Bhagavad Gita

A classical interpretation for the modern mind. For centuries the Bhagavad Gita has remained the single most influential philosophical text shaping Indian thought and life. It addresses itself foursquare to the universal limitations each human being is confronted with : ignorance, sorrow and death.

The teaching of the Bhagavad Gita opens with the audacious statement that all these are illegitimate problems caused by ignorance about the real nature of the self. Drawing upon the essence of all Upanishads, Gita explains how the self, the atman, is limitless, indestructible, unborn. This knowledge, Brahmavidya, frees one from all sense of limitation. This is the principal teaching of the Bhagavad Gita.

Eight Significant Verses of the Bhagavad Gītā

October 9, 1999

Swami Dayananda SaraswatiPublished with detailed commentary in the 16th Anniversary Souvenir 2002 of Arsha Vidya Gurukulam.Translation and meaning from Bhagavadgītā Home Study Course, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, 1999. The…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2

February 13, 2001

A SORROW THAT CANNOT BE ALLEVIATED In fact, only the sad become sad. No one suddenly becomes sad. Just as the angry become angry, the sad become sad.…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 3

October 14, 2002

THE TOPIC OF KARMA In the previous chapter, beginning at verse 55, Lord Krishna pointed out that a wise person, a sthitaprajna , is one who gives up…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4

February 10, 2004

KNOWLEDGE AND THE RENUNCIATION OF ACTION THE ORIGINS OF KARMA-YOGA In the first three verses of the fourth chapter, Krishna sums up the subject matter of karma-yoga by…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5

July 22, 2005

KARMA-SANNYASA WHICH IS BETTER?Since moksha means the knowledge of akarma in karma, meaning one should see the akarta, non-doer, in the kart¡, the doer, Arjuna wants to pursue…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6

July 23, 2005

MEDITATION A KARMA-YOGI ALSO HAS RAGA-DVESAS A karma-yogi is not a person who has no raga-dvesas. He is someone who has raga-dvesas but gives them up, meaning that…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7

May 28, 2007

JNANA AND VIJNANA IN SEEKING PARAMESVARA THE END AND THE MEANS ARE THE SAME Here he is seeking knowledge, knowledge of the whole. This seeking is very peculiar…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 8

May 20, 2008

AKâARA-BRAHMA-YOGA Arjuna asks what is that Brahman, which you say the wise men know. The word brahma has many meanings. It can mean the Veda, a brahmana, or…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10

April 15, 2009

THE GLORIES OF BHAGAVAN The Bhagavadgita is both brahma-vidya and yoga-sastra. As brahma-vidya it can be reduced to one sentence, tat tvam asi—you are that. In this, one…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11

August 23, 2009

THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM When Bhagavan says, ‘I remain in the form of this entire world,’ naturally Arjuna wonders whether this is literally…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12

December 26, 2009

BHAKTI-YOGA INTRODUCTION In the twelfth chapter the topic is predominantly devotion, bhakti. Bhakti is from the root bhaj used in the sense of service. Dedicated action to Ì¿vara…

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Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13

May 11, 2010

THE NATURE OF THE KNOWER AND THE KNOWN The tradition looks upon the entire G¢t¡ as having its subject matter in the mahavakya, ‘tat tvam asi—you are that.’ This…

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