“I joined Yoga classes finally!!!” said Seema. Her eyes were bright with happiness. “You know what, I joined Zumba classes” said Neelam with a look that challenged all of us to say something. “I have started my own you tube channel” said Kavitha, looking very proud of herself. “I am learning keyboard” said Kiran shyly. And after that all eyes turned on me.

We are five friends who live in a gated community, and one unspoken rule we have in our group is, that we always focus on fun. Our conversations are always superficial, casual and witty. Whenever we meet, we basically transform into those college girls who feel like giggling uncontrollably for each and everything. We all are working women, with kids, elders and family to take care of, some of us are also facing lot of challenges and struggles, which no one discusses in our group. Our group get togethers are strictly for fun and fun only.

“I joined Gita classes” I muttered in the lowest tone ever possible. For a split second there was silence and then there was an outburst of laughter and jokes and ridicule. “So now, what should we call you?

Divya Mataji?” asked Kavitha “Are you going to predict the future? “, “What is going to be your punch dialog?” “Are you really 90 years old? Have you been hiding your age from us?” In this group, to be teased mercilessly means that you are accepted as one of them. So, I happily laughed along and made a couple of self-deprecating comments that was met with glee and laughter.
“Come on Mataji, why don’t you share some of the Gyan with illiterates like us” said Seema with a smirk.

“I just attended few classes” I said, “but in general, it is a dialogue between the Pandava warrior Arjuna, and Lord Krishna. Arjuna is faced with a dilemma whether to fight or not in the Mahabharata war and this dialogue helps him to decide his course of action”

“How does that help you? You are not going to any wars?” asked Seema.

“They say that each of us have a Mahabharat war raging in our lives, and that we are all Arjunas who need this knowledge to make right choices” I replied.

“As if we have any choice in life!” commented Neelam looking as if she was ready for a brawl. Neelam was our most rebellious character.

“We do” I said. “We do have choices in life, even in our everyday life and we can choose either to act impulsively or to act according to what we believe is our duty”

This statement was received with an uproar of jokes and a whole lot of ridicule. It was getting late and we ladies needed to wind up so that we can start the next day early enough to keep everything going at both home and at work. But just was we were saying our ‘Good nights’, I said “I do believe we make lot of choices every day, only that we are not conscious of it”. There was a moment’s silence and then we left it at that and called it a day.
The next day, I was surprised to see an excel sheet in my messaging app from Seema. With column name as Situation Choice 1 Choice 2 Choice 3.

And the whole day, there was a constant trickle of messages teasing Seema about it. Seema is our in-house project manager, right from birthday parties to daily meal menus, she has an excel for everything and she gets teased endlessly for this.
But by evening, the file was moved to a google drive with access to all of us, and then it was all silence.

On day 3, I was curious to see if anyone was even using the excel and, when I peeked into it, I was completely blown off my feet by what I saw. There was a running list with all kinds of entries.

There was an entry by someone who was facing behavior issues from their teenage child. The first choice was to be angry with an approach of “give up and let him face the music, learn his own lesson”. The second choice was to be patient, believe in him and find a way to communicate to him in the way he
understands.
Someone else had a rude customer during their ‘on call support’ at work. One choice was to let the customer get lost behind the set of long winding formal processes and chase unending phone calls, the other was to let him vent and then help him out with the issue despite the rudeness.

Someone was now a caregiver for a dominating elderly person at home. After years of suffering oppression, now was a chance to show them how it feels to be humiliated. But then, the other choice was to keep quiet and just take care of them in the best way.

Someone else had the best opportunity to deal with a jealous neighbor who was in trouble. Their choice was to either let the neighbor face the difficulty and feel satisfied that Karma really works after all, or to be a proper citizen and go out and help them despite the past injustices.

By evening, I got a phone call which then snowballed into a full-fledged video conference, where everyone was talking at the same time and everyone was angry or upset. My friends had all listed their choices, and once the choices were in front of them, they were forced to abandon impulsive emotional responses and had to pick the ones which they thought was the right thing to do. And at the end of the day, they felt like losers, victims, and the proverbial doormats. They felt they were denied juicy chances to get back at the injustice that was happening or happened to them.

That night, I lay in my bed, worried if I had somehow broken up this beautiful group that had grown over the years. I surely did not want this to happen, and I decided to salvage whatever was left and get things back to normal. I had a plan by the time I dozed off.

The next day, I invited everyone for evening tea. I had all their favorite snacks ready, I had a list of fun games we could play, I had selected music that we all love, and I was fully prepared to erase any impression of the previous day from their minds. After setting everything up, I sat back and wondered if any of them would really turn up.

And turn up they did! Every one of them. We had tea, and we moved on to playing games, when suddenly someone said, “I did not know, doing the right thing would be so disturbing, what does your Krishna say for that?”
I really did not like the direction this was taking, but then, a question was a question, and I had to answer that, “Krishna says, if you do your duty, you will get purity of mind” I responded, as shortly as I could.

“Purity of mind is the last thing I would want, when I am in trouble or pain” came the blunt reply from Neelam.

“Then Krishna asks us to do it for His sake, out of our love for Him” I tried another direction. This was met with lot of eye rolling and booing.

“I don’t follow Hinduism, what do I do then?” asked Kavitha.

“Every religion or philosophy supports this concept, if you take stoicism for example, they talk about becoming virtuous, becoming the best version of humankind. I am sure Jesus is not against anyone doing their duty” I pleaded.

“I do not believe in God,” said Neelam. There was a shocked silence. I had no answer to this. I was feeling uncomfortable and was looking for something to say when Kavitha spoke up.

She said, “Hey guys, why don’t we play a game? As we have seen yesterday, the unappealing choice seems to be the right one. But we are all unhappy with the way the world would see us for making those choices. Our colleagues may think of us as weak; our relatives may take us to be fools; others may simply walk over us. But are we not tired of doing things for the sake of others? If the world would ill treat us for doing the right thing, let it! But we can reward ourselves for it. Let’s give ourselves one point for each of the unappealing but right choice that we make, let us collect points and celebrate the winner who made the greatest number of unappealing choices for the week!!!” This must have seemed like a novel thing to do, so it was met with a huge welcome and then everyone was back to their silly selves, and the friendly banter resumed and continued for the rest of the evening.

I was not sure, I really understood what was happening, but I was relieved that everyone was happy again, and there was no discomfort anymore. This group has always been our “happy place”, so, I was willing to go with the flow.

The next week was a whirlwind of messages. The game was on! The ladies were posting the choices they were making, and the ones who made the right choice, even though it was unappealing, got points. There were times when we made the wrong, impulsive choice, but we knew that the game would go on, and we would have ample opportunities to make the right choice the next day. By end of the week, there were winners, losers, handmade gifts and a whole lot of teasing for sure.

I was expecting the fervor to die down any time, but three weeks went easily by, and the game was on in its full form still. We did have our regular chats, we did have fun, but we realized our happiness had a wholeness to it. We had a sense of peace that was coming from within us. We were somehow quieter, and more confident than ever before. We still had our struggles to face, but there was dignity to our actions and reactions. We were no longer sleepwalking through life; we were fully conscious of the choices we were making every waking moment. No one in this group now feels that they don’t have choices in life. In the last few weeks, we have realized that no matter how tough our situation may be, we really do have a choice, and that is the key to our growth. To grow out of impulsive actions into a world of awareness and diligent living.

Finally, it was a month since we had our first discussion, and I logged in for the next online MGML class.
As the participants logged in one by one, I was surprised to see Seema in the participant box next to me.
I was surprised would be a mild way to put it. I now had a hunch, so I scrolled through the remaining
participants and was pleasantly shocked to see all my friends in there!!!

I realized that this was a starting point in a long spiritual journey, and I was lucky to have my friends accompany me in this path. I also felt grateful for the wonderful knowledge that is readily available to everyone, at any point in time, that they make up their mind to look for it. I felt incredibly grateful for the great teachers who gently and patiently guided us in the right path irrespective of our innumerable follies. I realized that instead of being battered by the huge waves of life experiences, Gita teaches us to ride them instead and use them to propel us into the skies of peace and joy.

My humble pranams to the Guru and the Almighty, and I pray for the knowledge and courage to keep going in this path, making the right choice every minute of the way.

-  vidyalakshmi govindarajan

In a world that rarely pauses, stress and anxiety have quietly become part of our everyday vocabulary. We wake up already thinking of what lies ahead. Messages, meetings, responsibilities, expectations. Even in moments of rest, the mind continues its chatter. While modern tools offer support, the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita speaks to this inner turbulence with remarkable relevance.

It is significant that the Gita was not taught in isolation from life. It arose in the midst of conflict. Arjuna stood on the battlefield, overwhelmed and uncertain. His confusion was not about strategy alone. It was emotional, ethical, deeply personal. In many ways, his state reflects our own when we feel pulled in different directions, unsure of what to do, yet unable to withdraw.

One of the central teachings of the Gita is about action. Krishna advises Arjuna to act with dedication but without clinging to the outcome. Much of our anxiety comes from trying to control results that are never fully in our hands. We fear failure, judgement, and loss. When we focus instead on sincere effort, something within settles. Work becomes meaningful rather than burdensome.

The Gita also speaks honestly about the restless nature of the mind. It does not dismiss our struggles. Instead, it offers a path of steady practice and inner discipline. Returning the mind gently to clarity, again and again, builds resilience. Over time, we begin to observe our thoughts instead of being carried away by them.

Another comforting insight is the idea of swadharma, one’s own role in life. Comparison has become almost instinctive today. We measure ourselves against others and feel inadequate. The Gita reminds us that living our own path, even imperfectly, brings greater peace than imitating another’s journey. There is dignity in embracing who we are meant to be.

These teachings are not meant to remain as philosophy on a page. Institutions like the Chinmaya International Foundation serve as living spaces where such wisdom is studied, reflected upon, and integrated into daily life. Located in a serene setting in Kerala, the Foundation is dedicated to preserving and sharing the knowledge traditions of India. Through structured courses, scriptural study programs, retreats, and publications, it creates an environment where seekers can engage deeply with texts like the Bhagavad Gita in an authentic and systematic manner.

Learning in such a space allows the teachings to move from intellectual understanding to personal transformation. When scripture is studied with guidance, reflection becomes clearer. Questions are welcomed. Doubts are addressed. The teachings are connected to present-day challenges. This makes ancient wisdom accessible and practical.

For someone dealing with stress and anxiety, even small shifts inspired by the Gita can make a difference. Beginning the day with a short reflection on right action. Pausing before reacting in moments of pressure. Accepting results with grace rather than harsh self-criticism. These simple practices gradually change our inner climate.

The Bhagavad Gita does not promise a life free from difficulty. Arjuna still had to face his circumstances. What changed was his understanding. Clarity replaced confusion. Courage replaced paralysis. That inner shift is the true remedy for anxiety.

In a time when the outer world moves rapidly, returning to such timeless guidance can help us rediscover steadiness within. Through sincere study and reflection, supported by institutions committed to preserving this wisdom, the teachings of the Gita continue to offer quiet strength to those who seek it.

You may also explore these teachings more deeply by enrolling in the Gita Panchamrit webinar offered by the Chinmaya International Foundation: https://chinfo.org/courses/gita-panchamrit/

Srimad Bhagavad Gita – A Manual for Life

The Mahabharata declares: “If you master the Bhagavad Gita, what is the need for a pile of scriptures.'' The Bhagavad Gita is the quintessence of the entire Upanishads, immensely practical and thus the most popular of all the scriptural treatises. Its message is universal and serves as an unparalleled self-transformation tool.

Explore CIF’s diverse Gita courses and learning formats designed to suit your pace and style of study. Embark on the Gita way of life – study, reflect, and live the timeless wisdom of the Lord’s Song.

Why Study the Bhagavad Gita?

1. Timeless manual of life that guides us on how to live successfully – both in this world and beyond.
2. Offers practical wisdom on leading a meaningful and purposeful life.
3. Addresses the challenges, dilemmas, and conflicts we encounter in our day-to-day existence.
4. Wisdom transcends cultural and religious boundaries.

When studied systematically, the Bhagavad Gita helps us understand the deeper psychological layers within us – revealing the root causes of our problems and confusions. It presents a holistic vision of life, showing us where we currently stand and the practices needed to bridge the gap towards inner growth and fulfillment.

This journey requires time, attention, and effort – a focused approach to undo the conditioning of many lives and rediscover our true nature.

Go through Gita… Grow through Gita…

As part of the sacred occasion of 2025 Gita Jayanti celebrations, all seekers are invited to chant one selected verse from the Bhagavad Gita.

How to Participate?  Choose any one verse to chant:

Here is a quick reference guide to the essence of Bhagavad Gita in 5 Shlokas. Download.

Record your chanting (audio or video) and send it directly on WhatsApp to +91 92077 11511.

All participants will receive a 20% discount on "Gita Courses" and the Shravana Mangalam album "The Complete Bhagavad Gita".

Bhagavad Gita Online Certificate Course

• 30 Lessons with Study material
• 30 Video lectures
• Online Questionnaires/ Assessments
• Certificate of Completion
• Mentorship Assistance

The Bhagavad Gita Course is authored by Pujya Swami Tejomayananda. Know More and Register

Master Gita Master Life Course

• Detailed verse-by-verse exposition of Bhagavad Gita covering all 18 Chapters.
• 200+ Video Lectures.
• Online Questionnaires/Assessments.
• Meditation Sessions.
• Doubt Clarification Sessions.
• Learn Gita Chanting.
• Transcripts for all lectures.
• Mentorship Assistance.
• Certificate of Completion

Know more and register, available in English, Malayalam and Tamil. 

Shravana Mangalam

The Complete Bhagavad Gita is a 19-album collection featuring Swami Advayananda’s in-depth and systematic discourses on the Introduction to Bhagavad Gita, Gita Dhyanam and all 18 chapters of the Divine Song. Drawn from the Vedanta Sadhaka Course (VSC-1), these recordings offer clear, comprehensive insights that unfold the Gita’s timeless wisdom for sincere seekers.

Know More and Register.

When Something Feels Effortless  and Something Else Drains You

Have you noticed how some things just flow when you do them? You sit down to work, and before you know it, two hours have passed, and you still feel fresh. And then there are those other tasks, the ones that make you sigh before you even begin. Even if they take only twenty minutes, you feel like you’ve run a marathon.

It’s not just about liking or disliking something. It goes deeper than that.

The Bhagavad Gita, in its final chapter, speaks directly to this, not in a philosophical floaty way, but with startling practicality. Krishna says that each person is wired differently. Our nature, our temperament, our instinctive talents — all of these shape how we act, what energises us, and what exhausts us. That natural alignment is called svadharma.

Not duty in the heavy, moral sense – but the path that comes from who we are within.

The Effort We Don’t Fight

Today, everyone is reading about personality types, career alignment, purpose, mental health, burnout, work-life balance, but the Gita spoke about this ages ago. Chapter 18 doesn’t ask you to become someone else. It asks: What if your peace lies not in doing more, but in doing what is already yours to do?

Maybe you’re someone who thinks deeply and likes to work quietly. Maybe you come alive when leading. Maybe you’re a natural creator, healer, organiser, teacher, builder, writer, listener, or problem-solver. When your actions align with that inner wiring, life doesn’t feel like a tug of war.

But when you force yourself into something just because others are doing it, or because it “should” be done — that’s where the drain begins.

Krishna doesn’t say run away from your work. He says: Know which work is yours.

Why This Conversation Matters Now

We’re living in a time where people are exhausted not only from doing too much, but from doing what doesn’t belong to them. Many are successful and still restless. Others feel stuck, not because they lack talent, but because they’re spending energy in the wrong direction. The Gita doesn’t give a motivational pep talk. It gives a compass.

A Chapter That Doesn’t End — It Begins

The 18th chapter isn’t just the last part of the Gita. It’s where everything comes together — clarity, action, surrender, temperament, and the freedom that comes when you stop pretending to be someone else.

If you’ve been questioning your direction or simply curious about how to live with less resistance, this might be the right space to explore those thoughts.

Not as a follower. Not as a philosopher. Just as a human being trying to make sense of life.

And maybe that’s exactly what Krishna intended.

If something in you is tired of pushing, listen.

The Gita doesn’t ask you to escape life — it teaches you how to stop fighting with yourself.

Let that be the starting point.

The Final Word of the Gita: Why Chapter 18 Still Speaks to Us Today

Think about it – how often do we find ourselves at crossroads, wondering if we’re doing the right thing? Whether it’s about quitting a job, chasing a passion, balancing family and ambition, or even making peace with our own restless mind – the question lingers: What does it really mean to “let go”?

More than 5,000 years ago, Arjuna asked the very same thing on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. His confusion, though wrapped in the context of war, is painfully familiar to us even today. And the answer he received from Bhagavan Sri Krishna in the 18th Chapter of the Bhagavad Gita – Moksha-sannyasa-yoga – is nothing short of life-changing.

This isn’t about renouncing the world, walking away from responsibilities, or turning into a hermit. Sri Krishna’s teaching is far more profound and practical. He shows us how to live fully, responsibly, and purposefully, without being enslaved by stress, fear, or endless “what ifs.”

Why Chapter 18 matters now more than ever

We live in a time where burnout is almost a badge of honour, where every scroll on social media reminds us of what we don’t have, and where silence often feels uncomfortable. In this chaos, Krishna’s words land like fresh rain on parched earth:

Renunciation is not abandonment; giving up doesn’t mean running away. It means rising above the mind’s noise while still playing your role in the world.

The three gunas explain to us - Why do we act the way we do? Why do some of our plans succeed while others crash? Understanding sattva, rajas, and tamas helps decode our own temperament.

Our duties are not chains but pathways. By living in alignment with who we truly are, every action can lead us closer to fulfilment.

The final secret: surrender – Krishna closes with His most intimate message: Take refuge in Me. A call to trust, to drop the heavy backpack of constant self-judgment, and walk lighter. Doesn’t this sound like wisdom tailor-made for the modern generation?

Learning from a living Master

These insights are not just to be read; they are to be lived. And that’s where Swami Advayananda, President of Chinmaya International Foundation and Resident Acharya of Sandeepany Vedanta Course, steps in. With decades of teaching and guiding seekers across the world, Swamiji makes the Gita feel not like an ancient scripture, but like a mirror held up to our daily lives.

In this Vedanta Vijnana Course, you’ll dive into Chapter 18 as the grand finale - a roadmap that ties together the entire wisdom of the Gita. And whether you’re joining online or in-person, this is not just a class, but a chance to see life differently.

Why you should join

Because the questions Arjuna asked are still our questions. Because clarity, calmness, and inner strength are no longer luxuries, they are survival skills. And because the Gita, especially its final chapter, doesn’t just give us theories, it gives us tools to live a life of freedom, joy, and strength, no matter what’s on our plate.

Whether you choose to step into the serene Gurukula in Mumbai or join from the comfort of your home, this is your chance to receive the Gita’s final word, direct, simple, and alive. The webinar begins on October 12, 2025, and will continue every Sunday.

If there’s one takeaway from Chapter 18, it is this: Life doesn’t have to be a tug-of-war. It can be a dance when we know how to let go without losing ourselves.

So, are you ready to hear Krishna’s final message spoken not just to Arjuna, but to every seeker, every struggler, every dreamer of today?

Come, be part of this journey. The battlefield may have changed, but the wisdom remains timeless.

 - Anjali N. Kumar

The chaos of modern living

Life is a flux, almost all the time. There is stress and tension, hustle and bustle, deadlines to meet, choices to make, decisions to take. If we slip for a few seconds, we have to catch up with months and years of work. It is like standing in a flooded river and trying to hold the water with our hands to store it. It always laughs and slips by.

The quest for quietude

In this chaos, how do we find the cosmos of quietude. In this delirious mess of distractions, how do we find our quiet space to take a deep breath and think with clarity. How indeed do we find the missing peace amid the jumbled pieces of thoughts, emotions, trauma, travails and things to do?

Understanding the inner turmoil

Is there something called silence, stillness and peace in this world of noise, clutter and disturbance? The ancient Srimad Bhagavad Gita has the answer to even our modern struggles of Gen Z or even Gen Alpha. Arjuna's situation was not much different from ours. He was a qualified warrior. We are qualified too in our respective fields. He has seen success always. We have also had our stints of successes. He was torn between misplaced love for his family and the call of a frightening duty to destroy the very people he loved. We too have similar struggles in our daily lives, in our own small ways. The Gita that showed the path to bring Arjuna's mind out of the slushy depths of confusion, sorrow and grief has the power to lift ours too out of our confusions, indecisions and uncontrollable wanderings.

Moving from chaos to clarity

The message of the Gita is beyond time. It shows us how to live our every day with quiet confidence and fulfilment in our contribution to society. Whether it is showing us that our jurisdiction lies in action and not its results, that we may not be wise to focus on results or avoid action, that we may stay integrated in thought and feeling and do action, that we may not entertain anxiety about the future, worry about the past and agitation in the present - Gita shows the path of right action.

Spiritual insights for inner peace

Showing us the power above our own little self, the Gita teaches us how to transcend our limitations to holding on to that power within or without, with love. Finally the Gita lovingly tells it all about who we really are - the seer, the one who approves, the master, the enjoyer and the supreme Lord who runs the show of our life.

Embracing the cosmos within

Whether it is managing the tension, trauma or drama of daily life or to achieve greater heights in this world or seek and realise the Self, the Gita shows the way. Yes, it is a one-stop-shop for all our questions in life. We need to search no more if we find the Gita. Enough is said and it is time to choose, for in moving forward through action lies true success. The last and 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is almost a summary of the whole text. It is a tiny encyclopedia of what we need to know about life, about our self and about the way forward. It is only for the truly blessed that such exclusive opportunities present themselves as this one. The sessions on the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18 will be held as a webinar by a master on this subject, Swami Advayananda, Acharya of the current Vedanta Course at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai. Think not but act and enroll for the course to get that smooth flow happening in the course of your life. Such rare opportunities are truly rare. They do not knock again and again. Wise is the one who catches time by its forelock. Stop looking and start acting. Allow the Gita and the Guru to light your way in life.

Om Tat Sat

~ by Brahmacharini Sharanya Chaitanya