Gita Journey: A simple, modern translation and explanation of the Bhagavad Gita GK Rao

The chapter first addresses the nature of the world. Our existence in this world is illustrated using an upside down tree, similar to a family tree. The root of this tree is Ishvara wielding the power of Prakriti, the saguna brahman, the eternal essence with attributes. Samsaara, our existence on this world, is the outward growth of this tree. This growth is fueled by sense objects which are in the form of sprouts or buds. Each sense object generates desires, which generates actions, which bind us to the branches of the tree.





The only way to rid ourselves of this endless cycle of desire and action is to cut the tree using the weapon of dispassion. The best way to cultivate dispassion is to go straight to the source of the tree, to take refuge in Ishvara. A seeker who wants to do so needs a list of qualifications such as freedom from pride and delusion. Only then will the seeker reach the abode of Ishvara, which is the state of self realization and liberation.





Next, the chapter addresses the state of the jeeva, the individual soul, the “I”. From an absolute standpoint, there is one eternal essence, one consciousness, one self, one “I”. But just like space seems like it is divided into many through walls, this eternal essence is as though divided into multiple “I”’s through apparent limitations or upaadhis.





By attaching itself to upaadhis of the mind and the sense organs, an illusory self is created that imagines itself to be the jeeva, the individual soul. It takes up a new human body to exhaust the desires in its mind, but unfortunately picks up new desires and takes up yet another human body once the old one ceases to function. Only those individuals who have the eye of wisdom, who have assimilated the teaching of the scriptures after purifying themselves with karma and bhakti yoga, recognize the non-divided nature of the self. All others are living in delusion.





The third topic, the nature of God or Ishvara, is taken up next. We learn that Ishvara is not some remote figure, but pervades every aspect of the universe. Ishvara provides awareness or the faculty to know. He provides energy through the sun, the moon and fire. This energy is circulated throughout the universe in the form of Soma or nectar, and also used for medicinal purposes. Metabolism, the faculty to extract energy from this food in the form of Soma, is manifested through Ishvara as the Vaishvaanara fire. Ultimately, all memory and knowledge is possible through Ishvara who is resides in the hearts (intellect) of everyone.





The fourth topic deals with relationship between the individual, the world, and God. If we trace the energy source of a tiny mango sapling, and of a 100 megawatt solar power plant, we reach the same source – the sun. Similarly, if we mentally remove the apparent limitations, the upaadhis, the names and forms behind the individual, the world and of Ishvara, we find the foremost person, the Purushottama, the pure unadulterated eternal essence. It is beyond the perishable visible world and the imperishable seed of the visible world which is Prakriti.





In other words, we learn that the “I” in us is the “I” in everyone, the self of all.

In prior shlokas, we learned that one who has realized the eternal essence understands that he is not the enjoyer and doer. So to make this as explicit as possible, Shri Krishna provided a detailed illustration of that teaching in this shloka. Here, he gives a comprehensive list of all activities performed by the body, mind and intellect. By providing this illustration, Shri Krishna demonstrates that one who has realized the eternal essence knows, in fact asserts, that he is not doing anything, and all these activities are happening automatically through the body, mind and intellect.

Having looked at this list of activities, we say  – yes we understand that blinking, hearing, dreaming and so on is automatic. But what about the process of thinking? Shri Krishna says that even the process of thought also happens automatically. Till such time as the ego is sublimated, it drives our mind to generate selfish thoughts. As the ego gets sublimated through karma yoga, selfish thoughts slowly transition to selfless ones. But the self , or the “I”, is just the witness of all these actions for one who has realized the eternal essence. Till then, the “I” thinks that it is the doer.

Only one who has realized the vision of the eternal essence truly knows that he is not the doer. What then, should be the vision of the karmayogi who wants to ultimately have this vision? This topic is tackled in the next shloka.

The journey from the first chapter to the fourth chapter is one of higher and higher levels of integrating or tuning our personality. In the first chapter, we are at the level of selfish action, where we see gain and loss in everything we do. As we move into the second and third chapters, we are introduced to the notion of “nishkaam karma” or desire-less action. Here, we slowly give up attachment to the result of our action by dedicating it to a higher ideal. In this chapter titled “Jnyaana Karma Sanyaasa Yoga”, we move one level higher from desire-less action to agency-less action. What does agency-less action mean? As the key shloka in this chapter indicates, it is the ability to see inaction in action and action in inaction. When we are operating at the level of a karmayogi, we express our desires through performing actions, but we diminish our sense of “mine-ness” or enjoyership by dedicating all the results to Ishvara. But as we progress on this path, we begin to realize that all actions happen through Maaya, also known as prakriti or nature. Even actions like the surgeon conducting surgery happen through Maaya, upon closer inspection. We realize that the I, the eternal essence, is just the witness. The I does not do anything. This is agency-less action. Our sense of doership or “I-ness” begins to diminish as well. Ultimately everything is yajnya in brahman. This is a very deep and subtle means of looking at the world. To help us practice developing this vision, Shri Krishna gives us simpler yajnyas such as restraining our senses, worship of a deity and so on. But the end goal is jnaana yagnya or the sacrifice of knowledge. The next chapter goes into more detail about the characteristics that we have to develop in order to be able to realize this very subtle and deep vision. This chapter also gives us a glimpse of Ishvara, the cosmic power and intelligence that controls this universe. Although beyond birth and imperishable, that power manifests itself whenever there is an extreme disharmony in the universe, restores harmony and becomes unmanifest again. 

In chapter 2, Shri Krishna explained that the ultimate spiritual goal is the elimination of our vaasanaas. In chapter 3, he provides the technique of karmayoga which is the first step that all of us have to take in order to begin the process of elimination of vaasanaas. First, he stressed the need to convince ourselves that we have to act. We simply cannot think that we can eliminate vaasanaas by not acting. Once we have convinced that we have to act, we have to adopt the attitude of karmayoga so that further actions do not cause bondage. The attitude of karmayoga comprises five aspects of knowledge or buddhi that we need to maintain while performing any action: 1. Samatva Buddhi : We need remain calm but alert in all situations. As the earlier chapter explained, situations are transient, they come and go. Having understood that they are transient, we should not get overly excited or agitated with each new situation. 2. Svadharma Buddhi : We should conduct self-analysis to understand where our strongest desires lie, and then deploy those desires in the service of a higher ideal.  3. Samarpana Buddhi : We should always dedicate all our actions to something that is higher than us. We should remember that the entire universe is operating in a spirit of yajma. Whatever we own is material that is in the service of the yajna, it is not ours. 4. Asanga Buddhi : We should constantly assess whether we are attached to any material object, person, emotion, position or action. In other words, we should analyze our relationship with those things to understand whether we give so much importance to a thing that we cannot do without it. We should also remember that everything is the gunaas acting on the gunaas. Therefore, we should work with no expectation of the future, and no burden of the past. 5. Prasaada Buddhi : While we perform actions, we should not keep an eye on the result. We should accept every result as a “prasaada”. If we get attached to one type of result, whether it be positive or negative, the opposite or the complement of that result will torture us and bind us. 

Since the second chapter is said to contain the essence of the entire Gita, let’s try to recap the main points before we move to the third chapter: 1. Shri Krishna points out the error in Arjuna’s thinking, in that Arjuna’s personality was shaken by grief and delusion towards his kinsmen2. He advises Arjuna to correct the error by learning the knowledge of the eternal essence3. He describes the means to attain the eternal essence4. He also describes the characteristics of the individual who has realized the eternal essence. We can summarize the technique to attain the eternal essence into 3 stages:1. Attain steadfastness in selfless action by pursuing one’s svadharma2. Attain steadfastness in devotion to a higher ideal3. Attain steadfastness in the knowledge of the eternal essence or tattva-jnyana

The message of the first chapter of the Gita is this: The root cause of all sorrow and suffering in this world is our inability to deal with conflict.

That is why the Gita was taught to Arjuna in the middle of a gruesome battlefield, with swords clanging, trumpets roaring and soldiers screaming. Conflict is everywhere, and we have to learn to handle it. The sooner we recognize this universal truth about conflict and its impact, the sooner we can progress in our personal, professional, and ultimately, spiritual journeys.

We experience conflict at three levels – material, mental and spiritual. At the material level, conflict is everywhere. Atoms collide against atoms. Weeds take over carefully manicured flowers. Packs of wolves fight for control of territory. And we humans have disagreements with children, siblings, spouses, bosses, co-workers, states and countries. To deal with conflict at the material level, we need to learn how to act, and what to say, in any situation.

Now, here’s the second kind of conflict. How we conduct ourselves in material conflict is largely dependent on the state of our minds. Our minds are always in conflict, primarily between our rational side and our ego. Our primal urges constitute the ego, the part of our mind that oversimplifies and exaggerates situations, and responds to every situation with a “fight or flight” reaction, and shuts off the rational part of our mind that can think logically and clearly.

And even when our rational mind is active, we are unable to make the right decision because we cannot resolve conflicting arguments. We are always talking to ourselves in our head. “I should buy this shirt”. “No wait, that shirt looks better”. “But this one is on sale”.

Back to Arjuna’s dilemma. When confronting the material conflict of battle, Arjuna’s rational mind was clear – he was a warrior, and he had entered the battlefield to fight a war against the enemy for a just cause. But, upon seeing his family on the enemy side, his rational mind became conflicted. Should I kill my family? Or should I perform my duty?

Eventually his ego – the primitive side of his mind – took control away from his rational mind.  It went into “flight” mode. It made him say, it is better to run away and become a monk, than to perform my duty. The inability to reconcile this conflict in his mind led to his mental breakdown in the middle of the battlefield. He could not commit to fighting, and being unable to decide, he wanted to quit.