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A Leaf, a Flower, a Fruit, Water: Quick Summary

The Lord accepts a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion; it is the devotion that counts, not the worth of the gift (9.26).

English 8 min A Leaf, a Flower, a Fruit, Water

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Acting for the World: Quick Summary

For one who is content in the self there is no duty left to gain anything (3.17-18), yet he is told to act without attachment (3.19).

English 10 min Acting for the World

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Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect: Quick Summary

What is known enters life only when the intellect rests on one resolve (2.41).

English 6 min Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect

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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

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Equanimity: Quick Summary

Cold and heat, pleasure and pain come from the meeting of senses and objects and pass, so learn to bear them (2.14).

English 11 min Equanimity

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Even the Worst Offender: Quick Summary

A person of very bad conduct who worships with undivided devotion is to be regarded as righteous, because he has resolved rightly (9.30).

English 10 min Even the Worst Offender

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Four Kinds of Devotees: Quick Summary

Four reasons bring people to the Lord: distress, wish to know, some desire and knowledge; all four are called virtuous and noble (7.16, 7.18).

English 8 min Four Kinds of Devotees

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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Karma and Akarma: Acting Without Being Bound: Quick Summary

Three things are to be known: right action, wrong action and non-action, and even the wise are confused about them (4.16-17).

English 9 min Karma and Akarma: Acting Without Being Bound

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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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Offering All Actions: Quick Summary

Lord Krishna asks Arjuna to hand over all actions to Him, with the mind turned to the self, free from expectation, from the sense of 'mine' and from the fever of worry (3.30).

English 11 min Offering All Actions

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One's Own Duty: Quick Summary

One's own duty done imperfectly is better than another's duty done well (3.35, 18.47).

English 9 min One's Own Duty

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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 Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose: Quick Summary

The Lord tells Arjuna to hand all actions over to Him in the mind and to fix his thought on Him (18.57-58).

English 9 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose

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The Illusory Energy and Surrender: Quick Summary

Maya, made of the three qualities, is the Lord's own divine energy, and it is very hard to cross alone (7.14).

English 8 min The Illusory Energy and Surrender

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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 Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion: Quick Summary

Action, knowledge, meditation and devotion do not compete; they complete one another.

English 8 min The Paths: Action, Knowledge, 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

You Do Everything Right and God Still Feels Far: What the Gita Says

Study, austerity, charity and sacrifice are not the price of the Lord's nearness; he is found by undivided devotion (11.53, 11.54).

Simple English 5 min By Devotion Alone

Article

Why Does Work Feel Heavy, and How Do You Turn It into an Offering?

Work done only for oneself ties us; work done as an offering to something beyond oneself frees us (3.9).

Simple English 6 min Work as Sacrifice

Article

Why the Content Still Work: Gita 3.17 to 3.26 Verse by Verse

The person who is content in the self has no duty to gain anything, yet the Gita tells even such a person to go on acting (3.17-20).

In Depth English 14 min Acting for the World

Article

Work as Sacrifice: Gita 3.9 to 3.16 Verse by Verse

Work done only for oneself binds; work done as an offering to something beyond oneself, free of attachment, frees (3.9).

In Depth English 14 min Work as Sacrifice

Article

Evenness of Mind in the Gita: From Bearing Pleasure and Pain to Seeing All Alike (Gita 2.14-15, 2.38, 5.18-20, 6.7-9)

Evenness in the Gita has three fronts: what happens to me (2.14-15), how things turn out (2.38), and how I see people and things (5.18-20, 6.7-9).

In Depth English 12 min Equanimity

Article

What Is Svadharma? Your Own Duty, Your Own Nature, and Why Borrowing Another's Way Costs So Much (Gita 3.33-35, 18.41-48)

One's own duty is the duty that fits one's own nature and qualities; all beings act from their nature (3.33).

In Depth English 15 min One's Own Duty

Article

Do the Gita's Four Paths Compete or Complete Each Other? Reading Each Comparison

The Gita lists the ways to the goal three times, and each time the list grows and nothing is dropped (2.39, 3.3, 13.25).

In Depth English 11 min The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion

Article

Do the Work, Let Go of the Result? Gita 2.47 to 2.51 Explained

The right is to the work and never to the fruits, and the fruit also depends on much more than the doer (2.47, 18.14).

In Depth English 10 min Action Without Claiming the Fruit

Article

From Knowing to Deciding: Buddhi Yoga in Gita 2.39–46 and 2.52–53

After the teaching of the self (2.11–30), Lord Krishna shows how that knowing becomes living, through one resolved intellect, not through collecting more opinions (2.39–41).

In Depth English 11 min Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect

Article

How Action Stops Binding: Gita 4.16 to 4.24 Explained

There are three things to understand, right action, wrong action and inaction, and the line between action and inaction is drawn at the claim and not at the body (4.16, 4.17).

In Depth English 9 min Karma and Akarma: Acting Without Being Bound

Article

Putting Down the Load You Think Only You Can Carry: The Gita's Last Counsel

The weight of a day comes less from the work than from the thought that "I alone hold it up" (18.57, 18.61).

Simple English 7 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose

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The Gita's Last Counsel, Verse by Verse: Surrender, Think, Choose (18.57 to 18.66)

The Lord asks Arjuna to give all actions to Him in the mind and to keep a steady intellect (18.57, 18.58).

In Depth English 10 min The Final Counsel: Surrender, Think, Choose

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

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

Have I Done Too Much Wrong for God to Accept Me? What the Gita Says

A person of very bad conduct who turns to the Lord with his whole mind is to be counted as good, because he has resolved rightly (9.30).

Simple English 4 min Even the Worst Offender

Article

How a Person of Very Bad Conduct Counts as Righteous: Gita 9.30-34 Verse by Verse

A person of very bad conduct who worships the Lord with undivided devotion is to be regarded as righteous, because he has resolved rightly (9.30).

In Depth English 10 min Even the Worst Offender

Article

I Pray Every Day, Yet I Still Get Angry: What the Lord Looks for in a Devotee

The Lord knows His dear devotee not by rites but by how the person lives: no hatred for anyone, friendly and compassionate toward all, level in pain and pleasure (12.13).

Simple English 6 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord

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

A Leaf, a Flower, a Fruit, Water: Gita 9.26-29 Verse by Verse

The Lord accepts a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion; what counts is the devotion, not the cost of the gift (9.26).

In Depth English 14 min A Leaf, a Flower, a Fruit, Water

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

Do I Have to Carry Everything Alone? What the Gita Says

For those who look to nothing else and stay joined to him, the Lord carries what they lack and keeps what they have (9.22).

Simple English 5 min The Steadfast Devotee and Divine Care

Article

Does a Small Offering Reach God? What the Gita Says About a Leaf and Water

The Lord accepts a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion. The gift need not be big (9.26).

Simple English 6 min A Leaf, a Flower, a Fruit, Water

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

How to Cross the Illusory Energy: Gita 7.14-15 Verse by Verse

The illusory energy, made of the three modes of nature, is the Lord's own divine power, and crossing it by one's own strength alone is very hard (7.14).

In Depth English 10 min The Illusory Energy and Surrender

Article

How to Stop Worrying About the Result: Offer Your Work

The worry is not in the work but in clinging to the result. The Gita says to do the work and then hand it over to the Lord (3.30).

Simple English 5 min Offering All Actions

Article

Is It Wrong to Ask God for Things? What the Gita Says

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

Simple English 4 min What We Worship, We Become

Article

Is It Wrong to Remember God Only in Trouble?

The Gita names four reasons that bring people to God, distress, a wish to know, a want and wisdom, and calls all four good and noble (7.16, 7.18).

Simple English 4 min Four Kinds of Devotees

Article

Maya and Refuge: A Close Reading of Gita 7.14-15

The illusory energy is the Lord's own power, made of the modes of nature, and the way across is refuge in him alone (7.14); refuge is where effort rests, not a replacement for it (3.30, 6.5-6).

Deeper English 14 min The Illusory Energy and Surrender

Article

Offering All Actions: Gita 3.30-32 and 5.10-12 Verse by Verse

Do the work with your whole self, then hand the work and your claim on its fruit to the Lord. This is what the Gita means by offering all actions (3.30).

In Depth English 12 min Offering All Actions

Article

Who Are the Four Kinds of Devotees? Gita 7.16-19 Verse by Verse

The Lord calls devotees who come for four reasons, distress, a wish to know, a want and wisdom, good and noble (7.16, 7.18).

In Depth English 9 min Four Kinds of Devotees

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

Article

Does Detachment Mean Not Caring?

Detachment in the Gita is not indifference or not caring; it is inner freedom while fully engaged.

In Depth English 21 min