• Know how the concept of Karma Yajna can help you in your day-to-day life. Institute of Indic Wisdom calls it ‘Living the Gita’. 

One of the biggest myths we keep hearing is that Indic wisdom has no vyāvahārika value - no practical application in day-to-day life. We often look to Western self-help books to manage our minds and bodies, borrow Japanese aesthetics for simplicity and focus, and admire Chinese philosophy for strategic thinking - while overlooking the rich, rooted, and time-tested wisdom of our Indic civilization. So, when we think of the Gita, we instinctively revere it for its pārāmārthika value—a guide for moksha, or spiritual liberation. And rightly so.

But let’s be honest: not everyone is seeking spiritual emancipation. Most of us are simply trying to live a better life in our individual roles for e.g.:

1. As a manager under performance pressure.

2. A parent watching a child struggle.

3. A professional facing toxic politics at work.

4. A teacher in a crowded classroom.

5. Or just as a human being stuck in traffic wondering if there's more to life

For such people - and in these contexts - the Gita can feel distant.

In reality, it is precisely in our everyday struggles that Indic wisdom, including Gita’s, becomes most relevant - offering not just solace, but strategy and direction. 

This is the spirit with which the Institute of Indic Wisdom created Our Gita Project (OGP) - its flagship, grassroots program for those seeking clarity, connection, and courage in everyday life.

At the heart of this program lies a powerful framework called KARMA YAJNA - a unique approach developed by IIW, which means offering one’s actions as a sacred Yajna, grounded in wisdom but deeply anchored in daily life.

What is Karma Yajna?

Let’s say you’re cooking a meal. If you're cooking with the thought: “This is my job, I have to do it. But nobody appreciates me. What’s in it for me?” it feels heavy, tiring, even frustrating. But if you're cooking and thinking: “I am doing this to nourish my family, because I care for them,” then the same act feels lighter, even fulfilling.

This is exactly what Krishna tells Arjuna in the Shloka 3.9 of Gita:

यज्ञार्थात्कर्मणोऽन्यत्र लोकोऽयं कर्मबन्धनः।

तदर्थं कर्म कौन्तेय मुक्तसङ्गः समाचर॥

When you act only for yourself - for personal gain, praise, or control - those actions trap you. You get caught in stress, ego, and expectations. It becomes a loop: “I did this - now what do I get?”

But if you do the same action with the mindset of offering - without obsessing over what you get back - you stay free. Your work becomes meaningful, not burdensome. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care. It means that you do your best without making your self-worth depend on the outcome.

Shloka 3.9 teaches a powerful truth: It is not what you do that binds you - it’s why and how you do it. So, whether you're cooking, parenting, teaching, managing a team, or sweeping a floor - if you do it with presence and a spirit of offering, your action becomes freeing, not binding. And that spirit of offering - that’s what the Gita calls Karma Yajna.

Our Gita Project has taken this profound understanding and converted it into a practical, actionable program.

Karma Yajna vs. Jnana Yajna

Traditional Gita programs often uphold Jnana Yajna - the offering of knowledge - as the highest form of spiritual pursuit. It involves scriptural study, reflection, and detachment from worldly distractions. It is an inward, solitary process, best suited for the contemplative mind.

Karma Yajna, by contrast, is for the seeker in motion. It is about living wisely in the world - not escaping it. It is about bringing sacredness into action - not withdrawing from action for the sake of sacredness. The mother tending to her children, the teacher in a chaotic classroom, the manager navigating conflict - all can be Karma Yogis.

Jnana Yajna asks: “What is real?”

Karma Yajna asks: “What must I do - here and now - and how can I offer it?”

Our Gita Project respects the wisdom of Jnana Yajna. But it honors the urgency and power of Karma Yajna - a path of participation in worldly affairs - with devotion, and without attachment.

Not just for scholars—A path for beginners

You don’t need to be a Sanskrit scholar, a seasoned meditator, or a spiritual expert to walk the path of Karma Yajna. You just need to be honest - about your dilemmas, your doubts, and your desire to live better.

Karma Yajna begins not with certainty, but with sincerity. You can come to it with confusion, curiosity, or even crisis. What matters is your willingness to pause, reflect, and realign.

And that’s why Our Gita Project deliberately keeps things simple and accessible.
It doesn’t plunge into all 700 verses. Instead, it carefully selects just 18 shlokas - two per week. Each one becomes a mirror to look within, a window to look beyond, and a tool to walk forward.

No rush. No pressure. Just a rhythm of steady exploration.

For many participants, this is the first time they’ve engaged with the Gita - not as scripture, but as a companion. And the Gita responds - not with judgment, but with grace. It meets you where you are and walks with you as far as you’re willing to go.

A solution for Vyāvahārika dilemmas

Most people don’t wake up thinking about liberation. They wake up with a to-do list in their mind and a weight on their chest. They wake up thinking about unresolved conversations, anxious decisions, strained relationships, career pressures, or emotional unrest.

And yet, it is precisely here - right in the heart of the everyday - that the Gita offers it’s most powerful support. Karma Yajna is not abstract theory. It is a way of thinking, feeling, and acting that meets you where you are. It doesn’t require perfection; it invites presence.

It is a toolkit for:

1. Choosing courageous action over convenient avoidance

2. Facing life’s dilemmas without fog or delusion

3. Responding, not reacting - especially under stress

4. Creating alignment between your role, responsibility, and inner compass.

In this way, Karma Yajna turns the Gita into a lived resource - accessible not just to the philosophical mind, but to the emotionally overwhelmed, the ethically conflicted, the spiritually seeking.

The Gita becomes your inner compass - subtle, steady, and strong - guiding you through life’s turbulence not with rigid rules, but with grounded clarity and graceful strength.

Living the Karma Yajna

Understanding Karma Yajna is simple. Living it—that is the real work. It’s easier to attend a pravachan, nod along, and return to the “real world”. It’s harder to show up to your own life with open eyes and a courageous heart. Karma Yajna invites us to step out of passive consumption and step into active participation. 

This path isn’t just about collecting insights—it’s about putting them into practice, even when it’s uncomfortable. Participants are invited to internalize the two shlokas of the week, relate them with their daily experiences, share their experiences openly during the sessions, listen to and learn from others’ experiences, and most importantly put their insights into practice.

In Our Gita Project, transformation happened not in theory, but in a community. Each week became a shared space of preparation, reflection, vulnerability, and committed action - where the Gita moved from conversation to transformation. This is where the power of Satsang came alive - not as a spiritual ideal, but as a lived fellowship of seekers. We’ve seen strangers becoming soul companions. When one person spoke of reconciling with a child, another found the courage to speak up at work. When someone admitted that they are lost, another discovered that they were not alone.

Karma Yajna is not easy. But it is transformational. Because it doesn’t ask you to escape life. It asks you to embrace it, sanctify it, and show up to it - fully.

Conclusion

तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर।

असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः॥

"Therefore, perform your obligatory duty without attachment, for by performing action without attachment, one attains the Supreme."

And that’s the heart of Karma Yajna - not doing more but doing with meaning. Not running from life, but showing up to it - with grace, courage, and a sense of offering!

Article by  The Institute of Indic Wisdom (IIW) is a non-profit research institute, design studio, and management think tank incorporated in the United States. Rooted in Bharat’s timeless knowledge systems, our vision is to establish Indic Wisdom as a foundational force in guiding leaders - across governments, institutions, and communities - to build flourishing ecosystems grounded in perennial insight and contemporary relevance.

The next batch of Our Gita Project is scheduled to start in September 2025. Follow us for updates & registration on our LinkedIn handle

This article is written by Kalyan Gullapalli for IIW, it is a form of self-less sewa. Kalyan is Project Manager, IIW.