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Arjuna's Questions: Quick Summary

The Gita moves by Arjuna's questions, and the Lord sends none of them back (3.1-2).

English 11 min Arjuna's Questions

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By Devotion Alone: Quick Summary

The vision of the Lord is rare even for the gods, and no means, whether Vedas, austerity, giving or sacrifice, can pay its price (11.52-53).

English 10 min By Devotion Alone

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Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview: Quick Summary

In chapter 12 Arjuna asks whether the worshipper of the form or of the unmanifest is better; the Lord says that the one who fixes his mind on Him and worships with faith is best (12.1-5).

English 10 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview

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Devotion or the Unmanifest: Quick Summary

Arjuna asks which knows yoga best, the one who worships the Lord in form or the one who worships the imperishable unmanifest (12.1).

English 7 min Devotion or the Unmanifest

Article

Gita 11.52-55 Verse by Verse: How the Lord Is Reached and the Five Marks of the Devotee

The Lord's form is rare even for the gods (11.52), and none of the four great means, Vedas, austerity, charity or sacrifice, can pay for the sight (11.53).

In Depth English 13 min By Devotion Alone

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Knowing His Glory Leads to Devotion: Quick Summary

One who knows the Lord's glory in truth joins Him by unshakable devotion, and the wise who know Him as the source of all worship Him with love (10.7-8).

English 10 min Knowing His Glory Leads to Devotion

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The Devotee Dear to the Lord: Quick Summary

The devotee dear to the Lord is known not by rituals but by a way of living: no hatred, friendliness and compassion to all, evenness in pleasure and pain (12.13-14).

English 12 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord

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The Ladder of Devotion: Quick Summary

One who offers all actions to the Lord and holds Him as the goal is soon lifted out of the ocean of births by the Lord Himself (12.6-7).

English 10 min The Ladder of Devotion

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The Steadfast Devotee and Divine Care: Quick Summary

Great souls take refuge in the divine nature, know the Lord as the origin of all, and worship with an undivided mind (9.13).

English 8 min The Steadfast Devotee and Divine Care

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What We Worship, We Become: Quick Summary

The Lord steadies the faith of one who worships another god with faith, and the arranging of the fruit is His (7.21, 7.22).

English 10 min What We Worship, We Become

Article

Gita 10.7-11 Verse by Verse: How Knowing the Lord's Glory Becomes Devotion

One who knows the Lord's glory in truth is joined to Him by unwavering devotion (10.7), and the wise who know Him as the source of all worship Him with love (10.8).

In Depth English 12 min Knowing His Glory Leads to Devotion

Article

Prayer Feels Dry and No One to Talk To? What the Gita Says

Truly seeing the Lord's greatness turns devotion from habit into steady love (10.7-8).

Simple English 6 min Knowing His Glory Leads to Devotion

Article

Arjuna's Questions in the Gita: Wording, Order and Replies, a Closer Reading

The questions shape the Gita: three threads run through them, the call for one decisive answer (2.7, 3.2, 5.1), the marks of the ideal person (2.54, 14.21), and which of two is better (5.1, 12.1).

Deeper English 15 min Arjuna's Questions

Article

Four Steps Toward the Lord When the Mind Will Not Stay: Gita 12.6-12, Verse by Verse

One who offers all actions to the Lord and holds Him as the aim is lifted out of the ocean of worldly life by the Lord Himself, before long (12.6-7).

In Depth English 12 min The Ladder of Devotion

Article

Gita Chapter 12 at a Glance: A Way to the Lord for Every Kind of Person

Chapter 12 opens with Arjuna asking whether the devotee of the Lord with form or the seeker of the unmanifest knows yoga best; the Lord names the one who fixes the mind on him with faith, and says the unmanifest path also reaches him but is harder for embodied beings (12.1-5).

In Depth English 12 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview

Article

My Mind Will Not Stay on God: Where Do I Start? Gita 12.8-11

The Lord does not ask everyone to begin at the top; for the one whose mind will not stay He gives lower steps too (12.8-11).

Simple English 5 min The Ladder of Devotion

Article

The Devotee Dear to the Lord: Gita 12.13-20, Verse by Verse

Chapter 12 closes with a person, not a rule: one who hates no being, is friendly and compassionate, and has offered mind and intellect to the Lord (12.13-14).

In Depth English 13 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord

Article

What Arjuna Asks in the Gita: The Fourteen Main Questions, One by One

Arjuna's questions change with his state of mind: first confusion (2.54, 3.1-2, 5.1), then the difficulty of practice (6.33-39), then the wish to know (8.1-2, 13.1, 14.21), then the wish to see (11.3-4).

In Depth English 14 min Arjuna's Questions

Article

Devotion or the Unmanifest: Gita 12.1-5 Verse by Verse

The Lord calls the one who fixes the mind on Him, stays steady and has supreme faith the most perfect in yoga (12.2).

In Depth English 8 min Devotion or the Unmanifest

Article

Great Souls and the Lord's Care: Gita 9.13-15 and 9.22 Verse by Verse

Great souls take shelter in the divine nature and, knowing the Lord as the source of all, worship him with a mind on nothing else (9.13).

In Depth English 11 min The Steadfast Devotee and Divine Care

Article

Worshipping Other Deities and Reaching the Lord: Gita 7.20-23 and 9.20-25 Verse by Verse

The Lord steadies the faith of anyone who worships a deity with faith; the Gita does not scold them (7.20, 7.21).

In Depth English 10 min What We Worship, We Become