Nourish your devotion

Some people think of God as demanding, but Krishna’s self-revelation in the Bhagavad-gita shows him to be a very understanding God. A demanding God expects, [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna demonstrates a remarkable blend of both universality and specificity. Universality in analyzing for Arjuna a broad gamut of paths to choose [...]

After the revelation of the universal form in the Bhagavad-gita’s eleventh chapter, Arjuna’s question at the start of the twelfth chapter seems like a non [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna describes the death of the assembled warriors using two metaphors: they are like rivers entering into an ocean (11.28) and like [...]

Which form of God is most special: universal form, four-handed form or two-handed form?  The universal form revealed by Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita’s eleventh chapter [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita’s eleventh chapter, Krishna states twice that his revelation of the universal form is unprecedented (11.06: adrishta-purvani, 11.47: na drishta-purvam). Arjuna too confirms [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita’s eleventh chapter, Arjuna beholds the universal form. What he speaks while beholding that cosmic theophany (11.15-31) gives us a sense of his [...]

The Bhagavad-gita uses a distinctive structure for introducing the universal form. First, Krishna explains to Arjuna what he will be showing; then, Sanjaya explains to [...]

When Arjuna asks Krishna to display the universal form, Krishna obliges, but also displays something extra: his form as time. Why this bonus revelation? Because [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna deems as childish those who consider sankhya and yoga to be different (05.04). Here, sankhya refers to metaphysical analysis that entails [...]

An often-quoted Bhagavad-gita verse recommends equality of vision (05.18): see everyone equally, because we all are souls. In the Gita’s immediate context, this verse raises [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita’s fifth chapter, Arjuna asks essentially the same question that he asked at the start of the third chapter. “Should he work or [...]

In the last verse of the Bhagavad-gita’s fourth chapter (04.42), Krishna urges Arjuna to fight. That is expected considering that they are on a battlefield [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita (04.35), Krishna describes the fruit of acquiring spiritual knowledge. First, he assures that spiritual knowledge will act as insurance from the kind [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna is apprehensive that he will be bound by bad karma if he fights in the war. Krishna explains that what causes [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna mentions that he descends for two purposes (04.07-08 & 04.09-10). To better understand these purposes, let’s consider two classificatory frameworks: external-internal [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita’s fourth chapter, Krishna responds to Arjuna’s question (04.04) by revealing his divinity directly for the first time (04.05-15). While answering Arjuna’s question, [...]

In the Bhagavad-gita’s fourth chapter, when Krishna states that he gave spiritual knowledge long ago to the solar deity, that statement raises a natural question [...]

The Bhagavad-gita’s third chapter ends by describing how to conquer the inner enemy of lust (03.43). And the fourth chapter begins by describing how spiritual [...]

Toward the end of the Bhagavad-gita’s third chapter, Krishna declares that repression is futile (03.33). Yet in the very next section (03.36-43), he declares that [...]

When Arjuna asks, “What makes us act self-destructively?” (Bhagavad-gita 03.36), Krishna doesn’t just identify the inner self-destructive force: lust (03.37). Sensing Arjuna’s unspoken concern in [...]