The Bhagavad Gita tells of an extensive conversation between the Supreme Lord Krishna and Arjun
Krishna relays teachings on many topics to Arjun, including:
He Bhagavad Gita says so much about Krishna, no adequate summary can be provided. Nevertheless, some important passages include:
“Those who know Me as unborn and beginningless, and as the Supreme Lord of the universe, they among mortals are free from illusion and released from all evils.” 7
“Being freed from attachment, fear, and anger, becoming fully absorbed in me, and taking refuge in me, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of me, and thus they attained my divine love.” 2
“Although He is all-pervading and all living beings are situated in Him, yet He can be known only through devotion.” 3
“One who departs from the body while remembering Me, the Supreme Personality, and chanting the syllable Om, will attain the supreme goal.” 4
“But on attaining My Abode, O son of Kunti, there is no further rebirth.” 5
“I am the basis of the formless Brahman, the immortal and imperishable, of eternal dharma, and of unending divine bliss.” 6
“Know that I am like the brilliance of the sun that illuminates the entire solar system.” 7
“But those who worship the formless aspect of the Absolute Truth—the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the all-pervading, the unthinkable, the unchanging, the eternal, and the immoveable—by restraining their senses and being even-minded everywhere, such persons, engaged in the welfare of all beings, also attain Me.” 8
“Those who perform all their duties for My sake, who depend upon Me and are devoted to Me, who are free from attachment, and are without malice toward all beings, such devotees certainly come to Me.” 9
“The Supreme Lord dwells in the hearts of all living beings, O Arjun.” 10
“You are the Father of the entire universe, of all moving and non-moving beings. You are the most deserving of worship and the Supreme Spiritual Master.” 11
“All living beings dwell in Me, but I do not dwell in them.” 12
“I see Your infinite form in every direction, with countless arms, stomachs, faces, and eyes.” 13
“You are Vāyu (god of wind), Yamraj (god of death), Agni (god of fire), Varuṇ (god of water), and Chandra (moon-god).” 14
“You are the primeval God and the original Divine Personality.” 15
“Amongst purifiers, I am the wind, and amongst wielders of weapons, I am Lord Ram. Of water creatures, I am the crocodile, and of flowing rivers, I am the Ganges.” 16
“Amongst sciences I am the science of spirituality, and in debates I am the logical conclusion.” 17
“Amongst secrets I am silence, and in the wise I am their wisdom.” 18
“Permeating the earth, I nourish all living beings with My energy.” 19
“Both you and I have had many births, O Arjun.” 20
“From Me alone arises...control over the senses and mind, joy and sorrow, birth and death, fear and courage, non-violence, equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame, and infamy.” 21
he Bhagavad Gita speaks of the material nature of man, sometimes called gunas. It identifies three “modes” of material nature—the mode of goodness, the mode of passion, and the mode of ignorance. It is not clear whether these modes are entirely the consequence of one’s birth, or whether they also are the result of one’s choices during life. How much of one’s material nature comes with them at the time of birth, and how much is developed through one’s own choices during life?
Whether one has a material nature already at the time of birth begs the question whether one’s previous material nature comes with them following death.
he Bhagavad Gita states that the mind and senses of an individual do continue with its soul after death:
“As the air carries fragrance from place to place, so does the embodied soul carry the mind and senses with it, when it leaves an old body and enters a new one.”22
Is this also true for the material natures? Typically, the Bhagavad Gita speaks of the mind and
senses as independent of the three gunas, perhaps suggesting that the mind and senses in a
reincarnated body do not come with their prior gunas.
On the other hand, the existence at the time of death of one of these three modes—for example,
goodness or ignorance—is the cause for an individual to enter the pure abodes of the learned, or
to be reincarnated as an animal. The question remains if that goodness (sattva) or ignorance
causing the next life station, is in fact left behind and not part of the new abode, or the new
animal.
“Those who die with predominance of sattva reach the pure abodes of the learned”;23 and
“[T]hose dying in the mode of ignorance take birth in the animal kingdom.”24
Or, alternatively, it may indicate that the cause of such next life station, is the result of one’s prior life’s choices, which a reincarnated being is encouraged to then improve upon.
There are multiple passages encouraging a being to
“fix your mind steadily on Me (Krishna)”,25
“practice remembering Me”,26
“constantly restrain[] the mind from worldly affairs”,27try to work for Krishna, control one’s mind and senses, discard all cravings of the senses and all selfish desires. All these passages imply a capacity to make a choice and improve one’s mode.
When is action in accordance with the “mode of goodness”? The Bhagavad Gita states that it is when:
In addition to the above kinds of actions, the mode of goodness includes:
A. Austerity without yearning for material rewards;35
B. Charity given to worthy persons simply because it is right;36
C. Charity given without consideration of return and in the proper time and place;37
D. Determination and steadfast willpower developed through Yog;38
E. An intellect when it understands what is duty and non-duty;39
F. An intellect when it understands what is proper and improper action;40
G. An intellect when it understands what is to be feared;41
H. Knowledge that there is one undivided imperishable reality in diverse beings;42 and,
I. Not seeking to avoid disagreeable work nor seek for agreeable work.43
he mode of passion is described by the Bhagavad Gita as follows:
“Action that is prompted by selfish desire, enacted with pride, and full of stress, is in the nature of passion.” 44
“Action that is prompted by selfish desire, enacted with pride, and full of stress, is in the nature of passion.” 45
“The performer is considered in the mode of passion when he or she craves the fruits of the work, is covetous, violent-natured, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow.” 46
The Bhagavad Gita describes the mode of ignorance actions in several ways:
“A performer in the mode of ignorance is one who is undisciplined, vulgar, stubborn, deceitful, slothful, despondent, and a procrastinator.” 47
“That action is declared to be in the mode of ignorance, which is begun out of delusion, without thought to one’s own ability, and disregarding consequences, loss, and injury to others.” 48
The mode of ignorance and austerity, charity, and determination are described as follows:
“Austerity that is performed by those with confused notions, and which involves torturing the self or harming others, is described to be in the mode of ignorance.” 49
“And that charity, which is given at the wrong place and wrong time to unworthy persons, without showing respect, or with contempt, is held to be of the nature of nescience.” 50
“That unintelligent resolve is said to be determination in the mode of ignorance, in which one does not give up dreaming, fearing, grieving, despair, and conceit.” 51
Happiness, intellect, knowledge and the mode of ignorance are described as follows:
“That happiness which covers the nature of the self from beginning to end, and which is derived from sleep, indolence, and negligence, is said to be in the mode of ignorance.” 52
“That intellect which is shrouded in darkness, imagining irreligion to be religion, and perceiving untruth to be the truth, is of the nature of ignorance, O Parth.” 53
“That knowledge is said to be in the mode of ignorance where one is engrossed in a fragmental concept as if it encompasses the whole, and which is neither grounded in reason nor based on the truth.” 54
Finally, the Bhagavad Gita states that the renunciation of prescribed duties is in the mode of ignorance:
“Such deluded renunciation is said to be in the mode of ignorance.” 55
Being or becoming detached is important in the Bhagavad Gita. Specifically, a person is to become detached from the fruits of one’s actions.
“Those, who are alike to friend and foe, equipoised in honor and dishonor, cold and heat, joy and sorrow, and are free from all unfavorable association; those who take praise and reproach alike, who are given to silent contemplation, content with what comes their way, without attachment to the place of residence, whose intellect is firmly fixed in Me, and who are full of devotion to Me, such persons are very dear to Me.” 56
Becoming free from selfishness is important. Accordingly, the Bhagavad Gita explains, one should,
“discard…all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind, and become[] satisfied in the realization of the self.” 57
“[t]hose who are indifferent to worldly gains, externally and internally pure, skillful, without cares, untroubled, and free from selfishness in all undertakings, such devotees of Mine are very dear to Me.” 58
The Bhagavad Gita thus speaks both of the senses and desires of a person, as well as the sense objects.
“When one is neither attached to sense objects nor to actions, such a person is said to be elevated in the science of Yog, having renounced all desires for the fruits of actions.” 59
“[T]he contact between the senses and the sense objects gives rise to fleeting perceptions of happiness and distress.” 60
It is the selfish desires and cravings of the senses that one should renounce. It is not to say that one should avoid all actions and its fruits, but that one should avoid the selfish desire of the fruits of those actions, which lead to “fleeting perceptions” of happiness.
A key qualifier to this doctrine is that mankind can seek to be at peace and happy. True peace and happiness—not fleeting happiness—is not at the expense of others, and not selfish. Indeed, the sought-after abode of Krishna is a place of love, and peace comes by uniting the mind with God.
“Being freed from attachment, fear, and anger, becoming fully absorbed in me, and taking refuge in me, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of me, and thus they attained my divine love.”61
“For one who never unites the mind with God there is no peace; and how can one who lacks peace be happy?”62
The following describe various pathways back to Krishna, receiving liberation, spiritual
consciousness, and peace.
While described separately, these pathways may have some overlapping and not be mutually
exclusive of each other.
Regarding karma, or action, sacrifice and service, the Bhagavad Gita states:
“But those who dedicate all their actions to Me...worshiping Me and meditating on Me with exclusive devotion...their consciousness is united with Me.” 63
“[W]hen one discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind, and becomes satisfied in the realization of the self, such a person is said to be transcendentally situated.” 64
“Since they perform all actions as a sacrifice (to God), they are freed from all karmic reactions.” 65
“Those who serve Me with unalloyed devotion rise above the three modes of material nature and come to the level of the Brahman.” 66
Regarding renunciation and knowledge the Bhagavad Gita states:
“[C]an there be a better way of living other than renouncing the world and its things and remaining detached from them?” 67
“One should stay amidst the world, but pursue Brahman through detachment and performance of ones ordained duties.” 68
“Through such transcendental knowledge, they quickly attain everlasting supreme peace.” 69
“Those who are not attached to external sense pleasures realize divine bliss in the self.” 70
“Being freed from attachment, fear, and anger, becoming fully absorbed in me, and taking refuge in me, many persons in the past became purified by knowledge of me, and thus they attained my divine love.” 71
“[B]eyond the dualities of pleasure and pain, such liberated personalities attain My eternal Abode.” 72
“I shall now reveal to you that which ought to be known, and by knowing which, one attains immortality. It is the beginningless Brahman, which lies beyond existence and non-existence.” 73
“[N]othing as purifying as divine knowledge.” 74
“Through such transcendental knowledge, they quickly attain everlasting supreme peace.” 75
Regarding devotion, remembering, and worshipping, the Bhagavad Gita states:
“They are ever-content, steadily united with Me in devotion, self-controlled, of firm resolve, and dedicated to Me in mind and intellect.” 76
“With practice, O Parth, when you constantly engage the mind in remembering Me, the Supreme Divine Personality, without deviating, you will certainly attain Me.” 77
“One who departs from the body while remembering Me, the Supreme Personality, and chanting the syllable Om, will attain the supreme goal.” 78
“Those who relinquish the body while remembering Me at the moment of death will come to Me. There is certainly no doubt about this.” 79
“There are those who always think of Me and engage in exclusive devotion to Me.” 80
“Others, engaging in the yajña of cultivating knowledge, worship Me by many methods.” 81
Several Bhagavad Gita passages on meditation include:
“To the soul who is aspiring for perfection in Yog, work without attachment is said to be the means; to the sage who is already elevated in Yog, tranquility in meditation is said to be the means.” 82
“Seated firmly on it, the yogi should strive to purify the mind by focusing it in meditation with one pointed concentration, controlling all thoughts and activities.”83
“Better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of actions, for peace immediately follows such renunciation.” 84
“The duties of the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras—are distributed according to their qualities, in accordance with their guṇas.” 85The three material natures, or gunas, are goodness, passion, and ignorance.
Brahmins:
“Tranquility, restraint, austerity, purity, patience, integrity, knowledge, wisdom, and belief in a hereafter—these are the intrinsic qualities of work for Brahmins.” 86
Kshatriyas:
“Valor, strength, fortitude, skill in weaponry, resolve never to retreat from battle, large-heartedness in charity, and leadership abilities, these are the natural qualities of work for Kshatriyas.” 87
Vaishyas:
“Agriculture, dairy farming, and commerce are the natural works for those with the qualities of Vaishyas.”88
Shudras:
“Serving through work is the natural duty for those with the qualities of Shudras.” 89
Even if one finds this work somewhat unsuitable, he or she should not shirk away from it:
“One should not abandon duties born of one’s nature, even if one sees defects in them, O son of Kunti.” 90
By performing the work of one’s natural occupation, he or she is protected from sin, worships the Creator, and “easily attains perfection.” 91
“By doing one’s innate duties, a person does not incur sin.” 92
“By performing one’s natural occupation, one worships the Creator from whom all living entities have come into being, and by whom the whole universe is pervaded.” 93
“By such performance of work, a person easily attains perfection.” 94
One of the important elements of the Bhagavad Gita is its discussion of the “doer”—who or what it is that makes our decisions
The full intertwining of concepts is not set forth, but some pieces include the following:
“According to their karmas, He directs the wanderings of the souls, who are seated on a machine made of material energy.”96(2) Other passages highlight this material energy, or the material nature or gunas of “goodness, passion, and ignorance” as responsible for our choices:
“They alone truly see who understand that all actions (of the body) are performed by material nature, while the embodied soul actually does nothing.” 97(3) In addition to this clear pronunciation that the “soul actually does nothing”,98 still other passages emphasize that the soul is not the doer:
“[I]n ignorance, the soul, deluded by false identification with the body, thinks itself to be the doer.”99(4) The individual soul, however, is clearly stated to be the part of oneself responsible for happiness:
“In the matter of creation, the material energy is responsible for cause and effect; in the matter of experiencing happiness and distress, the individual soul is declared responsible.” 100(5) It should be noted, as referenced earlier, that the individual soul upon death of the body takes the mind and senses with it:
“As the air carries fragrance from place to place, so does the embodied soul carry the mind and senses with it, when it leaves an old body and enters a new one.”101(6) Finally, the Bhagavad Gita speaks of self-control this way:
“The embodied beings who are self-controlled and detached reside happily in the city of nine gates, free from thinking they are the doers or the cause of anything.” 102(7) In addition, the Bhagavad Gita speaks of one’s willpower:
“The steadfast willpower that is developed through Yog, and which sustains the activities of the mind, the life-airs, and the senses, O Parth, is said to be determination in the mode of goodness.” 103(8) Upon death, with the body left behind, and the soul rewarded or punished together with the mind and senses, the question remains whether the soul is being judged even if it does not make any choices—if the decisions were made exclusively by the now dead body. As highlighted earlier, while it may be subject to the temptations of the material man, or the gunas, “the individual soul is declared responsible” in the “matter of experiencing happiness.” 104 If the soul is responsible for happiness, then the question exists whether it is that part of self which exercises “selfcontrol”105 and exerts “willpower.” 106
The Bhagavad Gita states that upon death a person experiences one of three results: (a) they are
immediately reincarnated into another body, (b) they go to a world where they enjoy and use up
the merits of their life, and then are reincarnated, or (c) they go to Krishna’s abode never to be
reincarnated again.
The Bhagavad Gita states that
(a) “those dying in the mode of ignorance take birth in the animal kingdom”,107
(b) “[t]hose who die with prevalence of the mode of passion are born among people driven by work”,108 and
(c) “[t]hose whose intellect is fixed in God, who are wholly absorbed in God, with firm faith in Him as the supreme goal, such persons quickly reach the state from which there is no return, their sins having been dispelled by the light of knowledge.” 109
It also states that “worshippers of the ancestors go to the ancestors.” 110 The exact meaning of this is not set forth since most ancestors will have already been reincarnated in either animal or human form.
For some, reincarnation is not immediate, but comes only after the soul goes to the “abode of Indra.” 111 There they can enjoy the merits of their life, and once those merits are used up are then reincarnated.
The Bhagavad Gita explains this concept this way:
“By virtue of their pious deeds, they go to the abode of Indra, the king of heaven, and enjoy the pleasures of the celestial gods”,112 and,
“When they have enjoyed the vast pleasures of heaven, the stock of their merits being exhausted, they return to the earthly plane.” 113
A “hell” is spoken of at least twice in the Bhagavad Gita. Exactly how it operates in conjunction
with one’s reincarnation is not fully specified. One option may be that it stands in opposition to
the “abode of Indra”, and is also a temporary location prior to reincarnation.
Here are the two passages,
“I have heard from the learned that those who destroy family traditions dwell in hell for an indefinite period of time.” 114
“Possessed and led astray by such imaginings, enveloped in a mesh of delusion, and addicted to the gratification of sensuous pleasures, they descend to the murkiest hell.” 114
Those who have Krishna as the Supreme Goal and are successful in worshiping and meditating
on Him with exclusive devotion are liberated from the cycle of birth and death and have their
consciousness united with Krishna.
The Bhagavad Gita explains this result this way,
“But those who dedicate all their actions to Me, regarding Me as the Supreme goal, worshiping Me and meditating on Me with exclusive devotion, O Parth, I swiftly deliver them from the ocean of birth and death, for their consciousness is united with Me.” 116
All endnotes, except numbers 67 and 68, are to the https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/ . Specific chapter and verse are indicated below:
1 Chapter 10, verse 3;
2 Chapter 4, verse 10;
3 Chapter 8, verse 22;
4 Chapter 8, verse 13;
5 Chapter 8, verse 16;
6 Chapter 14, verse 27;
7 Chapter 15, verse 12;
8 Chapter 12, verse 3;
9 Chapter 11, verse 55;
10 Chapter 18, verse 61;
11 Chapter 11, verse 43;
11 Chapter 11, verse 43;
11 Chapter 11, verse 43;
12 Chapter 9, verse 4;
13 Chapter 11, verse 16;
14 Chapter 11, verse 39;
15 Chapter 11, verse 38;
16 Chapter 10, verse 31;
17 Chapter 10, verse 32;
18 Chapter 10, verse 38;
19 Chapter 15, verse 13;
20 Chapter 4, verse 5;
21 Chapter 10, verse 3;
22 Chapter 15, verse 8;
23 Chapter 14, verse 14;
24 Chapter 14, verse 15;
25 Chapter 12, verse 9;
26 Chapter 12, verse 9;
27 Chapter 12, verse 9;
28 Chapter 2, verse 64;
29 Chapter 18, verse 23;
30 Chapter 18, verse 26;
31 Chapter 18, verse 26;
32 Chapter 18, verse 26;
33 Chapter 18, verse 23;
34 Chapter 18, verse 9;
35 Chapter 17, verse 17;
36 Chapter 17, verse 20;
37 Chapter 17, verse 20;
38 Chapter 18, verse 33;
39 Chapter 18, verse 30;
40 Chapter 18, verse 30;
41 Chapter 18, verse 30;
42 Chapter 18, verse 42;
43 Chapter 18, verse 10;
44 Chapter 18, verse 24;
45 Chapter 18, verse 24;
46 Chapter 18, verse 27;
47 Chapter 18, verse 28;
48 Chapter 18, verse 25;
49 Chapter 17, verse 19;
50 Chapter 17, verse 22;
51 Chapter 18, verse 35;
52 Chapter 18, verse 39;
53 Chapter 18, verse 32;
54 Chapter 18, verse 22;
55 Chapter 18, verse 7;
56 Chapter 12, verse 18;
57 Chapter 2, verse 55;
58 Chapter 12, verse 16;
59 Chapter 6, verse 4;
60 Chapter 2, verse 14;
61 Chapter 4, verse 10;
62 Chapter 2, verse 66;
63 Chapter 12, verse 6;
64 Chapter 2, verse 55;
65 Chapter 4, verse 23;
66 Chapter 14, verse 26;
67 Isa Upanishad, 1;
68 Isa Upanishad, 1;
69 Chapter 4, verse 39;
70 Chapter 5, verse 21;
71 Chapter 4, verse 10;
72 Chapter 15, verse 5;
73 Chapter 13, verse 13;
74 Chapter 4, verse 38;
75 Chapter 4, verse 39;
76 Chapter 12, verse 14;
77 Chapter 8, verse 8;
78 Chapter 8, verse 13;
79 Chapter 8, verse 5;
80 Chapter 9, verse 22;
81 Chapter 9, verse 15;
82 Chapter 6, verse 3;
83 Chapter 6, verse 12;
84 Chapter 12, verse 12;
85 Chapter 18, verse 41;
86 Chapter 18, verse 42;
87 Chapter 18, verse 43;
88 Chapter 18, verse 44;
89 Chapter 18, verse 44;
90 Chapter 18, verse 48;
91 Chapter 18, verse 47;
92 Chapter 18, verse 47;
93 Chapter 18, verse 46;
94 Chapter 18, verse 46;
95 Chapter 18, verse 61;
96 Chapter 18, verse 61;
97 Chapter 13, verse 30;
98 Chapter 13, verse 30;
99 Chapter 3, verse 27;
100 Chapter 13, verse 21;
101 Chapter 15, verse 8;
102 Chapter 5, verse 13;
103 Chapter 18, verse 33;
104 Chapter 13, verse 21;
105 Chapter 13, verse 9;
106 Chapter 18, verse 33;
107 Chapter 14, verse 15;
108 Chapter 14, verse 15;
109 Chapter 5, verse 17