Bhagavad Gita Chapter 01

• Chapter 01, Text 01
• Will we have to lose everything before we lose our blindness?
• A self-answering question points to factors beyond the self-evident
• Detachment doesn’t make us hardhearted – attachment does
• The Gita is not a spatial martial narration, but is a universal spiritual revelation
• If we don’t give up our attachments voluntarily, we will have to give them up involuntarily
• Gita 01.01 explained
• The world’s darkness prevents perception, the heart’s darkness perverts perception
• Just because something is not our fault doesn’t mean it is not our responsibility
• Detachment is absence of emotional dependence, not absence of emotion
• Chapter 01, Text 02
• Gita 01.02 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 03
• Gita 01.03 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 04
• The world is pointless without Krishna, not that Krishna is pointless without the world
• Living with Krishna in disposition is more important than living with him in location
• Gita 01.04 explained
• We may be theists nominally and yet be atheists essentially Gita 01.04
• To mistake the hilarious to be malicious is ridiculous
• Chapter 01, Text 05
• Gita 01.05 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 06
• When getting into new things, know how to get out
• Gita 01.06 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 07
• Gita 01.07 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 08
• Attachment makes the absent present
• Gita 01.08 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 09
• Gita 01.09 explained
• Hating the wrongs done to us blinds us to the wrongs done by us
• Chapter 01, Text 10
• What went wrong with the great materialist dream?
• Gita 01.10 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 11
• Gita 01.11 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 12
• Gita 01.12 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 13
• Gita 01.13 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 14
• Krishna is a God who respects human intelligence and individuality
• Gita 01.14 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 15
• Gita 01.15 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 16-18
• Gita 01.16-18 explained
• Focus on the cause that brings us together, not on the conditions and conditionings that push us apart
• Chapter 01, Text 19
• Gita 01.19 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 20
• Even a go-getter needs to know where to go and what to get
• Gita 01.20 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 21-22
• Gita 01.21-22 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 23
• Gita 01.23 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 24
• Express devotion by endeavoring for excellence in service
• Getting opportunities is providence, grabbing them is diligencef
• Gita 01.24 explained
• The Gita's setting reflects not logical absurdity but metaphysical urgency
• Chapter 01, Text 25
• Gita 01.25 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 26
• Gita 01.26 expalined
• Chapter 01, Text 27
• Those who reduce misery to misfortune miss their potential for spiritual growth
• Gita 01.27 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 28
• Transforming a battlefield into a classroom
• Our caliber is seen not just when we give our best but also when life gives us its worst
• Gita 01.28 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 29
• Might our worst fear point to our best hope?
• Revealing our feeling is the beginning of healing
• Gita 01.29 expalined
• Don’t waste your pain
• Chapter 01, Text 30
• To grow through problems, go beyond the circumstantial to the existential
• Perceive the way before you pursue the way
• Entrust the reins of your chariot to Krishna
• Material adversity is a spur to transform spiritual opportunity into existential necessity
• Before playing your part, understand what play you are a part of
• To solve problems, first ensure that the problem-solver is not a problem-aggravator
• Mental blocks block far more than road blocks
• Gita 01.30 explained
• As long as staying where we are remains bearable, we rarely move forward
• Intelligence means to understand how the mind makes us misunderstand
• Chapter 01, Text 31
• The Gita is a book of theology for the purpose of therapy
• Gita 01.31 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 32-35
• Cultivate the intelligence to ask questions – and the courage to question those questions
• Krishna’s instruction is not disruptive, but restorative
• Gita 01.32-35 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 36
• Don’t treat Krishna as a showpiece; let him show how to put the pieces of life together
• Gita 01.36 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 37-38
• Gita 01.37-38 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 39
• Gita 01.39 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 40
• Gita 01.40 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 41
• Gita 01.41 expalined
• Chapter 01, Text 42
• Gita 01.42 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 43
• Hell is never forever – God’s love is
• Gita 01.43 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 44
• Choose the self-definition that is eternal and factual, not fickle and fallible
• Gita 02.44 explained
• Gita 01.44 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 45
• Let the example of power come after, never before, the power of example
• Matter has no intent, but intent matters
• Being saintly is not a substitute for being sensible
• Don’t give in to a death wish — give it the death sentence
• Gita 01.45 explained
• Chapter 01, Text 46
• The Gita’s message is not just specific and historical, but also generic and universal
• Battles are often lost or won outside the battlefield, inside the mind
• Gita 01.46 explained
• To lose the will to fight is to lose the fight
• We are always full of thoughts, but we aren’t always thoughtful