Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 42

Chapter 3 verse 42

“They say that the senses are superior to the body; superior to the senses is the mind; superior to the mind is the intellect; one who is even superior to the intellect is He (Atman)”

This verse is a nice summary of the pecking order in the scheme of the human microcosm. The senses control the body, mind controls the senses, intellect controls the mind and the intellect is submissive to the eternal Self. It is interesting to note that Krishna refers to the Atman as “He/She” and doesn’t associate with the body, senses, mind or intellect. This reference is completely intentional on Krishna’s part. It is very obvious that every word of Bhagavat Gita not unlike other time tested scriptures is non redundant. This is the power of the word and it’s meaning. It is a blessing and divine grace to be contemplating on these pearly words of wisdom.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 41

Chapter 3 verse 41

“Therefore, O best of the Bharatas, controlling first the senses, kill this sinful thing, the destroyer of knowledge and wisdom”

Arjuna is no ordinary person. For current context, he would be equivalent to a very able corporate world CEO with many business achievements to his credit or well revered world political leader who has many admirers and followers in his own right. Arjuna wants clarity on what makes a person to be deluded with expectations from actions. His contemplative and enquiring mind prepares him to get engagement on this question from Lord Krishna. Krishna has explained in last several verses that ‘desire’ is the root cause which destroys both knowledge (Nyanam) and wisdom (applied knowledge/experience or Vignyanam). Wisdom is the experiential knowledge and by clinging on to senses, mind and body complex through desires/expectations, a person is rendered rudderless in spite of inherent knowledge.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 39-40

Chapter 3 verse 39-40

“Enveloped, O Son of Kunti, is ‘wisdom’ by this constant enemy of the wise in the form of ‘desire’, which is difficult to appease, like fire. The senses, the mind and the intellect are said to be its seat; through these, it deludes the embodied, by veiling his wisdom”

Continuing his explanation of the veil of ignorance, the thick cloud envelope which prevents the inherently divine being from realizing their divinity is ‘desire’. Krishna uses another fire analogy but this time he talks about the insatiable hunger to burn everything. Desire is likened to unbridled fire which takes everything down in its stride and destroys. Desire is that fire in all of us which could kill our ability to realize eternal happiness. How do we control this fire and direct it to burn desire itself? The only way to burn desires is to kill thoughts-at one stroke mind, Intellect and senses are detached if one gets to the root of thought and see where it arose and contemplate on that origin which is the Self.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 38

Chapter 3 verse 38

“As the fire is enveloped by smoke, as a mirror by dust, an embryo by the womb, so this wisdom is enveloped by desire/anger”

I wondered why Krishna came up with 3 examples which talks about the same thing. Did he suddenly turn to poetry in the middle of a life lesson? I had to refer to Swami Chinmayananda’s (probably Adi Shankara’s) interpretation of this verse and it is much more profound that met my ignorant mind. The 3 examples bring out the 3 gunas and effect on us. Even a brightly burning fire’s luster is diminished with smoke but the smoke can easily be cleared with some wind. Likewise, sattvic afflictions still veil the pure divine from ourselves but can be removed more easily than other guna afflictions. Dust on the mirror is going to take more effort to clean and that is similar to aggressive tendencies (rajasic guna). Finally, just like the power of the being which is in embryo form is not evident to the world till it is in the womb and will only come out in a prescribed time called the gestation period, tamasic tendencies (low mental preoccupations) takes much longer to overcome. The purpose of the human life is to realize the supreme residing in each of us. The smokescreen or dust which separates that purpose from our understanding is attachment to body and mind through desires and anger due to unfulfilled desires.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 37

Chapter 3 verse 37

“The blessed lord said, it is desire, it is anger born of the ‘active’, all-devouring, all-sinful; know this as the foe here in this world”

What prevents a person to perform action without attachment- Krishna reminds Arjuna that as he has indicated before, it is desire for a particular result or attachment to a result which is the root cause of all issues. That desire for a particular result of action sets expectations in our mind which leads to anger when not fulfilled. Both attachment and desire for a particular result and anger results from aggressive tendency in the mind called “Rajo Guna”. Without some impetus for action through rajas-aggression, nothing can be achieved but that tendency has to be managed well.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 36

Chapter 3 verse 36

“Arjuna said: But, impelled by what does man commit sin, though against his wishes, O Vaarshneya, constrained, as it were, by force?”

After listening to Krishna so far, Arjuna picks up on the only let up which Krishna was giving him in verse 33 where he said it is very difficult for beings to not act according to their nature. Like Arjuna, best among us are listening for validation of what we want to hear. His state of mind is still not at cause and is still playing victim of the circumstances to a large extent. However he is recognizing his situation and wonders about the powerful force which restrains oneself from not performing righteous actions. Arjuna strongly believes that people commit sins (non righteous action) even against their own wishes. That’s how majority of beings feel about their actions- this is very fatalistic. There is free will to perform at the present moment slowly but surely overriding the innate nature of the person. It is great that Arjuna is in this contemplative mode before a major event in his life. All trials and tribulations in life are designed to guide us on the path of contemplation and help look inward towards our Self.  

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 35

Chapter 3 verse 35

“Better is one’s own duty, though devoid of merit, than the duty of another well discharged. Better is death in one’s own duty; the duty of another is fraught with fear”

Arjuna’s predicament was to not fight the war against his own kith and kin. He was fine with walking away from the battlefield and even begging for food to survive. In this context, Krishna is telling Arjuna that having been born as a warrior (Kshatriya) in order to exhaust his vasanas of aggression and ego of warriorship, his duty was to fight and protect the righteous against the wrong. He was better to not get any positive affirmation or even death in line of his ordained duty of a warrior versus performing someone else’s duty. Why does Krishna implore that someone else’s duty is fraught with fear? Fear can only be of an uncertain future. If one runs away from their ordained duty, they are getting into something which they may not be suited for or not equipped to perform and hence is not going to be at ease doing those actions. The inability to effectively do someone else’s duty would cause fear of the unknown future. Performing action in line with their current vasanas thereby providing a chance to exhaust them is the best path of action and that’s why highest form of walking away from current life duty- suicide is highly discouraged in Sanatana Dharma.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 34

Chapter 3 verse 34

“Attachment and aversion for the objects of the senses abide in the senses; let none come under their sway; for, they are his foes”

I am reminded of Adi Shankara’s Bhaja Govindam and Sadhana Panchakam works. In these he talks about the need to not get carried away by the mere flesh and blood, not get distracted by hunger of the stomach and consider it as a disease which needs to be treated and nothing more. Attachment and aversion of the objects stem inherently from in built tendencies called Vasanas which manifest in our mind as desires. Desires lead to action and desire laden action carries a person away from the pursuit of the Divine. Krishna is like a compassionate doctor who can be very hard on the patient to ensure their own well being. In this verse he is calling the senses one’s enemies. Much later, Sri Adi Shankara Bhagavat Pada- has the same scorn for the body, senses and the mind.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 33

Chapter 3 verse 33

“Even a wise man acts in accordance with his nature; beings will follow their own nature; what can restraint do?”

A snake will hiss and sting and a tiger will attack and kill. All beings follow their own nature religiously. So Krishna here calls out that men cannot act independent of their nature with any restraint from the mind. The mind here is driven by the natural tendencies of the person. Even the intellectual among us who employ their mind the most will not be able to control the mind and hence these innate tendencies. The only way to control the natural tendency is to act without attachment. This is not possible for even a wise person who has bookish knowledge of the Self. This is only possible for the person who has realized their Self. However one can “fake it till you make it”. Doing action sacrificed to the divine leads one on the path of true knowledge and a meditative state which eventually leads to complete faith in the divine and hence true knowledge itself. Start acting smartly without expending energy on worrying about the outcome of the action!                               

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 32

Chapter 3 verse 32

“But, those who find fault/complain (carp) at My teaching and do not practice it, deluded in all knowledge, and devoid of discrimination, know them to be doomed for destruction”

Krishna is referring in this verse about the practice of doing actions with no attachment to result of action. ‘Matam’ is the word for religion in Sanskrit and several Indian languages and sometimes written or pronounced as ‘madham’. The actual meaning in sanskrit of this word is ‘opinion’. Swami chinmayananda differentiates between key difference between religion and spirituality as that religion is propagated by particular opinion or rules of a God/Prophet whereas spirituality is the discovery of the human condition and going to the root of eternal happiness. In this case, Krishna says that those who choose to ignore his teaching/opinion, deluded in the false knowledge or understanding that no action is superior to action, then the person is not going to progress in both life and spirituality and is doomed for destruction. In this verse, he also talks about lack of discrimination, this is the ability to differentiate between desire based actions and desire less actions. He also encourages the discrimination between selfish action and self less action. Several accomplished Gurus and masters of Bharata have requested people to just follow the religion they were born into and walk the spiritual path. The importance of their statements are now finding a home in my heart.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 31

Chapter 3 verse 31

“Those men, who constantly practice this teaching of Mine, full of faith and without complaining, they too, are freed from actions”

‘Why me?’ is the constant complaint we hear ourselves say. As far one knows, we have done no harm to anyone in this life but why am I suffering? Why should I work for a ‘terrible’ boss? Why should I suffer through this dreadful illness? Why does the world have to go through this difficult corona virus times? Why? Why? No answers to these questions one might wonder. One needs to have faith in the divine order. This verse in my opinion enumerates the link between “Bhakti-devotion” and “karma-action”. Action done with 100% faith in the divine order without complaining, hope, doership, mental agitations and centered on the Self would ensure stress less existence and slowly but surely exhaust all previous tendencies in the person and help realize the Self. As my Guruji recently said, the best response to corona virus situation is doing your action with compassion and with care for the world. Age old wisdom for all times including current times. Let’s learn the lesson nature is teaching us right now. If we don’t, we are condemned to repeat the class…

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 30

Chapter 3 verse 30

“Renouncing all actions in Me, with the mind centered on the Self, free from hope and egoism (ownership/doership), free from mental fever, do fight”

Having explained why Arjuna should be performing action with an attitude of submitting results of those actions to the divine, Krishna is bringing home the point in this verse. Mind is the culprit which needs to be managed here. The mind plays on positive expectations from the future (hope) and assumption that one has control over the results of the action-ego. Krishna is asking in no uncertain terms to get over the “fever” of the mind and fight the battle knowing that is the only activity Arjuna can do. Everything else just happens. Krishna will repeat this call for action again in Gita. Leadership is all about inspiring people to act! Great leadership lesson from Krishna.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 29

Chapter 3 verse 29

“Those deluded by the qualities of nature or gunas are attached to the functions of the qualities. The man of perfect knowledge should not unsettle the foolish, who are of imperfect knowledge”

Krishna is not looking down on any of his own creations. He is asking people who have realized this ultimate knowledge of detached actions not to get bogged down by the environment surrounded by beings who have still not realized that truth. Otherwise there is no hope for this world and it gets into this vicious cycle of birth and death without progress. As well, Krishna is indicating that leading a life attached to the inborn qualities is not a good existence. A good refresher of the equation in verse 27 is absolutely needed and we need to remind ourselves of this equation every day.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 28

Chapter 3 verse 28

“But he, who knows the Truth, about the division of the qualities and their functions, and he, who knows that ‘gunas as senses’ move amidst ‘gunas as objects’, is not attached”

A person in this world operates through his senses with the objects around them. Krishna talks about our actions always being a combination of satva, rajas or tamas (pious, aggressive and non committal). There are multiple ways to talk about these 3 gunas but each of the senses operate with the filter of these gunas. The body which operates in this world through the senses also is governed by the gunas since the mind operates through these gunas. That’s why Krishna talks about the senses and objects both being governed by gunas. The person who knows this, will act every moment with no sense of doership and do the action per his innate tendency thereby exhausting his inherent tendencies eventually leading to liberation. This is a very important topic and can be dealt with in future verses. This warrants a broader discussion than a few lines.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 27

Chapter 3 verse 27

“All actions are performed, in all cases, merely by the qualities in nature or gunas. He, whose mind is deluded by egoism, thinks ‘I am the doer’”

2 simple equations:

Past karma (prarabhda karma) + current vasanas + momentarily free will + God’s grace +Ego of doer = momentary action + Additional vasanas

Past karma (prarabhda karma) + current vasanas + momentarily free will + God’s grace +No Ego = momentary action – exhausting of current vasanas

From 1^st equation, you can tell that ego comes in the way of divine’s grace as well and adds additional vasanas, while non doership does not resist divine grace and helps exhausts current tendencies or vasanas. Therefore all of us need to adopt 2^nd equation for our lives!

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 26

Chapter 3 verse 26

“Let no wise man unsettle the minds of ignorant people, who are attached to action; he should engage them all in actions, himself fulfilling them with devotion”

Krishna basically in this verse summarizes the entire mission of his avatar. In his avatar, he had a great bias for action while encouraging everyone he came in contact with to exude “Bhakti” towards him and the divine. Gopis of brindavan come to mind as a great example but not the only ones. Krishna is reminding himself and other realized souls that it is his duty to lead the way and fill beings with the urge to action with an attitude of devotion towards divine.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 25

Chapter 3 verse 25

“As the ignorant men act from attachment to action, so should the wise men act without attachment, wishing the welfare of the world?”

All the good people in the world within a wide range of spectrum from people who attempt doing good actions all the way to avatars such as Krishna are here to “prime the pump of this world”. Their ability to keep the wheel of righteousness going cannot be discounted. There is a great lesson to be learnt through this corona virus situation that quarantine is being advised keeping in mind the broader interest of the society even if an individual is not affected or unhealthy. The need to think and act for the society is the primary lesson plan for this recent world crisis. If we learn our lessons when it is spoon fed in the first place such as here in the Gita, we will all be in a much better place. Every day is a blessing to live the life ordained by the divine. We will not have any ignorant people who are attached to their actions. That probably is what “Satya Yuga” is all about!

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 24

Chapter 3 verse 24

“These worlds would perish, if I did not perform action; I would be the author of confusion of castes and would destroy these beings”

A few key takeaways from this verse are to be noted.     

• God takes care of the Universe and not just earth: He talks about “loka” here not "Bhoomi" which is Sanskrit for earth. He needs to act for Universe to exist!
• Each person is ordained to do some duty which he/she is already performing with each instant deciding out of his/her own free will what to do. (within the construct of laws of karma)
• When both these actions of individuals and orchestration of Universe by divine (according to the Laws of Karma) ceases to happen, the Universe will be destroyed and all the beings with it

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 23

Chapter 3 verse 23

“For, should I not ever engage myself in action without relaxation, men would in every way follow My path”

Clearly Krishna is not talking about himself as the King of Dwaraka or Arjuna’s trusted friend/advisor and now charioteer. He is talking about him being God principle and a natural leader of men. People look up to role models in society to follow. We are currently going through a virus pandemic crisis in this world and voice of calm reassurance is what people are expecting from each of their leaders. Do all your action with calm and collected mind focusing all energies on task at hand. There is so much to learn from Bhagavat Gita on how to lead one’s life in all spheres including work life.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 22

Chapter 3 verse 22

“There is nothing in the three worlds, that has to be done by Me, nor is there anything unattainable that should be attained by Me, yet, I engage myself in action”

Even avatars of God principle have a purpose for taking the avatar- “yada yada hi dharmasya…”. Krishna’s purpose was to restore dharma (righteous action) back in the world. He couldn’t have accomplished that task without action. The purpose of avatars in human form is to also set an example that even the God principle has to follow the laws of karma set in motion by the divine. Don’t they say-great leaders are great followers first. Krishna never used his divinity for his own welfare in his life. His actions were always for the greater good for society. It might be better for us to not even consider him God principle but consider lessons from his life as a mere human being and learn how he lived the life of a “Sthitha Prajna”. Profound lessons from the master of all masters!

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 21

Chapter 3 verse 21

“Whatever a great man does, that other men also imitate; whatever he sets up as the standard, which the world follows”

Krishna shines light on great men. Great men are those who show dexterity in action without losing energy on worrying about a particular result. Their actions are going to be always in the greater good. Doing such actions, they are able to set a great example for others to follow. All our avatars, Gods of major religions, inspirational world leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, renowned saints- all fall into this category. I have always wondered if this fame after their lives matter to these individuals after their lifetime. A good answer to that question would be that by doing actions for greater good, they progress exponentially towards Moksha (Enlightenment) if not already there. What else could be a greater reward? How we wish our world leaders of today would have these exacting standards?

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 20

Chapter 3 verse 20

“Janaka and others attained perfection verily through action only; even with a view to protecting the masses you should perform action”

King Janaka has been quoted by our Ithihaas (history) as someone who was a self realized emperor. It is a great example for society to encourage action without attachment since which is a better example than an emperor who has to act every moment to take care of his kingdom without any attachment to the result of the action. Krishna is reiterating the point of doing action as a sacrifice to benefit the world at large made by him in an earlier verse again to say that one should do righteous action or cling on to dharma (that which protects) for world’s sake.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 19

Chapter 3 verse 19

“Therefore, always perform action which should be done without attachment; for, by performing action without attachment man attains the supreme”

As explained earlier, doing action without attachment exhausts inherent tendencies called vasanas in the person and eventually the person removes all veils of ignorance of the truth that they are the embodiment of supreme self. In this state, they merge with the supreme self and become one with that. Essence of Vedas, Upanishads, Ithihaas and Puranas!

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 18

Chapter 3 verse 18

“For him there is no interest whatever in what is done, or what is not done; nor does he depend upon any being for any object”

This verse has to be read and absorbed from the perspective of a nishkamya karmin (person who does desire less action). For that person, there is no interest in the result of the action but they continue to act driven by what needs to get done without any sense of doership. They also reach a state where while being respectful and ever compassionate/ empathetic, they don’t depend on anything outside God principle. Everything done for them is done by the vasudeiva kutumbakam- the broader family of the same God principle in everyone. There is absolute belongingness for this person and thus they don’t depend on any other person or external object. There is nothing else other than Self. Swami Chinmayananda calls this state God man. However when the person is in animal man and man-man states, this verse will appear to be completely disinterested state- not detached but disinterested and aloof!. This is the veil or “maya” of this universe which prevents us from realizing our own Self.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary Chapter 3 verse 17

Chapter 3 verse 17

“But, the man who rejoices only in the Self, who is satisfied with the Self, who is content in the Self alone, for him verily there is nothing more to be done”

Ramana Maharishi’s one point mantra in tamil is “Summa Kada” which loosely translates to “Just Be”. He didn’t say do nothing. All beings have to do in order to be in this body-mind-spirit complex. However when one is in the state of being with the Self or “Just Be”, one doesn’t associate with the action. There is no sense of doership and hence Krishna says there is nothing more to be done for that person. Several of us misconstrue this “there is nothing more to be done” for walking away from action. Krishna is asking us to walk away from doership but not action.

“Yasya Sarvani Bhutaani aatmanyevaanupasyati

Sarvabhutesu caatmaanam tato na vijugupsate” (Isavasya Upanishad Stanza 6)

“He who constantly sees everywhere all existences in the Self and the Self in all beings and forms; thereafter shrinks not from anything”

Quoting Swami Chinmayananda’s commentary for this sloka, “It is certainly worthwhile for all seekers to remember constantly this stanza with all its implications and import. I would suggest that even those who do not know much of Sanskrit should somehow or other memorize this stanza, maintaining an association of the meaning with the sounds, and keep it as a ready antidote for all the inner poisons of mental agitations and intellectual unrest.”

I have quoted this stanza to indicate that state of being at which the person embraces everything and not shrink or walk away from anything!

Srimad Bhagavat gita commentary chapter 3 verse 16

Chapter 3 verse 16

“He, who does not follow here the wheel thus set revolving, is of sinful life, rejoicing in the senses. He lives in vain”

There are 3 aspects I would like to draw attention for us to reflect.

• What is a sin and what is a good deed? Any act which is not in interest of “self” understanding and doesn’t help community/society/country or world progress in the righteous direction is a sin. Everything else is good. Sin is not putting the senses to good use.
• What is a fruitful life lived? A life which avoids sinful activities discussed above and that which helps oneself towards goal of Moksha and broader societal benefit is a fruitful life
• What is the wheel of life? Virtuous wheel of life is for human beings to help nature do their activities without selfish motives. Vicious wheel of life is where human being disrupts the nature of the world and creates chaos and havoc by pursuing selfish motives. The life wheel is peaceful coexistence of all beings on earth in harmony with one’s own true nature and broader nature and nature’s laws.

Srimad bhagavat gita commentary chapter 3 verse 15

Chapter 3 verse 15

“Know that action comes from divine and divine comes from imperishable. Therefore the all-pervading god principle (divine) ever rests in action done in sacrificial spirit”

When there is a spirit of surrender to the divine, all actions done by the person emanates out of divine help. So when the action itself arose out of divine guidance, there is not even a need to submit the result of the action at the altar of the divine. Ignorance of this cycle of action and spirit is the cause of false ego, desires and other desire driven issues such as anger, jealously, lust and doership.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 14

Chapter 3 verse 14

“From food, come forth beings; from rain, food is produced; from sacrifice, arises rain and sacrifice is born of action”

From one angle of pure nature and science, this verse makes references the 5 elements of nature- earth from which food arises which nourishes beings, food is produced with water, water comes from vapor generated by heat of the fire and one cannot get fire without being’s effort to generate the fire. This describes the inter connectedness of nature’s elements enumerating that action is essential to leverage nature.

However the important angle to note here is that each of nature’s elements does their job with no desires associated with the result of their action or inherent nature. For example the nature of fire is to provide heat and it does that without fear or favor, same goes for wind-blows without fear or favor. Only when a person does their action without expecting a particular result in divine sacrifice mode, nature’s laws are kept intact. Otherwise the whole nature’s laws get disrupted. There is a tamil saying that “There is rains in a community or nation only due to the good nature of beings in that community or nation” The import of this saying is that nature works only when all constituents do their bit according to their prakriti (nature!).

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse13

Chapter 3 verse 13

“The righteous, who eat the remnants of the sacrifices are freed from all sins; but those sinful ones, who cook food only for their own sake, verily eat but sin”

It is easy to interpret this verse plainly as the fire sacrifice which is stipulated in the Vedas as daily practice for particular sections of society but here Krishna is talking about sacrifice in the context of doing one’s actions or karma with an attitude of that action being a sacrificial offering to divine. If the action is done with a motive which is desire laden and expecting a particular result, then it collects additional tendencies (called vasanas) which again need to be exhausted. When Krishna says sin or free from sin, he is talking about action which instills undesirable tendencies in us which needs to be overcome in a near or far future. This collection of undesirable tendencies which takes us away from eternal bliss is what causes the spiral of life and death. The only way out of the death spiral is to act without particular desires.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 12

Chapter 3 verse 12

“The Devas, nourished by the sacrifice, will give you the desired objects. Indeed, he who enjoys objects given by the devas, without offering in return to them, is verily a thief”

What is the purpose of divine creation? Every creator wants to perfect their creation and take pride in that. We are divine’s creation and the divine’s pride is in the attainment of the highest ideal of this birth which is self realization. In order to achieve that ideal, Krishna is asking us to sacrifice all action at the altar of the divine and whatever the divine gives us in return as a result take it with “prasada buddhi”- a feeling of gratitude and devotion. The person who due to their ego, does not offer their actions in such a way is depriving the divine of the perfection of their creation just like a thief deprives someone of their belongings.

Srimad Bhagavat Gita commentary chapter 3 verse 11

Chapter 3 verse 11

“With this, you do nourish the gods and may those devas nourish you; thus nourishing one another, you shall attain the highest good.”

This summarizes sanatana dharma at its best. Sanatana Dharma encourages each individual to strive to achieve individual excellence by targeting to realize the divine in each of us. As well, there is a collective striving to do good for the world and consider all of the world as one’s family. Devas and asuras could be argued as just another race and the import of this verse is to be the best one can be and then help everyone else be good as well. This is the divine mission anyways. To spread goodness and happiness in the world.