The Bhagavad Gita is one part of the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit story that’s one of the oldest known epics. The Gita is one of the most famous pieces of Hindu literature, and the lessons it teaches are central to that faith. As a cultural touchstone and a spiritual guide, scholars consider it one of the most important ancient texts in the world. The translation and commentary by Eknath Easwaran help even those who aren’t learned in Hindu mythology to understand its teachings.
The Bhagavad Gita takes place just before a great battle between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, two factions from the same dynasty who are fighting over the throne of the kingdom of Hastinapura. They have met at the field of Kurukshetra for the great battle to decide the inheritance.
Arjuna, who leads the Pandavas, is conflicted because he doesn’t want to fight against his own family. He turns to his childhood friend and charioteer Krishna, who is actually an incarnation of the god Vishnu, for advice.
Krishna’s advice comprises the vast majority of the Gita—“Bhagavad Gita” means “song of God.” He begins by discussing dharma, what we might call destiny, and tells Arjuna that it’s his dharma to fight. Krishna then moves into discussions of the difference between reality and illusion—anything that’s of the physical, temporary world isn’t real. The only reality is divinity, which Arjuna’s weapons can’t harm, so he should have no qualms about fighting.
From there, Krishna moves into a discussion of his own nature as God; how all things came from him and he exists in everything. He discusses how the path to enlightenment involves recognizing that truth and seeing that all things are connected through God. This leads to selfless action in the literal sense—acting without thought or care for oneself, focused only on God.
The ultimate goal of these lessons is to help Arjuna break free from samsara, the cycle of reincarnation. However, in the short term, they serve to soothe Arjuna’s doubts and ready him for the battle to come.
One lesson that’s central to all of Krishna’s teachings is the difference between reality and illusion. Anything temporary shouldn’t be considered real. This includes physical matter, sensations, thoughts and feelings, and even good and bad fortune. They’re all transient, belonging to the category that Krishna calls “sense-objects” or prakriti—that is, things that either are physical objects or are experienced physically.
Very few things are actually real and worthy of attention. However, your true self, the Purusha or soul that inhabits the body, is real. Though you will die and be reborn countless times, the Purusha itself never changes. It puts on bodies and casts them off as easily as you change your clothes, and with no greater impact on itself.
The other reality is the divine. Krishna himself, who is an incarnation of the god Vishnu, is real. In turn, Vishnu himself is only one aspect of Brahman, the ultimate power and truth in the universe. Everything that exists—from the smallest speck of dirt, to entire worlds, to Purusha—comes from Brahman and is part of Brahman.
Understanding the difference between what’s real and what’s not is key for Arjuna to fight in the upcoming battle. He doesn’t want to hurt his kin—but Krishna makes the point that he can’t hurt them, only their temporary physical bodies. Damaging Purusha, their true selves, is impossible, and therefore there’s no reason for Arjuna to hesitate.
The other reason why Arjuna must fight is that it’s his dharma—both his duty and his destiny. Dharma is what someone’s on Earth to do.
Krishna mentions that he takes a mortal form when he’s needed on Earth in order to set dharma back on its proper course; in other words, when people turn away from their destinies. These lessons for Arjuna are part of making sure that people fulfill dharma as they should.
Krishna goes on to say that Arjuna should fulfill his dharma through selfless action, which is a frequent theme in the Bhagavad Gita. “Selfless” isn’t used in the more common sense of “charitable,” but meaning literally without thought or concern for oneself. Krishna says repeatedly that Arjuna should work to fulfill his dharma, while devoting every action that he takes to Krishna himself instead of focusing on selfish concerns.
Arjuna shouldn’t be concerned with personal gain or rewards, or even with the outcomes of his actions. The key to selfless action is to do what’s right and leave the results in God’s hands. This renunciation of outcomes and consequences is called tyaga, which is one path to enlightenment.
This focus on selfless action is important because it’s the best way for Arjuna to break free of karma. You may have heard the colloquial meaning of karma: Being rewarded for good deeds and punished for bad ones. However, this is a corrupted definition of the concept.
Karma is the cosmic force that binds people to samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth. What a person does in life affects that person’s afterlife, and what kind of new life he or she is placed into next. Gaining and balancing karma, positive or negative, is a process that takes place over many lives and afterlives.
Usually, every action that a person takes, good or bad, is added to that person’s karma. However, by acting selflessly as Krishna describes, that person can remain detached from their actions and unconnected to the outcomes of them. Therefore, selfless actions don’t incur any karma.
Escaping karma and breaking free of samsara is the ultimate goal of Hinduism. Someone who has achieved this goal no longer has any karma, and therefore isn’t reincarnated anymore. Krishna repeatedly discusses this goal. He explains how those who achieve it are reunited with him in his true home, a place of pure light that exists within Brahman, beyond the universe as we know it.
Much of Krishna’s advice to Arjuna relates to the three gunas. Guna can be roughly translated as “attribute” or “property.” The three gunas are sattva, rajas, and tamas.
Sattva is the guna of goodness and wisdom, the only one of the three that’s desirable. Rajas is the guna of passion and anger; it often drives actions, but it traps the one doing them deeper in karma. Tamas is the guna of darkness, destruction, and depression.
Every action that people take is fueled by one of the three gunas. However, the gunas are part of prakriti—physical matter—and they trick people into egotism and obsession with the results of those actions.
Though every action comes from one of the three gunas, someone who understands the gunas’ true nature and isn’t distracted by them can perform these actions selflessly—concerned only for their dharma and the world around them, rather than seeking any material rewards for their work. Krishna advises Arjuna not to be ruled by his gunas; they’re obstacles in the way of enlightenment.
Bear this in mind as you read the following subsections. The gunas are intrinsically involved in everything you do and think, but it’s possible not to be controlled by them. By rising above your personal interests, renouncing the desire to feel sattva or to avoid tamas, it’s possible to experience the gunas without being truly affected by them.
Aside from action, one can also describe knowledge according to the three gunas.
Sattvic knowledge is the understanding that there’s a single, divine entity living in all things, and therefore all things are connected and unified. Sattvic understanding knows right from wrong, what will bring security and peace, and what will ultimately lead to freedom and union with God.
Rajasic knowledge is selfish; it doesn’t see the unity in everything, but it considers different things and creatures as separate entities. Because it lacks this crucial understanding, rajasic intellect can’t tell right from wrong. It pursues wealth, pleasure, and good reputation, often at the expense of others.
Tamasic knowledge is deluded—like a child, it sees one small part of the world and thinks that’s all there is, with no concept that there could be something beyond its own experiences. It’s even more confused than rajasic knowledge, and it mixes up right and wrong at every turn. It leads to fear, grief, sadness, and a refusal to learn from mistakes.
The gunas can even be used to describe different types of happiness. Happiness that comes from selfless, sattvic knowledge and action is the hardest to achieve; it will feel bitter at first to work without any thought of personal gain. However, this is the only path to permanent—and therefore real—happiness.
Happiness that comes from rajas is immediate and pleasurable, but temporary. It’s the joy of getting something you’ve always wanted, or the thrill of eating a piece of spicy food. It fades quickly and reveals itself to be an illusion—remember, only that which is permanent and unchanging is real.
Tamasic happiness is a lie from beginning to end. It comes from idleness, sleep, and intoxication. This false happiness is to be avoided.
One important point Krishna makes is that there are many different ways to escape karma and be united with God in his home. Some people make material offerings, while others offer their selfless actions, as Krishna instructs Arjuna to do. Some seek God through meditation, restraining their senses and gaining mastery over their physical bodies through asceticism (self-deprivation), or offering up their bodies and experiences to the gods. All of these various practices are called yoga, which means “union”—specifically, union with God.
In vowing not to fight, Arjuna was—likely unintentionally—practicing one means of getting closer to the divine, called sannyasa, or renunciation of action. Those who practice sannyasa, typically ascetic monks, avoid taking any actions at all in order to minimize how much karma they accrue.
However, in shirking his duty to fight, Arjuna wasn’t practicing sannyasa correctly. Krishna explains that, for a warrior prince like Arjuna, sannyasa isn’t an appropriate path; it would be impossible for Arjuna to renounce all action, since his dharma drives him to fight and lead. Instead, Krishna again urges him to practice tyaga, dedicating his actions to God and renouncing the outcomes of those actions.
Selfless action is only one step on the spiritual path. Beyond selfless action is wisdom and knowledge. Studying the scriptures, knowing the difference between one’s physical form and one’s true self, and recognizing the spirit of Vishnu in everything that exists are all key to breaking free of samsara, escaping the cycle of rebirth, and being reunited with God.
Throughout the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asks several questions about what happens if you worship other gods, or worship in different ways than are laid out in the sacred texts. Krishna answers that he’ll reward true faith of any kind. People who pray to other gods will be with them in the afterlife (until they’re reborn), while those who worship Vishnu but don’t follow the proper rituals will be reborn into an educated family to learn the correct forms and continue their spiritual journey.
Most importantly, Krishna says that there is no such thing as failure when pursuing spiritual work. Arjuna worries that if he begins to practice yoga but isn’t able to complete his spiritual journey in a single lifetime, that he’ll be stuck between the physical world and the spiritual one, truly belonging to neither.
However, Krishna reassures him that that’s impossible. If he seeks Vishnu in life but becomes distracted by physical attachments or turns away from his spiritual pursuits, he’ll enjoy his rewards in the afterlife until he’s born again to continue the work.
As a sacred text, much of the Bhagavad Gita is devoted to Krishna explaining his true nature. One of the most difficult, yet most important things to understand is all of the various forms that Krishna takes.
He says that his truest, highest self is Brahman, the ultimate truth and power in the universe. However, Brahman isn’t usually thought of as an entity. Rather, he’s thought of more like an abstract force that pervades the universe and guides everything in it.
Vishnu, who is one of many aspects of Brahman, is the supreme deity in the universe. Though commonly depicted as a blue-skinned, four-armed being, he is in everything that exists, and everything that exists is part of him.
Finally, Krishna is an avatar, or incarnation of Vishnu. Like Arjuna, Vishnu has been born into many different bodies throughout history; however, unlike Arjuna, Vishnu controls his own reincarnations and remembers his past lives. So Krishna, Vishnu, and Brahman are all separate entities, and yet all the same divine being.
After explaining his nature, Krishna—at Arjuna’s request—goes one step further and reveals his true self. This isn’t the form of Vishnu that usually appears in art and literature, but the absolute truth that is Brahman. However, Arjuna can’t see Brahman with his eyes—Krishna has to grant him spiritual sight so that he can receive the vision.
Arjuna then sees a being who shines like a thousand suns all rising together. Krishna’s true self has an infinite number of faces overseeing the entire universe. He carries countless weapons in countless hands as symbols of his limitless power. Within Krishna’s body, Arjuna sees the form of every object that has ever existed merged into one.
Arjuna sees the creator god Brahma sitting on a lotus flower; he sees all of the ancient sages, alongside mythical monsters. The entire universe makes up God’s body, which has infinite mouths, stomachs, arms, and eyes. The being wears a crown and gleams with heavenly jewels. The light that radiates from its body warms everything that exists.
Arjuna sees that the true form of Krishna is the ultimate mystery of the universe; the only truth he needs to know in order to break free of karma. Vishnu is the eternal guardian of dharma, or fate, who is reborn again and again to keep the world on its ordained path.
Arjuna sees all other gods, demigods, and demons, and the universe itself shaking in fear before God’s true self. Arjuna himself is terrified by one part of the vision: All of the warriors who have gathered at the field of Kurukshetra for the upcoming battle, the kings they fight for, the entire world, and countless other worlds are all streaming into Vishnu’s countless burning mouths to be destroyed and swallowed. God says that, among all his other forms and roles in the universe, he is the ultimate destroyer: time.
Arjuna is completely overwhelmed and falls to his knees. He shakes in terror and begs Vishnu to take on his more familiar, four-armed form. After a short while, Vishnu does so and soothes Arjuna’s fears.
Once Arjuna has gathered his thoughts again, Krishna—who has by this point resumed his human form—reiterates that Arjuna should take up his weapons and fight the Kauravas. Given what Arjuna just saw, Brahman as the ultimate destroyer, he should now understand that it will be God himself who kills Arjuna’s kin; Arjuna is simply one of the countless weapons in God’scountless hands. He also promises that, should Arjuna do his duty and fight the battle, that he is certain to win.
As their conversation comes to a close, Krishna tells Arjuna two last, crucial things. The first is that he should work selflessly to fulfill his destiny; this is something Krishna’s told him repeatedly throughout the Gita, but this time he adds that it’s better to follow one’s own dharma, or duty—even imperfectly—than to try to pursue someone else’s. Arjuna’s dharma is to lead and to fight, not to retreat and meditate; if he tries to follow those more priestly pursuits, he’ll be doing the world and his own spiritual health a great disservice.
Finally, Krishna tells Arjuna to share what he’s learned, but only with those who are ready to receive the lessons. Anyone who’s lacking in devotion, discipline, or the desire to learn isn’t worthy of learning what Krishna has taught Arjuna throughout the Bhagavad Gita. However, teaching the divine mysteries to those who are ready to receive them is the greatest act of love and devotion that one can perform.
Krishna signals that their conversation is coming to an end. He asks whether Arjuna has been listening and whether his teachings have dispelled Arjuna’s doubts.
Arjuna replies that he’s freed from his uncertainties and misunderstandings. He vows to carry out Krishna’s will.
The Bhagavad Gita is one part of the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit story that’s one of the oldest known epics. The Gita is one of the most famous pieces of Hindu literature, and the lessons it teaches are central to that faith. As a cultural touchstone and a spiritual guide, scholars consider it one of the most important ancient texts in the world. The translation and commentary by Eknath Easwaran help even those who aren’t learned in Hindu mythology to understand its teachings.
As the Bhagavad Gita begins, two mighty armies face each other across the field of Kurukshetra, which is located to the north of modern-day Delhi. The Pandavas, led by Prince Arjuna, are about to wage war against their kin, the Kauravas, who have usurped the throne of Hastinapura.
Arjuna is conflicted because he doesn’t want to fight against his own family. He turns to his childhood friend and charioteer Krishna, who is actually an incarnation of the god Vishnu, for advice.
Krishna’s advice comprises the vast majority of the Gita—“Bhagavad Gita” means “song of God.” He begins by discussing dharma, what we might call destiny, and tells Arjuna that it’s his dharma to fight. Krishna then moves into discussions of the difference between reality and illusion—anything that’s of the physical, temporary world isn’t real. The only reality is divinity, which Arjuna’s weapons can’t harm, so he should have no qualms about fighting.
From there, Krishna moves into a discussion of his own nature as God; how all things came from him and he exists in everything. He discusses how the path to enlightenment involves recognizing that truth and seeing that all things are connected through God. This leads to selfless action in the literal sense—acting without thought or care for oneself, focused only on God.
The ultimate goal of these lessons is to help Arjuna break free from samsara, the cycle of reincarnation. However, in the short term, they serve to soothe Arjuna’s doubts and ready him for the battle to come.
There’s a great deal of history drawing these two armies to Kurukshetra.
A man named Pandu, of the Kuru dynasty, was the king of Hastinapura. While he ruled he shared power with his brother Dhritarashtra. However, Pandu died young, and Dhritarashtra was born blind, so he couldn’t be named king under the laws of Hastinapura.
Therefore, Pandu’s son Yudhishthira should have been the next king, but he was too young to take the throne. Dhritarashtra continued to rule in Yudhishthira’s stead until he became old enough to take the throne himself. However, when Yudhishthira came of age, Dhritarashtra began plotting for his own son Duryodhana to succeed him instead. That scheming led to the current conflict between the Pandavas, the supporters of Yudhishthira who call themselves the sons of Pandu; and the Kauravas, the supporters of Duryodhana and so-called sons of Kuru—though, in reality, both sides are part of the Kuru dynasty.
Before the battle begins, prince Duryodhana of the Kauravas studies the opposing army. He reports that there are many great heroes among the Pandavas, but that their own army has equally great men and is much larger. He ends with a call for his soldiers to stand firm and support Bhishma, the eldest of the Kurus and the leader of their army. Bhishma responds to this by blowing a conch horn—a call to arms, which is taken up by the rest of his army. The Pandava army responds with horns and drums of their own.
The Bhagavad Gita is framed as a story-within-a-story. Sanjaya, an advisor to king Dhritarashtra, is having a vision of the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna and telling the king what he sees. This is possible because Sanjaya has been blessed with the gift of divine sight, so he’s able to see everything that happens at Kurukshetra as if he were there in person.
Dhritarashtra refers to Kurukshetra as the “field of dharma.” Dharma, which can be loosely translated as both duty and law, refers both to the cosmic rules of the universe and to people’s individual destinies. Calling Kurukshetra the field of dharma implies that what’s about to happen isn’t only a physical battle, but a spiritual struggle over what is right and just.
Prince Arjuna leads the Pandavas’ army. His chariot is driven by Sri Krishna, an incarnation of the god Vishnu, who has taken a mortal form in the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna has been Arjuna’s friend and advisor throughout his life, but he can’t fight this battle. Leading the army is Arjuna’s dharma—his duty and destiny. Krishna is only there to support him.
(Shortform note: “Sri,” sometimes spelled “Shri,” is a term of respect that doesn’t have a direct translation.)
As Arjuna sees that the fighting’s about to start, he asks Krishna to drive his chariot in between the two armies so that he can take a closer look at his enemies. When he sees the people in the Kauravas’ army, he recognizes many of them as his own family and friends.
Arjuna is overcome with despair. He tells Krishna that he doesn’t want to fight against his own family, and that his family fighting within itself will lead to chaos in the kingdom. He also says that there are great heroes and respected scholars on the other side, and Arjuna questions how he could ever live with himself if he killed them in battle. Arjuna says that it would be better to lay down his weapons and let the Kauravas kill him.
Krishna replies that, though Arjuna is speaking from the heart, he is also speaking from ignorance. Although physical bodies can be destroyed, a person’s essence will be reborn again and again, unchanged, through the process of reincarnation. Therefore, Arjuna wouldn’t be killing anybody, and there would be no reason to grieve for them.
Krishna compares reincarnation to the changes that a person goes through over a single lifetime, from childhood to adulthood to old age. You wouldn’t say that a person became someone else after growing up, and in the same sense, you shouldn’t think of someone who’s been reincarnated as becoming a different person.
Krishna explains that temporary things shouldn’t be considered real. Pain and pleasure, heat and cold, and even life and death are temporary. Similarly, the temporary bodies of the men Arjuna will fight against aren’t real; their true selves are eternal and immutable, and change bodies as a living person changes clothes. Knowing that, Krishna asks rhetorically, how can Arjuna kill or be killed by them?
People who understand the difference between the real and the illusory will remain calm in any situation, unaffected by either hard times or good times. Such people have taken a key step toward breaking the cycle of reincarnation.
Even if Arjuna can’t currently separate his ideas of the temporary bodies from the true souls that inhabit them, Krishna points out that death and rebirth happen to everyone. These men will die whether or not Arjuna kills them, and there’s no point in mourning the inevitable.
Next, Krishna reminds Arjuna of his dharma. He’s of the kshatriya caste, a warrior and a leader, and therefore it’s his duty to fight in this battle. He should be excited for the chance to wage war against evil, as there’s no higher calling for a kshatriya. Fighting this battle will nearly guarantee Arjuna entrance to heaven while he waits for his next life.
On the other hand, if Arjuna refuses to fight, he’d be going against his dharma. Doing so would hurt his chances of reaching heaven and—possibly even worse for a kshatriya—disgrace him in life. Great heroes on both sides of the battle would think that Arjuna had withdrawn out of cowardice or weakness, and his reputation would be irreparably damaged.
(Hindu tradition divides people into four castes. Brahmins are the highest caste, the priests and spiritual leaders. Kshatriyas like Arjuna are just below them, the caste of warriors and rulers. Below that are the vaishyas, who are merchants and landowners. The lowest caste is the shudras, or servants, who do the bidding of all others.)
(Shortform note: Below even the shudras are the untouchables or outcastes, who do distasteful work such as street sweeping and latrine cleaning.)
Krishna now begins teaching Arjuna lessons about yoga. You may be familiar with one type of yoga, hatha yoga, which teaches control over one’s body and mind through physical exercise and meditation. However, in a broader sense, yoga is any activity that brings a person closer to God. In fact, the word yoga comes from yuj, meaning “to unite” (in this case, to unite with God).
Krishna explains that yoga is the way to break free from karma, the cosmic force that binds people to the cycle of rebirth. The definition of karma that you may be familiar with—being rewarded for good deeds and punished for bad ones—isn’t quite accurate. There is an element of getting what you deserve, but karma is the force that binds people to the cycle of reincarnation and determines what they will be born as in each life. Each person has a “debt” of karma, which can be worked off through fulfilling dharma and selfless service. Once you’re completely freed from your karma, you’ll stop being reincarnated.
The key to practicing yoga is to recognize Krishna’s—and, by extension, Vishnu’s—presence in all things, and to devote every action to serving him. A person who does this fulfills his dharma with no sense of ego and no interest in rewards, nor fear of failure or punishment. This is the attitude that Arjuna should adopt as he goes to war against the Kauravas—that he will do his duty as best he can, in God’s name, without worrying about the outcome.
People who don’t follow yoga, who do things for their own pleasure or profit, are easily distracted and confused. They lose sight of their dharma, and are doomed to be caught in the cycle of samsara—reincarnation—forever.
Arjuna, who’s shown throughout the Gita to be a practical person, and who is most interested in things he can put into practice, asks Krishna what people who have achieved this state of selflessness are like. How do they move, how do they speak? In other words, how could he recognize and emulate them?
Krishna answers that such people understand that everything is connected. Everything comes from and contains a part of Vishnu; therefore, true practitioners of yoga recognize themselves as one part of a much greater whole. By letting go of concepts like “I” and “mine,” yogis can unite themselves fully with God.
Since people can be tempted by physical objects and experiences—what Krishna calls “sense objects”—he explains that the truly wise can draw their senses inward at will. By focusing solely on Vishnu (remember that Krishna is Vishnu in a human body), they can block out external temptations and devote every moment to serving him. This frees them from physical attachments and keeps their minds clear.
Having let go of personal attachments, desires, and fears, yogis aren’t affected by good times or bad times. They want nothing, fear nothing, and are never roused to anger; they pass through life peacefully, no matter what may be happening around them. Krishna advises Arjuna to aspire to be like them.
In this chapter, Krishna moves away from talk of meditation and prayer and discusses the importance of actions. The key is to act selflessly—not meaning “charitably” in the usual sense of the word, but literally without thought for yourself, focused only on God. Acting according to your dharma, and devoting all of your actions to Vishnu, is called karma yoga, or selfless service.
Arjuna asks Krishna—in light of what he’s learned about yoga, meditation, and inward thought—why he needs to fight this war. He argues that if wisdom, not action, is the key to living well and breaking the cycle of reincarnation, then Krishna telling him to fight doesn’t seem to make sense, since fighting would be taking action.
Krishna answers that there are two righteous paths through life: jnana yoga, the way of meditation and contemplation; and karma yoga, the way of selfless action. Of the two, karma yoga is better and more practical. Nobody can go through life without taking some actions, and selfish actions cause harm to others and to the world. Therefore, the best way to act is with no sense of self: Do what’s right and devote all your actions to God and the betterment of the world, with no thought of personal rewards.
Krishna goes on to say that the duty of selfless service was created at the same time as humanity, and that the two are intertwined. He promises that people who act selflessly will prosper, and all of their desires will be fulfilled. Selfless service comes from Brahman, the ultimate force and truth behind everything that exists, and it pleases the devas, minor deities who look after humanity. To accept the blessings of the devas without offering selfless service in return would make one a thief.
(Shortform note: Later in the Gita, Krishna reveals that Brahman is also his own truest nature. In spite of that, Brahman is usually spoken of like a non-sentient force, rather than a deity, similar to “the Force” in Star Wars.)
Krishna repeats several times that only people who understand the true Self may act selflessly. Remember what he said about wise people in the previous chapter: They recognize that they are in all things and all things are in them. Understanding the true Self means understanding that truth.
Therefore, the wise are able to act with no thought for themselves, because they understand who and what they are. They don’t see themselves as the ones performing actions, they’re merely vessels through which the greater powers of the universe are acting.
The three gunas are some of the hardest things to overcome on one’s quest for selfless action. Guna can be roughly translated as “attribute” or “property.” There are three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas. Sattva is the guna of goodness and wisdom and the only one of the three that’s desirable. Rajas is the guna of passion and anger; it often drives actions, but it traps the one doing them deeper in karma. Tamas is the guna of darkness, destruction, and depression.
The three gunas drive every action that people take. However, the gunas are a thing of prakriti, or physical matter, and they trick people into egotism and obsession with the results of those actions.
Though every action comes from one of the three gunas, someone who understands the gunas’ true nature and isn’t distracted by them can perform actions selflessly—concerned only for their dharma and the world around them, rather than seeking any material rewards for their work. Krishna advises Arjuna not to be ruled by his gunas; they’re tricks that keep him focused on his selfish interests and therefore bound to karma.
Finally, Arjuna asks what binds people to selfish actions; why do people keep serving their own self-interest, sometimes seemingly against their will? Krishna answers that it’s the guna of rajas—passion, desire, and anger—that drives people to act selfishly.
Rajas and the selfish desires that arise from it are found in the mind and the senses. This guna tricks people into pursuing their own pleasures, rather than working to fulfill their dharma and dedicating themselves to God. Krishna advises Arjuna to master his senses and rise above selfish desire. He says that the Atman—the soul—is higher than the mind, body, or senses, and can rule them all. In other words, Arjuna’s true self must be in control: Not his physical body or even his conscious thoughts, but his true, unchangeable, divine self. This is what Arjuna must do to free himself from karma.
Krishna mentions that he taught the secrets of karma and enlightenment to great sages many years ago. Arjuna asks how that’s possible when Krishna was born so long after the sages lived—remember that Arjuna thinks of Krishna as his childhood friend, not an incarnation of the immortal Vishnu.
Krishna replies that, like Arjuna, he’s reincarnated many times throughout history. However, unlike Arjuna, Krishna does so willingly and remembers his past lives. Through his maya—a word which means magic or illusion—Vishnu manifests in a mortal body when he needs to protect the world and restore the rule of dharma. In other words, he comes when people have forgotten their destinies and are acting against the laws of the universe, like the Kauravas are doing by trying to seize the throne that’s meant for Yudhishthira.
While on the subject of reincarnation, Krishna reiterates that people who aren’t fooled by the bodies they temporarily inhabit—who recognize that their true selves are divine and unchangeable, and are part of Brahman, the ultimate universal truth—are able to break free of karma and be rejoined with the divine.
The reason for this is that people who act from a place of self-interest become karmically bound by their actions. People who think of themselves as the ones taking action, and do so for personal reasons, incur karma. That’s why knowledge and wise action, done in the spirit of selfless service, are the keys to breaking free of reincarnation.
Krishna explains that, while wise and selfless actions are one path, there are many ways to find and join with him and Brahman. Some people make material offerings, while others offer their selfless actions, as Krishna is telling Arjuna to do. Some seek him through meditation, restraining their senses and gaining mastery over their physical bodies through asceticism (self-deprivation), offering up their bodies and experiences to the gods.
In every case, both the process of offering and the thing that’s offered are part of Brahman. Krishna says that all the things he just listed are different types of service, and service leads people to remove their karma and rejoin with Brahman. However, those who act selfishly and don’t try to serve will never rejoin with Brahman. Such people have no place to call their own in this world or any afterlife to come, and they’ll never feel content or peaceful.
Having said that, Krishna then clarifies that wisdom is a greater offering than any material sacrifice because the end goal of all this work is to find spiritual wisdom—that is, understanding of the true self, of Vishnu, and of Brahman. He advises Arjuna to seek out people who already have such wisdom and to have them teach him. Once Arjuna understands the true nature of himself and the universe, he’ll never again be fooled by physical attachments or desires. He’ll never again have to doubt himself, and therefore he’ll be able to do his duty—such as fighting the Kauravas—happily and selflessly.
Selfless action is something that everyone can embrace. As you think about this, remember that selfless doesn’t just mean “charitable”; it means “without any thought of personal benefit or hardship.”
Describe one truly selfless act that you’ve done in the past week.
What motivated you to perform that act?
What is one selfless act that you can perform in the coming week?
Arjuna, ever-practical, points out that Krishna has now recommended both selfless action, and the complete renunciation of physical attachments—including actions—which is called sannyasa. He asks which is the better path to God and Brahman.
Krishna answers that both paths lead to freedom from karma, but action is better. Renouncing all physical attachments and actions is very difficult, especially for someone like Arjuna, whose dharma is to fight and lead. Therefore, it’s better to take the necessary actions and perform them with no sense of self or egotism.
Krishna compares the body to a “city” with nine gates: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, the anus, and the urethra. By mastering selfless action, Arjuna’s Atman—his true self—will be the master of his body, ruling it like a king rules a city from the safety of his palace.
Krishna reiterates that all sense-objects are temporary; not real, and not worth pursuing. Any pleasures that Arjuna might seek in the world will be similarly temporary and will only cause him more suffering in the long run. Rather, through meditation and selfless action, Arjuna’s one and only goal should be understanding his true self; that he is part of Vishnu and Brahman, and that they are part of him.
Meditation likely brings to mind an image of someone sitting peacefully, legs folded, breathing slowly, and focusing inward. However, such inactive meditation isn’t currently suitable for Arjuna the warrior prince, who must protect and lead his people.
If the goal of meditation is peace and understanding, then the best place for Arjuna to start is with what Krishna has spoken of several times already: selfless action. Once he has achieved a level of self-realization through selfless action, he will be ready to seek inner peace and stillness through meditation.
Although it’s not yet time for Arjuna to meditate, Krishna gives him detailed instructions on how to do so when the time comes. He tells him to find a clean, comfortable spot, and to sit down on a cloth, a deerskin, and a patch of grass. He should sit perfectly straight, with his body, head, and neck all on the same line, and focus on something in front of him to keep his eyes (and attention) from wandering.
Once seated comfortably in this position, Arjuna should focus only on Vishnu. By turning every thought toward God, he’ll cleanse himself of attachment to sense-objects. This will be possible if he has let go of fear by understanding his true self, and let go of desire by dedicating his actions to Brahman.
Krishna warns that moderation in all things is key to successful meditation. Those who overindulge themselves will be bound by their desires; they won’t be able to meditate properly because they’ll be focused on themselves rather than God. Those who deny themselves everything—such as ascetic monks—won’t have the strength or focus to maintain their meditative states.
The end goal of meditation is nirvana, a state of perfect joy and peace where the person is united with Vishnu, even while still alive. Someone who’s reached nirvana has unshakeable focus and perfect understanding of his Atman. Understanding that everyone and everything comes from the same divine sources, such people react to others’ joys and hardships as if they were their own, and have no concern for who is a friend or an enemy; indeed, someone who’s attained nirvana wouldn’t even be able to view someone else as an enemy.
Finally, Krishna says that—while selfless work is important and a crucial first step toward self-realization—meditation is the best way to escape karma and be united with him.
During his discussion of meditation, Krishna also briefly discusses will. In doing so, he draws an important distinction between will and self-will. Self-will, called ahamkara, is the negative kind of will that one might find in a so-called “willful” child. This type of will is focused on desires and pleasures through sense-objects; in other words, it’s the force that drives people to get what they think they want.
Will, on the other hand, is what allows people to withdraw their senses, deny themselves the immediate pleasures of sense-objects, and find their true selves. This is what’s required to properly meditate and understand oneself.
Will is the friend of the Atman, the true self; self-will is its enemy. Krishna urges Arjuna to use will to conquer and master himself, and to never let himself be dragged down by self-will.
Arjuna, who is still upset by the prospect of waging war against his own family, says that he can’t even imagine the kind of stillness and peace that Krishna’s describing. He protests that trying to control his thoughts is like trying to catch the wind. Krishna acknowledges that mastering oneself is extremely difficult, but insists that it’s possible through practice, detachment, and self-control.
This leads Arjuna to ask what happens if he tries and fails. He’s concerned that if he begins doing such spiritual work, but strays from the path and doesn’t achieve true union with Vishnu and Brahman, that he’ll no longer be welcome in either the material world or the spiritual afterlife.
Krishna reassures him that that’s impossible. If Arjuna begins the work of self-realization and union with the divine but isn’t able to finish it in his lifetime, he’ll be rewarded rather than punished. His afterlife will be a pleasant and righteous one, and when the time comes for him to be reborn he’ll be born into a life where he can pick up the work where he left off. He’ll surely be born into a righteous family; if his karma is exceptionally good, he may be reborn into a family that practices meditation in the home, though such a thing is rare.
No spiritual work is ever wasted, and there’s no such thing as failure. If Arjuna needs more time to free himself from karma, he’ll have as many lifetimes as it takes.
In these chapters, Krishna reiterates that he is the source of all things and present in all things, both physical and metaphysical. He goes further to say that he is the true form of the greatest gods in every pantheon worshipped by man. He expounds on how he is the highest mountain, the deepest valley, the mightiest lion; he is the true self inside every person; he is life, death, time, victory, honor, justice, and so on.
Religious scholars consider Chapter 11 to be the most important part of the Bhagavad Gita. In this chapter, Krishna reveals his true self to Arjuna—not the four-armed, blue-skinned being who commonly appears in art, but his real form: the beginning and end of all existence.
Following that great revelation, Chapter 12 focuses on the importance of not just devotion, but love, as the supreme motivator for spirituality. It’s not enough to simply know Vishnu; you have to love him in order to free yourself from reincarnation.
Remember that, along with understanding himself, Arjuna must learn to understand Vishnu in order to escape from karma. To that end, Krishna—who is an incarnation of Vishnu—begins talking about himself and his true nature.
He says that his prakriti—his physical form—is made of eight elements: earth, water, air, fire, akasha (“sky” or “space”), mind, intelligence, and ego. However, beyond his prakriti is another, higher form. This other form created and supports everything that exists, and destroys it when the time comes. Though he has created many mortal bodies, Vishnu’s true self was never born and will never die. He is beyond such things; his true nature is eternal and changeless.
This higher nature is present in all things, from the taste of water to the light of the sun. Vishnu is people’s intelligence, strength, and honor. He is also the source of desire, as long as such desires are in tune with dharma and Brahman. He claims that the entire universe hangs from him like a necklace.
The three gunas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—also come from Vishnu, but he is not found in them. They make up his maya, his illusion that deceives the world. Vishnu’s maya is difficult to pass through, but those who seek him through selfless action and self-knowledge are able to cross his maya and rejoin his true self. He says that, while anyone who follows a spiritual path will be blessed, those who seek true union with Vishnu will have it and be considered as part of him.
Krishna explains that Brahman, the ultimate force and truth of the universe, is Vishnu’s highest nature. The part of Brahman in every living thing is called adhyatma. Adhibhuta is the mortal body, while adhidaiva is the intangible spirit (also called Purusha, like the physical body is also called prakriti). Finally, adhiyajna is sacrifice; both the offering itself and the force that compels people to offer it. Recognizing that all of these are from Vishnu and that Vishnu is in all of them is key to understanding his true nature.
Finally, Krishna talks about Brahma, another of his forms that is known to mortals as the creator deity. He says that a Day of Brahma, during which time the universe is created and exists, lasts for a thousand yugas, or eons. It is followed by a Night of Brahma lasting for an equal amount of time, wherein the universe is consumed and reduced to nothing. However, even during this time Brahma, who is Vishnu, is not destroyed.
(Note: To be more specific, a Day of Brahma lasts for 4.32 billion years. A Night of Brahma lasts the same amount of time.)
Though the truly wise seek out Vishnu, there are many who worship other gods—what Krishna calls “lower gods.” He says that these people have been deceived, but he rewards their devotion nonetheless.
When a person is absolutely devoted to something, Vishnu grants the person that thing. Those who want the fleeting pleasures of life will have them, while those who worship other gods will go to them in the afterlife (until they’re reborn, at least). However, those who are completely devoted to Vishnu will be reunited with him and break free of reincarnation. He promises that even the worst sinners can be quickly redeemed by meditating on and devoting their lives to Vishnu.
There are two paths the soul can take at death: Those who understand Brahman take the path of light, which leads them to the ultimate goal of freedom from the cycle of rebirth. Others follow a darker path that leads them to reincarnation. By knowing and recognizing these two paths, Arjuna can ensure that he’ll never be fooled by the darker path again.
Arjuna is awed by everything that Krishna has told him. Over the course of this conversation, Krishna has guided him from being a short-sighted warrior prince, concerned only with the battle in front of him, to someone who’s ready to begin the true spiritual work of breaking free from karma and reincarnation by devoting himself to Vishnu. However, Arjuna is still a practical person who needs to see things in order to fully grasp them. He begs Krishna to reveal his true, immortal self: the master of all creation.
Krishna agrees, promising to show Arjuna his countless forms, a sight that the greatest sages and mystics have longed to see but have never been allowed to. However, Krishna warns Arjuna that he won’t be able to see this vision with his eyes; instead, Krishna grants him spiritual sight that can perceive the true form of God.
Arjuna then sees a being who shines like a thousand suns all rising together. Krishna’s true self has an infinite number of faces overseeing the entire universe. He carries countless weapons in countless hands as symbols of his limitless power. Within Krishna’s body, Arjuna sees the form of every object that has ever existed merged into one.
Arjuna is completely overwhelmed and falls to his knees. He tries to tell Krishna what he is seeing. He sees the god Brahma sitting on a lotus flower, all of the ancient sages, and mythical monsters. The entire universe makes up God’s body, which has infinite mouths, stomachs, arms, and eyes. The being wears a crown and gleams with heavenly jewels. The light that radiates from its body warms everything that exists.
He sees that the true form of Vishnu is the ultimate mystery of the universe, the only truth that must be known to break free of karma. Vishnu is the eternal guardian of dharma, or fate, who is reborn again and again to keep the world on its ordained path.
Arjuna sees all other gods, demigods, and demons, and the universe itself shaking in fear before God’s true self. Arjuna himself is terrified by one part of the vision: All of the warriors who have gathered at Kurukshetra for the upcoming battle, the kings they fight for, the entire world, and countless other worlds are all streaming into Vishnu’s countless burning mouths, where they are destroyed and swallowed. Arjuna, who is now so frightened that he can’t even stand up, again begs Vishnu to explain what he is.
Vishnu responds that he is time, the ultimate destroyer. He repeats what he told Arjuna at the very beginning of the Gita: Everyone gathered at Kurukshetra will eventually die no matter what Arjuna does, and therefore he should fulfill his dharma and lead the Pandavas into battle. Vishnu himself is the one who will kill them—Arjuna will simply be one of his countless weapons. Vishnu promises that, should Arjuna stand and fight, he’ll win the battle.
Arjuna, who now sees what his childhood friend Krishna truly is, prostrates himself. He’s terrified that he might have accidentally disrespected Vishnu, and he begs forgiveness for the times when he addressed Krishna casually or thoughtlessly. He says that he’s happy to have seen Vishnu’s real self, but he repeats that he’s terrified. Arjuna begs Vishnu to go back to his more familiar, limited form.
Vishnu replies that, through his blessing, Arjuna has been given a look at something that no mortal has ever seen. He praises Arjuna for being the first to receive this vision—neither mystical knowledge, nor meditation, nor rituals, nor asceticism can grant mortals a glimpse of the true form of God. Even lesser gods try, and fail, to see what Arjuna saw. Only through true devotion to Vishnu can a human see what Arjuna just saw, understand Vishnu’s true nature, and be freed from karma to rejoin with him.
With that said, Vishnu returns to the human form of Krishna and begins to console the terrified prince.
After calming down, Arjuna asks—given what he just saw—whether it’s better to love Vishnu or to try to understand him. Krishna answers that love is the better path of yoga (which, remember, means “union with God”).
Those who try to understand Vishnu’s divine nature through study, meditation, and dampening their physical senses may very well find him and be freed from karma. However, grasping his true self—let alone seeing it, as Arjuna did—is extremely difficult for mortals. It’s easy for them to become distracted or discouraged, and so lose their way.
A much faster and more certain path is to do what Krishna advised Arjuna to do from the start: Live your dharma and perform good works with no sense of ego, acting purely out of love for God. Those who simply do right, without worrying about how it will affect them personally, will find peace. Those who act selflessly will receive Vishnu’s love.
A true yogi is one who’s unaffected by the physical world and all of its temporary sense-objects. Such people aren’t affected by good times or misfortune, and love all others equally—indeed, someone who truly understands Vishnu’s presence in all of us would not even be able to consider someone else an enemy, even in the midst of battle. They are all simply fragments of the divine fulfilling their own dharma.
This section begins by exploring two ideas: the so-called “field,” and the one who knows the field. In the simplest terms, we could think of the field as the body, and the knower as the true self that inhabits that body.
Krishna then returns to the subject of the gunas, this time to discuss how living by each guna affects your next life. While on the topic of reincarnation, he also explains the difference between what he terms “divine” and “demonic” tendencies. People who are driven by divine tendencies show the qualities that he’s been describing all along, like selflessness and spirituality. Those who are driven by demonic tendencies are selfish and atheistic; they don’t believe in God at all, and think that life has no higher purpose than reproduction. As with the gunas, people will be reborn according to their tendencies.
Understanding the knower of the field—the true self that inhabits the body—is crucial in order to embrace divine tendencies and free oneself from the three gunas. This is one method of attaining enlightenment.
Krishna compares the temporary body to a farmer’s field, and the true self that lives in it to the farmer—the one who knows and tends the field. The “field” is made up of a number of different things: the five senses, the five elements (earth, fire, air, water, and akasha), and the five organs of action (the mouth to speak, the feet to move, the hands to work, the anus to excrete, and the sex organs to reproduce).
Beyond physical matter, the field also includes the three components of the mind (manas, which experiences and remembers sensory input; buddhi, which is intelligence and reason; and ahamkara, self-will or sense of self), and the raw energy from which all of those elements were formed. In other words, the field is prakriti. It’s the source of all the temporary sense-objects that pull people from the spiritual path and keep them trapped by karma. However, it’s the Purusha, the soul, which experiences those sense-objects.
Krishna explains that knowing the difference between the field (prakriti) and the knower (Purusha) is crucial to disconnecting oneself from the sense-objects that prakriti creates. He then reiterates that those who understand what the true self is, and that they all come from and are part of Brahman, know that God exists in all of them and that they’re all connected. Knowing that, they never harm themselves or anyone else.
Finally, Krishna compares Purusha to the sun rising to illuminate the field. Even though all sense-objects come from prakriti, the true self is needed in order to animate the body and to experience those things.
Paradoxically, Krishna is simultaneously the field, the knower, and the supreme force beyond both of them. People who understand that truth have reached the source of all wisdom, and will be able to reach the ultimate goal of freeing themselves from samsara.
Krishna explains that, aside from sense-objects and actions, prakriti is also the source of the three gunas discussed in Chapters 3 and 4. The gunas are three qualities, or attributes, and every action can be related to one of them.
As a reminder, the guna of sattva is considered the only positive one. It’s associated with harmony, balance, light, and peace. Rajas is energy, or passion. It fuels desire and drives people to pursue selfish things—although it can also be a powerful motivator. Tamas is associated with darkness, depression, and sloth.
Those who live—and, more importantly, die—experiencing one of the gunas will be reborn according to that guna. Those who die in a state of tamas sink deeper into the cycle and are reborn to an ignorant or unlearned family, likely doomed to continue their downward slide. Those who die consumed by rajas will stay where they are karmically, and be reborn to continue chasing their own desires. Those who die in a state of sattva, of tranquility and harmony, will be reborn among the wise to continue their spiritual journeys.
However, there is a state even better than sattva, and that’s to renounce the gunas entirely. Those who aren’t driven by any of the three gunas, who have given up all of their personal desires and any attachment to the outcomes of their actions, are able to pass beyond the gunas and rejoin with Vishnu.
After Krishna finishes this explanation, Arjuna asks what people who have moved beyond the three gunas are like. He wants to know how they behave, and how they managed to break free of the gunas.
Krishna answers that these people are completely unmoved by any of the three gunas. They don’t have any desire to feel sattva’s peace, nor are they driven by rajas’s passion or repulsed by tamas’s indolence. They understand that the gunas are outside forces, not from their true Purusha, and they don’t let any of the three affect their actions.
He then repeats that people who truly understand their Purusha aren’t affected by good or bad times, pleasure or pain. They see the same value in every person and don’t think in terms of friends or enemies. A lump of gold and a plain rock have the same worth to such people. All of this is because they’ve moved beyond the physical concerns of prakriti and dedicate everything to Vishnu and Brahman. He ends by saying that these kinds of people are ready to break out of samsara and be reunited with Brahman.
Just like the gunas drive people’s actions, so too do divine and demonic tendencies, and with similar consequences. Krishna says that what he has been explaining so far—detachment, peace, spirituality, and so on—are divine tendencies. People with these tendencies will be reborn into good families who will nurture their spiritual growth and, eventually, they will stop being reincarnated entirely. Arjuna was born with divine qualities.
However, some people exhibit demonic tendencies instead. These people are driven by lust, anger, and greed. They don’t believe in God, spiritual law, or morality. They think that the only source of life is biological—that is, sex—and that life has no purpose except fulfilling their desires.
Since they don’t believe in any higher power, people with demonic tendencies may come to believe that they themselves are godlike. They’ll see their wealth, their social status, and their material accomplishments as proof that they are better than other people. They may talk about how they’ve proven their power by defeating their rivals, or shown their grace and generosity through offerings and charity. They think that they are destined to get everything they want—however, their desires are insatiable, and they always want more and more.
Krishna says that he casts people who are ruled by their lust, anger, and greed into new lives with families who have the same tendencies. Therefore, they get more and more entrapped by their worst impulses, and never free themselves from karma.
Krishna urges Arjuna to renounce lust, anger, and greed, and instead to live his life by the scriptures and by Krishna’s teachings.
Krishna next talks about the ashvattha tree, a sacred world-tree in Hindu mythology and a way of visualizing all the things that keep people bound to karma. The tree is upside-down, with its roots stretching upward into Brahman and its branches spreading through the universe. Sense-objects grow like buds on the limbs of the ashvattha tree. The tree is fed by the gunas, and it keeps people bound to the outcomes of their actions, tangled in its branches, so that they continue experiencing those gunas.
However, though the tree is strong and its roots are deep, Krishna tells Arjuna that he can cut it down with the axe of detachment. As he’s said before, the key is to act without selfish desire or concern for the outcomes of actions. This, like freedom from the gunas and living by divine tendencies, will help Arjuna to avoid reincarnation.
People who are able to overcome the gunas, their demonic tendencies, and free themselves from the Ashvattha tree join Vishnu in his true home, never to be reborn again. Krishna now describes that home, the place where souls who free themselves from samsara end up. He describes it as a place of light; not the light of the sun, the moon, or fire, but the pure light of the true self. And, since all souls come from him, the light is also Krishna himself. Beyond that, his home is beyond language’s ability to describe.
Regardless of your own religious or spiritual beliefs, reflecting on your thoughts and actions is always a worthwhile exercise. Now that you’re more familiar with the three gunas and how they impact various aspects of life, see if you can find them in yourself.
Think about the day you’ve had (or yesterday, if you’re reading this in the morning). Which guna—sattva, rajas, or tamas—would you say was driving your thoughts and actions, and why? Give an example of one action that was driven by that guna.
What are some things you could do to embrace sattvic ideals of unity, harmony, and contentment tomorrow (or today)?
The final two chapters of the Gita are devoted to answering Arjuna’s remaining questions and wrapping up the conversation. In Chapter 17, Arjuna asks for more details about scriptures. Specifically, he wants to know what happens to people who worship faithfully, but not in the ways that are prescribed in the scriptures.
Chapter 18 reiterates that the way to find everlasting peace is by maintaining faith in Vishnu, devoting your life and all of your actions to him, and detaching from your ego. This is, as Krishna has said many times throughout the Gita, the ultimate goal of life.
Following up on Krishna’s last lesson, Arjuna asks about people who worship faithfully but don’t follow the rituals prescribed by scripture. He wonders which guna they’re acting from by doing so.
Krishna answers that every living creature has some kind of faith, which could come from any of the three gunas. What kind of faith someone has depends on which guna he or she is ruled by, which also impacts every aspect of that person’s life. Krishna specifically discusses what each type of worship focuses on, and what each type of person likes to eat, which taken together give insights into the kinds of people that they are.
Sattvic worship focuses on God, in all of the many forms he takes. People ruled by sattva like to eat mild, healthy food that fuels them without causing damage to the body. Like their food, their worship is also straightforward and designed to promote good health. They make offerings with their minds focused on the ultimate purpose: worshipping God. They don’t think about rewards or social standing, they simply perform their spiritual duties.
Rajasic worship focuses on wealth and power. People ruled by rajas like food with strong flavors—spicy, salty, bitter, or sour. However, such food ends up causing them pain, and even sickness. Just like they eat with the intention of indulging themselves, they worship for selfish reasons as well—to make a show of it, or because they hope to be rewarded for their faith.
Tamasic worship focuses on ghosts and spirits, rather than any form of God. They worship without any true faith, and don’t even follow the proper rituals. Tamasic worship may be practiced in order to gain power over one’s followers, or in the misguided belief that torturing one’s body is spiritual. Like their worship, their food has no purpose nor value—people ruled by tamas like food that has been overcooked, or that has gone stale; food that’s lost its flavor and nutrition.
Finally, Krishna says that there are three different types of self-discipline, each of which can be practiced according to any of the three gunas as previously described—but should be practiced according to sattva. The physical disciplines are service, worship, self-control, and peace. The disciplines of speech are honesty and kindness, and studying the scriptures. The mental disciplines are gentleness, calmness, and restraint.
Krishna ends this lesson by reciting the sacred name Om Tat Sat. While the three words together represent Brahman, each has its own powerful and important meaning.
Om is the oldest Hindu mantram—a short phrase that is repeated many times over to focus the mind and spirit. It’s a holy syllable that represents Brahman and is meant to be the sacred sound that one can hear while deep in meditation. Those who follow scripture always use this mantra while making offerings, giving gifts, and performing other spiritual duties.
Tat simply means “that,” but represents the ultimate reality: the truth of God and the universe that no one can possibly imagine or describe. Worshippers will add the word Tat to indicate that they’re performing these actions to free themselves from karma, rather than for any immediate personal benefit.
Sat means, simultaneously, “what is” and “what is good.” It describes an admirable or honest deed. On the other hand, engaging in spiritual practices in bad faith would be asat, without goodness. Worshipping for selfish reasons has no value, in this life or any life to come.
Taken together, the phrase Om Tat Sat means that only good is real. Evil, like sense-objects, is temporary and false.
Now starting to wrap up his lesson, Krishna returns to one of the Gita’s earliest topics: renunciation of actions, called sannyasa, and renunciation of the results of those actions, called tyaga. Krishna reiterates that sannyasa, completely giving up on taking any actions at all, isn’t a proper spiritual path, and it’s impossible besides; as long as you have a body, you’ll have physical needs that you must see to.
He’s more interested in tyaga and goes into detail about three ways to practice it according to the three gunas. Simply renouncing all of your duties and responsibilities is tamasic tyaga, which will only degrade your spiritual health. Renouncing only those actions that you think will be difficult or unpleasant is rajasic tyaga, driven by selfishness and lacking in any spiritual value.
However, fulfilling your obligations without any thought of selfish rewards—doing your duty simply because it is your duty—is sattvic, and this is the best form of tyaga. Sattvic tyaga will bring you closer to God.
Since actions must be performed, Krishna now explains the five things that are needed for every act that anyone performs, whether good or bad:
People who don’t fully understand these five elements think that they are the ones performing actions, but those with spiritual wisdom understand that they are only vessels through which the divine will acts. While awareness of oneself is needed to take any action, that action should not be taken for oneself. Everything should be done in service to God.
In addition to the five elements that are needed to perform an action, three things determine when and how people take action: the concept of knowledge, the things that are known, and the one who knows them. Without these things, people wouldn’t know when it was appropriate to take action, or what actions to take.
The action itself can also be broken down into three aspects: the means to perform the act (which is both part of the action and part of what’s needed to do the action), the action itself, and the one doing the action.
These deconstructions are important because the knowledge to perform the action, the action, and the one doing the action can all be affected by, and described in terms of, the three gunas.
Sattvic knowledge is what Krishna has been explaining throughout the Gita—that there is a single, divine entity living in all things, and therefore all things are connected and unified. Sattvic understanding knows right from wrong, what will bring security and peace, and what will ultimately lead to freedom and union with God.
As Krishna has said before, acting selflessly to fulfill one’s obligations—one’s dharma—is the proper way to take action. This is sattvic action. Sattvic actors are selfless, unconcerned with payment or reward, and equally happy in good times and hard times.
Rajasic knowledge is selfish; it doesn’t see the unity in everything but considers different things and creatures as separate entities. Because it lacks this crucial understanding, rajasic intellect can’t tell right from wrong. It pursues wealth, pleasure, and good reputation, often at the expense of others.
Rajasic action is also selfish, done in the hopes of personal gain, and often causes undue stress on the actor. Rajasic actors are greedy and destructive, and they’re obsessed with their ever-shifting fortunes.
Tamasic knowledge is deluded—like a child, it sees one small part of the world and thinks that’s all there is, with no concept that there could be something beyond its own experiences. It’s even more confused than rajasic knowledge and mixes up right and wrong at every turn. It leads to fear, grief, sadness, and a refusal to learn from mistakes.
Tamasic action is ignorant and thoughtless, done without any consideration of dharma, the impact it will have on others, or even one’s own ability to do it. Tamasic actors are lazy, undisciplined, and dishonest. They often procrastinate on their work or shirk it entirely.
Like everything else, you can even describe happiness in terms of the gunas. Happiness that comes from sattvic knowledge and action is hard to find at first. Working without any thought or hope of personal reward will seem bitter and pointless until you come to fully understand how you’re fulfilling dharma and helping the world through your actions. However, sattvic happiness is the only type of happiness that brings lasting joy and peace.
Happiness that comes from the guna of rajas is immediate and pleasurable, but temporary. It’s the joy of getting something you’ve always wanted, or the thrill of eating a piece of spicy food. It fades quickly and reveals itself to be an illusion—remember, only that which is permanent and unchanging is real.
Tamasic happiness is a lie from beginning to end. It comes from idleness, sleep, and intoxication. This kind of false happiness should be avoided at all costs.
Krishna’s final lesson to Arjuna reiterates one of his first lessons: Every person should seek to fulfill his or her own destiny, and not chase after anyone else’s. By doing one’s own duties as best as possible, and devoting every action to God, it’s possible to break free of samsara and reach God’s true home, to be reunited with him forever.
Krishna is circling back around to this point because the great battle of the Mahabharata is about to begin, and he wants to make sure that Arjuna is ready for it. He warns that, even if Arjuna tries to stay out of the battle, his karma and his own nature as a kshatriya—a warrior and a leader—will force him into the fight. The key for Arjuna is to understand that he isn’t going out there to fight for himself, but because he’s a vessel for divine will and destiny.
Finally, Krishna tells Arjuna to share what he’s learned, but only with those who are ready to receive the lessons. Anyone who’s lacking in devotion, discipline, or the desire to learn isn’t worthy of learning what Krishna has taught Arjuna throughout the Bhagavad Gita. However, teaching the divine mysteries to those who are ready to receive them is the greatest act of love and devotion that one can perform.
Krishna signals that their conversation is coming to an end. He asks whether Arjuna has been listening and whether his teachings have dispelled Arjuna’s doubts. Arjuna replies that he’s freed from his uncertainties and misunderstandings. He vows to carry out Krishna’s will.
Sanjaya, who has been observing Arjuna and Krishna’s conversation and reporting what he hears to king Dhritarashtra, says that he is overwhelmed and overjoyed to have heard the divine mysteries directly from Krishna himself. He also reveals that he saw the divine vision of Krishna’s true, infinite form—something that supposedly only Arjuna had seen.
Sanjaya predicts that, in spite of the Kauravas’ much larger army, the Pandavas will win the battle with Arjuna and Krishna leading them. He says that anywhere Krishna and Arjuna are, there is certain to be victory, happiness, wealth, and wisdom. That final prediction marks the end of the Bhagavad Gita.
Ahamkara: Self-will, or egoism. Ahamkara deludes people into seeing themselves as individuals in charge of their own fates, rather than as tiny parts of the infinite divinity.
Akasha: The element of sky, or space. The void in between planets and stars. Akasha fills the universe, but is not affected by it.
Arjuna: One of Pandu’s children. Arjuna is a prince, the leader of the Pandavas, and the protagonist of the Gita. Most of the text is Krishna answering Arjuna’s question and teaching him how to free himself from karma and reincarnation.
Atman: The “soul,” or the true self. However, it’s not confined to a single person’s soul as western cultures would think of it; Atman is a pervasive, universal force of creation and life. The part of Atman that resides in the body is called Purusha.
Bhagavad Gita: “The song of God.” Krishna is an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and the Gita is his “song,” the lessons he teaches to Prince Arjuna.
Brahma: The creator deity in Hinduism. Like Vishnu, Brahma is a manifestation of the eternal Brahman.
Brahman: The ultimate truth and power of the universe, and Vishnu’s highest form. Brahman is found in everything that exists, and the universe runs according to its laws. It is represented by the syllable om.
Brahmin: The highest caste in Hindu culture. Brahmins are typically called to be priests, teachers, or wise men.
Buddhi: Intellect and reason, also ideas and purpose.
Deva: Minor deities in Hindu mythology who take care of the world.
Dharma: Sometimes translated as “law” or “duty,” it refers both to the universal laws as set down by the gods and an individual’s personal destiny.
Dhritarashtra: The king of the Kauravas, who are the villains of the Bhagavad Gita.
Duryodhana: The eldest son of King Dhritarashtra. The greatest enemy of Prince Arjuna, Krishna, and the Pandavas.
Guna: ”Attribute” or “quality.” There are three gunas: sattva, rajas, and tamas.
Karma: The cosmic force that binds people to the cycle of reincarnation, and determines what they will be reborn as. Every action that a living being takes adds to its karma, whether good or bad. Breaking free of karma is the ultimate goal of Hinduism.
Kauravas: Meaning “the children of Kuru.” The Kauravas are seen as the villains of the battle, wicked usurpers trying to overthrow the Pandavas.
Krishna: One of the incarnations of the god Vishnu, and considered to be a god in his own right.
Kshatriya: The second-highest caste, the warriors and leaders. Arjuna is a kshatriya.
Kurukshetra: The field where the great battle of the Mahabharata occurs. It’s located to the north of modern-day Delhi.
Manas: The mind, and more specifically the memory.
Maya: “Magic” or illusion. The power of the gods to deceive mortals with temporary creations. Krishna reveals that he’s taken his current mortal form through the power of his maya.
Pandavas: Meaning “the children of Pandu,” this term refers to Prince Arjuna and his four brothers. The Pandavas are seen as the heroes of the battle, the rightful rulers of the kingdom of Hastinapura, who stand against the wicked Kauravas.
Prakriti: The physical body, mind, emotions, and sense of self. In short, everything except the Purusha.
Purusha: Soul. The immortal spirit, also called adhidaiva. The true self that is reborn into many different bodies.
Rajas: The guna of passion and anger. Rajas often drives great actions, but inevitably binds the one doing them to karma.
Samsara: The cycle of death and rebirth.
Sannyasa: The complete renunciation of action as a means to free oneself from karma.
Sattva: The guna of wisdom, creation, and harmony. The only one of the three that is desirable.
Sense-object: Anything experienced by the body or the mind. This includes physical objects, experiences, and emotions. Sense-objects are temporary, and therefore—according to Krishna—not real.
Shraddha: Roughly translated as faith, though that doesn’t fully capture the scope of what shraddha is. It could be seen as the sum of all the beliefs that a person holds in his or her heart.
Tamas: The guna of darkness, destruction, and depression.
Tyaga: Renunciation of the results of one’s actions. Unlike sannyasa, this still allows for actions to be taken; however, instead of acting for personal gain, you devote each action to God. Since the one practicing tyaga isn’t bound by the results of his or her actions, this is another way to break free of karma.
Vishnu: One of the three supreme deities of Hinduism; the god of creation and life. Whenever the world is threatened with chaos or imbalance, Vishnu comes to Earth in a physical incarnation. Krishna is one such incarnation.