When Does Love Become Toxic?
Love naturally makes us protective. But when one relationship becomes so important that every other relationship becomes expendable, love can become destructive. Dhritarashtra’s love for [...]
The Conflict of Belonging: Kula Dharma vs. Kshatriya Dharma
The Bhagavad Gita opens with the word dharma. While often translated simply as "religion," dharma actually originates from the Sanskrit root dhru, meaning "to sustain." [...]
Why Krishna Did Not Use Hate Speech
In today’s world, violence and war rightfully alarm people, and violence in the name of religion is particularly troubling. Because the Bhagavad Gita is spoken [...]
The Battlefield Metaphor: Why Intellectual Shortcuts Fail
The setting of the Bhagavad Gita is inherently jarring. Just before the climactic war of the epic Mahabharata is about to begin, the leading warrior, [...]
Question: Why exactly did Arjuna collapse at the start of the Bhagavad Gita? What made him so indecisive that he became paralyzed?
Answer: Decision-making is hard when there is no good choice. That was Arjuna's dilemma, because both fighting and not fighting were painful options. Fighting meant [...]
Public Trust in Times of Protest: Why the Government Needs CIT
The images of protesting students being lathi-charged by the police are disturbing and distressing. Emotions are understandably running high. Rather than joining those on the [...]
Are life’s reversals karma, tests by Maya, or Krishna’s push to surrender?
When we face reversals in life, we often wonder whether these are the results of our past karma, tests by Maya, or Krishna pushing us [...]
Question: Considering the case of Ketan Agarwal, is murder destined or is it because of poor judgment?
Answer: Such a question has no simple answer. As the Bhagavad Gita itself acknowledges, gahanā karmaṇo gatiḥ—the workings of karma are profound and difficult to [...]
Why does Krishna tell Arjuna to be detached from the results when Krishna wants the result of establishing dharma?
Question: Why does Krishna tell Arjuna to be detached from the results when Krishna wants the result of establishing dharma and wants Arjuna to be [...]
Why did Krishna speak the Gita to Arjuna rather than to Yudhishthira?
As the Bhagavad Gita is a dharma-saṁvāda and Yudhishthira is known as Dharmaraja, why did Krishna speak the Gita to Arjuna rather than to Yudhishthira? [...]
Why did Vidura in the Mahabharata not join the Pandavas?
Why did Vidura in the Mahabharata not join the Pandavas when he was driven away by Duryodhana? That's because in the Mahabharata, the close relative [...]
Duryodhana-what made him evil?
Duryodhana continued with his atrocities even after they failed. Sometimes, when we try to do something bad and it doesn't work, we realize, "This is [...]
Why does Krishna love Arjuna especially among the Pandavas?
One reason that is clear from the Mahabharata itself is that Arjuna was born with a special focus on devotion; his father Pandu sought a [...]
Arjuna’s strong comeback to Krishna’s rebuke
When Krishna rebukes Arjuna for giving in to weakness (02.02-03), Arjuna’s response is not at all weak. He lets it be known that he is [...]
Why Duryodhana’s illusion remained whereas Arjuna’s was removed
The Bhagavad-gita’s first chapter contains the words of primarily two characters: Duryodhana (01.03-11) and Arjuna (01.21-23; 01.28-45). Why does the Gita include Duryodhana’s speech, when [...]
Why we may misunderstand Krishna’s Gita message — and how the Mahabharata can help
At first glance, the Bhagavad-gita might seem like a philosophical justification for war; Krishna speaks when Arjuna refuses to fight (02.09). Because our modern psyche [...]
Do the epics glamorize violence?
Do the epics glamorize violence? - Many thoughtful people, especially including parents, are concerned about the glamorization of violence in today's media. When they read [...]
Why couldn’t the Pandavas resolve their conflict peacefully?
Why couldn’t the Pandavas resolve their conflict peacefully? - Much modern thought, especially liberal thought, holds that all conflicts are caused by misunderstandings and can [...]