The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

notes ╯
hides the creative, wise, loving Self underneath. This “death” of
the old person to make way for the new is one purpose of spiritual
disciplines. It can be painful, but the death of the old does
not lead to annihilation but to a spiritual rebirth.
CHAPTER THREE
9 Here and later yajna is translated as “selfless work” or “selfless
service.” The literal meaning is sacrifice: essentially, self-sacrifice,
giving up something one greatly values for the sake of a
higher purpose. Some translators give a very narrow translation
of yajna as a ritualistic sacrifice, but this is inaccurate.
39 Kama can be translated as selfish desire or pleasure, and often
carries a connotation of sensual desire or sexual passion. It
means essentially a personal desire for ease or pleasure, not
“desire” of a more altruistic kind.
CHAPTER FOUR
37 This is a well-known verse. The meanings of karma are complex,
but the verse is widely taken to mean that true knowledge
destroys the effects of past errors, which generate further karma.
When consciousness is unified and illumined, one is released
from the bondage of karma.
CHAPTER FIVE
6 Yoga has many meanings in the Gita. Here yoga is translated as
“action” and “selfless service” because a contrast is being made
between Sankhya and yoga: that is, between philosophical
explanation and the actual practice of the spiritual life.
9 The word for “senses” in Sanskrit is indriya, literally “faculty” or
“power.” The indriyas are not only the five faculties of perception
(seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting) but also
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