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The Battle Within: Learnings from the Gita: 4


Beyond all joy, beyond all pain,
There shines a light that will remain.
Not born, not lost, it cannot die—
It watches calmly, deep and high.

The senses pull, the mind reacts,
We chase illusions, bind with facts.
But he who sees the show unfold,
Stays rooted, silent, calm and bold.

Let pleasure pass, let sorrow fade,
Don't bow to likes the mind has made.
Just stand within, both firm and free—
A silent flame of clarity.


In the heart of the Mahabharata war, amidst the clash of dharma and duty, Shri Krishna speaks to a bewildered Arjuna. 

What He shares in Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita is not just a philosophical standpoint, but a timeless strategy for navigating the most fundamental conflict of human life: the confusion between the eternal Self and the fleeting illusions of the world.

After the initials, Shri Krishna started teaching Arjuna with these words. This sums up 

न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः ।
न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम् ॥12॥
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.

देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा ।
तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति ॥13॥
“Just as the soul passes through childhood, youth, and old age in this body, so too it passes into another body. The wise are not deluded by this.”

At first glance, this might feel familiar. Many of us have heard these verses before. The immortality of the soul, the temporary nature of the body, the illusion of suffering—these are common ideas in spiritual teachings. But have we really lived them?

That’s the crux of the issue. We don’t suffer from a lack of information—we suffer from a lack of realization.

Why Spiritual Knowledge Doesn’t Always Work

Let’s be honest: Arjuna had the supreme teacher—Krishna Himself. He received this wisdom directly from the source, in the most crucial moment of his life. And yet, just days later, he grieved the loss of his son, felt rage against Jayadratha, and hesitated to kill Bhishma, his own grandsire.

If even Arjuna couldn’t immediately live up to the Gita’s teachings, what chance do we mere mortals have?

Here’s where the true insight begins.

Shri Krishna isn’t handing out intellectual truths for passive consumption. He’s offering a mirror to our inner world—and an invitation to experience reality beyond the senses. Until this wisdom becomes experiential, it remains just another idea. And ideas, no matter how profound, cannot protect us from suffering.

Sparshas: The First Step Outwards

In verse 14, Krishna introduces a key concept:

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥14॥

He calls sensory experiences sparshas—contacts. These bring heat and cold, pleasure and pain. But they are impermanent, coming and going like passing clouds. Still, we cling to them, define our lives by them, and let them guide our every decision.

And then we wonder why peace feels so elusive.

Krishna's instruction is simple, yet profound: "Titiksha", endure them. Don’t resist. Don’t indulge. Just observe, let them pass. Because every time we chase pleasure or avoid discomfort, we spiral further into maya—the illusion that binds us to suffering.

Preferences: The Silent Dictators

"But what if I genuinely dislike some people? What if I love good food? Isn’t that just who I am?"

This is the trap most of us fall into. We confuse preferences with identity. Krishna offers clarity: your preferences are not you. They are threads of thought woven by the mind, shaped by past impressions, habits, and conditioning.

The first step towards liberation, then, is awareness. Start recognizing these preferences as thoughts, not truths. And crucially, do not let them influence your decisions. This is where discipline meets spirituality.

Walking the Difficult Path

Yes, it’s hard. Exceptionally hard. But no one ever said that rising above the mind would be easy.

The Gita does not promise a quick fix or instant transformation. It offers a path—one that begins with discipline, leads to awareness, and blossoms into wisdom.

यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ ।
समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते ॥15॥

The one who is unmoved by joy and sorrow, who remains steady in both pleasure and pain—such a person becomes fit for Amritatva, the state beyond death, the supreme realization.

The Real Battle

The battlefield of Kurukshetra exists in every human heart. Our senses, our emotions, our attachments—they are the chariots and warriors we must face.

You don’t need a bow and arrow to fight this war. But you do need courage.

  • Courage to observe your mind without judgment.

  • Courage to let go of what feels familiar but is actually limiting.

  • Courage to choose the truth over comfort, again and again.

Shri Krishna doesn’t ask us to be perfect. He asks us to make the effort—to try, to stumble, to learn, and to keep returning to the truth.

And in that effort itself, lies grace.

So, start small. Notice your preferences. Don’t act on all of them. Hold still in joy. Stay calm in pain. Watch how the waves of life rise and fall—and discover the shore within you that never moves.

That is the beginning of freedom.

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