Krishna
The god who told the whole truth in the middle of battle.
Sacred Texts
Philosophy delivered in the pause before battle begins.
5 min read · Sacred Texts
Philosophy delivered in the pause before battle begins.
The Bhagavad Gita is 700 verses. It is a
section of the Mahabharata - specifically
the dialogue that takes place between
Arjuna and Krishna on the Kurukshetra
battlefield just before the war begins.
Arjuna collapses. He sees his teachers,
cousins, and friends on the opposing
side and refuses to fight. Krishna,
his charioteer, begins to speak.
He does not stop for eighteen chapters.
Krishna teaches several paths:
Karma Yoga - the yoga of action.
Do your duty. Act fully. Do not cling to
the results.
Jnana Yoga - the yoga of knowledge.
The self that you think you are is
not the ultimate self.
Bhakti Yoga - the yoga of devotion.
Love the divine. Offer everything to it.
The verse most people eventually find
their way to says: you have the right
to perform your actions, but you are
not entitled to the fruits of those
actions. Do not let the fruits of your
actions be your motive. And do not be
attached to inaction.
This teaching has accompanied people
through impossible situations for
centuries. It offers something more
durable than reassurance: a
relationship with action that cannot
be taken from you by outcomes.
Let the idea move immediately into prayer or temple ritual.
Bhakti Yoga - the path of devotion - is what Prarthana primarily serves. Reading a prayer daily is this path in its simplest form.
Keep the context connected rather than isolated.
The god who told the whole truth in the middle of battle.
Four texts that preserve knowledge as something heard.