34 results
Article
Told to act, to meditate and to pray, all in one month? The Gita names four ways, says they reach one place, and shows where to begin. A plain guide with a week's practice.
Level: Simple English 7 min The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion
Article
Should you ask the question you keep to yourself, or stay quiet? The Gita starts from Arjuna's questions. See how he asks, what Lord Krishna does, and a simple way to ask a question of your own.
Level: Simple English 5 min Arjuna's Questions
Article
Action, knowledge, meditation and devotion are each praised as best in the Gita. Read the basis of each comparison (3.3, 5.5, 6.47, 12.2, 13.25), the cautions the Gita gives each path and how the Lord's steps in 12.8 to 12.12 join them.
Level: In Depth English 11 min The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion
Article
Arjuna asks to see whom he must fight, Lord Krishna grants it and says one word, and the sight of his own people changes everything. A verse-by-verse reading of Gita 1.20–27 and why the Gita begins here.
Level: In Depth English 11 min Arjuna on the Field
Article
A map of the twenty verses of Gita chapter 12: Arjuna's question, the four steps for a mind that will not stay, and the devotee the Lord holds dear, with a guide to the reading for each part.
Level: In Depth English 12 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview
Article
In Gita 12.13-20 the Lord lists over thirty marks and says of each group, 'such a one is dear to Me'. The marks fall into four relationships and hang from one centre. Each verse explained, with a table, common misreadings, an example and a seven-day practice.
Level: In Depth English 13 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord
Article
A chapter-by-chapter map of the Bhagavad Gita: the name, size and job of each of the eighteen chapters, and how Arjuna's questions carry the book from despair to decision.
Level: In Depth English 14 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Article
A verse-by-verse reading of Gita 2.11–30: what the Lord says the self is, why grief is aimed at the wrong thing, the second answer for the one who cannot accept the first, and what the teaching does not mean.
Level: In Depth English 12 min The Imperishable Self
Article
What does Arjuna ask in the Gita, when, and why? Fourteen main questions in the order of the book, what each shows about his state of mind, the first line of Lord Krishna's answer, and where to read the full reply.
Level: In Depth English 14 min Arjuna's Questions
Article
The Gita says 'I do nothing' in one place and counts the doer among five causes in another. Read the verses from 3.27 to 18.17 in order, and see how pride and guilt both grow lighter without effort being lost.
Level: In Depth English 13 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
Four voices carry the Bhagavad Gita: a blind king asks, his minister reports, Arjuna questions and Lord Krishna teaches. See why the teaching is given on a battlefield and how Arjuna's questions move it along.
Level: In Depth English 11 min What Is the Gita?
Article
An attempt to understand the Gita not merely through Dualistic or Non-Dualistic perspectives, but as an integrated spiritual journey of Bhakti, Jnana, and Karma Yoga.
Level: In Depth English 16 min
Article
Do Arjuna's questions only open the door to the Gita, or do they shape it? Their wording, three threads that run through them, the echo of that wording in the replies, two streams of commentators, and objections answered.
Level: Deeper English 15 min Arjuna's Questions
Article
The Gita says nature performs all action, then counts the doer among five causes. Why these claims do not clash, where 18.16–17 is hard, and where the commentators divide: a verse-by-verse reading.
Level: Deeper English 16 min Who Is the Doer?
Article
A close reading of Gita 2.39–46 and 2.52–53: what the single resolute intellect is, why talk of enjoyment and power blocks it, how the passage fits the Vedas, hearing and the Lord's care, and the difficulties it raises.
Level: Deeper English 16 min Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect
Article
After the universal form the Lord says that no Veda, austerity, charity or sacrifice wins this sight, and undivided devotion does. A close reading, the hard questions, two streams of commentators and a table of parallels.
Level: Deeper English 16 min By Devotion Alone
Article
A close reading of Gita 12.1-5. The Lord says both the devotee and the worshipper of the unmanifest reach Him, yet calls the devotee most united. The hard questions, two streams of commentators, and answers from the Gita and the tradition to the questions the verses raise.
Level: Deeper English 12 min Devotion or the Unmanifest
Article
Gita 12.13-20 lists over thirty marks and keeps saying 'such a one is dear to Me'. Is it a test? How can anyone be dear to a Lord who is equal to all? A close reading, two streams of commentators, five objections and five questions answered.
Level: Deeper English 18 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord
Article
Gita chapter 12 seems to pull two ways in four places: who is best, the order of the steps, giving up undertakings against working for the Lord, and disturbing no one. The wording of each verse, the commentators' streams and the open questions.
Level: Deeper English 14 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview
Article
Is the order of the Gita's eighteen chapters an argument or a gathering? A close look at the narrator's frame, Arjuna's sixteen questions, the verse counts, the chapter names and the verses that return.
Level: Deeper English 12 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Article
Does the Gita teach one preferred path or several ways to one goal? The verses 2.39, 3.3, 5.2, 5.6, 6.46, 12.5, 12.12 and 13.25 read closely, three streams of commentary, five objections and the questions the verses raise, answered.
Level: Deeper English 12 min The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion
Article
Chapter 3 rejects non-action as an exit and chapter 4 praises it as the mark of the wise. A close reading of Gita 4.16 to 4.24: two senses of akarma, five marks, and the act seen as an offering.
Level: Deeper English 11 min Karma and Akarma: Acting Without Being Bound
Article
In its closing verses the Bhagavad Gita names itself a dialogue, a secret yoga and a teaching to be studied as an offering, then leaves the choice to the listener. A close reading with objections and replies.
Level: Deeper English 10 min What Is the Gita?
Article
Arjuna asks to see, Lord Krishna places the chariot and says one word, and the sight of his own people undoes Arjuna's resolve. A close reading of Gita 1.20–27, with parallels, readings and objections.
Level: Deeper English 15 min Arjuna on the Field
Article
A close reading of Gita 2.11–30: the different reasons the Lord gives for not grieving, what each assumes, how an all-pervading self can change bodies, why the verses do not license harm, and what the rest of the Gita and the tradition add.
Level: Deeper English 14 min The Imperishable Self
Quick summary
Arjuna lifts his bow and asks Krishna to drive the chariot between the two armies, and then sees his own people on both sides. A short revision of Gita 1.20-27, the moment from which the need for teaching begins.
English 9 min Arjuna on the Field
Quick summary
A short revision of Arjuna's fourteen questions in the Gita: where each one comes, what puzzle of the mind lies behind it, and where the answer is found.
English 11 min Arjuna's Questions
Quick summary
The twelfth chapter in short: the form or the formless, a ladder of practice when the mind will not stay, and the marks of the devotee dear to the Lord, all on one page.
English 10 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview
Quick summary
At the end of the twelfth chapter the Lord draws the picture of one dear to Him: free of hatred, friendly and compassionate, even in pleasure and pain, skilful and steady. Three readings of verses 12.13-20 and the question of what 'dear' means.
English 12 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord
Quick summary
A quick summary of the eighteen chapters of the Gita: the name, verse count and work of each chapter, in five groups, so that the whole map can be revised and explained to someone.
English 13 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Quick summary
When someone dear has gone, or we fear losing them, what is it that is really lost? In Gita 2.11 to 2.30 the Lord answers this, and does not call love or tears wrong.
English 7 min The Imperishable Self
Quick summary
The Gita praises action, knowledge, meditation and devotion, all four. Do they clash, and where should one begin? The Lord's answer is here.
English 8 min The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion
Quick summary
What is the Gita, who is speaking to whom, why did this conversation happen on a battlefield, and what is the book for? Answers in three readings for someone reading the Gita for the first time.
English 8 min What Is the Gita?
Quick summary
The Gita says that the qualities of nature do all action and the self is not the doer, yet it counts the doer among the five causes of every action. Gita 3.27-29, 5.8-14 and 18.13-17 on the mistake of 'I do everything' and its remedy.
English 9 min Who Is the Doer?