The Gita’s first chapter describes how both the ungodly Duryodhana and the godly Arjuna were disturbed by observing the battlefield. And their varying responses to [...]
In Krishna’s first and last words in the Bhagavad-gita, he addresses Arjuna as Partha. Let’s explore the significance of these usages by analyzing Arjuna’s epithet. [...]
The Bhagavad-gita uses various names for Krishna and Arjuna not just for literary variety or poetic symmetry, but also and primarily to subtly convey pertinent [...]
A well-written book cycles back to the starting point in its ending point. Let’s see how such cyclicity is demonstrated in the Bhagavad-gita, which is [...]
Well-written books exhibit an expert balance between specifics and universals, whereby the specifics engage and the universals illuminate. Let’s see how this is done in [...]
The Bhagavad-gita (02.07) is spoken by Krishna to answer Arjuna’s question, “What is dharma, the right thing to do?” To help us understand how we [...]
Knowledge in almost every area can be pursued nearly infinitely. The more we come to know something, the more we may discover how much more [...]
Suppose someone wants to mine gold. They need to know quite a few things about gold: for example, what gold looks like, why it is [...]
We usually consider knowledge to be the cure for ignorance: where knowledge increases, ignorance decreases. In fact, a celebrated Upanishadic quote implies these opposing attributes [...]
Suppose we see a majestic palace and notice a low door to enter into it. Intrigued, we bend ourselves, enter and behold impressive artistry and [...]
Because we are tiny beings living in a huge and complex world, what we know will always be dwarfed by what we don’t know. Whenever [...]
The claim that devotion transcends ethics can strip devotion of all ethical content and strip ethics of all devotional relevance. Let’s consider a more holistic [...]
Spiritual reductionism refers to the tendency to reduce spirituality to some specific parameters that are deemed vital and to gauge everyone's value based on those [...]
If we are told to assess ourselves ethically, we may fear, “I already feel guilty because I can’t live up to the expected moral standard. [...]
Does the Bhagavad-gita’s concluding verse (18.66) — the surrendered are protected from karmic consequences — license ethical exemption? To understand, let’s consider the verse’s implications [...]
Devotion automatically leads to ethical growth — we may support this claim by quoting Srimad-Bhagavatam verse (05.18.12): devotees manifest all godly qualities But our claim [...]
Devotion is a matter of the heart. Does that make it irrelevant to ethics? No, because the heart can’t be reached as easily as we [...]
Devotees sometimes believe that their devotion raises them above the jurisdiction of ethical accountability. Technically, the belief that one’s religion provides one moral exemption is [...]
When we start on our spiritual quest, we may feel that we are far away from God. How can we reach him? By seeking his [...]
We now live in an age where education has become very structured and systematized, wherein educational success is measured through certificates and accolades. While certification [...]
Suppose a disease weakens us and kills our appetite. If we are provided a healing and energizing medicine, we don’t have to feel hungry to [...]
