Chapter 18

People often ask: “What is the use of remembering Krishna?” It acts as a shelter and as armor. As a shelter, it helps us rest and recover after life’s exhausting battles. By remembering Krishna, we get spiritual energy to recoup and regroup, thereby preparing us for future battles. As armor, it provides inner stability and…

In a fixed match, things are orchestrated to produce a predetermined result. Is life a fixed match? Is everything destined? No, indicates the Bhagavad-gita (18.63) through its call to “do as we desire,” which implies that we have the free will to be conscious choosers. And our lived experience confirms our capacity to choose. For…

When a doctor writes a prescription, those words are meant to change the patient by curing the disease. But if the patient changes the words of the prescription as per one’s own convenience, then they lose the power to heal. The Bhagavad-gita’s words are like a doctor’s prescription. They can cure the disease afflicting our…

“I will never give up; I will keep fighting till I succeed.” Those with such spirit who succeed against insurmountable odds often become heroes. Fierce tenacity is laudable and even essential for achieving anything glorious. To raise our drive to achieve to a higher level, indeed, to the highest level, Gita wisdom urges us to…

Accidents, diseases, atrocities – when we see such tragedies befall people around us, we may become fearful: “What if something like that happens to me? Why do such things happen?” To help us overcome such insecurities, Gita wisdom strengthens us with philosophical insight and devotional inspiration. The Gita’s philosophical insight is that whatever happens to…

Life is never easy; every day brings new obstacles and some days bring major reversals. We don’t have the power to make life problem-free, but we do have the power to maximize or minimize those problems. Often our thoughts become dominated by problems. We keep fretting over them without thinking constructively. Our energy gets dissipated…

  “Why is Krishna doing this to me?” We may get this question when we are faced with problems and have some nominal faith in Krishna as the universal controller. To understand the answer, we need to first comprehend our current situation as explained by Gita wisdom. We are all spiritual souls whose present tenure…

Some people can’t live without continuous external stimulation. Every few minutes, they check their cellphones for the latest stock prices or the breaking news or the cricket scores. We may need to be in tune with the world, but we don’t need to be dependent on or addicted to external stimulation. That sort of tuning…

“How could I have even thought of such a thing?” We may react thus in dismay on catching ourselves entertaining grievously sinful desires. How can we avoid thinking of such things? Based on the characteristics of brahmanas outlined in the Bhagavad-gita (18.42), we can adopt a two-pronged approach: ban sin (shama – peacefulness) or banish…

We all feel that enjoyment is our right. And Gita wisdom declares that we are right. But it cautions us against assuming that this right makes any and every form of enjoyment right. To understand, let’s compare enjoyment with eating. We all have a right to eating. But does that make eating anything and everything…