A war was about to be fought for the control of the kingdom of Hastināpur (in present-day Uttar Pradesh near Delhi) between the armies of the Kauravas and the armies of the Pāndavas. Kauravas were sons of Dhritrāśtra (a descendant of Kuru) and Pāndavas were sons of Pāndu (himself also a descendant of Kuru!). Dhritrāśtra and Pāndu were brothers. Although both Dhritrāśtra and Pāndu were descendants of Kuru and had equal claim to be called Kauravas, Dhritrāśtra’s sons were ...

Early in 1995 at State Bank Institute of Rural Development in Hyderabad (India), I was attending a management development program as a young manager, where a new realization dawned on me. One day the instructor asked us about our hobbies. Thoughts flashed through my mind and by the time my turn came, I was ready with my answer ‘reading the Gītā’. The instructor looked surprised, paused for a moment, and said, “Good, so who is a Dehi?” That moment, it dawned on me that re...