1. Ethical Vision of the Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita presents a comprehensive ethical framework through Krishna’s dialogue with Arjuna on the battlefield. It emphasises:

• Duty-centred ethics (dharma) rather than desire-centred living
• Nishkama karma – selfless action without attachment to results
• Inner stability and self-mastery for sound moral judgment
• Lokasangraha – welfare and cohesion of the world
• Harmony of action, knowledge and devotion as the highest ethical ideal

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  A --> C["Nishkama Karma"]:::y
  A --> D["Inner Stability"]:::y
  A --> E["Lokasangraha (Welfare of All)"]:::y
  

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2. Nishkama Karma – Selfless Action without Attachment

Nishkama karma means acting with full dedication but without attachment to personal gain, praise or external success. Krishna advises Arjuna to focus on the right action itself, not on its uncertain results.

“You have a right to action, but never to its fruits.”

2.1 Why Attachments are Ethically Dangerous

• Greed for reward can push one towards corruption and manipulation.
• Fear of failure leads to inaction or avoidance of difficult duties.
• Ego creates anger, resentment and partiality when results disappoint.
• Over-identification with outcomes distorts impartial judgment.

2.2 Features of Nishkama Karma

• Full effort, but inner detachment from outcome
• Focus on rightness of action, not on success or failure
• Calm acceptance of results after doing one’s best
• Freedom from anxiety, jealousy and comparison

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  C --> D["Integrity · Calm · Clarity"]:::g
  

For professional and public roles, Nishkama karma translates into process-oriented, duty-first, non-egoistic work.

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3. Svadharma – Duty-Based Ethics

The Gita anchors ethics in svadharma – performing one’s own duty according to role, context and responsibility. Arjuna’s dilemma represents the conflict between emotional reluctance and moral duty.

Krishna’s teaching: one must not abandon righteous duty due to fear, attachment or confusion.

3.1 Features of Duty-Centred Ethics

• Duty above personal comfort – ethical responsibility is not optional.
• Duty above likes/dislikes – personal preferences cannot override right action.
• Duty above gain or loss – material outcomes are secondary.
• Duty guided by dharma – justice, compassion and order.

3.2 Role Ethics

A person must act in line with their role responsibilities – as a leader, judge, teacher, doctor, parent, or public servant – even when such action is personally difficult.

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For modern roles, svadharma aligns with professional ethics, role responsibility and duty to the public good.

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4. Sthita-Prajna – Stable, Wise and Unshaken Mind

The Gita describes the ideal ethical agent as a sthita-prajna – one whose wisdom is steady and mind is undisturbed. Such a person:

• remains calm in success and failure
• is not dominated by desire, fear or anger
• has control over senses and impulses
• acts from understanding, not from emotional reactivity

This is an early model of emotional regulation, resilience and inner leadership.

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  A --> D["Clear Moral Judgment"]:::g
  

Ethical decision-making requires not only rules but a disciplined, composed inner state; the Gita makes this explicit.

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5. Yoga of Action – Integrating Action, Knowledge & Devotion

Krishna does not ask Arjuna to withdraw from the world; instead he teaches a yoga of action where:

• Action (karma) is performed as duty.
• Knowledge (jnana) guides what is right and wrong.
• Devotion (bhakti) purifies motivation and reduces ego.

Ethical action is thus:

• effective – work is done with competence and energy
• enlightened – choices are guided by understanding
• ego-free – aimed at something higher than personal gratification

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The Gita thus offers a model where efficiency, ethics and inner peace are not opposed, but mutually reinforcing.

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