Karma

Desirelessness: Relevance Beyond Achievement
Desirelessness: Relevance Beyond Achievement
6 min
Desirelessness is not about not wanting anything. “The one who is preaching Nishkam Karma is right in the thick of action.” Nishkam Karma is not for absconders. Nishkam Karma means, I am a human being, I have discretion, and my desire will follow my discretion. I’m not an animal. I’ll not blindly run after instinct. Not that I won’t have desire, but my desire will be secondary to my discretion. That’s desirelessness. Desirelessness is not when you do not have desire. Desirelessness is when you do not give desire the top position. When you do not put desire at the helm, when you do not make desire the master — that’s called desirelessness.
निष्कामता ही श्रेष्ठ जीवन है  || आचार्य प्रशांत, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता पर (2022)
निष्कामता ही श्रेष्ठ जीवन है || आचार्य प्रशांत, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता पर (2022)
31 min

नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन। न चास्य सर्वभूतेषु कश्चिदर्थव्यपाश्रयः ।।१८।।

इस संसार के कर्मों के अनुष्ठान से निष्कामी मनुष्य को कोई प्रयोजन नहीं रहता फिर, और ऐसे मनुष्य को कर्मत्याग की कोई आवश्यकता नहीं रहती। ऐसे मनुष्य के लिए संसार में किसी प्रयोजन की सिद्धि हेतु आश्रय करने योग्य भी

Gita Is Not This
Gita Is Not This
7 min
To qualify an entrance exam, and work towards it, without thinking of the results, that’s not what Karma Yoga is. Karma Yoga is not about setting tangible worldly targets and going after them. It’s a moment-to-moment thing in which you are very conscious whether the objective of your action is personal ingratiation or larger welfare. You are acting all the time, you are not acting merely when you act towards a distant and a larger cause.
What is Yagya?
What is Yagya?
11 min
In the name of yagya, if you continue to burn wood, you are doing no good to anybody. Yagya must be understood in its true spirit. Shri Krishna says, “Do not act for yourself or for your personal gain. Act for a higher cause; higher than yourself, beyond yourself. Do that action that takes you to your Niyati, which is your end. Yagya is that which dissolves you; that which reduces you.”
How to Act Without Caring About the Result?
How to Act Without Caring About the Result?
7 min
The Gita does not say that you must do whatever you do without caring for the result; it is also impossible to execute. That’s also the way so many popular gurus have sold the Gita. It’s very harmful. With false action, you will always have one eye on the result. The first thing is the right action; only right action can give you detachment from the result.
You Always Have a Choice: Ditch the Helplessness!
You Always Have a Choice: Ditch the Helplessness!
6 min
Every time you say you are helpless against something, you are just displaying Akarma. None of us is ever helpless. Never come up with an alibi, “What else could I have done?” There is always something else that you could have done. There is always the right thing that you could have done.
The Gap Between Understanding and Action
The Gap Between Understanding and Action
6 min
Understanding expresses itself through action. And understanding knows no other expression. Words are a very poor substitute for the right action and that is what Gibran is talking of here. He says that which is understood claim for its final expression as action in life. The poet often lets his understanding become his words. To that extent, there is a flow but if the words remain mere words and do not turn into life then there is no freedom yet. The imprisonment continues. Live what you love, otherwise, the punishment is tremendous.
When Things Don't Go Your Way Despite Effort
When Things Don't Go Your Way Despite Effort
4 min

Questioner: I believe a lot in execution. I keep saying sometimes when I’m in private that I’m a doer; I do things.

Acharya Prashant: Yes.

Questioner: And I believe that I am dedicated to God. I believe that I try a lot of things, but you know some things happen,

Karma Yog, and the matter of being good
Karma Yog, and the matter of being good
6 min

Questioner: I just wanted to request you to help us in knowing something about being Yogi and how it is different from being Karma Yogi?

Acharya Prashant: Yog is one. It's just that it is expressed in various ways; Yog is union, coming together of the many. So, when you

For the Right Reason, Be Tactful and Clever || AP Neem Candies
For the Right Reason, Be Tactful and Clever || AP Neem Candies
4 min

Acharya Prashant: The spiritual soldier, the religious warrior has to be extremely intelligent. You could go to the extent of saying that he has to be cunning in the service of Truth; I’m choosing this word with all deliberation.

He has to be cunning in the service of the Truth;

How to Correct a Bad Decision?
How to Correct a Bad Decision?
1 min
Do not focus on the decision. Rather, look at the decision-maker. The decision is not bad, humbly accept that the decision-maker is bad. Without this acceptance, the series of bad decisions will continue. When one realizes that the decision-makers' mind has been full of beliefs, past, and fear, then there is radical transformation in one’s being. The old, frozen, conditioned decision-maker simply evaporates.
Remaining Yourself, How Will You Change Your Actions? (The Actor Is the Action) || AP Neem Candies
Remaining Yourself, How Will You Change Your Actions? (The Actor Is the Action) || AP Neem Candies
8 min

Acharya Prashant: We do not just act; we act with the intention of obtaining the fruit of the action.

So, the actor is there, and the actor acts as per his own personal intellect, desires, calculations, and projections. He speculates, calculates that his action will get him a particular result.

Why Do We Crave Holidays?
Why Do We Crave Holidays?
5 min
The mind is fed up of its daily, boring, routine, fettered and frustrated life. But it has no faith or courage to break away from this life. It is very necessary for it to keep looking towards the future. Some special day must always lie ahead: New Year, Valentine’s, Holi, your birthday, Diwali and so on. This cycle keeps up the illusion that something great is coming.
अच्छा काम नहीं मिल रहा?
अच्छा काम नहीं मिल रहा?
11 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी नमस्कार, मैं अभी आपसे दो-ढाई महीने से जुड़ा हुआ हूँ। मेरी उम्र तीस चल रही है, तो आज भी मैं जी रहा हूँ और दो-ढाई महीने पहले भी जी रहा था। पर पहले वो जीवन में ठसक नहीं थी जो अभी है। पहले मैं जो भी काम

Who Is a Saint?
Who Is a Saint?
4 min
Walking in the street, sitting in your office, driving your car, typing an e-mail, what are you waiting for? You are waiting just for those few moments when you can be Kabir. Is it not happening? Don’t we spend the entire day just in hope of those few moments of sanity? What are those few moments? Let those moments not remain so rare, support them. When they call you, respond affirmatively.
Three Ways To Fool Oneself
Three Ways To Fool Oneself
20 min

Acharya Prashant: ‘Karma’ or doing, or action is easier to understand. That, with which you associate yourself as the doer is karma. Remember you are not the doer; you are associating yourself with the action. Where is the action happening? The action is happening in the domain of the senses.

What Is the Main Concept of Bhagavad Gita?
What Is the Main Concept of Bhagavad Gita?
26 min
So, when you have to decide what to do, when you are in a mess like Arjun, respond to the call of love, respond to the call of freedom. Go in that direction where truth lies even if it costs you a lot, even if it seems unreasonable, even if it scares and terrifies you, even if you cannot explain to others or even yourself, “Why are you moving in such a way or in such a direction? Still move in that way. Read more....
When Life Gives Bad Results Inspite of Good Actions
When Life Gives Bad Results Inspite of Good Actions
5 min
Vedanta does not talk of a personal past life, the person that you are or I am, we have no past or future life. Rebirth or reincarnation happens at a general, at a macro level, not at a personal level. It’s the “I” tendency that exists and keeps repeating its existence. Read more...
Karmanye Vadhikaraste
Karmanye Vadhikaraste
19 min
Fulfillment of expectations does not give you fulfillment. Expectations might get fulfilled; you do not get fulfilled. Expectation is kamana, desire, and when you see that even the complete fulfillment of expectation gives you neither fulfillment nor completeness, then you say that expectation is junk, I do not want to chase it any further.
If Everything is Temporary, Why Do Anything?
If Everything is Temporary, Why Do Anything?
6 min

Questioner: Good Evening Sir. My name is Tarun Singh from IIM Nagpur. Sir my question is this, actually we understand this thing that in life everything is temporary. Be it my existence on this earth, or any relationship, or my friendship, or any environment around me, everything is temporary. So,

Your Battle, Your Battlefield || AP Neem Candies
Your Battle, Your Battlefield || AP Neem Candies
3 min

Acharya Prashant: Arjuna's hell was in his day-to-day activities, your hell too lies in your day-to-day activities. Arjuna could sense the evil in what appeared normal to the others, you must also be able to sense that there is something extremely fishy in what appears normal to others.

Do not

The fine line between Satvik and Tamsik action || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagavad Gita (2020)
The fine line between Satvik and Tamsik action || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagavad Gita (2020)
16 min
On one hand, Shri Krishna is says that in sāttvika action, you do not care for the results. On the other hand, the tāmsika person too has been defined as the one who does not care for the result. He continues in his self-destructive ways without caring for the results at all. So, what is this fine line that Shri Krishna seems to have drawn here?
Know the Real Spiritual Meaning of Karma: As Explained in Bhagavad Gita
Know the Real Spiritual Meaning of Karma: As Explained in Bhagavad Gita
5 min
karma and the subconscious exist, and they play their own game. Karma is the cause and effect chain: the ball goes up, it comes down. But whether the ball goes up or down, you remain free. The material world follows this cause-effect chain, but you are not material. For example, if you exercised hard yesterday, your body might ache today, which is karma in action. But let the body ache; you must not become mentally or spiritually sick. The physical consequences don’t affect your inner freedom. Let the fruits of karma be for the one who was the doer of the karma.
चाहते ही गए हमेशा, और चाहतों से बर्बाद हुए || आचार्य प्रशांत, दुर्गासप्तशती द्वितीय चरित्र (2023)
चाहते ही गए हमेशा, और चाहतों से बर्बाद हुए || आचार्य प्रशांत, दुर्गासप्तशती द्वितीय चरित्र (2023)
71 min

आचार्य प्रशांत: दुर्गा सप्तशती ले रहे हैं। उसका जो मध्यम चरित्र, दूसरा चरित्र है, तीन चरित्र हैं उसमें। तो जो दूसरा उसका चरित्र है, वो अध्याय दो-तीन-चार से आता है। इसमें प्रकृति माने देवी अपने रजोगुणी रूप में प्रकट होती हैं। ठीक है? यहाँ जो उनका नाम है, वो है

What is Dharma According to the Bhagavad Gita?
What is Dharma According to the Bhagavad Gita?
11 min

Overview

Fighting Duryodhana is Dharma . Fight Duryodhana in the way you can, that is swadharma . Dharma is the same for everybody, but swadharma varies according to your physical, social, temporal conditions.

But remember that swadharma can never be in contradiction of Dharma ; swadharma will always be something

Karma: Why Everything You Know About it is Wrong
Karma: Why Everything You Know About it is Wrong
5 min

Questioner: Karma is such a ubiquitous word. Everyone is using it. And the word ‘Karma’ is right now popular in the west, too. Even if you see Hollywood movies, they use the word Karma, maybe with some negative words between. What is Karma?

Acharya Prashant: You see, the entire Vedantic

Real change begins now and does not wait for grand occasions || Acharya Prashant (2015)
Real change begins now and does not wait for grand occasions || Acharya Prashant (2015)
10 min

Question: Life is almost like a tug-of-war. At one point we are averse to change, but at the other end, we love change so much. At least speaking about myself, I can say so. You don’t like change when it happens on its own, but you like to make changes

No action in continuation of restlessness will take you to rest || Acharya Prashant (2015)
No action in continuation of restlessness will take you to rest || Acharya Prashant (2015)
4 min

Question: Sir, as you said right now that when I am really here, then there is no opportunity for restlessness. But when I am really here, a restlessness, an inner thirst, is there. And this thirst is unbearable.

Shri Prashant: No, you call that restlessness. It is never there on

कर्मयोग और कर्मसन्यास में अंतर? || आचार्य प्रशांत, श्रीकृष्ण पर (2014)
कर्मयोग और कर्मसन्यास में अंतर? || आचार्य प्रशांत, श्रीकृष्ण पर (2014)
19 min

आचार्य प्रशांत: कर्मसंन्यास और कर्मयोग क्या हैं? दोनों में अन्तर क्या है? आमतौर पर हम जिसे कर्म कहते हैं; वो कैसे होता है? वो ऐसे होता है कि जैविक रूप से और सामाजिक रूप से मन संस्कारित रहता है। फ़िज़िकल , सोशल दोनों तरह के संस्कार। तो मन में पहले

अध्यात्म में संकल्प लेने का महत्व है कि नहीं? || आचार्य प्रशांत, भगवद् गीता पर (2019)
अध्यात्म में संकल्प लेने का महत्व है कि नहीं? || आचार्य प्रशांत, भगवद् गीता पर (2019)
8 min

कुलक्षये प्रणश्यति कुलधर्माः सनातनाः। धर्मे नष्टे कुलं कृत्सन्धर्मोऽभिभवत्युत।।

हे अर्जुन, जिसको संन्यास कहते हैं उसी को तुम योग जानो क्योंकि संकल्पों का त्याग न करने वाला कोई भी पुरूष योगी नहीं होता।

~ श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, छठा अध्याय, दूसरा श्लोक

प्रश्नकर्ता: संकल्पों के बिना कोई जीवन में आगे कैसे बढ़ें? निष्काम कर्म

आचार्य जी, आपका रोज़मर्रा का जीवन कैसा है? || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव ऋषिकेश में (2021)
आचार्य जी, आपका रोज़मर्रा का जीवन कैसा है? || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव ऋषिकेश में (2021)
12 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: ये प्रश्न आपके व्यक्तिगत जीवन से जुड़ा है। बहुत सारे लोगों को शायद ये उत्सुकता होगी, मुझे भी है कि हमने आपको हमेशा सत्र में देखा है और यहाँ पर कैंप में आते हैं, यहाँ पर देखा है, यूट्यूब पर देखा है लेकिन उसके बाद आप क्या करते हैं?

संकल्पों के बिना कैसे जिएँ? || आचार्य प्रशांत, भगवद् गीता पर (2019)
संकल्पों के बिना कैसे जिएँ? || आचार्य प्रशांत, भगवद् गीता पर (2019)
11 min

अयति: श्रद्धयोपेतो योगाच्चलितमानस:। अप्राप्य योगसंसिद्धिं कां गतिं कृष्ण गच्छति।।६.३७।।

अर्जुन बोले — हे श्रीकृष्ण! जो योग में श्रद्धा रखने वाला है, किन्तु संयमी नहीं है, इस कारण जिसका मन अन्तकाल में योग से विचलित हो गया है, ऐसा साधक योग की सिद्धि को अर्थात भगवत्साक्षात्कार को न प्राप्त होकर किस

Animal or spiritual? ||Neem Candies
Animal or spiritual? ||Neem Candies
1 min

I have often said that animals are in many ways better than human beings. Man had the potential to either rise above the animal or fall way below it. Man has continuously been making the wrong choice.

If you cannot build your cities and your social systems on spiritual foundations,

Relationships: Trust & Broken expectations ||Acharya Prashant, International Psychology Summit(2023)
Relationships: Trust & Broken expectations ||Acharya Prashant, International Psychology Summit(2023)
7 min

Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, we have talked about friends and how we have the freedom to choose our friends, and elaborating on that thought we don’t have the freedom to choose our family members, our relatives. And the way we are brought up, the way we are socialized, there is

Action is born out of nothingness
Action is born out of nothingness
2 min

Question: Dear Sir,

There is one question on the ‘action’ that has been playing on my mind since you sent me the mail about the desireless action.

You said when there is no self, there is purity in being and hence the desireless action takes place. By this do you

The concept of Karm, Akarm, Vikarm and Nishkaam Karm || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagavad Gita (2020)
The concept of Karm, Akarm, Vikarm and Nishkaam Karm || Acharya Prashant, on Bhagavad Gita (2020)
8 min

Questioner (Q): What is the exact meaning of ’Gahna Karmo Gati’? There are a lot of sayings about that.

Acharya Prashant (AP): You'll have to quote the entire shloka (verse); then you'll understand. Actually, these three words, ‘Gahna Karmo Gati’, have been quoted so variously and so frequently, even by

Real change comes not from your effort but from your Surrender || Acharya Prashant (2015)
Real change comes not from your effort but from your Surrender || Acharya Prashant (2015)
9 min

Questioner (Q): We have often discussed that one should not go to somebody with a reason. But if we discuss this in the context of a student-teacher relationship, a student goes to his teacher thinking that going to the teacher, he will probably get rid of his diseases. So, there

The pitfalls in the practice of mindfulness || Acharya Prashant (2019)
The pitfalls in the practice of mindfulness || Acharya Prashant (2019)
6 min

Questioner: You are holding a rabbit in your hands, what else is there except sensory perception? Why must there be anything beyond sensory perception? Just look at the creature, look into his eyes. Let the perception be total, and you will realize what is beyond perception. But that comes as

Karma carries the seed of its own destruction
Karma carries the seed of its own destruction
13 min

Question (Q): Acharya Ji, on being asked, can Karma ever come to an end? Ramana Maharshi says, "Karmas carry the seed of their own destruction in themselves." Dear Acharya Ji, please help me understand, how Karmas carry the seed of their own destruction?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Karma is action. We

Stop the lies about karma || Neem Candies
Stop the lies about karma || Neem Candies
1 min

Nothing is preordained. Every moment you have the liberty to make a fresh choice. The principle of karma offers you great freedom; the principle of karma simply does not sit well with any kind of fatalistic argument. Nothing is preordained except your ultimate destiny, which is to be liberated. All

Forget perfection, just do the best you can || Acharya Prashant, on Vedanta (2021)
Forget perfection, just do the best you can || Acharya Prashant, on Vedanta (2021)
5 min

Questioner (Q) : The problem usually comes from the idea when one says that to attain a higher pleasure, you have to go through higher suffering. For a common mind, there is his suffering (common suffering), and then there is pleasure, which is a lower pleasure. Now, in Vedanta or

Past life karma, goal of life, and liberation || Acharya Prashant (2019)
Past life karma, goal of life, and liberation || Acharya Prashant (2019)
9 min

Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, do you believe in past life?

Acharya Prashant (AP): That is irrelevant. Will I find you after your death? Will even you find yourself after your death?

Q: I may be in a different body.

AP: In a different body, will you have the same psyche,

If you remain the same, what will change for you? || Acharya Prashant, on Vedanta (2021)
If you remain the same, what will change for you? || Acharya Prashant, on Vedanta (2021)
14 min

Acharya Prashant (AP): Do you see why the motivation industry is so evergreen, always? Because we don't want to give up hope; because we want to keep believing, we have a stubborn stake there that we have not failed. “A particular type of attempt has failed. If I try again

Right work is its own reward || Acharya Prashant
Right work is its own reward || Acharya Prashant
12 min

Questioner (Q): It is said, “The one who is not able to incorporate the knowing in his doing is worse than the one who does not know at all.” Just wanted some clarification on this.

Acharya Prashant (AP): You see, man has an active mind. Man has a mind driven

Karma and Reincarnation || Acharya Prashant, at Arth : A Culture Fest (2022)
Karma and Reincarnation || Acharya Prashant, at Arth : A Culture Fest (2022)
5 min

Questioner (Q): Karma is such a ubiquitous word. Everyone is using it. And the word ‘Karma’ is right now popular in the west, too. Even if you see Hollywood movies, they use the word Karma, maybe with some negative words between. What is Karma?

Acharya Prashant (AP): You see, the

Forget the action, look at the actor || XLRI (2021)
Forget the action, look at the actor || XLRI (2021)
12 min

Questioner (Q): Sir, I have read that karma means action, what one thinks consciously and subconsciously, what one does. Our future action depends on the karma of the past and the present. But there is a thing in circulation these days that says that karma is actually a boomerang: if

No action can correct another action; only in understanding do all actions dissolve || Acharya Prashant (2014)
No action can correct another action; only in understanding do all actions dissolve || Acharya Prashant (2014)
7 min

Question: Destruction of our world, which we find comfort in, is inevitable. We can only help ourselves understand this, and minimize our suffering. To a cozily sleeping mind though, this realization is a nightmare. We can only pull it out slowly from of its deep sleep.

Travelling without luxuries and

How to identify the fool?
How to identify the fool?
12 min

Acharya Prashant (AP): Now, let’s revisit a few basic things regarding the deed and the doer. Action and the actor. Shri Krishna tells Arjun very early on in his epic discourse — “All that is ever happening is due to the three Gunas (attributes) of Prakriti (material nature). Yet, the

If bad Karma gets bad reward, why do we still act badly?
If bad Karma gets bad reward, why do we still act badly?
7 min

Questioner (Q): Sir, you have said that “right action is its own reward; the wrong action is its own punishment.” Basis your quote, the common man must choose right action and be naturally aversive to the wrong action but that does not happen. Kindly, throw some light on it.

Acharya

Myths around Law of Karma, and the difference between duty and Dharma || O.P. Jindal University (2021)
Myths around Law of Karma, and the difference between duty and Dharma || O.P. Jindal University (2021)
19 min

Questioner (Q): How to distinguish between kartavya and Dharma ? Can you give a quick distinction between the two?

Acharya Prashant (AP): You see, when you do not really know what to do, when you are not in direct touch with Krishna, Brahman , Ātman , Satya , then you