Why Do Most Religious People Avoid the Krishna of Kurukshetra?
We gladly worship Krishna the cowherd of Mathura and Vrindavan, yet the Krishna of Kurukshetra, who speaks the Gita, is rarely welcome. Much of what we call religion is a request: we pick a favourite deity, place and ritual, then ask for a car, money or a cure. The Gita values rituals done for desire as little as a pond beside the ocean. Popular religion says, "I want, therefore I act." The Gita says, "Know who you are and then simply let things happen." Which of the two do our prayers come from?
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[From a session on the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2, Verses 45–46, at “Vedanta: Basics to Classics”, Greater Noida, 2024]
Acharya Prashant: You cannot be one of those who go to their favorite deities to ask for their favorite objects. Is that not what most of religion is about? You choose your favorite deity, your favorite method of worship, your favorite prayer, and your favorite place. It could be whatever. Temple, mosque, church, or a place of pilgrimage. It could be a hill or a river. And then you go to it and ask for your favorite thing. Can I have a new car? My favorite girl or boy? A son? Whatever. More money. Can I have all that? There is somebody in the family sick and diseased. Can he be please cured, sir? Reject all that. All that is for those who just want to wallow at the gate of religion. Or maximum at the porch. Not being allowed entry into the center. Those who are serious about life, those who love themselves, those who want to make the best of the limited opportunity available, all those things are not for them. “Oh, Lord, we worship thee. Kindly grant us our desire.” What kind of religion is this?
And if you are still in doubt whether Krishna really means what I am presenting to you, comes the next verse. And it says that, you know, if the entire surface of the Earth were to have just water, then tell me, Arjun, what kind of desire or relationship would a wise man have for a limited body of water? If the entire Earth were to be a giant sea, then how much value would you have left for a small pond? Please tell me, Arjun. Only that value, only that much value does a wise man accord to the Vedas. And what does he mean by the Vedas here? Obviously not the Upanishads because, huh?
Listener: Ritual.
Acharya Prashant: The ritualistic part. The ritualistic part. The part full of desire. See, at the center of the Gita is Nishkamna. Right? Desireless action. Desireless action stemming from self-knowledge. That’s what the message of Gita is, full stop.
Self-knowledge leading to desireless action also leading to freedom from useless relationships and affiliations.
Atma Gyan leading to Karma Yog and also Karma Sanyas. That’s what the Gita is. Whereas popular religion is all about Kamna, and Gita is about Nishkamna. How can these two go together?
So Gita is a dynamite. The entire structure of popular religion is blown up. That’s what Shri Krishna is doing. And that’s why Krishna can be accepted very smoothly as a cowherd. But the Krishna of Gita is very difficult to accept. And that’s why most religious people avoid the Krishna of Gita. They would rather have the Krishna of Mathura and Vrindavan. But they avoid like death the Krishna of Kurukshetra. I often wonder why do all these babas and saints sit only at Mathura and Vrindavan? Why not at…
Listener: Kurukshetra
Acharya Prashant: ... that’s the real place. That’s where the Gita came from. You should have a lot of ashrams there. But they will never go to Kurukshetra because Kurukshetra is about Nishkamna whereas popular religion is all about fulfilling your desires. Are you getting it?
Popular religion is just about consuming Prakriti. Prakriti appearing in its three Gunas. And therefore you drop the Vedas, Arjun. By dropping the Vedas Shri Krishna is talking about dropping the rituals. These rituals are of no use at all. These rituals are of no use at all. Drop them. How much value should you give to the rituals? As much value as you give to the pond when the ocean is available to you, which means practically zero value. How much values are to be given to all kinds of rituals?
And mind you, every single ritual is associated with fulfillment of desire. Is it not? If you have some ritual and ask for the reason or if you can call that as logic, it’s an abuse of the word logic, but whatever. If you ask what does this ritual stand for? They will say, “If you do this, then something.” And that something pertains to desire. Right? And that and the Gita cannot go together. Gita is about seeing and letting action happen from the seeing. Desire is about not seeing at all, remaining blind and therefore following desire.
Gita’s action stems from seeing. The action in popular religion stems from wanting.
Popular religion is I want therefore I act and that act is somehow called as praying or worship or whatever, adulation. Gita is I see therefore I act. Popular religion is…
Listener: I want
Acharya Prashant: ... I desire therefore I…
Listener: Act
Acharya Prashant: ... act. Gita and popular religion just cannot go together.
I said Gita is a dynamite. A dynamite that first of all blasts away the religious ones. So if you call yourself religious and want to sustain your version of religion, then you should not come to Gita. If you come to Gita, then whatever religion you subscribe to you will have to fall off. You cannot continue to be the old religious self and yet know the Gita. For the Gita there is only one religion. Know who you are and then simply let things happen. That’s all. Full stop.
We often defend a bad choice by pointing to a worse one: stay dishonest or starve, keep the wrong grip or stop playing. But the real trouble is not the option we picked. It is the option we never let ourselves see. Action does not need greed or attachment to find its energy. The third way begins by rejecting both false choices, without knowing what comes next. Which of our everyday choices are really false dilemmas?
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Human beings are born into uncertainty, surrounded by beliefs, identities, and social conditioning that offer ready-made answers to fundamental questions. Real spirituality begins not with accepting collective or personal beliefs, but with honestly examining one’s own suffering, fears, and false identities. The journey is not toward comforting ideas, but toward self-inquiry, where truth is discovered through questioning, observation, and the gradual rejection of illusion.
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Listener: (Reading a quote of Acharya Prashant from a quote-calendar)
What lies beyond mind?More mind.What is more mind?What and lies and mind.Questions, perceptions on the concept of the mind.
Acharya Prashant: Any question about beyondness would be a useless question because the question itself is coming…
