माकर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा तेसङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
In every Indian household, there’s always that one relative who passionately extols the wisdom of ancient India, with a special emphasis on the Bhagavad Gita. When you ask them what the Gita is all about, they often respond with just one or two familiar verses, particularly the one shared above.
But have you ever wondered if the Bhagavad Gita could offer more than just wisdom? It might even provide some valuable insights into managing your health. In a world where stress is ever-present, the Gita may serve as a source of solace.
The most widely accepted interpretation of this popular verse is, “You have the right to perform your duty, but not to the fruits of your actions.” While this interpretation holds, there is a deeper, more stress-related meaning as well: “Carry on with life without getting overwhelmed by external pressures.”
Imagine, for a moment, that we’re all beautiful deer peacefully grazing in a forest with our families. While the baby deer frolic nearby, you remain vigilant, aware that a tiger might lurk behind any bush or tree. You don’t know where or when the tiger may strike, but the fear of this possibility keeps you on edge. Now, back in the real world: every morning, many of us check our phones, open a trading app, and are immediately faced with red indicators of loss. The fear that prices may drop even further adds to our worry. Even when prices are high, we stress about whether to sell before they potentially decline, risking loss or smaller profits.
In both scenarios whether it’s the deer or the stocks,the common thread is psychological stress. In both cases, your brain releases the same hormone: glucocorticoid.
The key difference, however, lies in the nature of these stresses. In the case of the deer, the stress is a short-term physical response to a potential crisis. With stocks, however, the stress is chronic and psychological. Both forms of stress trigger what’s known as energy mobilization: your body prepares by increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and pumping extra glucose into muscles (or whatever might help you escape). While necessary in the physical crisis, this energy surge during chronic stress can lead to serious conditions like adult-onset diabetes, insulin resistance, hypertension, and damage to your blood vessels.
What’s truly triggering this stress isn’t the outcome, but the uncertainty, the ambiguity, the unpredictability.
So how does stress affect the brain? While it impacts multiple areas, let’s focus on three key parts: the hippocampus (responsible for learning and memory), the amygdala (which governs fear and anxiety), and the prefrontal cortex (in charge of thought and behavior). Stress hampers communication between neurons in the hippocampus, impairing learning. But in the amygdala, it enhances neural activity, causing the region to grow, which leads to heightened fear and anxiety. Chronic stress also depletes dopamine (which governs pleasure) and serotonin (which regulates emotions), disrupting the function of the prefrontal cortex.
Perhaps our parents aren’t entirely wrong when they say “it’s all in your head”, at least, scientifically speaking. As the sages have long taught, “expectation is the root of all suffering.” We should strive to accept the world as it is and align ourselves with the truth, rather than trying to bend the truth to suit our desires. After all, as Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, “The nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the coming and going of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.”
As the Gita advises, let’s focus on our duties, not the fruits of our actions. Accept the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. And in doing so, we may just find the serenity we seek.