Bhagavad Gita | The Essence of Vedanta

9th chapter: verse 30, 31, 32, 33 30th and 31st verse: When we take a real decision to turn to God with complete surrender, we have boarded the bus and are bound to reach the destination. We are then endowed with a new sense of inner fulfillment and contentment. Lord Krishna promises that such a spiritual devotee will not come to harm anywhere, anytime. Therefore, we should make the right decision...

Summary: 9th chapter: verse 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 23rd and 24th verse: “Depending upon our own mental makeup, we evolve our ideas of God. Those who worship other gods with shraddha – not for highest enlightenment but for material prosperity – in reality, they are worshipping Me, although they are using the wrong method and are not aware of it. To whichever god we pray, the prayer goes to Brahman. Ful...

Summary: 9th chapter: verse 22, 23, 24 22nd verse: “People who meditate on God as not separate, who worship Him in all beings, who are always engaged in that divine pursuit, who engage in noble, unselfish deeds – for such people, I carry what they lack, and preserve what they already have.” This is one of the most celebrated verses of the Gita. Lord Krishna makes a big promise in this verse. “If y...

Summary: 9th chapter: verse 22 22nd verse: “People who meditate on God as not separate, who worship Him in all beings, who are always engaged in that divine pursuit, who engage in noble, unselfish deeds – for such people, I carry what they lack, and preserve what they already have.” Lord Krishna makes a big promise in this verse. “If you do God’s work, God will work for you.” When we do good, nobl...

Summary: 9th chapter: verses 17, 19, 20, 21, 22. 18th chapter: verse 66 17th verse: “I am the father of this world, the mother, the upholder, the origin, and the purifier. I am the one thing to be known. I am omkara and I am the vedas.” “I” here refers to the all-pervading divine reality, which acts as the protecting, nourishing, upholding principle. It is this divine reality that is to be realize...

9th chapter: verses 16, 17, 18 16th verse: “I am kratu and yajna (vedic rituals), I am svadha (word symbol uttered in yajna), I am aushadham (medicinal herb offered in yajna), I am the mantra (vedic hymns uttered in yajna), I am ajyam (clarified butter offered in yajna), I am agni (sacrificial fire of yajna), I am hutam (oblation).” “I” here refers to the all-pervading divine reality. In Vedic lit...

-9th chapter: verses 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. 4th chapter: verse 24 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on October 1, 2021. -Lord Krishna discusses two types of temperaments in verses 12 and 13. Those who are endowed with daivi-sampat and those endowed with asuri-sampat. As we evolve, we become more endowed with daivi-sampat, and our concept of God evolves. -Daivi-sampat is natural to noble...

-9th chapter: verses 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on September 24, 2021. -11th verse: “People who are not aware of my higher nature, they consider me as a human being. They do not recognize Me in my spiritual dimension as the divine principle in everything.” -Our concept of God depends on our own spiritual evolution. Hinduism doesn’t consider anyone’s view of...

-9th chapter: verses 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on June 25, 2021. -8th verse: “Animating My own prakriti, I project this whole multitude of different beings. Then they exist, but they are helpless and not free.” -So long as we are attached to prakriti, under the influence of the three gunas, we are in a state of helplessness and we are not free – we are sl...

-9th chapter: verses 6, 7, 8 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on June 18, 2021. -6th verse: “Just as the mighty, strong wind, that is always moving everywhere, rests in the sky, but does not have the ability to make any modifications to the sky – similarly, all beings rest in Me.” -According to the Upanishadic concept of evolution - from Atman, akasa evolves - from akasa, air evolve...

-9th chapter: verses 4, 5 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on June 11, 2021. -4th verse: “All this is pervaded by Me in unmanifest form. All beings exist in Me, but I don’t exist in them.” -The infinite pervades the finite. The finite is not a creation or a product of the infinite. For example, the clay pot is pervaded by clay. Under the dualistic system, the clay pot is a product o...

-8th chapter: verse 28 9th chapter: verses 1, 2, 3 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on June 4, 2021. -8th chapter, 28th verse: “The Yogi who understands the full meaning of this supreme truth, he becomes a Jivan mukta. He gets liberated while living in this world, realizes the supreme truth, and gets results that transcend the collective meritorious results of all the ancient Vedic...

-8th chapter: verses 26, 27, 28 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on May 28, 2021. -To properly understand the 28th verse, we need to understand the context of the 8th chapter, which starts with seven questions from Arjuna. He asks: “What is Brahman? What is Adhyatma? What is Karma? What is Adhibhuta? What is Adhidaiva? Who and in what way is Adhiyajna present in the human body? How...

-8th chapter: verses 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on May 21, 2021. -20th and 21st verse: “Beyond this Avyakta (unmanifested) and Vyakta (manifested), which belong to the realm of the relative, there is the one Absolute Reality which is different from the unmanifested state of the relative – it is Aksharam (imperishable) and it is Sanatana (eternal)...

-8th chapter: verses 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on May 14, 2021. -17th verse deals with the Hindu concept of Cosmogony, according to which cosmic movement is in rhythmic cycles. -According to Yuga theory, there are four Yugas - Satya, Dvapara, Treta and Kali Yuga. Satya Yuga is 1 million and 28,000 years. Treta Yuga is 1 million and 3,000 years. Dwapara Yuga...

-8th chapter: verses 14, 15, 16 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on May 7, 2021. -14th verse: “I am easily attainable by that Yogi, who remembers me constantly with an undistracted mind.” -When our mind is focused on a spiritual ideal without any wavering, then that spiritual ideal becomes a physical reality to us. Sri Ramakrishna said to his disciples: “God can be seen the way I am...

-8th chapter: verses 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 30, 2021. -Verses 10-14 provide a detailed description of meditative practices and the importance of Omkara upasana. -Mandukya Upanishad elaborately discusses Omkara as a spiritual symbol. It says that if one is spiritually fit, and his mind is fully ready to realize the identity with Brahman, then upo...

-8th chapter: verses 7, 8, 9 -This lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 23, 2021. -7th verse: “Constantly remember Me and fight. Then you shall attain Me.” -Fight here refers to the battle with our own lower self. Lord Krishna says that we should combine contemplation and action, and do our everyday secular duties with a higher ideal in mind. By doing so, we spiritualize the secular...

-8th chapter: verses 5, 6 -This lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 16, 2021. -5th, 6th and 7th verses deal with the importance of living life in such a way that enables one to leave the body with the thought of the transcendental. Death is not undesirable – it is a creative, constructive transition. -5th verse: “Those who at the time of death remember Me alone – when they leave th...

-Conclusion of 7th chapter; 8th chapter: verses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; 3rd chapter, verse 35 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 9, 2021. -30th verse: “Those who know Me as the totality of all that exists – Adhibhutam, Adhidaivam and Adhiyajnam – they continue to know Me even at the time of death.” -8th chapter starts with questions from Arjuna. In the 1st and 2nd verses, he asks:...

7th chapter: verses 29, 30 Introduction to chapter 8 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on April 2, 2021. -29th verse: “Those who strive to attain freedom from old age and death by taking refuge in Me, they know Brahman. That Brahman is all of adhyatma and karma in its entirety.” -Old age/death is a metaphor that represents the impermanence of the body and the world. Once we become aw...

-7th chapter: verses 25, 26, 27, 28 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 26, 2021. -25th verse: “The Absolute Reality is unmanifest, eternal, changeless, birthless, deathless and non-dual. For people who have not reached the highest state of spiritual evolution, the true nature of this Absolute Reality remains concealed due to the Avarana and Vikshepa shakti of Yogamaya.” -Maya...

-7th chapter: verses 21, 22, 23, 24 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 12, 2021. -21st verse: “In whatsoever form a devotee seeks to worship God with unwavering shraddha, that shraddha is enough for him to reach his goal.” -Shraddha is the highest qualification needed to reach our spiritual goal. Shraddha refers to a sense of sincerity, integrity and purity. It is the languag...

-7th chapter: verses 19, 20, 21 -The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on March 5, 2020. -19th verse: “The highest stage in spiritual evolution is to realize that there is one supreme reality that pervades the entire universe and that the same reality is present in all of us. Such exalted spiritual seekers, who see everything as an expression of Vasudeva, are rare.” -This highest stage is...