Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

The best time to win the battle against temptation is before it begins by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

To practice spiritual life means to enter into a war against temptation, the temptation for enjoying matter. The arena of battle is our own consciousness, and the two contending armies are our intended desire to serve Krishna and the unwanted desire to enjoy matter that manifests in the consciousness either from our past conditionings or our circumstances or a combination of both. Whichever desire we dwell on gains strength and eventually emerges victorious.

When we dwell on tempting sense objects, we become disconnected from higher sources of pleasure, especially the highest source of pleasure – remembrance of Krishna. As we are innately pleasure-seeking creatures, our need for pleasure pushes us to seek it somewhere, and the sense objects seem to be a readily available source. Consequently, the desire to enjoy matter strengthens and the desire to serve Krishna weakens. Thus, we find it increasingly difficult to win the battle against temptation.

In a war, its far better for defending soldiers to watchfully prevent hostile forces from penetrating into home territory than to counter them after they have penetrated, positioned themselves for attack and started firing. Similarly, it is best to win the war against temptation before it begins, that is, before temptations enter into our consciousness and start seducing us, thereby attacking and wounding our desire to serve Krishna.

The Bhagavad-gita (02.68) urges us to rigorously control all the senses so as to not let temptation slip in. The most positive way to actualize such sense control is by striving for absorption in Krishna so that there’s no room left for thoughts of the sense objects to enter and entice. By such absorption, we will not only safely survive in the war against temptation, but also march swiftly towards victory by growing in our devotion to Krishna.

Bhakti redefines desires as doorways to the divineby Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10

Desires are recognized in spiritual circles as dangerous – they can drag seekers into the darkness of illusion in the vain pursuit of worldly pleasures that turn out to be disappointing and entangling. Accordingly, the Bhagavad-gita (02.70) urges us to not become desirers of desire (na kama-kami). This usage implies a deliberate disregard of degrading desires even while they are present.

Spiritual desire brings Krishna to the door of our heart, and opens its door for him to enter and eventually be enthroned as our Lord.

Yet the Gita doesn’t sentence us to denial of all desire. Instead, it espouses the path of bhakti-yoga that centers on redirecting the power of desire from the world to Krishna. In fact, desire for Krishna is the pre-condition for his self-revelation. Only when we desire to know and love Krishna and express that desire by serving him does he choose to reveal himself in a way that charms our heart. Put another way, spiritual desire brings Krishna to the door of our heart, and opens its door for him to enter and eventually be enthroned as our Lord. The Bhagavad-gita depicts Arjuna’s desire to hear Krishna’s glories as manifest in the world so that he can spiritualize his perception of the world (10.17). Far from reproaching him for this desire, Krishna expresses delight (10.19) and speaks his glories – glories that dissipate Arjuna’s illusions (11.01) and enlighten him about Krishna’s position (11.02).

Further, desires for Krishna – to know him, love him and serve him – intensify our remembrance of him, which is the source of great happiness. Such happiness by satisfying our innate need for pleasure empowers us to resist more firmly the worldly desires that distract or slow us during our spiritual journey.

Thus, the redefinition of desire through bhakti most efficaciously curbs worldly desires and also opens the doors for us to come closer to Krishna – to comprehending him, serving him, perceiving him, loving him, and relishing him.

Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16

The source of misery is not frustration of desire but domination by desireby Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16

When we don’t get something that we want and feel miserable, we attribute that misery to the frustration of our desire. But might such an attribution be myopic?

Suppose desire for alcohol drives an alcoholic out of bed in the middle of the night. He goes to a nearby bar, but finds to his irritation that its alcohol stock is over. Attributing his misery to the frustration of his desire, he decides to find some other bar. But as he comes out of the bar and looks around, he notices the closed lights in the nearby houses. He gets an epiphany: “While everyone is sleeping peacefully in their beds, I am wandering around at this unearthly hour, being dragged out of bed and halfway across town. I am miserable not because of not getting alcohol but because of desiring it.”

I am miserable not because of not getting alcohol but because of desiring it.

This example illustrates that while frustration of desire is the immediate cause of misery, a more fundamental cause is domination by desire. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (16.12: asha-pasha) refers to desires as shackles.

Only when we identify the cause of misery accurately can we counter it fruitfully. As long as the alcoholic thinks that his misery is due to not getting alcohol, he will spend his energy trying to get it. But once he understands that his misery is due to having the desire for it, he will invest energy on breaking free from that desire.

We may not be alcoholics, but we too have desires that we will be better off without. Instead of spending our energy on struggling to fulfill desires, if we invest that energy – or even a fraction of that energy – on purifying ourselves of unnecessary desires by practicing devotional service, we will become free from much of the misery presently afflicting us.

Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 04

Krishna is not a dictator, but a benefactor by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 04

When we hear from scripture that we are meant to serve Krishna, we may resent, “Why should I serve him? Is he like a dictator who demands subordination?”

No, not at all. Far from being a dictator, Krishna is our benefactor, in fact, our greatest benefactor. To see him thus, we need to understand scripturally both his position and his disposition. TheBhagavad-gita (04.06) asserts his position as the Lord of all living beings, and points to his disposition by stating that he appears in this world – an appearance meant to promote our wellbeing.

Our relationship with him is not artificially imposed, like that of a dictator and a slave, but is organically composed, like that of a whole and a part.

Our happiness is inextricably connected to our relationship with Krishna. Though he is our Lord, our relationship with him is not artificially imposed, like that of a dictator and a slave, but is organically composed, like that of a whole and a part, as the Gita (15.07) indicates. Just as a finger is nourished by offering food to the stomach, we become nourished with happiness by offering service to Krishna. If the finger refuses to nourish the stomach, it stays malnourished. Similarly, if we refuse to serve Krishna, we stay unfulfilled.

It is to end our feelings of incompleteness that Krishna descends to this world. He descends not just to establish social order (04.07-08), but also to restore spiritual harmony between him and us. We attain spiritual harmony when we become attracted to his wondrous personality, learn to love him and thereby attain him for a life of eternal love (04.09). As a part of our learning to love Krishna, we express our love through service, for service is a universal expression of love in any relationship.

When we re-envision service to Krishna as an expression of affection, not a symbol of subordination, we can get rid of resentment and relish the sublime joy latent in devotional service.

God we cannot be, but godly we can be by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 15

Some spiritualists claim that we, as eternal spiritual beings, are God, or will become God on attaining liberation.

But the Bhagavad-gita (15.07) declares that we are parts of Krishna – eternally. The eternality of our position as parts emphasizes that we don’t become God even after liberation.

Nonetheless, being God’s parts, we are inherently godly. In our pure state, we manifest all good qualities and rejoice eternally in reciprocating pure love with Krishna.

We need to understand the spiritual realm properly – not through the filter of beliefs extrapolated from our material experiences, but through the vision provided by scripture.

However, a part frequently depreciates in value when disconnected from the whole. For example, the same screw that is valuable when in its place in a machine loses much of its value when it falls off the machine and is swept away during cleaning. Similarly, we lose much of our godliness when we become disconnected from Krishna and get swept away by ungodly impurities that misdirect our love from him to matter.

The material realm is characterized by uncontrollable change that threatens our schemes for material happiness. So, we believe that if we could just control things more, we would be happier. When we come in touch with spirituality, we superimpose this belief on the spiritual realm and desire to be the supreme controller. Consequently, we balk at devotional spirituality that rules out the possibility of our becoming God.

To overcome such reservations, we need to understand the spiritual realm properly – not through the filter of beliefs extrapolated from our material experiences, but through the vision provided by scripture. Based on scriptural vision, if we try to love Krishna by practicing bhakti-yoga, we will gradually relish a sublime non-material fulfillment that will convince us that we don’t need to be God to be happy. We just need to become godly and learn to love God purely, because that pure love will fulfill our longing for happiness perfectly and perennially.

The threat in here is much bigger than the threat out there by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 03.

In a war, the threat from the enemies out there is big, but much bigger is the threat from the enemies in here – the traitors in our own camp.

Similarly, in the war against illusion, the threat from a tempting environment is big, but much bigger is the threat from inner weaknesses such as lust that make temptations seem irresistible. The Bhagavad-gita (03.40) cautions that lust has lodged itself inside us in the senses, the mind and the intelligence.

Lust pretends to be our friend and promises us that indulging in temptation will give us immense pleasure. But when we succumb to its delusion, it does a shameless volte-face and delivers misery instead  – the misery of frustrated expectations because the pleasure turns out to be pathetically meager; the misery of aggravated craving because the indulgence fuels the craving; the misery ofplummeting self-esteem because we break our resolutions and violate our sacred principles in our lust-blinded pursuit of pleasure; the misery of strained or ruptured relationships because our misdeeds hurt, anger or devastate our loved ones; and the misery of a myriad other karmic consequences.

To protect ourselves from lust’s delusions, we need to regularly study scripture. When we see through the eyes of scripture, we see that lust has betrayed us with itsfalse promisesinnumerable times in this life as well as many previous lives.

Most importantly, scripture helps us connect with the supreme source of happiness: Krishna. Devotional connection with Krishna gives us a sublime fulfillment that makes resisting lust’s seductions easier. Further, the combination of scriptural education and personal realizationconvinces us that in our quest for happiness we can do much better than settle for lust’s meager and miserable pleasures. Being thus empowered, we gradually drive lust forever out of its inner enclave.

Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18

The more we give up palliatives, the more we seek curatives by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18

Palliatives are medicines that alleviate pain without treating its root cause, whereas curatives address the root cause. Patients who take palliatives don’t feel the need for curatives, because they become numbed to the pain.

We are all like patients in material existence, being infected by the disease of misdirected desires. Though we are eternal spiritual beings, we desire to enjoy temporary material things. The temporariness of material things, frustrating as it is, is meant to push us towards seeking the eternal.

Though bhakti opens the doors to perfection for everyone, not everyone wants to walk through the opened door.

The pleasure we get from temporary things is like a palliative – it deludes us into thinking that everything is ok while death keeps creeping on us relentlessly. In contrast, the fulfillment we get from eternal things, ultimately from our devotional relationship with Krishna, is like the curative – it raises our consciousness above the material body, which is where death can exercise its destructive power.

Those who renounce the world are like patients who stop all palliatives. The Bhagavad-gita (18.49) states that the renounced gradually attain life’s supreme perfection. Thankfully, the path to perfection is not restricted only to such renunciates. The Gita (18.56) declares that all of us, whatever our vocation, can attain the supreme destination by practicing bhakti-yoga.

Though bhakti opens the doors to perfection for everyone, not everyone wants to walk through the opened door. We too won’t get much impetus for walking through it if we, while externally practicing bhakti, internally seek relief in worldly things. Instead if we minimize seeking such illusory shelters and maximize seeking shelter in Krishna, our journey towards him becomes sweeter and swifter: sweeter because Krishna’s reciprocation with us by manifesting in our heart grants sublime fulfillment, and swifter because we feel driven doubly by the absence of the palliatives and the potency of the curative.

Chaitanya Charan Das, Bhagavad Gita Chapter 03, Gita in Hindi

Don’t just give up fallible shelters – seek the infallible shelter by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 03

People often think of spiritual life in terms of giving up things – worldly possessions, activities, relationships, emotions and shelters. And as such giving up often entails a sense of loss and deprivation, they often stay fearful of taking up spiritual life seriously.

While renunciation is a part of spiritual life, it is not the essence – the essence is a higher spiritual connection with the supreme spiritual reality, Krishna. How such a connection is the culmination of spiritual life is seen in the progression of the Bhagavad-gita

The Gita (03.18) urges us to give up all shelters. Yet it later (07.01) asks us to take shelter of Krishna. And it (18.66) conclusively calls us to take shelter of him alone.

Let’s understand the principle underlying this progression. Whatever we seek relief in amidst distress is our shelter. An infant takes shelter of parents, an employee takes shelter of the boss and a patient takes shelter of a doctor.

Though these worldly shelters offer some solace and are even essential at certain stages of life, they can offer no shelter at the end of life – Krishna alone can. Unfortunately, as long as we have worldly shelters, we often get lulled into sense of complacency that takes away our impetus for seeking Krishna’s infallible shelter. That’s why, to help us voluntarily end our self-defeating complacency, some spiritual paths encourage renouncing worldly shelters.

But bhakti-yoga offers us experience of the supreme shelter. Further, bhakti spiritualizes our relationships, thereby enabling us to extend Krishna’s shelter to others; and also through the company of other devotees relishing more of that shelter ourselves. When we thus realize that spiritual life is not about living in loss, but about living to pursue the supreme gain, we can practice bhakti wholeheartedly – not with misinformed hesitation, but with educated determination.

Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 04

Linguistic expertise doesn’t guarantee scriptural expertise by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 04

Many people think that learning the language of scripture is the key to understanding it. Thus, they feel that a Sanskrit scholar can best understand the Bhagavad-gita.

But the Gita is not just a book in Sanskrit – it is a book about philosophy, which being a complex body of knowledge requires its own kind of expertise to understand.

Most importantly, the Gita is a manual for living for all of humanity – it is not reserved for specialists either of language or of philosophy. Essentially, it is a spiritual revelation transmitted from the divine heart to the human heart that can be understood not merely through the intellect, but through the heart, with the head being used to serve a devoted heart.

The Gita is a manual for living for all of humanity – it is not reserved for specialists either of language or of philosophy.

Consider for example the Gita (04.16) declaration that even the wise are bewildered about what is karma and what is akarma. From a literal linguistic viewpoint, karma refers to activity and akarma refers to inactivity. Whether a person is being active or inactive can be understood even by a child – why, then, should it bewilder the wise?

The words ‘karma’ and ‘akarma’ are used here in a philosophical sense, wherein karma refers to work that produces reaction and akarma, to work that produces no reaction. Understanding which work will be reactive and which will be non-reactive is not easy – it is a conundrum that can tax even the wise. Earlier, the Gita (03.04-07) has problematized the assumption that inactivity frees one from reaction.

The Gita explains that reaction results from motivation, not from action per se. Realizing how working selflessly for the pleasure of Krishna frees us from worldly attachments and entanglements is a matter ultimately of not just intellectual analysis but also personal spiritual experience. Only those who live the Gita, offering their heart to Krishna, can relish this confidential import.

Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

Psychology is a subset of philosophy, not its substitute by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

Many people treat psychology as a substitute for philosophy. If a technique calms their mind, which they believe is the purpose of psychology, they accept it without investigating that technique’s implications about what the mind is and who they are, which is the purview of philosophy.

Their apathy to philosophy reduces their life-story to a litany of trial and error experiments with feel-good pop psychology prescriptions. Most such techniques, even if they seem promising initially, disappoint thereafter. Once their newness fades, the mind stops finding them appealing, and the good feeling coming from them declines and disappears.

We need to resist the temptation to evaluate bhakti through pop psychology’s criterion: “If it feels good, I will practice it; otherwise, I won’t.”

In contrast with such non-philosophical approaches, Gita wisdom presents psychology as a subset of its philosophy. It explains the mind’s nature within the context of its broader explanation of our identity and destiny: We are not our material bodies, but are souls, who are beloved parts of God. Being his parts, we need to be harmonized with him. The Bhagavad-gita(02.66) states that those who live disconnected from him can’t have a peaceful mind.

To connect with God, the Gita offers the process of yoga, especially bhakti-yoga. For tapping bhakti’s potency, we need to practice it philosophically, not psychologically. That is, we need to resist the temptation to evaluate bhakti through pop psychology’s criterion: “If it feels good, I will practice it; otherwise, I won’t.”

Philosophy illumines the problem with this criterion. Bhakti does make us feel good ultimately, for it connects us with the source of all good feeling, God. But to sustain that connection, we need to repeatedly redirect the mind from its worldly fascinations to God. The mind rabidly resents such disciplining, making us feel bad in the process. If we draw on the Gita’s philosophy and persevere in bhakti despite the bad feeling, then everlasting good feeling awaits us.

We can’t undo, but we can rebuild by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita

There is a grim finality to life. Once a moment has passed, it has passed forever. Once an action has been done, it can’t be undone. Once an arrow of a hurtful word has been discharged from the bow of our tongue, it can’t be withdrawn.

This irreversibility extends to our inner life too. Ourcharacter is like an inner mansion on which resides our consciousness. The stronger our character, the higher our consciousness can rise. When we succumb to an immoral temptation, that indulgence creates in our consciousness an impression which will impel us to indulge again and again. Each such impression is like a hazardous fire-spark in a wooden mansion – it can burn down the moral substance of our character.

Sobriety can degenerate into negativity if we misconceive that nothing is changeable.

By contemplating the gravity of our actions, we can choose soberly. But sobriety can degenerate into negativity if we misconceive that nothing is changeable. A burnt mansion can’t be unburnt, but it can be rebuild. Similarly, harmful impressions can’t be erased, but they can be buried. By making morally healthy choices, we can overwrite our consciousness with positive impressions that will impel us towards uplifting actions.

The best positive impressions are spiritual impressions. When we practice yoga and get a taste for its ultimate goal, Krishna, the resulting spiritual impressions are formidable – they can’t be permanently buried by any material impressions acquired if we relapse to materialism. Even if we turn away from Krishna, the Bhagavad-gita (06.43) indicates that our spiritual impressions surface again, either in this or a future life, restoring our lost spiritual taste.

Still, the material impressions will distract and will need to be overcome. That’s why far better than the laborious and hazardous path of building, burying and recovering is the path of careful building till we become elevated out of material existence.

See Krishna’s mercy not just in devotional flights but also in philosophical insightsby Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10

How can I perceive Krishna’s mercy?” We as devotee-seekers may get this question because we know how important his mercy is for our spiritual growth.

Based on our experiences in bhakti, we may perceive Krishna’s mercy in the devotionally intense moments that we sometimes relish. During kirtans, darshans, pilgrimages or interactions with advanced devotees, we sometimes feel devotionally transported, as if we have risen to a blissful arena far above routine life’s anxiety or inanity. Because such experiences are so profoundly different from our usual experiences, we may feel, “Wow! This is indeed Krishna’s mercy.”

As compared to devotional flights that come and go unpredictably, philosophical insights come much more predictably whenever we apply ourselves to serious scriptural study.

Such flights of ecstasy are, however, not the only manifestation of Krishna’s mercy. And more importantly ecstasy will manifest regularly in our heart only after we become sufficiently pure. Till then, we will periodically go through phases of devotional tastelessness. Lest we misinfer from such phases that Krishna has stopped being merciful, we need to expand our conception of mercy.

Krishna’s mercy manifests not only as our devotional flights to higher spiritual experience, but also as our philosophical insights about our current experience. For example, such insights will convince us that even when we don’t feel good while doing devotional activities, they still work – they purify us, though we may not perceive the purification due to the mind’s fickleness and bhakti’s subtlety. Essentially, philosophical insight will empower us to consistently practice bhakti, irrespective of our circumstantial feelings. TheBhagavad-gita (10.11) indicates that Krishna’s mercy manifests as inner knowledge that counters misconceptions.

As compared to devotional flights that come and go unpredictably, philosophical insights come much more predictably whenever we apply ourselves to serious scriptural study. By cherishing these insights, we can practice bhakti consistently, thereby purifying our heart and propelling ourselves on the ultimate devotional flight to Krishna’s world of immortal love.

New book – “10 Leadership Sutras from Bhagavad Gita” by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita.

In today’s stress-filled corporate environment, corporate leaders are increasingly turning towards the world’s time-honored traditions for relief and insight. While they usually seek relief through yoga practice, many go further, seeking insight about the nature of yoga and of life itself – and of how to make it all work in today’s world.

“10 Leadership Sutras from Bhagavad Gita” serves this need by presenting the wisdom of one of the world’s greatest philosophical classics in condensed sutra-like nuggets by drawing on the rich commentarial tradition of the Gita.

The author Chaitanya Charan Das is a prolific writer on the Gita, having written, apart from a dozen books, over twelve hundred daily articles on the Gita on his site gitadaily.com. While those articles focus on Gita insights for seekers, his present book focuses on Gita insights for leaders. It explains how the Gita offers an inspiring worldview that empowers one to minimize conflicts, to rise above stress, to not sweat over the small stuff, to recharge oneself through simple meditational practices and to acquire indefatigable determination.

The 10 sutras are:

The universe is a university

Redefine success

Be concerned, not disturbed

Mind the mind

Assume accountability

Words shape worlds – watch your words

Life determines our problems – we determine their size

Work as worship

Retreat within to treat without

Never lose heart

Reflecting the Gita’s conversational mode of instruction, the book is presented as an engaging conversation between a corporate leadership consultant and a corporate leader. Reflecting the Gita’s inside-out approach to leadership, the book focuses on the foundation of personal leadership that is relevant for everyone and then builds on the edifice of public leadership that most leadership literature dwells on.

10 Leadership Sutras is meant not just for corporate leaders, but also for leaders in any field and indeed for anyone who wants to become a leader of one’s own life

The book is available as:

1. A kindle book at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R9O9SW6
2. A POD in India at http://pothi.com/pothi/book/chaitanya-charan-10-leadership-sutras-bhagavad-gita
3. A POD outside India at https://www.createspace.com/5188866
4. A mail-orderable hard copy at voicebooks@voicepune.com

The book will also be soon presented as an online video course at gitadaily.com.

“Worldly pleasures are insubstantial, whereas devotional joys are substantial.” This scriptural insight is most relevant for us spiritual seekers because it empowers us to resist material temptations. But unfortunately, we often forget it when temptation attacks us.

We become like a warrior caught unarmed by an enemy. Normally, the warrior would immediately try to get a weapon for defending himself. But if the enemy somehow deluded him into forgetting the weapon, he would soon lie butchered.

Generic scriptural study may not give us daily the specific reminders we need.

The Bhagavad-gita (04.42) compares spiritual knowledge to a weapon. Temptation catches us unarmed when spiritual knowledge, specifically the insight for exposing that temptation, is not in our consciousness. Normally, we would try to remember that insight, but sometimes the temptation so bamboozles us that we don’t even remember to remember, and soon our moral resolutions lie butchered.

To protect ourselves, we can use external aids such as reminders. We may already be using digital reminders for our important to-dos. But as seekers we need reminders not just for our to-dos, but also for our to-remembers.

One standard reminder is a daily habit of scriptural study. However, because scripture deals with many subjects, generic scriptural study may not give us daily the specific reminders we need. So, we can prepare for ourselves customized reminders composed of philosophical insights that unmask the particular temptations which bedevil us.

Someone may question, “Isn’t Krishna’s mercy all that we need?”

Yes, it is – and it can manifest as philosophical insight too. But whatever way it manifests, to receive it, we usually need to seek his help; and for that, we need to remember him; and for that, we frequently need to remember the philosophical rationale for remembering him. And that rationale often comes best from customized reminders.

Thus, by refining our reminders, we can combat temptation and progress firmly in devotion.

See the world through the Word, not the Word through the world by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16

Seeing the world through the Word means first letting the Word of God, Bhagavad-gita, determine our basic conceptual framework, and then analyzing the world through the lens provided by the Gita.

On the other hand, seeing the Word through the world means first letting the world’s thought-systems determine our conceptual framework and then examining the Gita through that filter.

Neither God nor his message is reducible to any one nation or historical epoch or even religious community.

Those who prioritize the world over the Word end up force-fitting the Gita into the analytical categories of their favored worldview. Thus, nationalists reduce the Gita to an Indian book; religious partisans, to a Hindu book; and historians, to a sample of ancient Indian literature. Those totally captivated by specific worldviews may go beyond reducing the Gita to even distorting it. Thus, Marxists who see everything in terms of class conflicts label the Gita as a book of brahminical orthodoxy; and feminists who see everything in terms of gender power struggles label it as a book of male chauvinism. Such people who insist on seeing the Gita through the world’s categories often reject its counsel. As the Gita (16.23) delineates, those who reject its message deprive themselves of its essential gift – happiness.

All world-centered analysis misses the reality that the Gita is God’s word for all of humanity for all time. Being the source of everything, God is the benefactor of all, irrespective of their worldly designations such as class or gender. Neither he nor his message is reducible to any one nation or historical epoch or even religious community. He shares the Gita to help us relish everlasting happiness by realizing our spiritual identity as souls – an identity far beyond the world’s categories.

By embracing the non-sectarian path of self-realization explained in the Gita, everyone everywhere can fulfill fully and forever the universal human longing for happiness.

Even when Krishna is in the universe, the universe is still in him by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11

When Krishna descends to the world, he appears to be just like any other person, someone who is limited to one place and needs to move for getting to another place. Those who assume that this appearance is the reality can’t conceive how such a localized person can be the all-pervading Supreme.

To comprehend Krishna’s mysterious appearance, we need to understand his transcendental position and disposition. God’s transcendental position, which all the world’s theistic traditions declare, refers to his self-existence in a realm that transcends time and space. Being the source of everything, including the fabric of time and space, he is never limited by his emanations.

Gita wisdom goes beyond the universal revelation of God’s transcendental position to the confidential revelation of his transcendental disposition.

Gita wisdom goes beyond this universal revelation of God’s transcendental position to the confidential revelation of his transcendental disposition. We are usually disposed to flaunt our power and delight in others’ submission. Krishna’s disposition transcends such egoistic drives – despite having the supreme power, he delights not in the display of his godhood but in the intimacy of love. He knows that his loved ones will feel inhibited in loving him intimately if they remain aware of his divinity. So, in his world of love, he conceals his supremacy and manifests in a finite-seeming humanlike form. And to invite all of us to his world, he descends to our world in that same form.

During his pastimes here, he seems, like us, finite. But he can at will exhibit powers impossible for us. For example, the Bhagavad-gita(11.07) reports how he, while seeming to be a person on a battlefield within the universe, demonstrated that the whole universe was within him.

By thus meditating on Krishna’s transcendental position and disposition, we can realize his supreme lovability, redirect our love from the world to him and gradually relish intimate love for him.

We are in the driver’s seat – but are we, by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 06

In the well-known body-car metaphor, the soul is the driver of the bodily car. Though we are in the driver’s position, we aren’t always in the controlling position, which is the broader meaning of the phrase “to be in the driver’s seat.” Why aren’t we in the controlling position? Because we have a companion who constantly distracts us, “Look at that; just see that; that’s fascinating.” That distracting companion is the mind, who often makes us take detours that are frequently needless and occasionally reckless. Thus, the mind keeps us from working purposefully towards our worthwhile goals, spiritual or material.

The mind can distract us, but not dislodge us from the driver’s seat.

To regain control of our life, we need to neglect the mind. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (06.05) urges us to not degrade ourselves with the mind. To successfully neglect the mind, it’s vital to recognize that its power on us is limited – it can distract us, but not dislodge us from the driver’s seat. If we keep neglecting it consistently, it is gradually forced to acknowledge that its distracting tactics are futile and then it falls silent.

However, presently the mind keeps chattering constantly and persuading relentlessly, so neglecting it is difficult. The best way to shut out the mind’s chatter is to absorb ourselves in someone else’s voice, specifically Krishna’s voice in his Supersoul manifestation. He speaks to us internally as the voice of conscience and externally through guru-sadhu-shastra. When we study scripture and practice meditation, we start sensing Krishna’s voice more clearly, making tuning in to it easier. Being thus guided, we get a higher vantage point from which to dispassionately evaluate the mind and determinedly reject its self-defeating suggestions. Gradually, contact with the Supersoul reforms the mind, making it not only realize the wisdom of his counsel but also reiterate that counsel. Thus the mind becomes our friend.

To divorce the personal from the professional is to be blind to the essential by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 07

Nowadays there’s an increasing tendency to divorce people’s personal life from their professional life. Heads of state may have scandalous affairs, but if they keep the economy growing, people consider their personal life irrelevant.

No doubt, all people including heads of state deserve some privacy for their personal life. But regard for privacy doesn’t imply disregard for morality. The values one exhibits in one’s personal life spill over, sooner or later, into one’s professional life too, because it is the same individual acting in both capacities.

Lust is no servant of man that it can be conveniently switched off in professional life and switched on in personal life.

So if heads of state have affairs, then their promiscuousness indicates that excessive lust has polluted their mind. Lust is no servant of man that it can be conveniently switched off in professional life and switched on in personal life. Lust makes man its servant and drives him to immorality, stupidity and even perversity, with scant regard for personal-professional boundaries.

Of course, in their professional lives people may try more to conceal their lecherousness more because their reputation, career and even livelihood may be at stake. But the lust they entertain in their personal life can break down their façade and disrupt their professional life.

Therefore, to divorce the personal from the professional is to be blind to the essential, the driving force of a person – the core character, the level of consciousness, the framework of values. Pertinently, the Bhagavad-gita (07.11) declares that the divine is manifested in the strength of those strong people who are free from lust and attachment. Their superlative strength underscores their professional competence – leaders in the past usually led from the front on the battlefield. And their dispassion stresses their character, their moral incorruptibility.

Such an integrated model of leadership, indeed of the human person, is the foundation for all-round wellbeing, individual and social.

It’s not just about you – it never was by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 03

“It’s just about me.” That’s how we sometimes minimize our moral lapses. We think that as long as we can maintain an appearance of being good, no one will know or be hurt.

However, surveys show that even the most introvert people over their lifetime influence more than ten thousand people. If that’s the scale of influence of inconspicuous introverts, how much more will be the scale of influence of ultra-visible social leaders?

Contemplating the consequentiality of our actions doesn’t have to be burdening – it can be empowering.

The Bhagavad-gita (03.21) underscores the defining role of leaders as society’s behavioral torchbearers – they set the standards that others emulate. So when leaders act immorally, they lower in the public eye the culture’s bar of morally acceptable behavior. Consequently, people imitate their leaders’ morally loose ways, thereby accelerating society’s ethical degeneration.

We may or may not fancy ourselves as leaders, but when we start living spiritually, leadership is thrust on us – people start seeing us, our actions and words, as standards of what spiritual life is all about. To them, we represent Krishna.

If we misbehave and our misbehavior comes to light – and it will, sooner or later, if we continue indulging in it – three broad groups of people get affected. Atheists get more venom to spew at what they deride as hypocritical religionists; fence-sitters get one more reason to stay away from God; and devotees have to survive yet another discouragement, or even devastation if they had derived a lot of inspiration from us. That’s why it’s never just about us. It wasn’t even when we weren’t representing Krishna. And it certainly isn’t now, when we represent him.

Contemplating the consequentiality of our actions doesn’t, however, have to be burdening. It can be empowering if we consider that with every choice we have the opportunity, small but still undoubtedly significant, to contribute to our and society’s moral regeneration.

We may not be caught for our sins, but we will be caught by our sins by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 16

Many people think that immoral behavior is ok as long as no one catches them. For example, people from culturally conservative families may think that drinking alcohol is ok as long as their family doesn’t find out. Or with the increasing perception of drinking as a matter of personal preference, not moral principle, they may feel that no one will catch or question them.

Utilitarian redefinition of morality from action to perception doesn’t change the inexorable mechanisms of our inner world.

Such people consciously or subconsciously redefine morality – not as “doing the right thing”, but as “maintaining the right image, whatever one does.” But their utilitarian redefinition of morality from action to perception doesn’t change the inexorable mechanisms of our inner world. Whenever we do an action repeatedly, every iteration reinforces the mental track for doing it, thereby impelling us to do it again and again. That’s how what starts as a casual titillation (“I enjoy drinking”) can end up as an irresistible addiction (I can’t live without drinking”). Thus people become caught by their sins.

The Bhagavad-gita (16.12) indicates that those who give themselves up to inner inimical drives such as lust and anger are bound by hundreds of noose-like desires. These desires act like tough, tight cords that bind their consciousness to their addiction. These bonds, though invisible, function like prisoner’s shackles. They restrict the addicts’ mental freedom, relentlessly dragging their thoughts to their addiction.

Understanding that our choices are self-perpetuating helps us realize that our personal growth depends not on perception but on purification – not on how we look in the world’s eyes, but on how we are in our own heart. This realization inspires us to purify ourselves by practicing bhakti-yoga. When we thus relish higher inner satisfaction, we can resist lower pleasures, thereby breaking free from addiction. Complete purification begets everlasting freedom.

Don’t let device aggravate vice by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 02

We all have our vices that if given a free run can harm others and harm us too. Keeping such vices under control has been a constant struggle for humanity. In today’s culture, this struggle has become tougher because inner vice is nowadays facilitated and fuelled by outer device.

For example, with smartphones providing easy Internet access, millions of people the world over are becoming addicted to porn. The vice of lust has always tempted and tormented and trapped humanity throughout its history. But when facilitated by device, this vice extends it tentacles even further, capturing people if they just press a few keys. Though using porn appears to be a harmless titillation initially, it turns out eventually to be a ruthless addiction that devours people’s time, energy, money, morality, sensitivity, spirituality, even humanity. The Bhagavad-gita (02.62) outlines how contemplation on sense objects propels one on the path to self-destruction. Such dangerous contemplation becomes, thanks to devices, a constant temptation.

Dangerous contemplation becomes, thanks to devices, a constant temptation.

We all have our various vices that can get aggravated by various devices. What makes us especially vulnerable is that we frequently can neither remove vice immediately; nor avoid device entirely, at least not as long as we live in a techno-centric world.

To protect ourselves, we need to practice bhakti-yoga that provides inner spiritual satisfaction, thereby enabling us to resist outer material gratification. But even while we practice bhakti, vice may impel us to abuse device. If this happens repeatedly, then we need to regulate our use of device through something like an Internet filter. More importantly, we need to study scripture seriously, and pray and chant intensely so that we can by Krishna’s mercy have the intellectual conviction and spiritual determination to resist vice. By such outer vigilance and inner diligence, we can gradually attain transcendence, going beyond the lure of vice.

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The shoe that fits one person bites anotherby Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 03

All of us are distinct individuals. Given our differences, no material formula can work uniformly for everyone, just as one shoe can’t fit all people.

Acknowledging such individual distinctiveness, Gita wisdom endorses varnashrama, a social system that offers people vocations according to their inclinations. Each vocation has its rewards and challenges. For those inclined to a particular vocation, its rewards outweigh its challenges. Thus for a person with kshatriya inclination, the fulfillment in using one’s talents to head a state competently is greater than the anxiety coming from such a demanding political position. A brahmana, on the other hand, would find that anxiety a burdensome distraction from the brahmincial inclination to study. And conversely, a kshatriya would find a brahmana’s life too simple to be palatable.

For those inclined to a particular vocation, its rewards outweigh its challenges.

Yet during phases of acute trouble in one’s vocation, one may find another’s vocation alluring; the grass on the other side might seem greener. That’s what happened to Arjuna on the Kurukshetra battlefield when he had to fight against his loved ones – he felt tempted to adopt the nonviolent brahminical vocation.

The Bhagavad-gita (03.35) firmly disapproves such whimsical changing of vocations because it would require repressing one’s nature (03.33) – something that is unsustainable and undesirable.

If Arjuna adopted a brahmana’s vocation, then in the course of life when he would be disrespected, his kshatriya nature would spring up and he would raise weapons to retaliate against the offender. Engaging in such violence while he was professing to be a brahmana would be karmically culpable, because brahmanas are dharmically enjoined to nonviolence (18.42). Instead of courting adharma thus, if he gallantly stuck to his natural vocation even amidst duress, he would gain dharmic credits for his long-term benefit.

In addition to its varnashrama-specific application, this verse speaks to us today: don’t imitate others, be true to yourself.

To reduce pain to punishment is to underestimate God’s purpose by Chaitanya Charan Das Based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18.

When problems befall us for no apparent cause, we naturally get the question, “Why?”

Religion at a preliminary level may answer, “Suffering is the punishment for our own past misdeeds according to the inexorable law of karma.” This answer though correct is not complete – the equation of pain with punishment is a reduction that doesn’t reflect the breadth of God’s purpose.

If we remember that pain has a spiritually restorative purpose, we can see pain more positively, as a concealed invitation of Krishna to return to his shelter.

God is not just a dispassionate judge concerned only about giving just punishments for wrongdoings. He is also a spiritually passionate benefactor deeply concerned about our reformation and restitution. In Krishna’s compassionate scheme of things, his interaction with us isn’t restricted to the administration of the due punishment, as is the case of a judge interacting with a wrongdoer. He accompanies us constantly as the indwelling Supersoul, wanting to help us make wise choices by which we can ultimately attain the spiritual level of reality. At that level, we can reclaim our right to eternal happiness in immortal spiritual love for him – a right that we have lost due to our forgetfulness of our identity as souls, as his beloved parts.

The ultimate purpose of all pain is to cure our spiritual amnesia, or more specifically to prompt us to seek out a cure. Misery at the material level is meant to push our consciousness towards the spiritual level. If we see pain only as punishment, we may drown ourselves in disheartening guilt or strain our brain in vain to figure out what wrongdoing caused which reaction. If instead we remember that pain has a spiritually restorative purpose, we can see pain more positively, as a concealed invitation of Krishna to return to his shelter. The Bhagavad-gita (18.58) assures us that if we seek Krishna’s shelter by striving to be conscious of him, we will cross over all problems.