“How is it that we fail to to act right, see right, communicate right,
even though we have all the resources?
What are the indications of this failure?
What indicates that all is well?
Arjuna of the Indian epic Mahābhārata represents the model of
what clouds our consciousness and what can break this cloud.”
– TKV Desikachar’s introduction to a seminar on the Bhagavad Gītā 1998
“Our intelligence is limited,
because of our duality.”
– TKV Desikachar
“What is the role of Dharma
in the face of survival?”
– TKV Desikachar speaking with his
senior Western students London 1998
“Only the Citta is the cause for Bandhana or Mokṣa.”
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Six verse 6
“What is most vital to a person for everlasting happiness
is to understand the nature of consciousness
and the Lord and his created entities.”
– TKV Desikachar Commentary on Gītārtha Saṃgraha of Śrī Yāmunācārya Śloka Four
“The senses can be faster than
the mind in triggering Saṃskāra.”
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Three verse 41
Matsara or Jealousy –
“To find fault in others.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Four verse 22
Saṃmoha –
“We are not clear what we are doing.
Because we are not clear, memory wanders.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Two verse 63
Parigraha –
“What we get used to expecting around situations.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Four verse 21
“So aspire beyond the three Guṇa.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Two verse 45
“What is darkness for some people is light for others.
What is light for some people is darkness for others.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Two verse 69
“The ability to do whatever we do in life
is linked to our state of mind.”
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Two verse 50
“Each person has two forces Rāga and Dveṣa.
They are there to serve you, not you them.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Three verse 34
“The movement of life is a pilgrimage of the body
and cannot be accomplished without action.”
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Three verse 8
“Karma is the means to know oneself.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Four verse 17
“Before I inquire into who am I,
I must first look at who I am.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Six verse 20
“Jñānam is the wisdom of ‘I am that’.
Vijñānam is the discernment that ‘I am not this’ ‘I am not that’.”
– TKV Desikachar on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter Seven verse 2
“God is always inside the heart.
However we are not always inside the will of God.
So actions can be right or wrong.”
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 18 verse 15
“Follow Truth with Faith.”
– TKV Desikachar commentary on Bhagavad Gītā Chapter 12 verse 20
“Action is best performed when it is for the good of the society,
with the spirit of dedication to the lord and
with freedom from the attitude of being the doer and the beneficiary.”
– TKV Desikachar Commentary on Gītārtha Saṃgraha of Śrī Yāmunācārya Śloka Seven
