Psychotherapy - Insights from Bhagavad Gita

Spoken and written commentary on Bhagavad Gita, the distilled spiritual essence of Vedas and Upanishads, is aplenty. Mahatma Gandhi was quoted as saying that whenever he had a problem Bhagavad Gita offered an answer and the solution. For a student of psychology Bhagavad Gita offers a valuable case study for lessons in psychotherapy – resolution of conflict and successful resumption of action from a state of acute anxiety and guilt laden depression that precipitated inaction. This presentation makes a humble attempt to discuss the therapy process involved in Bhagavad Gita in which Lord Krishna helped the grief-stricken Arjuna through dialogue and discussion. The focus would be on the conflict and diagnosis of patient, the background setting of the situation, personality of patient, technique of therapy, underlying psychological concepts/ principles/theories, the Guru - Sishya concept, etc.