The method

Apply the Gita's ethical framework to a modern dilemma.

One decision, not pros and cons, with the Gita behind it.

Or start from an example:

A reading, start to finish

Sample

“My father built a small printing business over thirty years, and he has always said it would be mine. He is 64 and tired. Last month a company in Pune offered me a product role at twice what the business pays me, starting in January. My younger sister works in the business too and says she could run it, but my father does not take her seriously. If I go, I may be handing him a worry he did not ask for; if I stay, I may be living his plan instead of mine. Do I take the Pune job?”

Sarathi, the voice that reads your dilemma, asked one thing first: Has your father seen the Pune offer, and if so, what did he say? You: He does not know about the offer yet, and I have not asked him what he would want if it were not about me.

The call

Before deciding on Pune, tell your father, who built this small printing business over thirty years, about the offer.

First step

You: Choose a quiet time this week and tell your father about the Pune offer in person.

The exact first sentence to say“Papa, I have been offered a job in Pune, and before I decide anything I want to hear what you would want for the business.”

Three options

Tell father first, then decide Sarathi leans here
Back your sister, take Pune
Decline Pune and stay

The verse behind it

Better one's own duty, though destitute of merit, than the duty of another, well discharged. Better death in the discharge of one's own duty; the duty of another is full of danger.

Bhagavad Gita 3.35

Open the whole reading

Then, step by step, to the close

The same reading, followed to its end: each step marked done with how it went, and the next one written from that, until nothing was left to decide.

How each step went is ours, written for this sample like the dilemma. Every step and the close are Sarathi’s.

Step 1 done
You: Choose a quiet time this week and tell your father about the Pune offer in person.

The exact first sentence to say“Papa, I have been offered a job in Pune, and before I decide anything I want to hear what you would want for the business.”
Partly You wrote:I told my father about the offer. He went quiet, then said the business was always meant to be mine. My sister says she wants to run it, but he would not talk about her.

Pro

Every step after the first is part of Pro: each one written from how the last one went, until the dilemma is closed.

Step 2 done
You: Sit down with your father and your sister together, and ask him to hear her plan for running the business before you decide on Pune.

The exact first sentence to say“Papa, before I decide about Pune, I want you to hear what my sister would do with the business.”
Went as planned You wrote:My sister and I asked him together to let her run the two big clients on her own for a month, and he agreed, a little unwillingly.
Step 3 done
You: Sit with your sister and agree that you will step fully back from the two big clients, so your father sees her run them on her own.

The exact first sentence to say“I'll stay out of the two big clients completely, so Papa sees you handle them on your own; tell me only if you want my help.”
Went as planned You wrote:After the month he said she handles the clients better than he expected, and he asked her to take on the accounts too.
Step 4 done
You: Sit with your father and your sister together and tell them where you stand on the Pune offer, now that she has run the clients.

The exact first sentence to say“Papa, now that you have seen her handle the clients, I want to talk with you both about what I decide on Pune.”
Went as planned You wrote:I have accepted the Pune job for January, and my sister will run the business with him. It is settled for me.

Closed

Nothing is left to decide. This one is closed.

What you decided

Tell your father about the offer first, then decide on Pune with the business question tested rather than guessed.

What you did

You told your father about the offer, then sat with him and your sister and asked him to let her run the two big clients on her own. You stepped back so he could see her work, he asked her to take on the accounts too, and then you told them both where you stand on Pune.

Where it stands, in your words

I have accepted the Pune job for January, and my sister will run the business with him. It is settled for me.

Why it is closed

You wrote that you "have accepted the Pune job" and that it is settled for you, so nothing is left to decide on this dilemma.

Sleep peacefully.

Analyse my dilemma

The Bhagavad Gita's ethics, made operational: the facts that decide your dilemma first, then one committed call, weighed on the Gita's eight lenses — duty, truth, non-harm, detachment, intent, restraint, welfare, discernment. When a real verse fits, you see it verbatim; we never invent scripture. The call is made once — no prompt talks it onto your side — so it holds even when you're too worked up to ask the question well.

How to read a KarmaLens reading →

The eight lenses

Eight lenses to weigh it on — then one committed call.

Duty

Does this honor the role you actually hold?

Truth

How much honesty survives this choice?

Non-harm

Who gets hurt — and who gets protected?

Detachment

Are you acting, or chasing an outcome?

Intent

How clean is the motive underneath?

Restraint

Is this a decision or an impulse?

Welfare

What does it do to the people around you?

Discernment

Are you seeing the situation as it is?

Why it holds

A framework older than every self-help book combined.

The method is fixed, so the reading can't be talked into whichever side you already lean. The facts come first, the call is made once — and it judges the action, not you.

Scripture when it fits. The honest reason when it doesn't.

We never fake a verse match. When no verse fits cleanly, you see the nearest verse, named as the nearest, or the honest reason none fits.

Questions before you trust it?

Privacy, verse matching, crisis handling — answered without the legalese.

Show me how it works