The first verse of the Chatur-Shloki characterizes those devoted to Krishna as buddha (enlightened) and bhava-samanvitah (infused with emotion). These two describers point to a [...]
Defining and identifying the ultimate reality - The first verse (10.08) of the Chatur-Shloki Gita (10.08-11) gives the definition and identification of God. In its [...]
The necessity of bhakti - Suppose someone is told about a powerful medicine. If they think they are not sick, they won’t care much about [...]
The universality of bhakti - Most conventional religious paths present rigid boundaries to differentiate between the pure and the impure, which eventually translates into the [...]
How the Gita’s conclusion integrates its contextual and universal dimensions - The Bhagavad-gita starts with a vividly specific setting: an inquiry by the blind king [...]
How the Bhagavad-gita’s battlefield setting demonstrates its core teaching - The Gita’s first chapter describes how both the ungodly Duryodhana and the godly Arjuna were [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Why are we studying spirituality? - We now live in an age where education has become very structured and systematized, wherein educational success is measured [...]
Should education be realistic or idealistic? - Suppose schools started teaching kids, “The world is such a terrible place that you can’t even survive unless [...]
Three levels of tension in the Bhagavad-gita- The Bhagavad-gita’s first chapter depicts Arjuna subjected to three increasingly intense tensions: emotional, ethical and existential. Emotional tension: [...]
Three kinds of blindness in the Gita’s first chapter - Dhritarashtra’s blindness — physical: His blindness, being physical, was the most self-evident. It prevented him [...]
