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With this blog post, I would like to introduce you to the beautiful teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. This is not a scientifical exploration, more so from my experience studying this scripture over the last 25 years.

Let's start with the meaning of the words:

Bhagavad – God, Gita – Song = Song of God.

And it should be chanted. Shreeguruji, my teacher, used to say that we can't grasp the Bhagavad Gita with our intellect only; it needs to be chanted so that we understand it in its entirety, with our mind and our heart.

He could shed light on this inspiring scripture, which sounded like a succession of riddles.

So, what is the Bhagavad Gita?

It is one story set within a bigger context. It is one chapter of the epic Mahabharata (set in India about 300 BCE) and the culmination of the feud of 2 related families: the story of the Pandavas and the Kauravas.

The Pandavas were five sons of five different deities, as Pandu, former Kuru kingdom's former king and foster father, couldn't have children. The Pandavas stood for morality and virtues.

The Kauravas were 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra, Pandu's blind half-brother and successor to the throne of the Kuru kingdom.

The Kauravas stood for the opposite, for immorality and flaws.

No surprise that the cousins weren't best friends. Bitter rivalry and fights had dominated their relationship since childhood, eventually culminating in a massive war on which the Bhagavad Gita is based.

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What is the Bhagavad Gita about?

On the eve of the battle, the Pandava prince, Arjuna, asks Shri Krishna, his charioteer, to pull up in the middle of the battlefield. Seeing his family members and teachers on both sides, Arjuna broke down. Now, you need to understand that he was an excellent, accomplished and experienced warrior prince, so breaking down was something totally new to him.

This is where the Bhagavad Gita starts. It is the dialogue between a morally completely destroyed Arjuna, who represents our small self, our ego, and the charioteer Shri Krishna, representing the higher consciousness or our bigger Self, our soul.

And so, their dialogue, which spans over 18 chapters, begins. Arjuna asks questions about life and one's duties to escape misery. Shri Krishna offers his guidance on how to be a Yogi and which paths of Yoga there are to achieve calmness of the mind.

The main thread running through the Bhagavad Gita is the aspect of Dharma, which is our purpose in this life. According to the Yoga philosophy, we all come on this earth because of past lives actions and unresolved desires. We are born into an environment that will help us fulfil these desires.

Arjuna struggled with his warrior role and duty to fight his family.

Shri Krishna's first response to Arjuna's different behaviour is surprisingly harsh; he asks Arjuna at the beginning of the second chapter, "From whence arises this shameful and cowardly dejection, Arjuna?" He tries to shake Arjuna up and appeals to his pride as he continuous poking:

Yield not to weakness. It does not suit you. Shake off this petty faintheartedness. Stand up, Scorcher of foes, wake up! (BG 2, 3)

I don't know about you, but I have certainly faced these situations more than once. Not fighting and killing my family members, but our daily wars. We might experience the same fear and weakness when needing to do something we feel incapable of doing. Our first reaction most probably is, "I can't do this", and then all thoughts reasoning why we can't appear, the same as for Arjuna; he can't fight his family although they hated each other, right? They have fought since they were children.

Shri Krishna continues by reminding Arjuna that our soul is immortal. He tells him that whatever is born, the body of flesh and blood, will undoubtedly die, and whatever is dead will certainly be born and that he, Arjuna, should not mourn what is inevitable (BG2,27).

In this initial conversation, you find one of the more well-known shlokas (verses):

Just like casting off worn-out clothing and putting on new ones, that which is embodied casts off worn-out bodies and enters others that are new. (BG 2, 22).

Luckily, most of us don't encounter life-or-death situations which need navigating; we might deal with starting a new job, covering Yoga sessions for colleagues, accepting an invitation to speak publicly or delivering a presentation in front of peers. Many situations can be so scary that everything else seems more appealing than what is in front of us, even something we usually hate doing.

It is for these times that the Bhagavad Gita is an excellent companion.

How can we find peace in these situations?

Shri Krishna recommends different paths to help us overcome our fear, become strong and calm.

All paths have two common themes:

learn to control our senses. All information from the outside enters through our senses. They are our gateways to experience and connect to our environment. Everything that comes in has the potential to create desires. Desire to have what we see, hear, smell, touch, taste, or avoid it. The likes and dislikes get us into trouble, unsettle us, and keep us from being content.
let go of expectations. Whatever path we choose, we practise it without expecting anything in return. This means that we help someone without being disappointed if they don't thank us, we offer to teach a yoga session with the same enthusiasm if we have one student attending or 30, we cook dinner, and nobody tells us how tasty it was.

Four main paths are laid out:

Karma Yoga – Yoga of Action – chapter 3
Jnana Yoga – Yoga of Study – chapter 4
Dhyana Yoga – Yoga of Meditation – Chapter 6
Bhakti Yoga – Yoga of Devotion – chapter 12

Karma Yoga

The Bhagavad Gita cleverly offers paths we can choose according to our abilities.

If you are a doer, Karma Yoga might be your path.

Your work, helping others, comes from the place of being in service, selfless service, of action, doing without expecting the fruits of the action, like the above-mentioned Thank You. This is often confused with working without getting paid; it is more about your attitude towards work or what needs doing.

Doing is a necessity for us. From the moment we wake up, we need to do things to maintain our body, like getting up, fixing breakfast, etc.
We need to work to earn money to maintain our life. For example, I teach Yoga because it helps people. My expectations are not for my students to be able to stand on their heads within six months, to take on board what I am suggesting, or to have a daily home practice. If that would be my expectations, I would get disappointed as these might not be the motivations or goals of my students.

Whatever our path is, the aim of Yoga is always the same, to find a sense of true peace and harmony independent of the circumstances that we are experiencing daily.

When our mind, which has been tossed about by conflicting opinions, becomes still and centred in equilibrium, then we experience Yoga. (BG 2, 53)

All mental unrest starts with our expectations or desires. We get upset, disappointed, and angry if they are not met.

From brooding on sense objects, attachment to them arises. Out of that attachment, personal desire is born. And from desire, anger appears.
Anger confuses the thinking process, which, in turn, disturbs memory. When memory fails, reasoning is ruined. And when reason is gone, one is lost. (BG 2, 62-63)

To experience this equilibrium daily, we are encouraged to work on our expectations and selfless attitude.

Have you noticed that when let’s say, washing up for a friend, you clean the worksurfaces and sweep the floor because you want everything to look nice for them?

Shifting our focus and motivation away from us to others is a powerful tool to be more inspired and energetic. Plus, helping others makes us feel good, right?

No one is free of actions, even for a moment, because everyone is moved to do things by the qualities of nature. BG 3, 3
Do your duty; such action is better than doing nothing. If you attempt to stop all actions, it would be impossible to maintain your body. BG 3, 8
The world is bondage when actions are done just for your own sake. Therefore, Arjuna, make every action a sacrifice, utterly free of personal attachment. BG 3, 9

Tip: We can tap into the Karma Yoga mindset by asking ourselves and others, "How can I help?" or "What can I do to help you today?" When preparing a presentation, ask yourself, "How can I make this more interesting for the audience" and "What would help them understand the topic more?"

Jnana Yoga, the Yoga of Wisdom or Study

Jnana Yoga encourages to explore and eventually understand the difference between the self (small self) and the Self (the big self).

Do you like thinking about stuff and solving problems, getting to the bottom of things? Then Jnana Yoga might be your path of practice; it is about understanding your actions and their motivations.

Distinguish between right actions, wrong actions and inaction is nearly impossible to understand. BG4, 17
Whatever you do without personal desire for the results is called wise by the sages. Your actions are pure, and you know the truth. BG 4, 19
Because you are content with what comes of its own accord; because you envy no one; and because you have gone beyond the pairs of opposites (the likes and the dislikes) and maintain equanimity in success and failure, even though it appears that you are doing things, you are not bound by your actions. BG 4, 22

Even Shri Krishna admits that distinguishing between good and bad actions is not necessarily easy. We must first become aware of our actions and become clear about our motivation. This can seem quite overwhelming.

TIP: This is where we mere mortals with our busy lives can start: we can journal and write things down. Take a moment in the morning to sit down and get clear on what needs doing during the day and how you want to approach your tasks. In the evening, repeat the practice, but now reflect on how our day went.

Writing things down brings clarity and raises our awareness. That's an excellent start.

Dhyana Yoga – the Yoga of Meditation

Maybe you remember "dhyana" from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, as the 7th of the eight limbs. Dhyana is a state where we become completely absorbed in the object of our focus. To reach dhyana, we need to master dharana or concentration.

Hence, the 6th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is all about meditation 😊 What it means to be a meditator, how to meditate. It offers practical guidance on where and how to sit, what we can encounter when learning to meditate, and the benefits we can look forward to.

You can rise up through the efforts of your own mind; or, in the same manner, draw yourself down, for you are your own friend or enemy. BG6, 5
A true and steady yogi is utterly content with the wisdom of real knowing, is not disturbed by anything that has controlled and calmed his or her senses and looks with equal vision on a dirt clod, a stone or a nugget of gold. BG 6, 8
To practise meditation, fix up a clean meditation place with your seat neither too high nor too low. Insulate the seat with a grass mat, then a deerskin, and over those, a clean cloth. BG 5, 11
Then sit and calm the mind and senses by concentrating on one thing. Thus, you practise meditation for self-purification. BG 5, 12

Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita emphasise concentrating on something. We can't just sit, close our eyes, and expect (notice the word 😊) our mind to be still or our thoughts to stop.

Most people stop learning to meditate because of these expectations. The expectation or belief that our thoughts will stop. But they don't. In the beginning, we have the pleasure of observing the hustle and bustle of our minds. We see what is going on all day without being aware of this busyness.

For most of us, meditation results from a long journey of repeating the practice repeatedly to sit and concentrate.

TIP: Choose an object of your liking; this could be

observing your breath.
looking at a picture.
listening to or chanting mantras.
walking.

To begin with, you can experiment to find out what suits you best. If you find walking a more accessible starting point, do that. Once established, you can sit down and focus on your breath, for example. Understand it as a process; there are days when the focus comes easier than others. And perseverance and not expecting (abhyasa and vairagya) are the keys to success.

Bhakti Yoga – the Yoga of unconditional Love and Devotion

Maybe devotion comes naturally to you; you see the divine in everything and everyone, and this is your focus. All your actions are out of love for the divine, nature, or humankind.

In Hinduism, devotees offer their food first to their favourite deity; they bathe and clothe the deities and sing devotional songs.

Love is enough; it doesn't need any form or ritual. We are all capable of loving deeply and are prepared to do everything for the ones we love, even risking our own lives; that's how powerful love is.

The devotees nearest to me are those who renounce attachment to the fruits of their actions and instead offer them all to me; who desire me above everything else; and who, through yogic practices, meditate on me with a one-pointed mind. BG 12, 6
Therefore, just keep thinking about me. Fix your entire mind on me. Continuously direct your discerning intellect to consider who I am, and you will soon know that we are united forever; there is no doubt about that. BG 12, 8

Tying it together

One of my Foundation Course students had an epiphany when we talked about the different ways to reach the goal; she said: "I get it; it's like Nike "Just do it!"

And this is so true; Nike really got that one right; just do it.

Remember, we are here in this life; we share it with other people, our families, friends, and colleagues; we need to interact and do things to maintain our lives. Our interaction happens through our senses which are always switched on; their job is to keep us alive. What comes through our senses also stokes our desires, which can lead to anger, frustration, and disappointment if not met.

So, how can we simultaneously navigate this and strive for calm and peace of mind? The options, according to the Bhagavad Gita, to marry everything up are:

If you are a doer, just do it because it needs to be done, with no other motivation. If people are happy with you, that's great; if they don't acknowledge your work, not worry because you know you have done it to your best ability.
If you are a thinker, try to understand your actions, motivations, and consequences to understand which actions are right and wrong and stick with the right ones because they will lead you to calm.
If you need to control your mind and senses, sit down and meditate, hone in on your focus, and learn to control your senses by not reacting immediately to their input but keep focusing on your chosen object. This will bring calm and equanimity to the mind.
If your heart is open and you experience love for mankind, nature, and divinity easily, let all your actions come from that place of love.

There is something for everyone who seriously wants to find long-lasting or true peace of mind, which equals happiness.

The Bhagavad Gita concludes with the following sloka:

Whenever you come upon Krishna, the Lord of Yoga and the great archer, Arjuna, there too, you will find prosperity, victory, happiness, and sound judgement. Of this, I am certain.
BG 18, 78

Enjoy your practice, whatever you do.

If you are inspired to get to know the Bhagavad Gita a little more, here are 2 versions that are very accessible:

The Living Gita by Swami Satchidananda, here is an Amazon link

The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran, here is an Amazon link

Let me know if you find these tips helpful. You can leave a message on Instagram, Facebook or even good old email.

I love hearing from you!

Katja x

P.S. If you are up for some FREE SUMMER YOGA, join here.

4 ways to find long-lasting Contentment with the Teachings of the Bhagavad Gita