/) Of the Vedas I am the Sāma Veda; of the demigods I am Indra, the king of heaven; of the senses I am the mind; and in living beings I am the living force \[consciousness].
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/23/) Of all the Rudras I am Lord Śiva, of the Yakṣas and Rākṣasas I am the Lord of wealth \[Kuvera], of the Vasus I am fire \[Agni], and of mountains I am Meru.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/24/) Of priests, O Arjuna, know Me to be the chief, Bṛhaspati. Of generals I am Kārttikeya, and of bodies of water I am the ocean.
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/25/) Of the great sages I am Bhṛgu; of vibrations I am the transcendental oṁ. Of sacrifices I am the chanting of the holy names \[japa], and of immovable things I am the Himālayas.
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/26/) Of all trees I am the banyan tree, and of the sages among the demigods I am Nārada. Of the Gandharvas I am Citraratha, and among perfected beings I am the sage Kapila.
[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/27/) Of horses know Me to be Uccaiḥśravā, produced during the churning of the ocean for nectar. Of lordly elephants I am Airāvata, and among men I am the monarch.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/28/) Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows I am the surabhi. Of causes for procreation I am Kandarpa, the god of love, and of serpents I am Vāsuki.
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/29/) Of the many-hooded Nāgas I am Ananta, and among the aquatics I am the demigod Varuṇa. Of departed ancestors I am Aryamā, and among the dispensers of law I am Yama, the lord of death.
[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/30/) Among the Daitya demons I am the devoted Prahlāda, among subduers I am time, among beasts I am the lion, and among birds I am Garuḍa.
[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/31/) Of purifiers I am the wind, of the wielders of weapons I am Rāma, of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges.
[TEXT 32:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/32/) Of all creations I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, O Arjuna. Of all sciences I am the spiritual science of the self, and among logicians I am the conclusive truth.
[TEXT 33:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/33/) Of letters I am the letter A, and among compound words I am the dual compound. I am also inexhaustible time, and of creators I am Brahmā.
[TEXT 34:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/34/) I am all-devouring death, and I am the generating principle of all that is yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech, memory, intelligence, steadfastness and patience.
[TEXT 35:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/35/) Of the hymns in the Sāma Veda I am the Bṛhat-sāma, and of poetry I am the Gāyatrī. Of months I am Mārgaśīrṣa \[November-December], and of seasons I am flower-bearing spring.
[TEXT 36:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/36/) I am also the gambling of cheats, and of the splendid I am the splendor. I am victory, I am adventure, and I am the strength of the strong.
[TEXT 37:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/37/) Of the descendants of Vṛṣṇi I am Vāsudeva, and of the Pāṇḍavas I am Arjuna. Of the sages I am Vyāsa, and among great thinkers I am Uśanā.
[TEXT 38:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/38/) Among all means of suppressing lawlessness I am punishment, and of those who seek victory I am morality. Of secret things I am silence, and of the wise I am the wisdom.
[TEXT 39:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/39/) Furthermore, O Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being – moving or nonmoving – that can exist without Me.
[TEXT 40:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/40/) O mighty conqueror of enemies, there is no end to My divine manifestations. What I have spoken to you is but a mere indication of My infinite opulences.
[TEXT 41:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/41/) Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor.
[TEXT 42:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/10/42/) But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.
# 11/R.U.P.A
THE UNIVERSAL FORM
### The Sanskrit word *rupa* means "form." One of the most intricate theological debates is the question over whether God is personal or impersonal. Some argue that accepting a personal form of God amounts to anthropomorphic projection of our human qualities onto Him. Others say that the impersonal doesn’t allow for fullest exchange of love between the soul and God. Krishna confirms in numerous passages of the Bhagavad-gita that He manifests in many ways, impersonally and personally. He categorically establishes that the personal is the original form and the basis of the impersonal. This is further confirmed Chapter Eleven, after Krishna displays another of his innumerable forms known as the *visva-rupa*, the universal form.
## R
[**Request (1-4)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Now appreciating Krishna’s Divinity, Arjuna requests Him to reveal how He has entered the universe. *What is his purpose in requesting such a vision, especially since he already accepts Krishna as the Supreme Truth?* Firstly, he wants to emphatically prove without any doubt that Krishna is indeed the source of the creation. Furthermore, he wants to establish a criteria for those in the future who may claim to be God, to also manifest such a mystical feat. Unfortunately, our modern world is plagued with so-called incarnations and God-men claiming Divine status by dint of magical trickery, subtle powers, charismatic conduct, or simply popular vote.
## U
[**Universal Form (5-14)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
Krishna equips Arjuna with heavenly vision and displays His inconceivable feature known as the Universal Form. Within it, Arjuna witnesses the entirety of creation, all the planets, demigods and living entities, and the entire sequence of past, present and future. When Krishna exhibits the Universal Form, His Divinity and Supremacy become crystal clear. While God is the source of this universe, He is simultaneously the universe itself, in the sense that He is present within His own creation. For example, in an author’s writings we can perceive their presence – the effect (writings) tells us something about the cause (the author). Similarly, God is the source of the universe, but is simultaneously encompassing the universe – that is the Universal Form. It’s not that God is the sum of the parts, but rather that everything is contained within God.
## P
[**Prayers of Arjuna (15-45)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
As Arjuna peers into this extraordinary display he sees all of his adversaries meeting their death, even though the battle has not even begun. Krishna poignantly tells Arjuna that all of his enemies and obstacles have already been annihilated by the will of providence and his only task is to become an instrument in the plan. Shocked and frightened, Arjuna offers prayers to the Universal Form, awed by the greatness of Krishna. He begs forgiveness for having previously treated Him with familiarity and friendship. Most religious traditions endorse this majestic understanding of God – God who is the infallible creator, controller and all-knowing authority. It often leads to a fearful exchange with God, lacking intimacy, sweetness and personal relationship. The God-fearing approach, however, is not the all-in-all. Having seen enough, Arjuna anxiously requests Krishna to once again reveal His two-armed form so that he can again relish the intimacy of that interaction.
## A
[**Armed Form (46-55)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
Arjuna requests to see the manusim-rupa, the human-like form of Krishna, around whose neck is swinging a garland of flowers beautified with the moon-locket, whose two hands are adorned with the flute and jewelled ornaments, and whose graceful threefold-bending form attracts the minds of His devotees. Ancient Sanskrit texts describe Krishna as *“raso vai sah”* – the very embodiment of affectionate relationships, loving relish, and transcendental sweetness. God is a person who is full of colour, character and bliss. He knows how to have a good time and is much more interested in relishing the sweetness of pure love than the formal worship of those who approach Him in awe and reverence.
> ### *“WHEN I READ THE BHAGAVAD-GITA AND REFLECT ABOUT HOW GOD CREATED THIS UNIVERSE EVERYTHING ELSE SEEMS SO SUPERFLUOUS”* *\~ ALBERT EINSTEIN*
[^1]: **Bg. 11.1 - 11.4**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/1/) Arjuna said: By my hearing the instructions You have kindly given me about these most confidential spiritual subjects, my illusion has now been dispelled.
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/2/) O lotus-eyed one, I have heard from You in detail about the appearance and disappearance of every living entity and have realized Your inexhaustible glories.
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/3/) O greatest of all personalities, O supreme form, though I see You here before me in Your actual position, as You have described Yourself, I wish to see how You have entered into this cosmic manifestation. I want to see that form of Yours.
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/4/) If You think that I am able to behold Your cosmic form, O my Lord, O master of all mystic power, then kindly show me that unlimited universal Self.
[^2]: **Bg. 11.5 - 11.14**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/)
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/5/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, O son of Pṛthā, see now My opulences, hundreds of thousands of varied divine and multicolored forms.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/6/) O best of the Bhāratas, see here the different manifestations of Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Aśvinī-kumāras and all the other demigods. Behold the many wonderful things which no one has ever seen or heard of before.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/7/) O Arjuna, whatever you wish to see, behold at once in this body of Mine! This universal form can show you whatever you now desire to see and whatever you may want to see in the future. Everything – moving and nonmoving – is here completely, in one place.
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/8/) But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give you divine eyes. Behold My mystic opulence!
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/9/) Sañjaya said: O King, having spoken thus, the Supreme Lord of all mystic power, the Personality of Godhead, displayed His universal form to Arjuna.
[TEXTS 10-11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/10-11/) Arjuna saw in that universal form unlimited mouths, unlimited eyes, unlimited wonderful visions. The form was decorated with many celestial ornaments and bore many divine upraised weapons. He wore celestial garlands and garments, and many divine scents were smeared over His body. All was wondrous, brilliant, unlimited, all-expanding.
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/12/) If hundreds of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme Person in that universal form.
[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/13/) At that time Arjuna could see in the universal form of the Lord the unlimited expansions of the universe situated in one place although divided into many, many thousands.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/14/) Then, bewildered and astonished, his hair standing on end, Arjuna bowed his head to offer obeisances and with folded hands began to pray to the Supreme Lord.
[^3]: **Bg. 11.15 - 11.45**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/)
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/15/) Arjuna said: My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, I see assembled in Your body all the demigods and various other living entities. I see Brahmā sitting on the lotus flower, as well as Lord Śiva and all the sages and divine serpents.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/16/) O Lord of the universe, O universal form, I see in Your body many, many arms, bellies, mouths and eyes, expanded everywhere, without limit. I see in You no end, no middle and no beginning.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/17/) Your form is difficult to see because of its glaring effulgence, spreading on all sides, like blazing fire or the immeasurable radiance of the sun. Yet I see this glowing form everywhere, adorned with various crowns, clubs and discs.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/18/) You are the supreme primal objective. You are the ultimate resting place of all this universe. You are inexhaustible, and You are the oldest. You are the maintainer of the eternal religion, the Personality of Godhead. This is my opinion.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/19/) You are without origin, middle or end. Your glory is unlimited. You have numberless arms, and the sun and moon are Your eyes. I see You with blazing fire coming forth from Your mouth, burning this entire universe by Your own radiance.
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/20/) Although You are one, You spread throughout the sky and the planets and all space between. O great one, seeing this wondrous and terrible form, all the planetary systems are perturbed.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/21/) All the hosts of demigods are surrendering before You and entering into You. Some of them, very much afraid, are offering prayers with folded hands. Hosts of great sages and perfected beings, crying “All peace!” are praying to You by singing the Vedic hymns.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/22/) All the various manifestations of Lord Śiva, the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Sādhyas, the Viśvedevas, the two Aśvīs, the Maruts, the forefathers, the Gandharvas, the Yakṣas, the Asuras and the perfected demigods are beholding You in wonder.
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/23/) O mighty-armed one, all the planets with their demigods are disturbed at seeing Your great form, with its many faces, eyes, arms, thighs, legs and bellies and Your many terrible teeth; and as they are disturbed, so am I.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/24/) O all-pervading Viṣṇu, seeing You with Your many radiant colors touching the sky, Your gaping mouths, and Your great glowing eyes, my mind is perturbed by fear. I can no longer maintain my steadiness or equilibrium of mind.
[TEXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/25/) O Lord of lords, O refuge of the worlds, please be gracious to me. I cannot keep my balance seeing thus Your blazing deathlike faces and awful teeth. In all directions I am bewildered.
[TEXTS 26-27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/26-27/) All the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, along with their allied kings, and Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa – and our chief soldiers also – are rushing into Your fearful mouths. And some I see trapped with heads smashed between Your teeth.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/28/) As the many waves of the rivers flow into the ocean, so do all these great warriors enter blazing into Your mouths.
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/29/) I see all people rushing full speed into Your mouths, as moths dash to destruction in a blazing fire.
[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/30/) O Viṣṇu, I see You devouring all people from all sides with Your flaming mouths. Covering all the universe with Your effulgence, You are manifest with terrible, scorching rays.
[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/31/) O Lord of lords, so fierce of form, please tell me who You are. I offer my obeisances unto You; please be gracious to me. You are the primal Lord. I want to know about You, for I do not know what Your mission is.
[TEXT 32:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/32/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. With the exception of you \[the Pāṇḍavas], all the soldiers here on both sides will be slain.
[TEXT 33:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/33/) Therefore get up. Prepare to fight and win glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a flourishing kingdom. They are already put to death by My arrangement, and you, O Savyasācī, can be but an instrument in the fight.
[TEXT 34:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/34/) Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Jayadratha, Karṇa and the other great warriors have already been destroyed by Me. Therefore, kill them and do not be disturbed. Simply fight, and you will vanquish your enemies in battle.
[TEXT 35:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/35/) Sañjaya said to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: O King, after hearing these words from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the trembling Arjuna offered obeisances with folded hands again and again. He fearfully spoke to Lord Kṛṣṇa in a faltering voice, as follows.
[TEXT 36:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/36/) Arjuna said: O master of the senses, the world becomes joyful upon hearing Your name, and thus everyone becomes attached to You. Although the perfected beings offer You their respectful homage, the demons are afraid, and they flee here and there. All this is rightly done.
[TEXT 37:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/37/) O great one, greater even than Brahmā, You are the original creator. Why then should they not offer their respectful obeisances unto You? O limitless one, God of gods, refuge of the universe! You are the invincible source, the cause of all causes, transcendental to this material manifestation.
[TEXT 38:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/38/) You are the original Personality of Godhead, the oldest, the ultimate sanctuary of this manifested cosmic world. You are the knower of everything, and You are all that is knowable. You are the supreme refuge, above the material modes. O limitless form! This whole cosmic manifestation is pervaded by You!
[TEXT 39:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/39/) You are air, and You are the supreme controller! You are fire, You are water, and You are the moon! You are Brahmā, the first living creature, and You are the great-grandfather. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto You a thousand times, and again and yet again!
[TEXT 40:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/40/) Obeisances to You from the front, from behind and from all sides! O unbounded power, You are the master of limitless might! You are all-pervading, and thus You are everything!
[TEXTS 41-42:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/41-42/) Thinking of You as my friend, I have rashly addressed You “O Kṛṣṇa,” “O Yādava,” “O my friend,” not knowing Your glories. Please forgive whatever I may have done in madness or in love. I have dishonored You many times, jesting as we relaxed, lay on the same bed, or sat or ate together, sometimes alone and sometimes in front of many friends. O infallible one, please excuse me for all those offenses.
[TEXT 43:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/43/) You are the father of this complete cosmic manifestation, of the moving and the nonmoving. You are its worshipable chief, the supreme spiritual master. No one is greater than You, nor can anyone be one with You. How then could there be anyone greater than You within the three worlds, O Lord of immeasurable power?
[TEXT 44:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/44/) You are the Supreme Lord, to be worshiped by every living being. Thus I fall down to offer You my respectful obeisances and ask Your mercy. As a father tolerates the impudence of his son, a friend the impertinence of a friend, or a husband the familiarity of his wife, please tolerate the wrongs I may have done You.
[TEXT 45:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/45/) After seeing this universal form, which I have never seen before, I am gladdened, but at the same time my mind is disturbed with fear. Therefore please bestow Your grace upon me and reveal again Your form as the Personality of Godhead, O Lord of lords, O abode of the universe.
[^4]: **Bg. 11.46 - 11.55**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/)
[TEXT 46:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/46/) O universal form, O thousand-armed Lord, I wish to see You in Your four-armed form, with helmeted head and with club, wheel, conch and lotus flower in Your hands. I long to see You in that form.
[TEXT 47:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/47/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, happily have I shown you, by My internal potency, this supreme universal form within the material world. No one before you has ever seen this primal form, unlimited and full of glaring effulgence.
[TEXT 48:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/48/) O best of the Kuru warriors, no one before you has ever seen this universal form of Mine, for neither by studying the Vedas, nor by performing sacrifices, nor by charity, nor by pious activities, nor by severe penances can I be seen in this form in the material world.
[TEXT 49:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/49/) You have been perturbed and bewildered by seeing this horrible feature of Mine. Now let it be finished. My devotee, be free again from all disturbances. With a peaceful mind you can now see the form you desire.
[TEXT 50:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/50/) Sañjaya said to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, having spoken thus to Arjuna, displayed His real four-armed form and at last showed His two-armed form, thus encouraging the fearful Arjuna.
[TEXT 51:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/51/) When Arjuna thus saw Kṛṣṇa in His original form, he said: O Janārdana, seeing this humanlike form, so very beautiful, I am now composed in mind, and I am restored to my original nature.
[TEXT 52:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/52/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, this form of Mine you are now seeing is very difficult to behold. Even the demigods are ever seeking the opportunity to see this form, which is so dear.
[TEXT 53:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/53/) The form you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that one can see Me as I am.
[TEXT 54:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/54/) My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.
[TEXT 55:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/11/55/) My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being – he certainly comes to Me.
# 12/G.O.D
DEVOTIONAL SERVICE
### Although the shortest chapter in the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter Twelve contains essential insights on devotional service. Krishna discusses the path of devotion, the stages one may progress through to achieve it, and the qualities of the devotee who has perfected it. “God” is generally defined as “the supreme controller.” In this chapter, however, we gain insight into the more cherished aspects of God’s personality, and the disposition of the devotee who has conquered His heart through devotion.
## G
[**Godhead (1-7)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
In response to Arjuna’s question, Krishna again picks up the discussion of impersonalism. It seems to be a recurring theme in the text, and one may wonder why. Krishna explains that a personal approach to God through bhakti-yoga (devotional service) is not only powerful and practical, but more fruitful and satisfying. The very essence of our being is to seek happiness (*anandamaya bhyasat*), and happiness ultimately lies in relationships. For a relationship to exist there must be a subject, object and reciprocity. Impersonal notions of ‘oneness,’ however, annihilate all three and thereby cheat the individual of the true happiness we all seek. While those who tread the impersonal path of spirituality undoubtedly receive spiritual merit, the practice is troublesome, the progress is piecemeal, and the rewards are meagre. Thus, one reason Srila Prabhupada continually refers to Krishna as the ‘Godhead’ is to remind us that God is ultimately a person who must be approached as such.
## O
[**Options (8-12)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
In these verses, Krishna demonstrates His magnanimity and kindness. Having established the most evolved path of spirituality, He goes on to offer various options, recognising that some may be unable to immediately embrace a pure devotional path. Progressive steps towards such a devotional spirit include the practice of regulated spirituality, worship through one’s daily work, offering of charity, and the cultivation of knowledge. The spiritual path is not all or nothing and one can begin their journey according to what is feasible, achievable and realistic at this point in their journey.
## D
[**Devotees Disposition (13-20)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
In the previous chapter, Krishna displayed the entirety of the cosmos to Arjuna, and now Krishna sheds light on the inner world. He describes the charming character of an outstanding spiritualist which endears him to everyone. In our dealings with the Divine, the external offerings will never be that impressive... what unique gifts can infinitesimal beings really offer to the Supreme Creator? Yet, the purity of character and depth of devotion that a devotee exudes immediately attracts Divine attention, for Krishna is ever - interested in loving exchange based on pure selflessness. As one develops purity of consciousness, traits such as tolerance, determination, satisfaction and equanimity of mind automatically manifest within one’s character. That said, conscientious spiritualists also endeavour to consciously cultivate such qualities, as they are supportive to one’s spiritual growth. Devotees endowed with such an attractive and spotless character conquer the heart of Krishna, who becomes bound by their devotion. Such are the dealings within the spiritual domain.
> ### *“PEOPLE SEE GOD EVERY DAY, THEY JUST DON'T RECOGNISE HIM”* *\~ PEARL BAILEY*
[^1]: **Bg. 12.1-7**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/1/) Arjuna inquired: Which are considered to be more perfect, those who are always properly engaged in Your devotional service or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/2/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Those who fix their minds on My personal form and are always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith are considered by Me to be most perfect.
[TEXTS 3-4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/3-4/) But those who fully worship the unmanifested, that which lies beyond the perception of the senses, the all-pervading, inconceivable, unchanging, fixed and immovable – the impersonal conception of the Absolute Truth – by controlling the various senses and being equally disposed to everyone, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all, at last achieve Me.
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/5/) For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.
[TEXTS 6-7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/6-7/) But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Pṛthā – for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.
[^2]: **Bg. 12.8-12**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/)
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/8/) Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/9/) My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulative principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way develop a desire to attain Me.
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/10/) If you cannot practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga, then just try to work for Me, because by working for Me you will come to the perfect stage.
[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/11/) If, however, you are unable to work in this consciousness of Me, then try to act giving up all results of your work and try to be self-situated.
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/12/) If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind.
[^3]: **Bg. 12.13-20**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/)
[TEXTS 13-14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/13-14/) One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me – such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/15/) He by whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/16/) My devotee who is not dependent on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and not striving for some result, is very dear to Me.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/17/) One who neither rejoices nor grieves, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things – such a devotee is very dear to Me.
[TEXTS 18-19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/18-19/) One who is equal to friends and enemies, who is equipoised in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, fame and infamy, who is always free from contaminating association, always silent and satisfied with anything, who doesn’t care for any residence, who is fixed in knowledge and who is engaged in devotional service – such a person is very dear to Me.
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/12/20/) Those who follow this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engage themselves with faith, making Me the supreme goal, are very, very dear to Me.
# 13/W\.I.S.E
NATURE, THE ENJOYER, AND CONSCIOUSNESS
### The final six chapters of Bhagavad-gita focus on *“jnana”* - higher-dimensional wisdom which supports one’s detachment from the material world and deepening attachment to Krishna. Chapter Thirteen covers topics previously discussed, but explores them in a more analytical way. Wise readers can take advantage of Krishna’s logical presentation to strengthen their conviction and remove any lingering doubts.
## W
[**Wise Questions (1-7)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Arjuna asks Krishna to define six subjects: *prakriti* (nature), *purusa* (the enjoyer), *ksetra* (the field of activities), *ksetrajna* (the knower of the field), *jnanam* (knowledge and the process of knowing), and *jneyam* (the object of knowledge). These subjects are key constituents of Vedic philosophy and Krishna therefore spends the entire chapter defining and discussing them. Arjuna, although an established transcendentalist, plays the part of a materially entangled individual so he can pose questions for the benefit of humanity. His astute inquiries create the opportunity for Krishna to offer answers to life’s most profound mysteries. Krishna begins by first defining *ksetra* and the *ksetra-jna*.
## I
[**Items of Knowledge (8-12)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
These verses describe how the *ksetra-jna* (spirit soul) can disentangle himself from the *ksetra* (body) by cultivating *jnana* (knowledge). Since transcendental knowledge is revealed within the heart of a deserving person, the real method to acquire it is through the cultivation of divine qualities, of which humility is foremost. Becoming wise is not simply a matter of information and memorisation, but intimately connected to personal character and practical behaviour. One who nurtures a saintly disposition experiences a change of heart, which invokes Divine revelation, helping the eternal soul to relinquish its deep-rooted identification with the temporary body.
## S
[**Soul & Supersoul (13-19)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Having described the *ksetra*, *ksetra-jna* and *jnanam*, Krishna now describes *jneyam*, the object of knowledge. Knowledge is meant to help one directly perceive the soul and the Supersoul, who are eternally individual but intimately related. It is the prerogative of the soul to understand the Supersoul, but the Supersoul is sometimes described as ‘*avijneyam*’, or unknowable. *How to reconcile this?* Empirical researchers who try to fathom the Supreme using mundane logic and material sense perception are invariably baffled, and the Supersoul remains unknowable to them. Those who approach the subject matter with the proper attitude, ready to see through the eyes of spiritual preceptors, will surely be successful.
## E
[**Enjoyer (20-35)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
The chapter concludes with descriptions of the final two subjects – *prakrti* and *purusa*. The living entity’s desire to control and enjoy matter (*prakrti*) binds him to the material world. In reality the Supersoul is the only enjoyer (*purusa*) and everything (material nature and the individual souls) is meant for His enjoyment. This need not leave us dissatisfied. Pouring water over the root of a tree automatically energises the trunk, branches, and twigs. Feeding the stomach naturally enlivens the senses and limbs of the entire body. Similarly, offering worship and service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead for His pleasure and satisfaction, automatically satisfies all living entities, including ourselves. We need not make any separate endeavour for happiness.
> ### *“THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT DAYS IN YOUR LIFE ARE THE DAY YOU ARE BORN, AND THE DAY YOU FIND OUT WHY”* *\~ MARK TWAIN*
[^1]: **Bg. 13.1 - 13.7**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/)
[TEXTS 1-2](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/1-2/): Arjuna said: O my dear Kṛṣṇa, I wish to know about prakṛti \[nature], puruṣa \[the enjoyer], and the field and the knower of the field, and of knowledge and the object of knowledge. The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: This body, O son of Kuntī, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.
[TEXT 3](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/3/): O scion of Bharata, you should understand that I am also the knower in all bodies, and to understand this body and its knower is called knowledge. That is My opinion.
[TEXT 4](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/4/): Now please hear My brief description of this field of activity and how it is constituted, what its changes are, whence it is produced, who that knower of the field of activities is, and what his influences are.
[TEXT 5](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/5/): That knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of activities is described by various sages in various Vedic writings. It is especially presented in Vedānta-sūtra with all reasoning as to cause and effect.
[TEXTS 6-7](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/6-7/): The five great elements, false ego, intelligence, the unmanifested, the ten senses and the mind, the five sense objects, desire, hatred, happiness, distress, the aggregate, the life symptoms, and convictions – all these are considered, in summary, to be the field of activities and its interactions.
[^2]: **Bg. 13.8 - 13.12**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/)
[TEXTS 8-12](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/8-12/): Humility; pridelessness; nonviolence; tolerance; simplicity; approaching a bona fide spiritual master; cleanliness; steadiness; self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification; absence of false ego; the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; detachment; freedom from entanglement with children, wife, home and the rest; even-mindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me; aspiring to live in a solitary place; detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization; and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth – all these I declare to be knowledge, and besides this whatever there may be is ignorance.
[^3]: **Bg. 13.13 - 13.19**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/)
[TEXT 13](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/13/): I shall now explain the knowable, knowing which you will taste the eternal. Brahman, the spirit, beginningless and subordinate to Me, lies beyond the cause and effect of this material world.
[TEXT 14](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/14/): Everywhere are His hands and legs, His eyes, heads and faces, and He has ears everywhere. In this way the Supersoul exists, pervading everything.
[TEXT 15](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/15/): The Supersoul is the original source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached, although He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, and at the same time He is the master of all the modes of material nature.
[TEXT 16](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/16/): The Supreme Truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and the nonmoving. Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all.
[TEXT 17](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/17/): Although the Supersoul appears to be divided among all beings, He is never divided. He is situated as one. Although He is the maintainer of every living entity, it is to be understood that He devours and develops all.
[TEXT 18](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/18/): He is the source of light in all luminous objects. He is beyond the darkness of matter and is unmanifested. He is knowledge, He is the object of knowledge, and He is the goal of knowledge. He is situated in everyone’s heart.
[TEXT 19](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/19/): Thus the field of activities \[the body], knowledge and the knowable have been summarily described by Me. Only My devotees can understand this thoroughly and thus attain to My nature.
[^4]: **Bg. 13.20 - 13.35**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/)
[TEXT 20](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/20/): Material nature and the living entities should be understood to be beginningless. Their transformations and the modes of matter are products of material nature.
[TEXT 21](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/21/): Nature is said to be the cause of all material causes and effects, whereas the living entity is the cause of the various sufferings and enjoyments in this world.
[TEXT 22](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/22/): The living entity in material nature thus follows the ways of life, enjoying the three modes of nature. This is due to his association with that material nature. Thus he meets with good and evil among various species.
[TEXT 23](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/23/): Yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the Lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the Supersoul.
[TEXT 24](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/24/): One who understands this philosophy concerning material nature, the living entity and the interaction of the modes of nature is sure to attain liberation. He will not take birth here again, regardless of his present position.
[TEXT 25](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/25/): Some perceive the Supersoul within themselves through meditation, others through the cultivation of knowledge, and still others through working without fruitive desires.
[TEXT 26](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/26/): Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death.
[TEXT 27](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/27/): O chief of the Bhāratas, know that whatever you see in existence, both the moving and the nonmoving, is only a combination of the field of activities and the knower of the field.
[TEXT 28](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/28/): One who sees the Supersoul accompanying the individual soul in all bodies, and who understands that neither the soul nor the Supersoul within the destructible body is ever destroyed, actually sees.
[TEXT 29](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/29/): One who sees the Supersoul equally present everywhere, in every living being, does not degrade himself by his mind. Thus he approaches the transcendental destination.
[TEXT 30](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/30/): One who can see that all activities are performed by the body, which is created of material nature, and sees that the self does nothing, actually sees.
[TEXT 31](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/31/): When a sensible man ceases to see different identities due to different material bodies and he sees how beings are expanded everywhere, he attains to the Brahman conception.
[TEXT 32](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/32/): Those with the vision of eternity can see that the imperishable soul is transcendental, eternal, and beyond the modes of nature. Despite contact with the material body, O Arjuna, the soul neither does anything nor is entangled.
[TEXT 33](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/33/): The sky, due to its subtle nature, does not mix with anything, although it is all-pervading. Similarly, the soul situated in Brahman vision does not mix with the body, though situated in that body.
[TEXT 34](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/34/): O son of Bharata, as the sun alone illuminates all this universe, so does the living entity, one within the body, illuminate the entire body by consciousness.
[TEXT 35](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/35/): Those who see with eyes of knowledge the difference between the body and the knower of the body, and can also understand the process of liberation from bondage in material nature, attain to the supreme goal.
# 14/T.R.A.P
THE THREE MODES OF MATERIAL NATURE
### In Chapter Fourteen, Krishna introduces a paradigm-shifting concept known as the “Three modes of material nature.” These three fundamental energies colour everything we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell. The modes also pervade our lifestyle, attitude and behaviours, thus determining our sense of happiness and well-being in life. People's desires and decisions are actually impelled and influenced by these three modes at every moment, yet they function with a mistaken sense of free will and independence. Krishna teaches Arjuna that, unless one is able to transcend these modes of nature, they imperceptibly trap one in this material world, life after life.
## T
[**Three Modes (1-9)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
'Mode' is a translation of the sanskrit word *guna*, which literally means 'rope'. The three modes influence a person’s character, behaviour and mentality, thus binding them to a certain quality of life. For example, if Goodness (*sattva*) predominates, one will aspire for (and generally achieve) long-term happiness even if one is subjected to temporary inconvenience. The person impelled by Passion (*rajas*) strives for instantaneous short-term gain and doesn’t expect much more out of life. Finally, the person dominated by Ignorance (*tamas*) rarely achieves happiness at all, overcome by laziness and lethargy and lacking any real direction and drive in their life. The material world is thus populated by living entities who are influenced by various configurations of these modes.
## R
[**Race for Prominence (10-13)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
Just as three primary colours are mixed to generate unlimited variations, combinations of the three modes can form an unlimited variety of individual personalities and psychologies. Furthermore, the modes are dynamic and continually compete with one another for supremacy within an individual. Even within the cycle of a single day, different modes may achieve prominence at different times. As a general rule, Goodness clarifies and pacifies the individual, since it invokes satisfaction, wisdom, altruism and kindness. Passion is said to confuse and agitate the individual by provoking qualities like greed, anger and frustration. Ignorance is said to obscure and impede one’s life, symptomised by apathy, depression and inertia.
## A
[**Actions in The Modes (14-18)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Reincarnation is the process by which a soul receives a new material body on the basis of activities performed and consciousness cultivated in the present body. Our activities are a result of the decisions we make, and our decisions are ultimately impelled by the modes we are influenced by. The future destination of an individual can therefore be predicted based on the predominant mode in their life. In short, those situated in Goodness are promoted to higher planets, those in Passion remain on the earthly planets and those in Ignorance degrade themselves to the hellish worlds. The effects of these actions can be felt even in this life.
## P
[**Pure Life (19-27)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
These various descriptions allow us to decipher the combination of modes we are personally affected by. Although Goodness is said to be the purest form of existence in this world, and in many ways beneficial for spiritual practice, it still implicates one in a network of karma. To completely rid oneself of karmic reactions, the spiritualist should use Goodness as a springboard to elevate themselves to the spiritual platform, known as pure goodness or *suddha-sattva*. This is possible by engaging in *bhakti-yoga* with unflinching determination, taking inspiration and support from those who have already transcended the three material modes. Krishna explains the shining character of such a perfected transcendentalist, who enjoys nectar even in this life.
> ### *"WE BECOME AVERAGE WHEN WE ARE TOO BUSY, TOO ARROGANT OR TOO COMFORTABLE TO KEEP LEARNING, GROWING, AND IMPROVING."* *\~ UNKNOWN*
[^1]: **Bg. 14.1 - 14.9**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/)
[TEXT 1](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/1/): The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Again I shall declare to you this supreme wisdom, the best of all knowledge, knowing which all the sages have attained the supreme perfection.
[TEXT 2](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/2/): By becoming fixed in this knowledge, one can attain to the transcendental nature like My own. Thus established, one is not born at the time of creation or disturbed at the time of dissolution.
[TEXT 3](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/3/): The total material substance, called Brahman, is the source of birth, and it is that Brahman that I impregnate, making possible the births of all living beings, O son of Bharata.
[TEXT 4](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/4/): It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.
[TEXT 5](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/5/): Material nature consists of three modes – goodness, passion and ignorance. When the eternal living entity comes in contact with nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, he becomes conditioned by these modes.
[TEXT 6](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/6/): O sinless one, the mode of goodness, being purer than the others, is illuminating, and it frees one from all sinful reactions. Those situated in that mode become conditioned by a sense of happiness and knowledge.
[TEXT 7](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/7/): The mode of passion is born of unlimited desires and longings, O son of Kuntī, and because of this the embodied living entity is bound to material fruitive actions.
[TEXT 8](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/8/): O son of Bharata, know that the mode of darkness, born of ignorance, is the delusion of all embodied living entities. The results of this mode are madness, indolence and sleep, which bind the conditioned soul.
[TEXT 9](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/9/): O son of Bharata, the mode of goodness conditions one to happiness; passion conditions one to fruitive action; and ignorance, covering one’s knowledge, binds one to madness.
[^2]: **Bg. 14.10 - 14.13**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/)
[TEXT 10](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/10/): Sometimes the mode of goodness becomes prominent, defeating the modes of passion and ignorance, O son of Bharata. Sometimes the mode of passion defeats goodness and ignorance, and at other times ignorance defeats goodness and passion. In this way there is always competition for supremacy.
[TEXT 11](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/11/): The manifestation of the mode of goodness can be experienced when all the gates of the body are illuminated by knowledge.
[TEXT 12](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/12/): O chief of the Bhāratas, when there is an increase in the mode of passion the symptoms of great attachment, fruitive activity, intense endeavor, and uncontrollable desire and hankering develop.
[TEXT 13](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/13/): When there is an increase in the mode of ignorance, O son of Kuru, darkness, inertia, madness and illusion are manifested.
[^3]: **Bg. 14.14 - 14.18**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/)
[TEXT 14](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/14/): When one dies in the mode of goodness, he attains to the pure higher planets of the great sages.
[TEXT 15](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/15/): When one dies in the mode of passion, he takes birth among those engaged in fruitive activities; and when one dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom.
[TEXT 16](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/16/): The result of pious action is pure and is said to be in the mode of goodness. But action done in the mode of passion results in misery, and action performed in the mode of ignorance results in foolishness.
[TEXT 17](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/17/): From the mode of goodness, real knowledge develops; from the mode of passion, greed develops; and from the mode of ignorance develop foolishness, madness and illusion.
[TEXT 18](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/18/): Those situated in the mode of goodness gradually go upward to the higher planets; those in the mode of passion live on the earthly planets; and those in the abominable mode of ignorance go down to the hellish worlds.
[^4]: **Bg. 14.19 - 14.27**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/)
[TEXT 19](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/19/): When one properly sees that in all activities no other performer is at work than these modes of nature and he knows the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental to all these modes, he attains My spiritual nature.
[TEXT 20](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/20/): When the embodied being is able to transcend these three modes associated with the material body, he can become free from birth, death, old age and their distresses and can enjoy nectar even in this life.
[TEXT 21](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/21/): Arjuna inquired: O my dear Lord, by which symptoms is one known who is transcendental to these three modes? What is his behavior? And how does he transcend the modes of nature?
[TEXTS 22-25](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/22-25/): The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O son of Pāṇḍu, he who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present or long for them when they disappear; who is unwavering and undisturbed through all these reactions of the material qualities, remaining neutral and transcendental, knowing that the modes alone are active; who is situated in the self and regards alike happiness and distress; who looks upon a lump of earth, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is equal toward the desirable and the undesirable; who is steady, situated equally well in praise and blame, honor and dishonor; who treats alike both friend and enemy; and who has renounced all material activities – such a person is said to have transcended the modes of nature.
[TEXT 26](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/26/): One who engages in full devotional service, unfailing in all circumstances, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.
[TEXT 27](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/14/27/): And I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and eternal and is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness.
# 15/H.O.M.E
THE YOGA OF THE SUPREME PERSON
### In the final chapters of the Bhagavad-Gita, one of Krishna’s prime objectives is to engender a sense of detachment within Arjuna and the reader. In Chapter Fifteen, He compares the material world to the reflection of a banyan tree in water. In Sanskrit, the banyan tree is known as asvattha which etymologically means “that which will not be here tomorrow.” Though discussing the temporality of the world and everything within it may sound depressing, it’s actually incredibly empowering. By awakening this sense of detachment we recalibrate our vision and begin to focus on the enduring spiritual reality. As spiritual beings we’re not residents of London, Lagos or Los Angeles, but rather residents of the spiritual world.
## H
[**Home or Hotel? (1-5)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Just as a banyan tree has its reflection in the water, the spiritual world also has its reflection - the material world. While they may look similar from a distance, the spiritual world is where reality, substance and true satisfaction is found. The reflected tree of the material world, however, confuses and frustrates, appearing upside-down and the wrong-way-round in all respects, with nothing substantial to offer us. Bird-like living entities frantically search for juicy fruits on the reflected tree, but the substance which they yearn for remains ever elusive. Krishna urges the reader to cut down this illusory tree with the weapon of detachment and end the futile endeavours for permanent fulfilment in the temporary phantasmagoria.
## O
[**On and On, Over and Over** ](#user-content-fn-2)[^2][**A**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3][**gain (6-11)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
Krishna gives a glimpse of the spiritual world, showing how its nature is perfect, complete and fully satisfying to all. Once having re-entered it, one never returns to this world. Here in the material realm, an individual hops from tree to tree, acquiring various material bodies based on the worldly desires they cultivate throughout their life. At the time of death, through the subtle laws of reincarnation, one receives a body which is tailor-made to facilitate their deep-rooted desires. Man proposes, God disposes, and the embodied soul enters a new chapter of existence in the search for happiness.
## M
[**Maintainer of Body, Mind, Soul (12-15)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
One who is entangled within the reflected tree of material existence can develop his spiritual consciousness by appreciating Krishna as the maintainer on all levels. Krishna maintains our gross physical body by arranging fundamental necessities that provide the energy of life. He also maintains our subtle capacities by facilitating knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness. Finally, and most importantly, Krishna maintains our spirituality by offering ways and means to achieve self-realisation and escape the dangerous cycle of repeated birth and death.
## E
[**Essence in 3 Verses (16-18)**](#user-content-fn-5)[^5]
Previously Krishna summarised the Bhagavad-gita in four verses, and now He again summarises the teachings in three verses. Fallible living entities (*ksara*) have fallen into the tree of material existence due to an independent desire to enjoy. Distinguished from them are the infallible living entities (*aksara*) who never leave the spiritual realm due to their uncompromised desire to be with Krishna. Beyond both entities is the Supreme Lord. Thus, in yet another passage, Krishna reinforces that the living entity never becomes God, since even liberated souls have their separate identity in the spiritual world.
> ### *“WE ARE ALL VISITORS TO THIS TIME, THIS PLACE. WE ARE JUST PASSING THROUGH. OUR PURPOSE HERE IS TO OBSERVE, TO LEARN, TO GROW, TO LOVE... AND THEN WE RETURN HOME.”* *\~ ABORIGINAL PROVERB*
[^1]: **Bg. 15.1 - 15.5**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/)
[TEXT 1](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/1/): The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: It is said that there is an imperishable banyan tree that has its roots upward and its branches down and whose leaves are the Vedic hymns. One who knows this tree is the knower of the Vedas.
[TEXT 2](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/2/): The branches of this tree extend downward and upward, nourished by the three modes of material nature. The twigs are the objects of the senses. This tree also has roots going down, and these are bound to the fruitive actions of human society.
[TEXT 3-4](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/3-4/): The real form of this tree cannot be perceived in this world. No one can understand where it ends, where it begins, or where its foundation is. But with determination one must cut down this strongly rooted tree with the weapon of detachment. Thereafter, one must seek that place from which, having gone, one never returns, and there surrender to that Supreme Personality of Godhead from whom everything began and from whom everything has extended since time immemorial.
[TEXT 5](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/5/): Those who are free from false prestige, illusion and false association, who understand the eternal, who are done with material lust, who are freed from the dualities of happiness and distress, and who, unbewildered, know how to surrender unto the Supreme Person attain to that eternal kingdom.
[^2]: **Bg. 15.6 - 15.11**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/)
[TEXT 6](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/6/): That supreme abode of Mine is not illumined by the sun or moon, nor by fire or electricity. Those who reach it never return to this material world.
[TEXT 7](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/7/): The living entities in this conditioned world are My eternal fragmental parts. Due to conditioned life, they are struggling very hard with the six senses, which include the mind.
[TEXT 8](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/8/): The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another, as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another.
[TEXT 9](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/9/): The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects.
[TEXT 10](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/10/): The foolish cannot understand how a living entity can quit his body, nor can they understand what sort of body he enjoys under the spell of the modes of nature. But one whose eyes are trained in knowledge can see all this.
[TEXT 11](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/11/): The endeavoring transcendentalists who are situated in self-realization can see all this clearly. But those whose minds are not developed and who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is taking place, though they may try.
[^3]:
[^4]: **Bg. 15.12 - 15.15**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/)
[TEXT 12](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/12/): The splendor of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendor of the moon and the splendor of fire are also from Me.
[TEXT 13](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/13/): I enter into each planet, and by My energy they stay in orbit. I become the moon and thereby supply the juice of life to all vegetables.
[TEXT 14](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/14/): I am the fire of digestion in the bodies of all living entities, and I join with the air of life, outgoing and incoming, to digest the four kinds of foodstuff.
[TEXT 15](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/15/): I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas, I am to be known. Indeed, I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.
[^5]: **Bg. 15.16 - 15.18**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/)
[TEXT 16](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/16/): There are two classes of beings, the fallible and the infallible. In the material world every living entity is fallible, and in the spiritual world every living entity is called infallible.
[TEXT 17](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/17/): Besides these two, there is the greatest living personality, the Supreme Soul, the imperishable Lord Himself, who has entered the three worlds and is maintaining them.
[TEXT 18](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/15/18/): Because I am transcendental, beyond both the fallible and the infallible, and because I am the greatest, I am celebrated both in the world and in the Vedas as that Supreme Person.
# 16/D.O.G
THE DIVINE AND DEMONIAC NATURES
### Dogs are unpredictable. Though widely acclaimed as man’s best friend, dogs are also notorious for brutal, unprovoked attacks. Such contradictory behaviour is a sign of our times. In previous ages, the distinction between divine and demoniac people was very clear – they lived at a distance from each other and rarely mixed. In modern times, however, the dividing line has disappeared to the extent that the divine and demoniac coexist within the same individual! In Chapter Sixteen, Krishna describes the qualities of the saintly and shortcomings of the demoniac, exposing attitudes and behaviours that destroy one’s spirituality.
## D
[**Divine or Demoniac (1-6)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
On the ‘tree of the material world,’ divine qualities are said to elevate us whereas demoniac qualities result in degradation. Such qualities are the result of nature and nurture. While we undoubtedly carry impressions from previous lives, our desire, determination and discipline in this life can significantly alter that nature. Krishna describes twenty-six divine qualities and six major demoniac qualities.
## O
[**Opinions & Outlook of Demons (7-20)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
To reassure Arjuna that he is of divine nature, Krishna distinguishes the activities, mentality and qualities of the demoniac section. Such living entities are cast into repeated births in undeveloped, lower species of life. While this may sound like the harsh and judgmental God of dogmatic religion, Krishna explains how such treatment is the most progressive and compassionate course of action to evolve the consciousness of such individuals. Demoniac philosophy, mentality and activities imprison the individual into misery and cause great disruption in the wider society. It is a case of hate the disease not the diseased.
## G
[**Gates to Hell (21-24)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
Krishna warns that lust, anger and greed are the three gates that perpetuate hellish life. These dark regions of the universe are not eternal prisons for the errant soul, but places of reformation where stern lessons help one to realign their vision. For one who wants to avoid such shock treatment, the scriptures act as a guidebook for gradual purification and ultimate perfection. They recommend a spiritual lifestyle by which one can easily transform lust to love, harshness to tolerance, envy to appreciation and greed to selflessness.
> ### *“LIFE IS AN ECHO. WHAT YOU SEND OUT, COMES BACK. WHAT YOU SOW, YOU REAP. WHAT YOU GIVE, YOU GET. WHAT YOU SEE IN OTHERS, EXISTS IN YOU. REMEMBER, LIFE IS AN ECHO.”*
>
> ### *\~ ZIG ZIGLAR*
[^1]: **Bg. 16.1 - 16.6**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/)
[TEXTS 1-3](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/1-3/): The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Fearlessness; purification of one’s existence; cultivation of spiritual knowledge; charity; self-control; performance of sacrifice; study of the Vedas; austerity; simplicity; nonviolence; truthfulness; freedom from anger; renunciation; tranquillity; aversion to faultfinding; compassion for all living entities; freedom from covetousness; gentleness; modesty; steady determination; vigor; forgiveness; fortitude; cleanliness; and freedom from envy and from the passion for honor – these transcendental qualities, O son of Bharata, belong to godly men endowed with divine nature.
[TEXT 4](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/4/): Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance – these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature, O son of Pṛthā.
[TEXT 5](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/5/): The transcendental qualities are conducive to liberation, whereas the demoniac qualities make for bondage. Do not worry, O son of Pāṇḍu, for you are born with the divine qualities.
[TEXT 6](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/6/): O son of Pṛthā, in this world there are two kinds of created beings. One is called divine and the other demoniac. I have already explained to you at length the divine qualities. Now hear from Me of the demoniac.
[^2]: **Bg. 16.7 - 16.20**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/)
[TEXT 7](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/7/): Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them.
[TEXT 8](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/8/): They say that this world is unreal, with no foundation, no God in control. They say it is produced of sex desire and has no cause other than lust.
[TEXT 9](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/9/): Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world.
[TEXT 10](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/10/): Taking shelter of insatiable lust and absorbed in the conceit of pride and false prestige, the demoniac, thus illusioned, are always sworn to unclean work, attracted by the impermanent.
[TEXTS 11-12](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/11-12/): They believe that to gratify the senses is the prime necessity of human civilization. Thus until the end of life their anxiety is immeasurable. Bound by a network of hundreds of thousands of desires and absorbed in lust and anger, they secure money by illegal means for sense gratification.
[TEXTS 13-15](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/13-15/): The demoniac person thinks: “So much wealth do I have today, and I will gain more according to my schemes. So much is mine now, and it will increase in the future, more and more. He is my enemy, and I have killed him, and my other enemies will also be killed. I am the lord of everything. I am the enjoyer. I am perfect, powerful and happy. I am the richest man, surrounded by aristocratic relatives. There is none so powerful and happy as I am. I shall perform sacrifices, I shall give some charity, and thus I shall rejoice.” In this way, such persons are deluded by ignorance.
[TEXT 16](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/16/): Thus perplexed by various anxieties and bound by a network of illusions, they become too strongly attached to sense enjoyment and fall down into hell.
[TEXT 17](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/17/): Self-complacent and always impudent, deluded by wealth and false prestige, they sometimes proudly perform sacrifices in name only, without following any rules or regulations.
[TEXT 18](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/18/): Bewildered by false ego, strength, pride, lust and anger, the demons become envious of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in their own bodies and in the bodies of others, and blaspheme against the real religion.
[TEXT 19](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/19/): Those who are envious and mischievous, who are the lowest among men, I perpetually cast into the ocean of material existence, into various demoniac species of life.
[TEXT 20](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/20/): Attaining repeated birth amongst the species of demoniac life, O son of Kuntī, such persons can never approach Me. Gradually they sink down to the most abominable type of existence.
[^3]: **Bg. 16.21 - 16.24**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/)
[TEXT 21](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/21/): There are three gates leading to this hell – lust, anger and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.
[TEXT 22](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/22/): The man who has escaped these three gates of hell, O son of Kuntī, performs acts conducive to self-realization and thus gradually attains the supreme destination.
[TEXT 23](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/23/): He who discards scriptural injunctions and acts according to his own whims attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the supreme destination.
[TEXT 24](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/24/): One should therefore understand what is duty and what is not duty by the regulations of the scriptures. Knowing such rules and regulations, one should act so that he may gradually be elevated.
# 17/F.A.C.E
THE DIVISIONS OF FAITH
### In the previous chapter Krishna describes two extremes; the divine and the demoniac. Its clear, however, that each of us have many faces and are not necessarily one or the other. Life is never black or white, but usually different shades of grey. The faces that we present on a daily basis reveal something about our faith – the things we trust, pursue and place value upon. As they say, “What makes him tick?” Chapter Seventeen describes how a person’s affiliation to a particular mode will determine the type of faith they have.
## **F**
[**Faith (1-13)** ](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
Although religious people are often referred to as ‘people of faith,’ the reality is that everyone has faith. Without putting faith in traffic lights, doctors, and banks, to name but a few, could we function in this world? To have faith means to see opportunity, reward and value in something even though it may not be immediately verifiable. Thus, according to our faith, we identify objects of value and then engage with them in different ways. In accordance with this, individuals adopt their respective worldviews, lifestyles and character traits. Krishna begins a discussion of this, by giving examples of diet and sacrifices.
## A
[**Austerities (14-19)** ](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
In order to achieve anything in this world, one must undergo some austerity. We sacrifice immediate pleasure and comfort for the purpose of gain. People who place faith in different things, perform different austerities in life. Krishna explains beneficial austerities pertaining to the body, mind and words, and also the varying motivations with which one may perform them.
## C
[**Charity (20-22)** ](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
The innate quality of the soul is to serve and thus we find a charitable disposition within everyone to a greater or lesser extent. According to one’s own faith, they make efforts to help others. Krishna discusses the different types of charity and explains that to truly benefit people, charity must be performed within certain parameters. Charity should be given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person. The ultimate charity, however, is to help someone reawaken their spirituality - this will permanently solve all their problems.
## **E**
[**Enjoyer of Everything (23-28)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
Throughout this chapter Krishna discusses all His themes with reference to the modes of nature. It is essential to understand that all activities, even those performed in Goodness, will always yield karmic reactions to the performer and thus bind him to repeated existence in this world. There is a way out. In Vedic hymns, God is defined as the supreme enjoyer by the three words “om tat sat.” Thus, if our sacrifices, penance, and austerities are dedicated to the Supreme, done for His pleasure and favour, then such activities yield permanent benefit and ultimate freedom. Such activities transcend the three modes of material nature and are liberating rather than entangling.
> ### *“YOU WERE BORN ORIGINAL - DON’T DIE A COPY.”* *\~ UNKNOWN*
[^1]: **Bg. 17.1 - 17.9**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/1/) Arjuna inquired: O Kṛṣṇa, what is the situation of those who do not follow the principles of scripture but worship according to their own imagination? Are they in goodness, in passion or in ignorance?
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/2/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: According to the modes of nature acquired by the embodied soul, one’s faith can be of three kinds – in goodness, in passion or in ignorance. Now hear about this.
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/3/) O son of Bharata, according to one’s existence under the various modes of nature, one evolves a particular kind of faith. The living being is said to be of a particular faith according to the modes he has acquired.
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/4/) Men in the mode of goodness worship the demigods; those in the mode of passion worship the demons; and those in the mode of ignorance worship ghosts and spirits.
[TEXTS 5-6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/5-6/) Those who undergo severe austerities and penances not recommended in the scriptures, performing them out of pride and egoism, who are impelled by lust and attachment, who are foolish and who torture the material elements of the body as well as the Supersoul dwelling within, are to be known as demons.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/7/) Even the food each person prefers is of three kinds, according to the three modes of material nature. The same is true of sacrifices, austerities and charity. Now hear of the distinctions between them.
[^2]: **Bg. 17.14 - 17.19**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/)
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/14/) Austerity of the body consists in worship of the Supreme Lord, the brāhmaṇas, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father and mother, and in cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/15/) Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/16/) And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/17/) This threefold austerity, performed with transcendental faith by men not expecting material benefits but engaged only for the sake of the Supreme, is called austerity in goodness.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/18/) Penance performed out of pride and for the sake of gaining respect, honor and worship is said to be in the mode of passion. It is neither stable nor permanent.
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/19/) Penance performed out of foolishness, with self-torture or to destroy or injure others, is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
[^3]: **Bg. 17.20 - 17.22**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/)
[TEXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/20/) Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person is considered to be in the mode of goodness.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/21/) But charity performed with the expectation of some return, or with a desire for fruitive results, or in a grudging mood is said to be charity in the mode of passion.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/22/) And charity performed at an impure place, at an improper time, to unworthy persons, or without proper attention and respect is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
[^4]: **Bg. 17.23 - 17.28**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/)
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/23/) From the beginning of creation, the three words oṁ tat sat were used to indicate the Supreme Absolute Truth. These three symbolic representations were used by brāhmaṇas while chanting the hymns of the Vedas and during sacrifices for the satisfaction of the Supreme.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/24/) Therefore, transcendentalists undertaking performances of sacrifice, charity and penance in accordance with scriptural regulations begin always with oṁ, to attain the Supreme.
[T](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/25/)[EXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/25/) Without desiring fruitive results, one should perform various kinds of sacrifice, penance and charity with the word tat. The purpose of such transcendental activities is to get free from material entanglement.
[TEXTS 26-27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/26-27/) The Absolute Truth is the objective of devotional sacrifice, and it is indicated by the word sat. The performer of such sacrifice is also called sat, as are all works of sacrifice, penance and charity which, true to the absolute nature, are performed to please the Supreme Person, O son of Pṛthā.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/28/) Anything done as sacrifice, charity or penance without faith in the Supreme, O son of Pṛthā, is impermanent. It is called asat and is useless both in this life and the next
# 18/S.M.I.L.E
THE PERFECTION OF RENUNCIATION
### Chapter Eighteen is a summary of the entire Bhagavad-gita. After systematically outlining various spiritual truths, Krishna offers His supreme advice: one should take up *bhakti-yoga*, the spiritual practice stressed in every chapter of this conversation, and develop their unique loving relationship with God. Thus, one is offered the opportunity of permanent happiness and fulfilment by the achievement of Krishna consciousness. This is considered the perfection of renunciation. In such consciousness, an individual can smile in the face of all situations and circumstances, confident that the smiling Krishna is his constant companion and best friend eternally.
## S
[**Summary of Karma-Yoga (1-18)**](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
The Eighteenth chapter begins with Arjuna's most fundamental confusion. *If working in this world seems to attract karmic reaction and implicates us in a web of worldly complexity, is it not safer that we give up work altogether?* Krishna disagrees and reiterates that activity is not bad per se. The root of entanglement is the materialistic mentality with which we act, thinking ourselves the controller and enjoyer. There are five causes which bring success to any activity – the individual soul, the body, the senses, the endeavour, and ultimately the Supersoul. Since we are only one of the five we should never have an over-valued estimation of ourselves. By working in a spirit of detachment, offering the results of our work towards a spiritual goal, one can function in this world and simultaneously remain free from karmic entanglement.
## M
[**Modes of Nature (19-40)**](#user-content-fn-2)[^2]
In reality, most people are deeply engrossed in material pursuit and struggling in a network of karma. Krishna ascribes this to the influence of the modes of material nature, that entangle each person according to their individual mentality. He explains how the modes influence our knowledge, our actions, our understanding, our determination and ultimately our sense of happiness.
## **I**
[**Ideal Worker (41-55)**](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]
So what is the solution? On one hand we’re expected to be dutiful and detached workers, but in reality we have a psycho-physical nature influenced by the modes, which implicates us in worldly life. In this section, Krishna explains how one can engage their nature in different types of work. Four divisions are outlined – the *brahmana* (intelligent class), *ksatriya* (martial class), *vaisya* (mercantile class) and *sudra* (labourer class). One need not artificially imitate another's duty, but rather embrace what is natural and inborn. By engaging our nature and discharging work in a spirit of God consciousness, we purify ourselves of material propensities and live a happy and peaceful life.
## **L**
[**Love of God (56-66)**](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]
All the activities and practices recommended in the Bhagavad-Gita are ultimately aimed at achieving pure love of God. The highest realisation in transcendental knowledge is to re-establish one’s eternal loving relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Srila Prabhupada wonderfully sums this up in his purport to 18.65: *“The most confidential part of knowledge is that one should become a pure devotee of Krishna and always think of Him and act for Him. One should not become an official meditator. Life should be so moulded that one will always have the chance to think of Krishna. One should always act in such a way that all his daily activities are in connection with Krishna. He should arrange his life in such a way that throughout the twenty four hours he cannot help but think of Krishna. And the Lord’s promise is that anyone who is in such pure Krishna consciousness will certainly return to the abode of Krishna, where he will be engaged in the association of Krishna face to face.”*
## **E**
[**End Result (67-78)**](#user-content-fn-5)[^5]
When one approaches the sacred teachings of the Bhagavad-gita with the proper consciousness, behaviour and application they become empowered to fully comprehend the deep and profound meanings. By hearing and studying this conversation with such favourable temperament, one perceives the spiritual dimension as a tangible reality and his life becomes exciting and wondrous at every step. Thus, to share this wisdom with society at large constitutes the greatest welfare work in the entire universe.
> ### *“TWENTY YEARS FROM NOW YOU WILL BE MORE DISAPPOINTED BY THE THINGS THAT YOU DIDN’T DO THAN BY THE ONES YOU DID DO. SO THROW OFF THE BOWLINES. SAIL AWAY FROM THE SAFE HARBOR. CATCH THE TRADE WINDS IN YOUR SAILS. EXPLORE. DREAM. DISCOVER.”* *\~ MARK TWAIN.*
[^1]: **Bg. 18.1 - 18.18**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/)
[TEXT 1:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/1/) Arjuna said: O mighty-armed one, I wish to understand the purpose of renunciation \[tyāga] and of the renounced order of life \[sannyāsa], O killer of the Keśī demon, master of the senses.
[TEXT 2:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/2/) The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: The giving up of activities that are based on material desire is what great learned men call the renounced order of life \[sannyāsa]. And giving up the results of all activities is what the wise call renunciation \[tyāga].
[TEXT 3:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/3/) Some learned men declare that all kinds of fruitive activities should be given up as faulty, yet other sages maintain that acts of sacrifice, charity and penance should never be abandoned.
[TEXT 4:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/4/) O best of the Bhāratas, now hear My judgment about renunciation. O tiger among men, renunciation is declared in the scriptures to be of three kinds.
[TEXT 5:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/5/) Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not to be given up; they must be performed. Indeed, sacrifice, charity and penance purify even the great souls.
[TEXT 6:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/6/) All these activities should be performed without attachment or any expectation of result. They should be performed as a matter of duty, O son of Pṛthā. That is My final opinion.
[TEXT 7:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/7/) Prescribed duties should never be renounced. If one gives up his prescribed duties because of illusion, such renunciation is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
[TEXT 8:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/8/) Anyone who gives up prescribed duties as troublesome or out of fear of bodily discomfort is said to have renounced in the mode of passion. Such action never leads to the elevation of renunciation.
[TEXT 9:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/9/) O Arjuna, when one performs his prescribed duty only because it ought to be done, and renounces all material association and all attachment to the fruit, his renunciation is said to be in the mode of goodness.
[TEXT 10:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/10/) The intelligent renouncer situated in the mode of goodness, neither hateful of inauspicious work nor attached to auspicious work, has no doubts about work.
[TEXT 11:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/11/) It is indeed impossible for an embodied being to give up all activities. But he who renounces the fruits of action is called one who has truly renounced.
[TEXT 12:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/12/) For one who is not renounced, the threefold fruits of action – desirable, undesirable and mixed – accrue after death. But those who are in the renounced order of life have no such result to suffer or enjoy.
[TEXT 13:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/13/) O mighty-armed Arjuna, according to the Vedānta there are five causes for the accomplishment of all action. Now learn of these from Me.
[TEXT 14:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/14/) The place of action \[the body], the performer, the various senses, the many different kinds of endeavor, and ultimately the Supersoul – these are the five factors of action.
[TEXT 15:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/15/) Whatever right or wrong action a man performs by body, mind or speech is caused by these five factors.
[TEXT 16:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/16/) Therefore one who thinks himself the only doer, not considering the five factors, is certainly not very intelligent and cannot see things as they are.
[TEXT 17:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/17/) One who is not motivated by false ego, whose intelligence is not entangled, though he kills men in this world, does not kill. Nor is he bound by his actions.
[TEXT 18:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/18/) Knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower are the three factors that motivate action; the senses, the work and the doer are the three constituents of action.
[^2]: **Bg. 18.19 - 18.40**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/)
[TEXT 19:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/19/) According to the three different modes of material nature, there are three kinds of knowledge, action and performer of action. Now hear of them from Me.
[T](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/20/)[EXT 20:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/20/) That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature is seen in all living entities, though they are divided into innumerable forms, you should understand to be in the mode of goodness.
[TEXT 21:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/21/) That knowledge by which one sees that in every different body there is a different type of living entity you should understand to be in the mode of passion.
[TEXT 22:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/22/) And that knowledge by which one is attached to one kind of work as the all in all, without knowledge of the truth, and which is very meager, is said to be in the mode of darkness.
[TEXT 23:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/23/) That action which is regulated and which is performed without attachment, without love or hatred, and without desire for fruitive results is said to be in the mode of goodness.
[TEXT 24:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/24/) But action performed with great effort by one seeking to gratify his desires, and enacted from a sense of false ego, is called action in the mode of passion.
[T](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/25/)[EXT 25:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/25/) That action performed in illusion, in disregard of scriptural injunctions, and without concern for future bondage or for violence or distress caused to others is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
[TEXT 26:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/26/) One who performs his duty without association with the modes of material nature, without false ego, with great determination and enthusiasm, and without wavering in success or failure is said to be a worker in the mode of goodness.
[TEXT 27:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/27/) The worker who is attached to work and the fruits of work, desiring to enjoy those fruits, and who is greedy, always envious, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow, is said to be in the mode of passion.
[TEXT 28:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/28/) The worker who is always engaged in work against the injunctions of the scripture, who is materialistic, obstinate, cheating and expert in insulting others, and who is lazy, always morose and procrastinating is said to be a worker in the mode of ignorance.
[TEXT 29:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/29/) O winner of wealth, now please listen as I tell you in detail of the different kinds of understanding and determination, according to the three modes of material nature.
[TEXT 30:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/30/) O son of Pṛthā, that understanding by which one knows what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating, is in the mode of goodness.
[TEXT 31:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/31/) O son of Pṛthā, that understanding which cannot distinguish between religion and irreligion, between action that should be done and action that should not be done, is in the mode of passion.
[TEXT 32:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/32/) That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, O Pārtha, is in the mode of ignorance.
[TEXT 33:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/33/) O son of Pṛthā, that determination which is unbreakable, which is sustained with steadfastness by yoga practice, and which thus controls the activities of the mind, life and senses is determination in the mode of goodness.
[TEXT 34:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/34/) But that determination by which one holds fast to fruitive results in religion, economic development and sense gratification is of the nature of passion, O Arjuna.
[TEXT 35:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/35/) And that determination which cannot go beyond dreaming, fearfulness, lamentation, moroseness and illusion – such unintelligent determination, O son of Pṛthā, is in the mode of darkness.
[TEXT 36:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/36/) O best of the Bhāratas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness by which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress.
[TEXT 37:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/37/) That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.
[TEXT 38:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/38/) That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.
[TEXT 39:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/39/) And that happiness which is blind to self-realization, which is delusion from beginning to end and which arises from sleep, laziness and illusion is said to be of the nature of ignorance.
[TEXT 40:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/40/) There is no being existing, either here or among the demigods in the higher planetary systems, which is freed from these three modes born of material nature.
[^3]: **Bg. 18.41 - 18.55**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/)
[TEXT 41:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/41/) Brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras are distinguished by the qualities born of their own natures in accordance with the material modes, O chastiser of the enemy.
[T](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/42/)[EXT 42:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/42/) Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness – these are the natural qualities by which the brāhmaṇas work.
[TEXT 43:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/43/) Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the natural qualities of work for the kṣatriyas.
[TEXT 44:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/44/) Farming, cow protection and business are the natural work for the vaiśyas, and for the śūdras there are labor and service to others.
[TEXT 45:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/45/) By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect. Now please hear from Me how this can be done.
[TEXT 46:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/46/) By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, a man can attain perfection through performing his own work.
[TEXT 47:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/47/) It is better to engage in one’s own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another’s occupation and perform it perfectly. Duties prescribed according to one’s nature are never affected by sinful reactions.
[TEXT 48:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/48/) Every endeavor is covered by some fault, just as fire is covered by smoke. Therefore one should not give up the work born of his nature, O son of Kuntī, even if such work is full of fault.
[TEXT 49:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/49/) One who is self-controlled and unattached and who disregards all material enjoyments can obtain, by practice of renunciation, the highest perfect stage of freedom from reaction.
[TEXT 50:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/50/) O son of Kuntī, learn from Me how one who has achieved this perfection can attain to the supreme perfectional stage, Brahman, the stage of highest knowledge, by acting in the way I shall now summarize.
[TEXTS 51-53:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/51-53/) Being purified by his intelligence and controlling the mind with determination, giving up the objects of sense gratification, being freed from attachment and hatred, one who lives in a secluded place, who eats little, who controls his body, mind and power of speech, who is always in trance and who is detached, free from false ego, false strength, false pride, lust, anger, and acceptance of material things, free from false proprietorship, and peaceful – such a person is certainly elevated to the position of self-realization.
[TEXT 54:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/54/) One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments or desires to have anything. He is equally disposed toward every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.
[TEXT 55:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/55/) One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God.
[^4]: **Bg. 18.56 - 18.66**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/)
[TEXT 56:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/56/) Though engaged in all kinds of activities, My pure devotee, under My protection, reaches the eternal and imperishable abode by My grace.
[TEXT 57:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/57/) In all activities just depend upon Me and work always under My protection. In such devotional service, be fully conscious of Me.
[TEXT 58:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/58/) If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost.
[TEXT 59:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/59/) If you do not act according to My direction and do not fight, then you will be falsely directed. By your nature, you will have to be engaged in warfare.
[TEXT 60:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/60/) Under illusion you are now declining to act according to My direction. But, compelled by the work born of your own nature, you will act all the same, O son of Kuntī.
[TEXT 61:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/61/) The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine, made of the material energy.
[TEXT 62:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/62/) O scion of Bharata, surrender unto Him utterly. By His grace you will attain transcendental peace and the supreme and eternal abode.
[TEXT 63:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/63/) Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.
[TEXT 64:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/64/) Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all. Hear this from Me, for it is for your benefit.
[TEXT 65:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/65/) Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.
[TEXT 66:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/66/) Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
[^5]: **Bg. 18.67 - 18.78**
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/)
[TEXT 67:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/67/) This confidential knowledge may never be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me.
[TEXT 68:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/68/) For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.
[TEXT 69:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/69/) There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear.
[TEXT 70:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/70/) And I declare that he who studies this sacred conversation of ours worships Me by his intelligence.
[TEXT 71:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/71/) And one who listens with faith and without envy becomes free from sinful reactions and attains to the auspicious planets where the pious dwell.
[TEXT 72:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/72/) O son of Pṛthā, O conqueror of wealth, have you heard this with an attentive mind? And are your ignorance and illusions now dispelled?
[TEXT 73:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/73/) Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your mercy. I am now firm and free from doubt and am prepared to act according to Your instructions.
[TEXT 74:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/74/) Sañjaya said: Thus have I heard the conversation of two great souls, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna. And so wonderful is that message that my hair is standing on end.
[TEXT 75:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/75/) By the mercy of Vyāsa, I have heard these most confidential talks directly from the master of all mysticism, Kṛṣṇa, who was speaking personally to Arjuna.
[TEXT 76:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/76/) O King, as I repeatedly recall this wondrous and holy dialogue between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, I take pleasure, being thrilled at every moment.
[TEXT 77:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/77/) O King, as I remember the wonderful form of Lord Kṛṣṇa, I am struck with wonder more and more, and I rejoice again and again.
[TEXT 78:](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/78/) Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality. That is my opinion.
# Living a Gita Life
> ### *"Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do."* [(Bhagavad-gita 18.63)](#user-content-fn-1)[^1]
In ‘Gita Life’ we have presented some of the most powerful philosophy and insightful life lessons that the Bhagavad-Gita has to offer. Yet its ultimate contribution goes beyond the body, mind and intellect. The Gita’s essential aim is to delineate various processes of yoga, or methods of spiritual connection. Krishna offers a variety of options, an ingenious yoga-ladder which gives everyone an entrance point to step up and elevate themselves. That progression culminates in Bhakti-yoga, which combines and synthesises all other yoga processes. Bhakti-yoga awakens the soul’s pure relationship of love with Krishna, the all-attractive Supreme Person.
Bhakti-yoga is practiced in many ways – through music, dance, selfless service, wisdom, worship and art, to name just a few. Since Bhakti-yoga allows one to utilise their natural propensities for the purpose of spiritual elevation, it is considered the most practical and accessible path available. The path of devotion is best practiced with discipline and dedication (vaidhi), which eventually leads to a natural spontaneity (raganuga) in which there is effortless and uninterrupted experience of love. The study of Bhakti-yoga is vast, but here we outline four fundamental aspects which form the basis of one’s Bhakti Life:
### [A - ASSOCIATION ](#association)
### [B - BOOKS](#books)
### [C - CHANTING ](#chanting)
### [D - DIET](#diet)
### **ASSOCIATION**
We all need friends. On the journey of life there are twists and turns, ditches and dead ends, obstacles and opposition. But as John Lennon sang "*I get by with a little help from my friends.*" Those who embark on the spiritual journey are brave indeed. They strive for purity in a world of degradation, they embrace simplicity amongst rampant materialism, and they cultivate selflessness in an atmosphere charged with exploitation. Anyone who boldly goes against the grain will face temptation, doubt, ridicule and moments of weakness. The encouragement, support and good advice of spiritual friends is absolutely essential. Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) to give people the chance to develop relationships with devotees of Krishna. This is one of the most effective ways to gain faith and become enthusiastic in spiritual life.
***Tip:** Try to visit a local ISKCON temple on a regular basis and take advantage of the classes, events and various opportunities for devotional service. If you live far away from a temple, you can attend one of the Krishna groups that meet regularly in various localities. At these gatherings, you can enjoy uplifting chanting, a lively and informative talk and prasadam (sanctified vegetarian food).*
### **BOOKS**
There is nothing in this world as sublime as transcendental knowledge. Knowledge is compared to a sword which cuts down our doubts and helps one remain determined and confident in the spiritual quest. Knowledge is also likened to a lamp which warns us of the obstacles and impediments that we may encounter on that journey. In another metaphor, Krishna depicts knowledge as a boat which protects one from the sufferings of this oceanic world, simultaneously carrying one to the spiritual realm, face-to-face with Krishna. When Srila Prabhupada spoke into a Dictaphone and translated the timeless wisdom of the Vedas, Lord Krishna and the great teachers spoke through him. That spiritual sound was then transformed into the printed word, which, when read and assimilated, can once again manifest the full potency of the original sound.
***Tip:** Read the books translated by Srila Prabhupada. Along with the well-known Bhagavad-Gita there is also the Srimad Bhagavatam. Its 18,000 verses continue the philosophical teachings of the Gita, and also describe Krishna’s divine appearance and avatars. Srila Prabhupada also published the Caitanya Caritamrita, the biography and detailed teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Krishna’s most recent incarnation. There are also the important works of Srila Rupa Goswami, medieval disciple of Sri Chaitanya, such as Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu and Upadeshamrita.*
### CHANTING
Five hundred years ago, Krishna incarnated as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and ushered in a spiritual revolution by freely initiating everyone – regardless of race, religion, or social status – into the chanting of the most effective *mantra* of all, the Hare Krishna *mantra*. Since God is all-powerful and all-merciful, He has kindly made it very easy for us to chant His names, and He has also invested all His powers in them. Thus, the vibrated names of God and God Himself are identical. This means that when we chant the holy names of Krishna we are directly associating with Him and simultaneously being purified by such communion. Chanting is a prayer to Krishna that means “*O energy of the Lord (Hare), 0 all-attractive Lord (Krishna), 0 supreme enjoyer (Rama), please engage me in Your service*." This chanting is exactly like the genuine cry of a child for its mother's presence.
***Tip:** Recite the Hare Krishna mantra on a circle of 108 wooden beads. This is known as japa meditation. One time round the beads each day is for beginners, four times round as a daily minimum is for more committed practitioners, and sixteen ‘rounds’ are for those who have taken (or are planning to take) their lifetime vows. You can chant these holy names of the Lord anywhere and at any time, but the early morning hours are deemed ideal.*
### DIET
The Bhagavad-gita declares eating to be an extremely sacred activity when conducted with due care, attention and spiritual consciousness. If we place an iron rod in fire, the rod quickly becomes red hot and acts just like fire. Similarly, food prepared for and offered to Krishna with love and devotion becomes completely spiritualised. Such food is called Krishna *prasadam*, which means "*the mercy of Lord Krishna*." Eating *prasadam* is a fundamental practice of Bhakti-yoga. In other forms of yoga one must artificially repress the senses, but the Bhakti-yogi can engage his or her senses in a variety of pleasing spiritual activities.
***Tip:** It is recommended that one offer their food to Krishna before eating. From the purchase of the ingredients, to the cooking, then the offering and finally the eating, every step can be an act of love which brings one closer to God. The process starts with selecting ingredients, those which are vegetarian, natural and fresh. In preparing food, cleanliness, attention and devotion are the main principles. After cooking, arrange portions of the food on special dinner-ware kept especially for Krishna. The easiest way to offer food is simply to pray, “My dear Lord Krishna, please accept this humble offering”. There are also special mantras which can be chanted to invoke a devotional consciousness. Then you can accept that sanctified food and share it with others!*
[^1]: **Bg. 18.63**
इति ते ज्ञानमाख्यातं गुह्याद्गुह्यतरं मया ।\
विमृश्यैतदशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥ ६३ ॥
*iti te jñānam ākhyātaṁ*\
*guhyād guhya-taraṁ mayā*\
*vimṛśyaitad aśeṣeṇa*\
*yathecchasi tathā kuru*
Thus I have explained to you knowledge still more confidential. Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do.
**Source:** [**Vedabase**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/18/63/)
# The Author
After graduating from University College London (UCL), S.B. Keshava Swami embraced the life of a monk at just 21 - a journey he has pursued with unwavering dedication for over two decades. Immersing himself in the study of ancient Sanskrit texts for more than 25 years, he has authored 12 books and designed over 50 transformative courses, equipping diverse audiences with timeless wisdom to deepen relationships, uncover purpose, break through inner limitations, and cultivate lasting spiritual well-being.
Keshava Swami has also leveraged the power of digital media to introduce tens of thousands to the profound insights of Eastern philosophy. As the founder of Wisdom That Breathes ([www.wisdomthatbreathes.com](http://www.wisdomthatbreathes.com)), he has created a thriving ecosystem for spiritual exploration, personal development, and global impact. This dynamic platform brings together conscious changemakers, nurtures impactful initiatives, pioneers cutting-edge technology, and provides open-source educational resources - making ancient wisdom accessible and relevant in the modern world.
A sought-after global educator, Keshava Swami regularly delivers keynote addresses at prestigious academic institutions, Fortune 500 companies, governmental organizations, and spiritual communities. His ability to bridge ancient philosophy with contemporary challenges has positioned him as a thought leader at the forefront of modern spirituality. More than just a teacher, he is a catalyst for transformation - sharing wisdom that breathes, not as abstract theory, but as a living, practical force that shapes character, elevates consciousness, and inspires lasting change
**Books Authored by S.B. Keshava Swami**
* Bhakti Life: 18 Simple Steps to Krishna
* Book Bhagavata: The Srimad-Bhagavatam Summarised
* Caitanya-Caritamrita Compact
* Gita3: A Contemporary Guide to the Timeless Teachings of the Bhagavad-gita
* Gita Life: A Summary of the Bhagavad-gita in Acronyms
* Loving Life, Embracing Death
* Tattva: See Inside Out
* Tattva 2: Old Words Open New Worlds
**Books Compiled by S.B. Keshava Swami**
* Veda: Secrets of the East (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)
* In Essence (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada)
# Wisdom That Breathes
At *Wisdom That Breathes* (WTB), we are building a community where individuals do the inner work which fuels outer impact. The future belongs to conscious changemakers and wisdom-led disruptors who dare to think differently. Step into a space where you can explore ancient wisdom, raise your consciousness, access mentorship and leadership training, and connect with like-minded individuals who want to change the world through wisdom.
We envision a future shaped by conscious changemakers who are empowered with the paradigm-shifting wisdom of the East. The Vedic literatures, expansive in scope, illuminate every facet of life—from relationships to religion, science to sociology, leadership to lifestyle management. For thousands of years, these timeless teachings have inspired thinkers, leaders, and seekers, offering unceasing guidance for those who dare to look deeper.
When the compass of knowledge aligns with the passion to serve, it transforms into true compassion. Our community is made up of city workers, artists, entrepreneurs, students, and visionaries from all walks of life—each with their own story, each on their own journey. As they elevate their consciousness, they become catalysts for positive change, sharing spiritual wisdom with creativity, authenticity, and compassion.
# Read the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is Online
#### 
[**https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/**](https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/)
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