46 results
Article
Fear of what others will say can stop us from doing what we should. Why the Lord speaks to Arjuna in the language of duty and reputation, and how the very next verse loosens the grip of that fear.
Level: Simple English 5 min Duty, Honour and Fear
Article
You finished the work and still lie awake over how it will turn out. The Gita's plain answer: do the work with your whole mind, then hand it over to the Lord. Three verses, an example and one small practice for today.
Level: Simple English 5 min Offering All Actions
Article
Do you feel that everything will fall apart if you let go for a day? The Gita's last counsel (18.57 to 18.66) says to keep the work, hand over the load, think it through and then choose freely. A plain guide with a practice for tonight.
Level: Simple English 7 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose
Article
The Gita's eighteen chapters in plain words: one conversation that answers five questions in order, so you can start at the question that is yours.
Level: Simple English 6 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Article
The Bhagavad Gita is one conversation between Arjuna and Lord Krishna on a battlefield, in eighteen chapters, about how to act when you are torn. Here is who speaks, why, and what it asks of you.
Level: Simple English 6 min What Is the Gita?
Article
After a big blow you may feel broken and confused. Arjuna in the Gita went through the same. See what he said, what he asked, and how he stood up again.
Level: Simple English 4 min Arjuna, Our Mirror
Article
When a decision is too heavy to carry, Arjuna shows the first step: say plainly what is wrong, admit you do not know, and ask. A simple reading of Gita 1.28 to 2.10.
Level: Simple English 5 min Arjuna's Despondency
Article
You decide firmly, then meet the people the decision touches, and your resolve shakes. Arjuna's pause between the two armies shows why looking comes first, and what to do next.
Level: Simple English 4 min Arjuna on the Field
Article
You have listened to advice for months and still hesitate. The Gita's last verses show what a clear mind looks like: Arjuna's 'my delusion is destroyed, I will act', and the small first step that follows.
Level: Simple English 5 min Delusion Gone: I Will Act
Article
Shock, freezing, arguing, asking for help, learning, doubting again and finally acting: the Gita walks Arjuna through each, and the road is the one we walk too. Each step, how it looks in life, an example, a practice and five questions.
Level: In Depth English 8 min Arjuna, Our Mirror
Article
The Gita is set on a battlefield and tells Arjuna to rise and fight. Does it teach violence? Read where the call is made, to whom, and by what measure, in Gita 1.28-47, 2.31-37, 11.33, 12.13 and 16.2.
Level: In Depth English 4 min Arjuna's Despondency
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
The Gita's last seven verses in order: the Lord's question, Arjuna's four statements, Sanjaya's joy and closing verdict. With a table, an example, common misreadings, reflection questions and five answers.
Level: In Depth English 10 min Delusion Gone: I Will Act
Article
Why does the Lord, right after the teaching of the self, speak of duty, reputation and what people will say? Seven verses in order, where the argument stops, common misreadings, an example and three questions to carry.
Level: In Depth English 9 min Duty, Honour and Fear
Article
The Lord says a person of very bad conduct who worships with undivided devotion is to be regarded as righteous. Gita 9.30-34 taken in order: what each verse means, where the promise stops, common mistakes, an example and a practice.
Level: In Depth English 10 min Even the Worst Offender
Article
Four choices decide how you read the Gita: the order, the translation, the commentary and the question you bring. Here is a practical way to make each one, with the Gita's own advice on study.
Level: In Depth English 10 min How to Read the Gita
Article
What does it mean to offer all your actions to the Lord, and how does that free you? Gita 3.30-32 and 5.10-12 in order: five things to give and drop, faith, the lotus leaf, inner purification and lasting peace, with an example and a practice.
Level: In Depth English 12 min Offering All Actions
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
What does the Lord ask of Arjuna in his closing counsel? Gita 18.57 to 18.66 in order: give the actions in the mind, take refuge, reflect fully, then choose freely, with the promise and the last word, do not grieve.
Level: In Depth English 10 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose
Article
Gita 2.62–63 walks from dwelling on an object through attachment, desire, anger, delusion, confused memory and lost intellect to ruin. Each step in plain words, with the neighbouring verses.
Level: In Depth English 12 min From Thought to Ruin
Article
Why did the Lord tell Arjuna to be merely an instrument? Gita 11.31-35 in order: Arjuna's question, 'I am Time', the four named warriors, Arjuna's trembling, common misunderstandings, an example and a practice.
Level: In Depth English 14 min Merely an Instrument
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
Gita 1.28 to 2.10 read in order: how Arjuna's body, feelings and reasons give way, what Lord Krishna says first, and the one verse (2.7) where he stops arguing and asks to be taught.
Level: In Depth English 13 min Arjuna's Despondency
Article
A close reading of Gita 1.28 to 2.10: how Arjuna's body, feeling and reasons give way in turn, what Lord Krishna's first words answer, and why his last move is a request.
Level: Deeper English 18 min Arjuna's Despondency
Article
The Lord turns beings as on a machine, nature compels, and yet Arjuna is told to reflect and do as he wishes. Gita 18.57 to 18.66 read closely: how surrender and free choice belong together, the readings of the last verse and the objections answered.
Level: Deeper English 16 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose
Article
Is 'be merely an instrument' a command to kill, a statement of fate, or something else? A close reading of Gita 11.31-35, the idea of the instrument across the Gita, two streams of commentators, and objections answered.
Level: Deeper English 18 min Merely an Instrument
Article
A close reading of the Gita's last verses: why the Lord asks what he knows, whether 'I will act on Your word' cancels free choice, what memory is regained, and two readings of Sanjaya's closing verdict.
Level: Deeper English 14 min Delusion Gone: I Will Act
Article
After teaching the imperishable self, the Lord speaks to Arjuna in the language of duty, reputation and what others will say. A verse-by-verse reading of 2.31-37, the real difficulties, two streams of commentary, and why it is not a general case for war.
Level: Deeper English 12 min Duty, Honour and Fear
Article
A close reading of Gita 3.30-32 and 5.10-12: what is offered when nature does the acting, two streams on the mind fixed on the self and on Brahman, faith and fault-finding, seven objections answered, and what the verses leave open.
Level: Deeper English 14 min Offering All Actions
Article
Does Gita 9.30-31 excuse bad conduct? A close reading of 'even if', 'wholly' and 'quickly', six hard questions with direct replies, two streams of commentators, and answers from the Gita and the tradition to the questions the verses raise.
Level: Deeper English 16 min Even the Worst Offender
Article
Is the order of the Gita's eighteen chapters an argument or a gathering? A close look at the narrator's frame, Arjuna's sixteen questions, the verse counts, the chapter names and the verses that return.
Level: Deeper English 12 min The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance
Article
A close reading of the Gita's hardest lines on war and killing: 2.31-37, 2.19-20, 11.33 and 18.17. Who is addressed, in what hour, and under what measure, and how readers differ on the field itself.
Level: Deeper English 8 min Arjuna's Despondency
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
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
Why does the Gita begin with its hero breaking down? Arjuna's body gives way, he lets go of his bow, then he turns to Krishna as a disciple seeking refuge, and the teaching begins from there.
English 11 min Arjuna's Despondency
Quick summary
A quick summary of Arjuna's seven steps: shock, freezing, arguing, asking for help, learning, doubting again and acting, with common misunderstandings and the questions readers ask.
English 3 min Arjuna, Our Mirror
Quick summary
A quick summary of Gita 18.72-78: the Lord's question, Arjuna's four statements, Sanjaya's joy and closing verdict, with common misunderstandings and the questions readers ask.
English 4 min Delusion Gone: I Will Act
Quick summary
After the teaching of the self, the Lord speaks to Arjuna in the language of duty, honour and the fear of disgrace. A short revision of Gita 2.31-37: the seven verses, how far the argument goes, and the turn to an even mind in the next verse.
English 7 min Duty, Honour and Fear
Quick summary
A short revision of Gita 9.30-34: why a person of very bad conduct who turns to the Lord with his whole mind is called righteous, what that promise does not say, and the three lessons the verses hold.
English 10 min Even the Worst Offender
Quick summary
Want to read the Gita but unsure where to begin and how to go on? Plain advice here on the order of reading, and on choosing a translation and a commentary, in three levels.
English 9 min How to Read the Gita
Quick summary
In fear at the cosmic form, Arjuna asks who the terrible form is. The Lord says 'I am Time' and 'be merely an instrument'. A short revision of Gita 11.31-35: the verses, their meaning and Arjuna's trembling reply.
English 10 min Merely an Instrument
Quick summary
A short revision of Gita 3.30-32 and 5.10-12: what it means to hand all actions to the Lord, why such work leaves no stain like water on a lotus leaf, and how it brings a peace that lasts.
English 11 min Offering All Actions
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
How can the burden of carrying everything alone be put down without giving up duty and thought? In Gita 18.57 to 18.66 the Lord gives His last counsel, asks Arjuna to take refuge, and leaves the choice to him.
English 9 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose
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?