Gita 01.43 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan Bg 1.43 utsanna-kula-dharmāṇāṁ manuṣyāṇāṁ janārdana [...]
Gita 01.32-35 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan 27 - 46 Arjuna’s lamentation [...]
Gita 01.31 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan So now he is speaking, [...]
Detachment doesn’t make us hardhearted – attachment does
Sometimes people fear, “If I become detached, I will become hardhearted.” However, what makes us hardhearted is not detachment, but its opposite: attachment. When we [...]
Being saintly is not a substitute for being sensible
Some people think that being saintly is impractical in the real world. But the Bhagavad-gita reveals a pragmatic standard of saintliness. At the Gita’s start [...]
Matter has no intent, but intent matters
Some people misconceive the Gita as a violence-inducing book in which God goads a peace-seeking person to fight. They laud Arjuna when he, instead of [...]
Those who reduce misery to misfortune miss their potential for spiritual growth
When problems befall us for no apparent reason, we naturally get the question, “Why?” Materialism, today’s ruling worldview, attributes such misery to bad luck. It [...]
Krishna’s instruction is not disruptive, but restorative
At the start of the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna is agonized at the thought of fighting in a fratricidal war that will kill most of his loved [...]
Hell is never forever – God’s love is
In the Bhagavad-gita (01.43), Arjuna states that destroyers of dynasties will be condemned to live in hell forever. Is the Gita stating the idea of [...]
Express devotion by endeavoring for excellence in service
Devotion is a state of the heart – a state of spontaneous inner attraction to Krishna. Yet that state manifests as outer action too, for [...]
Gita 01.44 explained
Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan After concluding his lamenting he [...]
Revealing our feeling is the beginning of healing
At the start of the Bhagavad-gita (01.29), Arjuna reveals to Krishna the feelings of anxiety and misery that are overwhelming him. Seeking relief, he surrenders [...]
Perceive the way before you pursue the way
http://bhagavadgitaclass.com/bhagavad-gita-chapter-01-text-30/Losing our way is often unnerving. Much more unnerving is feeling so hopelessly lost as to think that there’s no way ahead. This happens when [...]
The Gita is a book of theology for the purpose of therapy
“I am not interested in God,” so say many people while turning away from the Bhagavad-gita. What they don’t understand is that the Gita is [...]
To grow through problems, go beyond the circumstantial to the existential
“What should I do now?” When we face this question, we usually answer based on practical concerns. But when confronting dilemmas that have no practical [...]
A self-answering question points to factors beyond the self-evident
A question that contains the answer within itself raises questions about the question. For example, suppose someone asks, “After the diners sat down at the [...]
The world is pointless without Krishna, not that Krishna is pointless without the world
The Bhagavad-gita’s first chapter reports Duryodhana assessing the comparative strengths of the two assembled armies (01.03, 01.04, 01.05, 01.06, 01.07, 01.08, 01.09, 01.10, 01.11). He begins by mentioning the foremost opponent warriors (01.04), but [...]
Let the example of power come after, never before, the power of example
“My way or the highway.” This is the conflict resolution mantra of the power-hungry. They sometimes rationalize their power-centric tactics with the Bhagavad-gita’s call for [...]
Choose the self-definition that is eternal and factual, not fickle and fallible
The world usually defines us by our possessions – what we wear, what we drive in, what we own, for example. Being influenced by this [...]
Will we have to lose everything before we lose our blindness?
Attachment makes us blind – blind to everything other than the object of our attachment. The Bhagavad-gita (01.01) indicates this blinding power of attachment through [...]
Attachment makes the absent present
Attachment has the power to take our thoughts away from our surroundings to our dreams. It can make those to whom we are attached seem [...]