GOD: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher - The Podcast
GOD: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher - The Podcast
248. From God to Jerry to You- God on the Bhagavad Gita: Moral Complexity, Swadharma, and Your True Calling
What does the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata, often called “India’s Iliad,” have to say about your life today?
In this From God to Jerry to You, philosopher Jerry L. Martin shares what God revealed to him while praying through the pages of this vast epic and its centerpiece, the Bhagavad Gita.
God’s surprising message is clear: the purpose of life is not to escape through yoga, asceticism, or lofty philosophy, but to engage; to face sin, suffering, mortality, and the challenges of human existence.
Jerry explores the story of the good king Yudi, who must wrestle with duty, saintliness, and the shocking truth that sometimes the morally imperfect is morally required.
Krishna reminds him, and us, that true spirituality is not retreat but responsibility, even when choices carry painful costs. Jerry breaks down the word and meaning of swadharma, or personal duty: your unique calling in life.
Drawing on the Bhagavad Gita, Dag Hammarskjöld’s reflections, and Abigail Rosenthal’s piercing question, “Does this task have my name on it?” Jerry invites you to discern your own path. Because only when you say “yes” to your calling does life take on true meaning.
This conversation bridges East and West, scripture and modern life, divine revelation and personal reflection. Whether you are a seeker, a philosopher, or simply searching for guidance, this episode offers wisdom you won’t want to miss.
Other Series:
The podcast began with the Dramatic Adaptation of the book and now has several series:
The Life Wisdom Project – Spiritual insights on living a wiser, more meaningful life.
From God to Jerry to You – Divine messages and breakthroughs for seekers.
Two Philosophers Wrestle With God – A dialogue on God, truth, and reason.
Jerry & Abigail: An Intimate Dialogue – Love, faith, and divine presence in partnership.
What’s Your Spiritual Story – Real stories of people changed by encounters with God.
What’s On Our Mind – Reflections from Jerry and Scott on recent episodes.
What’s On Your Mind – Listener questions, divine answers, and open dialogue.
Stay Connected
- Read the book: God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher at godanautobiography.com or Amazon
- Share your questions and reflections: questions@godanautobiography.com
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Scott Langdon 00:17: This is God: An Autobiography, The Podcast, a dramatic adaptation and continuing discussion of the book God: An Autobiography as Told to a Philosopher by Jerry L Martin. He was a lifelong agnostic, but one day he had an occasion to pray. To his vast surprise, God answered in words. Being a philosopher, he had a lot of questions and God had a lot to tell him.
Scott Langdon 01:11: Welcome to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. I'm your host, Scott Langdon, and today, Jerry Martin returns with his latest offering in our series From God To Jerry To You. When God first asked Jerry to tell God's story, Jerry was charged with reading the ancient texts and scriptures of various religious traditions and then asking God about them. What was God's role in the formation of these ancient traditions and what are some of the things God wants us to know now as we look more deeply into them? This week, Jerry shares what God told him about the dangers of neglecting the work that needs to be done here now as humans in this world and in this life. Here now is Jerry Martin. I hope you enjoy the episode.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 02:01: Early in my divine encounters, God told me: I want you to tell My story. Well, that turned out to be leading me to read through the ancient scriptures of the world's various religions. And when I got to India, to my surprise, I was guided in prayer to read the great epic, the Mahabharata, which was only the third rung of Hindu sacred texts barely scripture at all. Often called India's Iliad, after Homer's epic of the Trojan War, the Mahabharata is an epic of the Great Bharata War. Why go there? I asked. “The threat to divine truth in India,” I was told, was the loss of grip on reality.” God went on.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 02:57: “The epic is a corrective to the high-flying tendencies of Hindu thought, the tendency to lose contact with the ground through yoga or asceticism or various doctrines such as monistic idealism. The discovery of the Atman and the Brahman was so heady that it was natural of them to skip a beat and try to leap right into the Brahman. But while the discoveries of the Atman and the Brahman are valid, that escape is not the purpose of life.”
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 03:38: The most famous part of the epic is the Bhagavad Gita. The war is the decisive combat between good and evil. Unfortunately, the leader of the good side, whom I call Yudi for short, spends his days conversing with holy men. Krishna has to remind him that his job is to be a king, not a saint. Praying about this text, I was told, “The point of life is to engage the demons to confront the real challenge of sin, adverse forces, material difficulties, mortality, suffering, not escape through yoga or conventional conformism, dharma. These can be elements of a spiritually fulfilled life, but are not the whole story.” When the battle reaches its critical point, the only way for good to win is for Yudi to deceive the other side. But the good King Yudi, like George Washington, cannot tell a lie. Krishna again has to intervene and persuade him to lie, or else all would be lost.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 05:04: I was told in prayer. “Yudi has to deal with people who are themselves embodiments of particular desires. Among these desires are evil purposes, and they can be defeated only by using their set of embodied beliefs and desires. This is what Yudi does. It is the only way to prevent evil in this case. So what is morally imperfect is morally required". Huh. Well, that was news that evidently, in some situations, what is morally imperfect is morally required. Even so, there's a cost. Before the lie, Yudi's chariot glides over the earth, its wheels never quite touching. Now they sink to the ground. God explained, “When you commit a moral imperfection, it is important that you know it. You are left somewhat compromised and it is important to know that also. But you also need to understand the necessity of this morally imperfect act.” Well, evidently there's a loss of saintliness, but a connection with grounded reality.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 06:35: Historically, dharma has usually been interpreted through a fixed structure of social roles. The rigidity is modified by the saying that Dharma is subtle. In fact, when the prefix swa is added to dharma, the result is swa-dharma, self-dharma, one's own or personal duty. One place the subtlety appears is in a somewhat neglected section of the Bhagavad Gita, section 35, where it reads: It is better to do your own duty, however imperfectly, than to assume the duties of another person, however successfully.” “It is better to do your own duty, however imperfectly, than to assume the duties of another person, however successfully.” One translator construes one's own duty, translates it as that to which it has pleased God to call him.
Dr. Jerry L. Martin 07:44: Thus swadharma is something like one's calling. Abigail sometimes asks: does this task have my name on it? When it does, it is part of your own swadharma or personal calling. The great statesman Dag Hammarskjöld’s reflected on his own life in this vein. “I don't know who or what put the question. I don't know when it was put, I don't even remember answering, but at some moment I did answer yes to someone or something, and from that hour I was certain that existence was meaningful and that my life in self-surrender had a goal.” So you must ponder, we all must ponder—with an attentive soul and an open heart what your own calling is. Once you hear it, heed the call and your own right path will come into view.
Scott Langdon 09:14: Thank you for listening to God: An Autobiography, The Podcast. Subscribe for free today wherever you listen to your podcasts and hear a new episode every week. You can hear the complete dramatic adaptation of God: An Autobiography, As Told To A Philosopher by Jerry L. Martin by beginning with episode one of our podcast and listening through its conclusion with Episode 44. You can read the original true story in the book from which this podcast is adapted, God: An Autobiography, As Told to a Philosopher, available now at amazon.com, and always at godanautobiography.com. Pick up your own copy today. If you have any questions about this or any other episode, please email us at questions@godanautobiography.com, and experience the world from God's perspective as it was told to a philosopher. This is Scott Langdon. I'll see you next time.