4 LIFE LESSONS FROM THE BHAGAVAD GITA

Even in our modern life filled with breathless speed, there are ancient books that can impart wisdom and peace to our lives. The Bhagavad Gita is one such. In this article, we give you four life lessons that the Gita can teach all of us.

The Bhagavad Gita is considered the ultimate spiritual book which contains the doctrine of universal truth within it. Even in our busy modern life, this ancient book of wisdom can give us quite a few life lessons. The Gita is best read not as a religious manual but as a life manual which is applicable to all human life throughout the ages.

Here are just a few of the life lessons it contains.

1. Desires cannot be conquered by satiating them

When you satisfy one desire, another one takes its place. Our instinctive mind thinks that whenever a desire manifests itself, the only recourse is to strive to fulfil it. But the pleasure of fulfilment is short-lived; immediately another desire will take its place, and compel you to strive once again. This endless race of desires and their fulfilment is futile. The Gita recommends that we observe our desires with detachment and be aloof to whether they are satisfied or not. A true conquering of desires occurs only when we accept that there really is no freedom from them in our mortal forms.

2. We have come empty handed, and we will leave empty handed.

This is the lesson pertaining to material greed that consumes most of us during our lives. Sometimes it pays to remember that we arrive in this world with no material possessions, and we will all leave it the same way. Both the prince and the pauper turn to dust after death. Nature does not discriminate. Life does not discriminate. Then why do we?

3. Let go of the illusion of control

The cause and effect chain in the world is too complicated for us to follow, and our spheres of control are extremely small. Instead of trying to control things all around us, we must instead focus on accepting whatever occurs to us with grace, and on reacting to the incident with wisdom and stoicism.

4. Perform your duty without expectation of reward

We must all perform our duties, and quell the expectation that there will be a reward for our actions. The Gita points out that the laws of karma as we understand them are not immutable, and sometimes bad things do happen to good people. So we must shed the belief that the world is fair, and we must perform our duties with humility and gratitude.