The Bhagavad Gita: Arjuna and Krishna

Hindu / Indian · ~200 BCE - 200 CE

The warrior Arjuna stands between two armies, paralyzed by the moral impossibility of the battle. His charioteer Krishna, who is also the supreme divine being, reveals the nature of reality, duty, and the relationship between the individual self (Atman) and the cosmic Self (Brahman). The dialogue teaches Arjuna to act from his deepest nature rather than from ego calculations.

Krishna IS the Self. Arjuna IS the ego. The chariot IS the body. The entire Gita is a dialogue between ego and Self about how to live. The ego must ACT, but it must act in service of the Self, not in service of its own fears and desires. This is the ego-Self axis described with perfect precision 2,000 years before Jung.

The pattern underneath: The Ego-Self Axis. The connection between your everyday awareness and your deeper wholeness.