The Bhagavad Gita: History’s First Podcast (Episodes 7–9)

Up till now, Krishna’s been the wise guest giving life hacks on how to work without burning out and how to keep your cool in chaos. But here? He rips the veil off and basically says: “Surprise — I’m not just dropping wisdom. I’m the Source itself.”

For a modern audience who vibes with Rogan’s wild tangents and Ferriss’s “optimise your life” frameworks, these chapters aren’t just ancient metaphysics. They’re like — “Here’s the OS underneath reality itself. Hack this, and every other hack pales in comparison.”

Episode 7: “The God Behind the Curtain” (Jñāna-Vijñāna Yoga)

Up until now, Krishna sounded like an enlightened teacher, right? Someone who has “the truth.” Suddenly in Chapter 7, he levels up and says: I’m not just a wise person. I’m the fundamental reality behind everything you touch, see, taste, or even imagine.

He lists it out in the most mind-bending mic-drop way:

• “I’m the taste in water.

• I’m the light of the sun and moon.

• I’m the syllable OM in the Vedas.

• I’m the very life force in all beings.”

  
  

For a modern audience, imagine the most disruptive entrepreneur saying, “Oh, by the way, I don’t just run my startup — I am the internet itself.” That’s how shocking this revelation must have felt to Arjuna.

Here’s what gets me though: Krishna isn’t just flexing. He’s reframing our relationship to the world. Every single thing you think is “ordinary” — your morning coffee, road rage moments, Spotify playlists — it’s all infused with divinity. Nothing is outside that field.

And for the “self-optimisation” crowd, Krishna basically hands over the ultimate hack: connect with this underlying Source, and your life stops being scattered pieces. It becomes one integrated flow.

Lesson: Everything you experience — taste, energy, brilliance, life force — is infused with the divine. Seeing the sacred in the everyday unifies the scattered life.

Example: Narayan Murthy & Infosys’ Value-Centric Vision.

Narayan Murthy built Infosys not just as a tech company but as an institution where ethics, transparency, and culture mattered as much as technology. In his interviews, he said, “Performance leads to recognition, recognition brings respect, respect leads to power. Humility and grace in its usage leads to excellence.” [Source: Business Standard, Infosys archives].

👉 Like Krishna telling Arjuna “Of mountains, I am Himalayas; of rivers, I am Ganga,” Murthy inspired Indians to see integrity and shared values as sacred elements under every business decision. For employees, even “ordinary” coding sprints were connected to a larger, value-driven mission.

Episode 8: “Death Without Panic” (Akṣara Brahma Yoga)

Arjuna, being the great host he is, asks the exact question all of us would want to ask: “Okay… but what happens at death?”

That’s the fear behind every other fear, right? The thing Rogan and Ferriss guests circle around when they talk psychedelics, consciousness, “legacy,” or fear of running out of time. And Krishna goes straight there.

He says: whatever your mind clings to in your final moments, that’s the direction you carry into your next becoming. Which, in today’s language, is basically: the way you live every day is your training for the Big Exit.

But then he sets up the ultimate escape clause: if your mind is fixed on the Self, on that underlying presence (a.k.a. Me), then you don’t just end up in another round of existence — you transcend the whole cycle. Boom.

That line hits. Because let’s be real, everything we do — building careers, relationships, chasing experiences — is partly driven by this background terror of running out of time. Krishna’s saying: live with awareness now, and that panic loosens its grip. Death stops being the full stop you thought it was.

Lesson: How you live daily is a rehearsal for death. Focus the mind on higher truth now, and you’ll carry that steadiness into the last moment (and beyond).

Example: Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, “The People’s President.”

Dr. Kalam, India’s Missile Man and 11th President, literally passed away doing what he loved most: teaching students (IIM Shillong, 2015). Multiple accounts, including The Hindu and India Today, confirm his last wish was to keep inspiring youth until his final breath. [Source: The Hindu, July 28, 2015: “Kalam passes away doing what he loved most.”]

👉 Kalam embodied Krishna’s teaching: your last moment reflects your life’s orientation. He didn’t die in regret, but in seva (service). For us, that’s the ultimate lesson: live aligned now, and there won’t be panic at the end.

Episode 9: “The King of Secrets” (Rāja Vidyā Rāja Guhya Yoga)

Now Krishna’s really rolling. He calls this the royal knowledge, the king of secrets. Why royal? Because it’s supreme yet simple. You don’t need a PhD in Sanskrit to get it. The cosmic secret is this:

• The universe is woven in Me, but I’m not bound by it.

• I create, I sustain, I dissolve — but I’m untouched.

• And — here’s the kicker — with just a bit of genuine devotion, someone can know Me directly.

  
  

This is radical for a New Age/Ted Talk audience. It’s not about memorising doctrine or building a biohacked body. It’s about relationship — being willing to remember the divine in the midst of messy everyday life.

Krishna even makes it inclusive in a way that feels shockingly modern. He says: no matter who you are — saint or sinner, woman or man, rich or poor — if you turn towards Me sincerely, you’re on the path. The door is open.

Think of it: the universe’s CEO just went public and said, “I’ll talk directly to anyone. Forget credentials. Forget resume. Bring an open heart, and you’re in.”

That’s why this chapter is called “Rajavidya, Rajaguhya” — the Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret. Because it’s ridiculously profound, but also ridiculously accessible. Like discovering the most elite, private podcast exists… and then realizing it’s free on Spotify for anyone who wants to tune in.

Lesson: The greatest secret is simple: the divine pervades everything, and anyone — saint or sinner, rich or poor — can connect through love and devotion. No gatekeeping.

Example: Mahatma Gandhi’s Inclusive Devotion.

Gandhi famously led daily all-faith prayers during the freedom movement, drawing from the Gītā, Bible, Quran, and more. In his writings he declared, “When doubts haunt me... I turn to the Bhagavad Gita and find a verse to comfort me.” [Source: “The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi”, Yale University Press].

👉 Gandhi lived Chapter 9: devotion as the highest yoga, accessible to everyone. Here was a political leader making the “royal secret” (oneness through devotion) a daily practice for millions. His open prayer mats in Sabarmati and Sevagram ashrams were the lived example of Krishna saying: “Even if the most sinful seek me, they quickly become righteous.”

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By the end of Chapter 9, the Gita has fully shifted gears. What started as a coaching session for a stressed-out warrior has become a cosmic unveiling: life isn’t just about better work–life balance. It’s about understanding the Source-code level of reality.

And if you get even a taste of that, your whole way of living changes.

✨ Next time on the Gita Podcast: Episodes 10–12 — where Krishna actually reveals his cosmic form (yes, the “special effects episode”). It’s like the Joe Rogan guest who suddenly goes, “Want to smoke this and see the whole universe?” except Arjuna doesn’t need psychedelics. He gets the absolute raw download.