The Gita says that feeling like the doer is an ego's illusion. Does that mean we can say "I didn't do it" and walk away from our mistakes? No. An everyday case, two verses and three sentences to say after a mistake.
The Lord says the warriors are already slain and Arjuna is to be merely an instrument. Does that take away Arjuna's will? What the verses fix, what they leave to Arjuna, and what the Lord says at the end.
Many people read surrender in the Gita as giving up effort and thought. The Lord's own words (18.63, 18.58) ask for thinking first and a free choice after. A short note on a common mistake.
The Gita calls action better in one place, the yogi higher in another and the devotee most perfect in a third. Read each praise as an answer to a different question and the paths agree.
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.
The Gita lists destiny among the five causes of action and denies a right to the fruit. Does that make effort pointless? The count of the five causes, the third clause of 2.47, why effort is never lost, and two opposite mistakes, read from the verses.
After honest effort, the result may still be out of our hands, and the mind says that fate decides everything. What does the Gita say? A farmer's case, two verses and a practice of two columns before you start a task.
'Already slain', 'your nature will drive you' and 'mounted on a machine': do these verses take Arjuna's choice away? Each hard verse in its place, two streams of readers, objections with replies, and answers from the Gita and the tradition.
Does surrender in the Gita mean giving up effort and thought? The claim tested against 18.63, 18.58 and the verses around them: three places where the text answers no, and one part of the claim that stands.
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.
A table of every comparison the Gita makes between its paths (3.3, 5.2, 5.4-5, 6.46-47, 12.1-5, 12.12): who is compared, on what measure and what follows. The praises agree once the basis is read.
The Gita says the modes of nature do all action and that the knower thinks he does nothing. Does that free us from blame for our mistakes? A reading of the verses, the difference between an honest use of the idea and an alibi, and a short worked example.
Detachment in the Bhagavad Gita does not mean not caring or becoming emotionally indifferent. It is a deeper way of approaching life through Karma Yoga, attachment to results, equanimity, love, and inner freedom.
गीता कहती है कि सब कर्म प्रकृति के गुण करते हैं और ज्ञानी मानता है कि वह कुछ नहीं करता। तो क्या चूक की ज़िम्मेदारी भी उसकी नहीं? श्लोकों से देखें कि यह ग़लत क्यों है और ईमानदार प्रयोग तथा बहाने में क्या फ़र्क़ है।
गीता कहती है कि कर्ता होना अहंकार का भ्रम है। तो क्या "यह मैंने नहीं किया" कहकर अपनी चूक से बचा जा सकता है? नहीं। एक रोज़ की स्थिति, दो श्लोक और चूक के बाद के तीन वाक्य।
भगवान कहते हैं कि सब पहले ही मारे जा चुके हैं और अर्जुन केवल निमित्त बनें। क्या इससे अर्जुन की इच्छा का कोई मोल नहीं रह जाता? श्लोकों से उत्तर: क्या तय है, क्या अर्जुन पर छोड़ा गया है, और अन्त में भगवान क्या कहते हैं।
गीता रणभूमि पर कही गई, फिर भी वह हिंसा का आम आदेश नहीं देती। लड़ने की बात एक व्यक्ति से उसके कर्तव्य के लिए कही गई, द्वेष के बिना, और गीता अहिंसा व करुणा को दैवी गुण बताती है।
गीता के जिन श्लोकों को हिंसा का समर्थन माना जाता है (2.31-37, 2.19-20, 11.33, 18.17), उन्हें अपनी जगह पर पढ़ने का प्रयास: वे किससे कहे गए, किस घड़ी में, और किन शर्तों के साथ।
शरण का अर्थ प्रयास और विचार छोड़ देना नहीं है। गीता तीन जगह इस दावे को परखती है और तीनों जगह उसे नहीं मानती। परिणाम पर दावा छूटता है, सोचना, चुनना और काम करना नहीं।
मेहनत के बाद भी नतीजा हाथ में न हो तो मन कहता है कि भाग्य ही सब कुछ है। गीता क्या कहती है? एक किसान का उदाहरण, दो श्लोक और काम से पहले दो खाने बनाने का अभ्यास।
समर्पण का मतलब हाथ पर हाथ धरकर बैठ जाना नहीं है। गीता का अन्तिम उपदेश पहले पूरा सोचने को कहता है, फिर अपनी इच्छा से चुनने को, और बोझ तथा दावा छोड़ने को।
'पहले ही मारे जा चुके', 'स्वभाव लगा देगा' और 'यन्त्र पर चढ़े हुए' जैसे श्लोक क्या अर्जुन से चुनाव छीन लेते हैं? हर कठिन श्लोक अपनी जगह पर, पाठकों की दो धाराएँ, आपत्तियाँ और उनके उत्तर, तथा गीता और परम्परा में उत्तर।
गीता कर्म के पाँच कारणों में दैव को गिनती है और फल पर अधिकार नहीं देती। तो क्या प्रयास व्यर्थ है? पाँच कारणों की गिनती, 2.47 का तीसरा खण्ड, प्रयास का कभी नष्ट न होना और दो उलटी भूलें, श्लोकों के साथ।
गीता में अनासक्ति का अर्थ परवाह न करना या भावनाशून्य हो जाना नहीं है। यह कर्मयोग, फलासक्ति, समत्व, प्रेम और आत्मिक स्वतंत्रता के संदर्भ में जीवन को देखने की एक गहरी दृष्टि है।
A short revision of Gita 9.26-29: the Lord accepts a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion, asks that every act become an offering, frees the offerer from the bonds of results, and stays near the devotee while being equal to all.
Why should one who is content within still act? A short revision of Gita 3.17-26: he acts for the good of the world without attachment, and people learn from his conduct.
Can one work with the whole mind and not carry the weight of the result? In Gita 2.47 to 2.51 the Lord shows Arjuna this road in plain and clear words.
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.
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.
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.
A short revision of Gita 9.26-29: the Lord accepts a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion, asks that every act become an offering, frees the offerer from the bonds of results, and stays near the devotee while being equal to all.
Why should one who is content within still act? A short revision of Gita 3.17-26: he acts for the good of the world without attachment, and people learn from his conduct.
Can one work with the whole mind and not carry the weight of the result? In Gita 2.47 to 2.51 the Lord shows Arjuna this road in plain and clear words.
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.
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.
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.