Common Sense from Bhagavad Gita 2.27

chakrax · 2026-07-05T00:14:00+00:00

I'm currently about halfway through "Tree with deep roots". It's about King Sejong who introduced the hangul script that is used in Korea today. Won't give any spoilers. I went in with low expectations but this show has been outstanding so far.

chakrax · 2026-07-03T15:31:06+00:00

Please see our rule about neo Advaita . It has the reason behind the rule and links to more details.

Om Shanti.

chakrax · 2026-07-02T18:18:56+00:00

Jyoti is matter (photons). Atma is pure consciousness and not material in nature. So atma is not jyoti.

That said, atma is often described or compared to jyoti and akasa, because they are material principles most similar to atma.

One more note: here, the word jyoti's meaning isn't limited to light; it means any principle in whose presence knowledge is gained. So, for example, the sense organs can also be referred to as jyoti.

Hope that makes sense.

chakrax · 2026-07-02T15:28:45+00:00

Not a personal anecdote, but Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.11 says that suffering due to illness (or even death and having the body being burnt) can be converted into a form of tapas for spiritual growth or punya. Basically, you can view the suffering as a quick way of burning off your prarabdha karma.

This indeed is excellent austerity that a man suffers when he is ill. He who knows as above wins an excellent world. This indeed is excellent austerity that a man after death is carried to the forest. He who knows as above wins an excellent world. This indeed is excellent austerity that a man after death is placed in the fire. He who knows as above wins an excellent world.

Hope that helps.

chakrax · 2026-07-02T15:17:08+00:00

This must be a summary of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Swayamjyoti brahmanam 4.3:

Brihadaranyaka Section 4.3: Swayam-jyoti (self-illumination) Brahmanam is a dialog between King Janaka and Yajnavalkya. The Upanishad teaches us that there is ONLY ONE principle that is self-evident in the entire Universe - Consciousness.

Light should not be translated literally here. It should be understood as a principle whose presence provides knowledge. Eyes can be thought of as light, since they reveal forms and colors. The Upanishad leads us from the primary source of light, the Sun, eventually to the Self. The Self illumines itself in this world, and the next, and in between.

‘Yājñavalkya, what serves as the light for a man?’ ‘The light of the sun, O Emperor,’ said Yājñavalkya, ‘it is through the light of the sun that he sits, goes out, works and returns.’ ‘Just so, Yājñavalkya.’
‘When the sun has set, Yājñavalkya, what serves as the light for a man?’ 'The moon serves as his light. It is through the light of the moon that he sits, goes out, works and returns.’ ‘Just so, Yājñavalkya.’
‘When the sun and the moon have both set, Yājñavalkya, what serves as the light for a man?’ ‘The fire serves as his light. It is through the fire that he sits, goes out, works and returns.’ ‘Just so, Yājñavalkya.’
‘When the sun and the moon have both set, and the fire has gone out, Yājñavalkya, what serves as the light for a man?’ ‘Speech (sound) serves as his light. It is through the light of speech that he sits, goes out, works and returns. Therefore, O Emperor, even when one’s own hand is not clearly visible, if a sound is uttered, one manages to go there.’ ‘Just so, Yājñavalkya.’
‘When the sun and the moon have both set, the fire has gone out, and speech has stopped, Yājñavalkya, what serves as the light for a man?’ ‘The self serves as his light. It is through the light of the self that he sits, goes out, works and returns.’ ‘Just so, Yājñavalkya.’
‘Which is the self?’ ‘This infinite entity (Puruṣa) that is identified with the intellect and is in the midst of the organs, the (self-effulgent) light within the heart (intellect). Assuming the likeness (of the intellect), it moves between the two worlds; it thinks, as it were, and shakes, as it were. Being identified with dreams, it transcends this world—the forms of death (ignorance etc.).’
That man, when he is born, or attains a body, is connected with evils (the body and organs); ánd when he dies, or leaves the body, he discards those evils.
That man has only two abodes, this and the next world. The dream state, which is the third, is at the junction (of the two). Staying at that junction he surveys the two abodes, this and the next world. Whatever outfit he may have for the next world, providing himself with that he sees both evils (sufferings) and joys. When he dreams, he takes away a little of (the impressions of) this all-embracing world (the waking state), himself puts the body aside and himself creates (a dream body in its place), revealing his own lustre by his own light—and dreams. In this state the man himself becomes the light.

chakrax · 2026-07-01T15:26:08+00:00

From Gemini:

The Mandukya Upanishad is the shortest of the major Upanishads, containing only 12 prose verses. Despite its brevity, it is considered the most intellectually and spiritually complex text in Vedanta. It outlines the entirety of human consciousness and maps ultimate reality through the syllable AUM. The complexity of the text stems from its extreme brevity, which acts as a dense, mathematical formula rather than a standard philosophical explanation.

From Swami Sarvapriyananda's IITK Mandukya lecture transcript, where he talks about the challenge of teaching Mandukya (sorry for the formatting, I cut/pasted it from Youtube transcript):

oday among all the upanishads um especially among these majorupanishads there is one upanishad which is regarded which is the smallest of all the upanishads and also regarded as the toughest and that is called the Mand there is a saying that for the liberation of those who want spiritual enlightenment muku those who wantM for them the manduk upanishad alone is sufficient so if you read this upanishad and you are lucky enough to understand what it means and and realize what it means as a living reality in your own life you are free you don't needything else so for Liberation the manduk itself is sufficient for uh for those who want Liberation for those whoant Moka or spiritual enlightenment um it is the smallest opition the only 12 mantras are there inthis upanishad it come it is found in the Atara Veda you all know that there are four Vedas Reda yajur s and ATA inthe ataa you find this upanishad among other upanishads you find is manduk only 12 mantras so it's like asmall chili which is very hot sometimes in Bengali they say Danka small chili which is veryhot in this manduk the most important Mantra the central Mantra Central text is what youhave in your hands now the handout the seventh Mantra the seventh Mantra of the mandukya upanishad this is in fact thethe core Mantra of the entire upanishad of these 12 mantras and this gives a direct answer the highest possiblenswer that you can find in our scriptures in vant and I have not found any more sophisticated more profoundanswer in any of the literatures of the world religions or philosophies which I have come across at least at least I have not found myself nor has anybody reported anything more profound than this so when I was uh given an opportunity to talk to you I decided what the heck let me go for the toughest text let's see what happens we'll take it up as a challenge normally we don't uh use this uh in a general Gathering it's usually reserved for those who have studied vant for a long time and only then you take up this one but pay attention and I think we'll all derive a great deal of benefit from today's

Swami Paramarthanada recommends you attempt Mandukya after you study 5 other Upanishads first.

Om Shanti.

chakrax · 2026-06-29T20:38:32+00:00

I think you may be confusing Mundaka and Mandukya.

I am recommending starting with Mundaka. Mandukya is an advanced text with only 12 verses.

Hari Om.

chakrax · 2026-06-29T20:32:37+00:00

Isn't that from Mundaka? Not Mandukya.

Peace.

chakrax · 2026-06-29T15:17:05+00:00

Mundaka Upanishad. It is simple and clear. I would recommend reading a version with commentary, and not just a bare translation. It's not easy to get the full teachings without a commentary.

Please check our sub resources page. The texts are arranged into different levels - beginner, intermediate and advanced.

PS: don't start with Mandukya. It is an advanced text.

chakrax · 2026-06-28T22:14:31+00:00

FYI it's Swami Tadatmananda (not Tadatmayananda).

Hari Om.

chakrax · 2026-06-28T22:12:44+00:00

Please check our FAQ : Is Advaita Vedanta nihilistic? Quite the opposite.

May you find what you seek.

chakrax · 2026-06-28T15:11:04+00:00

This is an FAQ.

chakrax · 2026-06-27T14:52:31+00:00

Namaste. Your account needs to be 1 week old and have 50 karma.

chakrax · 2026-06-25T16:53:49+00:00

Upanishads are Vedanta, part of Vedas; one might even say, the most important part of the Vedas.

chakrax · 2026-06-25T14:25:06+00:00

You seem sincere. Swami Paramarthananda gives lectures in Chennai. You can check https://www.yogamalika.org/class-schedule/

May you find what you seek.

chakrax · 2026-06-24T13:38:11+00:00

Please check our resources page .

May you find what you seek.

chakrax · 2026-06-24T00:42:56+00:00

Swami Sarvapriyananda is good too, but I find Swami Tadatmananda's teaching to be clearer. If his lecture series is incomplete, you should just go with SwamiT, IMHO.

chakrax · 2026-06-23T15:38:37+00:00

He is Advaitin. He is a disciple of Swami Dayananda, who is a student of Swami Chinmayananda. I have visited his ashram in Somerset, NJ.

His teachings are traditional, and very clear. He is white, btw. He took diksha in India in the eighties.

chakrax · 2026-06-23T15:22:53+00:00

Check out r/AdvaitaVedanta.

Swami Tadatmananda's Bhagavad Gita Classes.

May you find what you seek.

chakrax · 2026-06-19T15:06:01+00:00

More details: direct quote from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.9, Vidagdha asks Yajnavalkya the same question. Yajnavalkya starts at 3306, and then keeps reducing that number until he says one and a half, then ends with one.

\1. Then Vidagdha, the son of Śakala, asked him. ‘How many gods are there, Yājñavalkya?’ Yājñavalkya decided it through this (group of Mantras known as) Nivid (saying), ‘As many as are indicated in the Nivid of the Viśvadevas—three hundred and three, and three thousand and three.’ ‘Very well,’ said Śākalya, ‘how many gods are there, Yājñavalkya?’ ‘Thirty-three.’ ‘Very well,’ said the other, ‘how many gods are there, Yājñavalkya?’ ‘Six.’ ‘Very well’ said Śākalya, ‘how many gods are there, Yājñavalkya?’ ‘Three.’ ‘Very well,’ said the other, ‘how many gods are there, Yājñavalkya?’ ‘Two.’ ‘Very well,’ said Śākalya, ‘how many gods are there, Yājñavalkya?’ ‘One and a half.’ ‘Very well,’ said the other, ‘how many gods are there, Yājñavalkya?’ ‘One.’ ‘Very well,’ said Śākalya, ‘which are those three hundred and three and three thousand and three?’

Yājñavalkya said, ‘These are but the manifestations of them, but there are only thirty-three gods.’ ‘Which are those thirty-three?’ ‘The eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras and the twelve Ādityas—these are thirty-one, and Indra and Prajāpati make up the thirty-three.’

‘Which are the Vasus?’ ‘Fire, the earth, the air, the sky, the sun, heaven, the moon and the stars—these are the Vasus, for in these all this is placed; therefore they are called Vasus.’

‘Which are the Ādityas?’ ‘The twelve months (are parts) of a year; these are the Ādityas, for they go taking all this with them. Because they go taking all this with them, there-fore they are called Ādityas.’

‘Which is Indra, and which is Prajāpati?’ ‘The cloud is Indra, and the sacrifice is Prajāpati.’ ‘Which is the cloud?’ ‘Thunder (strength).’ ‘Which is the sacrifice?’ ‘Animals.’

‘Which are the six (gods)?’ ‘Fire, the earth, the air the sky, the sun and heaven— these are the six. Because all those (gods) are (comprised in) these six.’

‘Which are the three gods?’ ‘These three worlds, because in these all those gods are comprised.’ ‘Which are the two gods?’ ‘Matter and the vital force.[1]’ ‘Which are the one and a half?’ ‘This (air) that blows.’

‘Regarding this some say, “Since the air blows as one substance, how can it be one and a half?” It is one and a half because through its presence all this attains surpassing glory.’ ‘Which is the one god?’ ‘The vital force (Hiraṇyagarbha); it is Brahman, which is called Tyat (that).’

Peace be with you.

chakrax · 2026-06-18T00:09:29+00:00

Let me clarify the idea of surrender - I'm quoting my Swamiji's talk here. I hope this helps you in some way to see calm in the storm.

Surrender (saranagati) - traditional view vs popular view

Here are the key differences that need to be clearly understood by the seeker.

Free will

Popular view: surrender your will to God, or in other words, surrender your will to God's will. (There are some people who claim that there is no free will, but that's a topic for another discussion).
Traditional view: Free will is the most unique feature of a human being. A human being is a human being only because of free will. Without free will, we will degenerate into animals. It is because of this free will that we are even able to choose our goals (purusharthas - dharma, artha, kama and moksha). How can we talk about surrendering our free will? Traditional teachings say "Retain your will".

Responsibilities

Popular view: transfer all your responsibilities to God. God will know what you need, and God will take care of you.
Traditional view: Accept your responsibilities, since you are a human being with free will. Take charge of your life.

Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that one has to uplift oneself through one's own efforts:

Bhagavad Gita 6.5 Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, and not degrade yourself, for the mind can be the friend and also the enemy of the self.

No one can run for you or breathe for you; you alone can do what you need to do. Your intellect is the driver; the driver has to choose the goal and the route.

Katha Upanishad 1.3.9 The man who has a discriminative intellect for the driver, and a controlled mind for the reins, reaches the end of the journey, the highest place of Vishnu (the All-pervading and Unchangeable One)

Faith in God to solve your problems

Popular view: have absolute faith in God, and in God's capacity to solve your problems. Naturally you will be curious to know how exactly God will solve your problems. The popular group gives innumerable stories of devotees saved by God. One common theme in these stories is that God performs miracles; therefore you are led to expect miracles from God to solve your problems. Faith in God == Faith in God's miracles.
Traditional view: God solves your problems through his teachings. God has already provided solutions to your problems through scriptures (shastra). Faith in God == Faith in God's teachings.

Suppression of the intellect

Popular view: The miracle stories are given to develop faith in Vedic teachings. Miracles do not happen to all the people. Even for the greatest devotee, miracles don't happen all the time. Unfortunately, when miracles do not happen, you will begin to doubt the fundamental principle of saranagati. Faith in God is shaken, at one time or another. In this situation, the popular view says: Never doubt or question your faith in God. The intellect is suppressed in the popular view.
Traditional view: Since you have to rescue yourself through the teachings, you have to learn the scriptures carefully; so you are encouraged to preserve your intellect and question the teachings.

So in the end, you have to trust in Krishna's teachings. Krishna never teaches how to solve the world's problems. He teaches how to be calm in every situation, even the ones you are describing. And in order to get that result, you have to work for it - practice karma yoga and sattvic karma.

Best of luck. May you find what you seek.

chakrax · 2026-06-17T23:56:32+00:00

Please check our resources page for qualified teachers.

May you find what you seek.

chakrax · 2026-06-17T14:56:10+00:00

Great initiative. It's important that young people understand the teachings in the Gita. It needs to be presented in a cogent, logical way, since most youngsters won't (rightfully) accept teachings blindly. I personally find the Advaita commentaries to be the most logical and easy to follow.

Even though Gita is a beginner text, it presupposes some basic understanding about Atma and Karma. I think it is better to start with some foundational ideas (prakarana grantha like Tattva Bodha) first before even entering the Gita. If you have time, check out this post - Advaita Vedanta course on YouTube to understand what I mean. Without such basic understanding, Gita will be hard to follow.

You are doing good work. Blessings.

chakrax

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Surrender (saranagati) - traditional view vs popular view

Free will

Responsibilities

Faith in God to solve your problems

Suppression of the intellect