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Arjuna on the Field: Quick Summary

Arjuna is ready. He lifts his bow and himself asks Krishna to place the chariot between the two armies (1.20-21).

English 9 min Arjuna on the Field

Article

Gita 11.52-55: The Rare Sight of the Lord, Undivided Devotion and the Hard Questions, a Close Reading

The sight of the Lord's form is rare even for the gods (11.52), and none of the four great means, Veda study, austerity, charity or sacrifice, can claim it as a price (11.53).

Deeper English 16 min By Devotion Alone

Quick summary

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

Quick summary

The Imperishable Self: Quick Summary

Grief rests on the body and the life lived together, but the one who dwells in the body stays the same.

English 7 min The Imperishable Self

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Who Is the Doer?: Quick Summary

All actions are done by the qualities of nature, but a mind deluded by ego thinks 'I am the doer' (3.27).

English 9 min Who Is the Doer?

Article

How the Gita's Paths Fit Together: Commentators, Objections and Answers

The Gita gives several ways to one goal, and counts them differently by inclination, by practice and by the object of the heart (3.3, 13.25, 12.2).

Deeper English 12 min The Paths: Action, Knowledge, Devotion

Article

The Self That Stays: Gita 2.11–30 Read in Order

The Lord's first teaching says that the one who lives in the body is the one who stays the same through every change, cannot be cut, burnt or ended (2.13, 2.20, 2.23).

In Depth English 12 min The Imperishable Self

Article

From a Raised Bow to a Sinking Heart: Arjuna Between the Two Armies (Gita 1.20–27)

Arjuna arrives on the field ready: his bow is raised, and he asks to stand between the armies to see whom he must fight (1.20–23).

In Depth English 11 min Arjuna on the Field

Article

Who Moves the Scene? A Close Reading of Gita 1.20–27

Arjuna sets the terms of the scene: he asks to stand between the armies so that he can see whom he must fight (1.21–22).

Deeper English 15 min Arjuna on the Field

Article

Who Speaks in the Gita, and Why Does the Teaching Begin in a War?

Four voices carry the Gita. Dhritarashtra asks, Sanjaya reports, Arjuna questions and Lord Krishna teaches.

In Depth English 11 min What Is the Gita?

Article

Gita 12.13-20: The Devotee Dear to the Lord, a Close Reading

The eight closing verses of chapter 12 draw one person: the centre is mind and intellect offered to the Lord (12.14), and the marks are what that centre looks like in dealing with beings, feelings, events and work (12.13-19).

Deeper English 18 min The Devotee Dear to the Lord

Article

Gita Chapter 12, Read Closely: Four Places Where It Seems to Pull Two Ways

Chapter 12 does not defeat any path: it says which road is easier for a person in a body, gives four steps by capacity, and makes conduct the proof of devotion (12.1-20).

Deeper English 14 min Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview

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

Doership in the Gita: A Close Reading of 3.27, 5.8–14 and 18.13–17

The Gita does not remove the doer. It removes the claim that everything is done by me alone and belongs to me alone (3.27, 18.16).

Deeper English 16 min Who Is the Doer?

Article

Gita 12.1-5, a Deeper Reading: Both Roads Reach the Lord, So Why Is the Devotee Called Most United?

Arjuna asks who knows yoga best. The Lord answers in terms of being joined to Him, not of knowing: the one who fixes the mind on Him, stays steady and has supreme faith is the most united (12.2).

Deeper English 12 min Devotion or the Unmanifest

Article

Who Is the Doer? The Five Causes of Action and the Mistake of 'I Do It All'

The Gita does not remove the doer. It removes the belief that I do everything and that it is all mine (3.27, 18.16).

In Depth English 13 min Who Is the Doer?