The Gita’s starting and ending usage of Partha (Appreciating the Gita’s flow 5)
The Gita’s starting and ending usage of Partha - In Krishna’s first and last words in the Bhagavad-gita, he addresses Arjuna as Partha. Let’s explore [...]
The Gita’s starting and ending usage of Partha - In Krishna’s first and last words in the Bhagavad-gita, he addresses Arjuna as Partha. Let’s explore [...]
The Gita’s triple use of ‘Achyuta’ - The Bhagavad-gita uses various names for Krishna and Arjuna not just for literary variety or poetic symmetry, but [...]
The cyclicity of the Bhagavad-gita - A well-written book cycles back to the starting point in its ending point. Let’s see how such cyclicity is [...]
From the specific to the universal and back to the specific - Well-written books exhibit an expert balance between specifics and universals, whereby the specifics [...]
Three levels of answers to the Gita’s driving question - The Bhagavad-gita (02.07) is spoken by Krishna to answer Arjuna’s question, “What is dharma, the [...]
Does the quest for knowledge have an end? - Knowledge in almost every area can be pursued nearly infinitely. The more we come to know [...]
How does the journey from ignorance to knowledge begin? - Suppose someone wants to mine gold. They need to know quite a few things about [...]
When knowledge increases ignorance - We usually consider knowledge to be the cure for ignorance: where knowledge increases, ignorance decreases. In fact, a celebrated Upanishadic [...]
The mysterious door to knowledge - Suppose we see a majestic palace and notice a low door to enter into it. Intrigued, we bend ourselves, [...]
When our ignorance is exposed - Because we are tiny beings living in a huge and complex world, what we know will always be dwarfed [...]
Does devotion transcend ethics? - The claim that devotion transcends ethics can strip devotion of all ethical content and strip ethics of all devotional relevance. [...]
How to counter spiritual reductionism - Spiritual reductionism refers to the tendency to reduce spirituality to some specific parameters that are deemed vital and to [...]
Will ethical self-assessment increase our guilt? - If we are told to assess ourselves ethically, we may fear, “I already feel guilty because I can’t [...]
When does devotion exempt us from karmic consequences? - Does the Bhagavad-gita’s concluding verse (18.66) — the surrendered are protected from karmic consequences — license [...]
Does devotion automatically lead to ethical growth? - Devotion automatically leads to ethical growth — we may support this claim by quoting Srimad-Bhagavatam verse (05.18.12): [...]
Why ethics matter in devotion? - Devotion is a matter of the heart. Does that make it irrelevant to ethics? No, because the heart can’t [...]
Why ethics matter in devotion? - Devotees sometimes believe that their devotion raises them above the jurisdiction of ethical accountability. Technically, the belief that one’s [...]
How can we reach God? -When we start on our spiritual quest, we may feel that we are far away from God. How can we [...]
Why are we studying spirituality? - We now live in an age where education has become very structured and systematized, wherein educational success is measured [...]
When devotion doesn’t feel good - Suppose a disease weakens us and kills our appetite. If we are provided a healing and energizing medicine, we [...]
What intelligence can and can’t do in bhakti: On the devotional path, the ultimate success and the immediate process both center on a personal loving [...]