Table of Contents
Bhagavad Gita Verses: The Stress Buster of All Times
The Bhagavad Gita has been with humanity since the last 5000 years. As we all know, it does not differentiate between man and man. It is gender, race, caste, creed and belief independent.
Many stalwarts like Srila A.C Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada have offered themselves to educate the entire world towards applying the Gita’s principles into one’s life and accepted all kinds of challenges to exhort and establish the spotless solutions the Gita has been offering to the world.
Its teachings are timeless; ageless and unblemished. No man-made religion can stand the test of time. Just this single scripture is enough to elevate a crawling ant to the level of Sri Brahma and beyond, qualifying a living entity to enter the spotless realm of Sri Krishna from where there is no need to return.
As Srila Prabhupada often quipped “Why are we happy to live in a public washroom called Earth, when Bhagawan has made all provisions for us in His eternal unassailable eternal abode of Goloka Vrindavana, beyond the domain of the 14 fallible material universe. One who is able to even apply a single verse in one’s life, will first attain freedom from all types of unimaginable stress.
It shall end the constant strain that unneeded, unwanted desires that affect one’s otherwise purified consciousness. The Bhagavad Gita shall automatically lift away unwanted weight on our hearts and on our conscience that is induced on it by unrighteous living.
Let’s try to understand the Bhagavad Gita and study the 7 Verses of the Gita that relate to ending stress, as applicable to the times that we live in.
Practice Detachment: Let Go of the Outcome
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि
karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana |
mā karmaphalaheturbhūrmā te saṅgo’stvakarmaṇi
This is verse 47 of Chapter 2 of the Gita. Let’s understand this verse regarding modern day stress. The verse instructs individuals to perform actions without claiming entitlement to their results.
One must avoid considering oneself the cause of results and must stay unattached to inaction. If we are not the cause of action results, we might logically question why we should put in any effort if we cannot claim the results. Here is the answer. When our actions are directed towards efforts, without bothering about results, the actions shall be effective because there is no mind dispersion and fear about results.
Our entire effort shall be on the action, if we were to stop bothering about the result. Hence there is no stress about the result. Also, we shall not put efforts on any action that is directed towards satisfying our greed. It is greed alone that expects results. When we are driven by greed, there is also fear and all the negative aspects of life such as fear of failure, imagination of how life shall improve, useless hopes based on mindless fantasies shall cloud the mind.
When these unnecessary thoughts cloud the power of the soul, naturally the results fall short of all expectations. Usually we have seen that when we expect nothing, we always gain, since we have set our expectations to a near zero.
Therefore, whatever we get is a bonus and if we were not to gain anything, we would not be unhappy anyway because we expected nothing through the action, anyway. This shall naturally get our mind far away from the ill-effects of stress.
Also, inaction is to be shunned. The mind is always driven towards some action. Then why not apply the mind to some positive action. The result of action is in fact the satisfaction of performing the action itself. If we understand this, all actions shall be pleasant and contentment shall result. Positivity born out of such pleasant actions shall take away the strain on the mind. Also, we are not bound to action, we just act for the pleasure of action.
Action and contentment of action reaches a new high, if we surrender our actions to Supreme Will. This is the zenith of attaining the absolute stress-free state. This is the state of being of the most exalted yogis who are at the other end of the stress spectrum. It is the most fortunate state to be in, as we execute our plans and actions. Acting for Bhagawan, alone is the ideal stress-free state.
Cultivate Equanimity: Accept Life’s Dualities
योगस्थ: कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय |
सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्यो: समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते || 48||
yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjaya
siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṁ yoga uchyate
This is verse 48 of Chapter 2 of the Gita.Bhagawan addresses Arjuna thus “Be steadfast in performing your duty, O Arjun, abandoning attachment to success and failure. Such equanimity is called Yoga”.
Continuing from the previous verse, When you surrender the results of your actions to Bhagawan, you develop equanimity, seeing success and failure as mere concepts created by a materialistic and vicious mind. It is materialism alone that gives rise to the idea of success and failure. When we break these concept bubbles, stress disappears.
We often compare our life with others, the source of envy, greed and grief. But once we surrender these lower tendencies through the energy of positive action and the results thereof to Bhagawan where is the question of undergoing any stress? There is no need to go the society way.
It is society that has given rise to comparisons and who is the better idea. When we fall out of this rat race, when we look at our bare minimum needs of some food, clothing, shelter and existence, the concept of society that introduces stress falls apart. When there is no society, there is no stress.
It is a fact that Bhagawan has already planned for our daily needs, even before our visit to this temporary plane of existence. In such a case, all the joys and sorrows ebb away, considering the fact that we have set our expectations very low, reducing needs. So there is no question of wants and hence stress disappears.
Also, when comparison with others stops, one shall stop acting impulsively, which is usually a reason for increasing stress levels.
Follow Your Dharma: Align with Your Purpose
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुण: परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् |
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेय: परधर्मो भयावह: || 35||
śhreyān swa-dharmo viguṇaḥ para-dharmāt sv-anuṣhṭhitāt
swa-dharme nidhanaṁ śhreyaḥ para-dharmo bhayāvahaḥ
This is verse 35 of Chapter 3 of the Gita. Bhagawan says, It is better to do one’s own duty faultily rather than perform someone else’s activity, apparently perfectly. Bhagawan says that it is better to die doing one’s prescribed duty, rather than perform someone else’s duty.
I shall try to explain this verse through an example regarding how stress has a direct connection regarding the Dharmic activities that we do. It is a fact that we are comfortable doing actions based on our Gunas and Karma. Gunas means our internal nature depending on whether Sattva or mode of Goodness, Rajas or Mode of Passion or Tamas namely Mode of Ignorance, whichever is dominant.
Consider that we are from the knowledge industry, we are comfortable with language or writing and earn a decent living through writing. But now, we learn that investing in shares is the latest trend and we have also heard that people have earned a lot with minimal efforts. Influenced by such an idea, we invest in shares.
But we have overlooked the flip side. Do we have the business sense? Have we analyzed the pros and cons? Is this profession in alignment with our inner nature and aligned to our core? If not, then we are entering dangerous stress domains.
Someone with a strong business background does not have any issues with losing money. But we have only earned through writing and are alien to the concept of losing money. We did not analyze this aspect at all. What would happen if we were to lose money?
Rather it is better to lose our job as a writer, because we will get another job and the stress levels shall be less because we are anyway an expert in the art of writing. Same is not the case when we consider the occupation of investing in shares.
Control the Mind: The Key to Inner Peace
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् |
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मन: || 5||
uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet
ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ
This is verse 5 of Chapter 6 of the Gita. It says that we should elevate ourselves rather than allowing the mind to degrade. The mind causes both burden or liberation. In this verse Bhagawan takes us far away from the domain of stress.
When we have cleansed our actions by restraining it to the field of our Gunas and Karmas, after we have surrendered our actions to the Lord, absolutely expecting nothing out of action, we are ready to elevate ourselves to the domain of freedom.
Here Bhagawan says that if we have achieved the above, we have to feed the mind with higher objectives regarding spirit, towards higher purposes. Guide the mind away from the dust of cheap materialism and toward the highest attainments, far beyond its previous capabilities. Only when we release or purge the mind of lower tendencies that bind it, can it be available for its true purpose, the purpose of freedom, liberation.
7/8 Questions from Sanatana Dharma
The scores generated in this Quiz may or may not be absolute. There may be right or wrong answers to each Question. A percentage towards 100 indicates that you are more aligned to the overall subject matter.
Surrender to the Divine: Relinquish Worry
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज |
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुच: || 66||
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ
This is perhaps the zenith of stress release and the ultimate message of the Gita, which comes as the 66th verse of the 18th Chapter. Here Bhagawan says “Abandon all Varieties of Dharma and simply surrender unto me. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions, do not worry.”
It is quite disheartening to see that when Bhagawan has given such a promise to his devotees, we still worry and crawl on the mush of sorrow. Here is Bhagawan asking us to first understand and execute Action intelligently and when one attains complete maturity, advises us to relinquish everything and simply take His shelter.
He promises us to liberate us completely from all known and unknown sins that we have ever committed. This is not just a statement from a scripture but one that is absolutely practical and the final destination that we have been unconsciously striving for. This is a state of utter freedom, a state which is independent of our surroundings. We are only completely dependent on Bhagawan.
Bhagawan beautifully manifests people and things into our lives. The west dishes out all unscientific, flawed, materialistic approaches such as Creative visualization completely discounting Karma and Bhagawan. Here is Bhagawan who is ready to manifest anything for us, provided we abide by His lawbook, perhaps the only one in the multiverse, the Gita. All other great scriptures are simply an expansion of the Gita.
When one reaches this state of total dependence on Bhagawan, we have left the domain of stress far behind and even forgotten about what the word actually means.
Stress: We must Learn to Break it not Handle it
Modern Management and Corporate Houses spend millions towards Stress Management Programs and try to contribute towards better mental health at the workplace. The question is, have they succeeded?
Will any initiative succeed when the basis of such initiatives is towards corporate greed, exploitation of the workforce and promoting unhealthy work ethics that promote ego massaging, inequality and unnecessary competition amongst the people who serve these Corporates? Do these big players give any guarantee towards the genuine welfare of the employee fraternity?
The simple answer is: Why should they? They would say that we pay you for your work and if you suffer, use your money and do whatever is necessary. If it does not help, you can look for a job elsewhere. Such an approach has led to mounting work-pressure and a nervous breakdown of executives who work for organizations.
The best solution is to ramp down personal aspirations, set realistic goals and above all move away from toxic environments that stoke greed, envy and competition. Remove the causes of stress, such as expectations, perceived quality of life, and amplified aspirations, and automatically reduce 70% of your stress levels.
Moving to a toned down life-style and leading a calmer life that focuses on inner values is the only way that we can destroy stress. Handling stress is just another way to tell you that you are stuck and there is no way out. The reality still is, there are many ways out and taking up spirituality seriously is possibly the prescribed way out of stress.
You display your love by reading this valuable material. So kindly read and consider financially supporting us to keep our efforts going with renewed vigor! Supporters in India can donate via Razorpay while those abroad can use PayPal!
