

Wisdom of the Sages
Raghunath Cappo & Kaustubha Das
Truths about life from the timeless wisdom of the Bhakti-yoga tradition - fun, relevant, and deep. Learn about dharma, yoga, bhakti, and how it relates to all the basic questions of life. This show is about how to live your best life, let go of the external distractions, and uncover the spiritual happiness that lies within the heart as the true nature of the soul.
Raghunath and Kaustubha's connection goes back to their teens in the New York Hardcore Punk Scene of the early 80s, through serving together as Bhakti-yogi monks in the 90's, to sharing their experiences in the world of yoga in the 21st century.
Raghunath and Kaustubha's connection goes back to their teens in the New York Hardcore Punk Scene of the early 80s, through serving together as Bhakti-yogi monks in the 90's, to sharing their experiences in the world of yoga in the 21st century.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 10, 2025 • 57min
1668: Small Acts, Infinite Meaning | The Pinnacle of Vedānta in Simple Love
Raghunath and Kaustubha explore how the pinnacle of Vedānta and yoga is revealed in the simplest exchange: Mother Yaśodā calling little Kṛṣṇa home for dinner. They unpack why quality of love matters more than quantity of achievement, and why “do small things with great love” isn’t just a sweet saying—it’s the key to real growth. Drawing from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.11), Mother Teresa, Lord Rāma’s squirrel story, and reflections from Scottie Scheffler, the world’s #1-ranked golfer, they reveal how fleeting victories fade while love endures. From cows and calves to the defeat of Bakasura, this episode shows that even the smallest offerings—when infused with devotion—hold infinite meaning. Tune in as Wisdom of the Sages uncovers how unselfish love, not spectacle or complexity, delivers the deepest fulfillment and the truest yoga. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.11.12-53 ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 ********************************************************************* Join the Gita Collective Whatsapp group! https://chat.whatsapp.com/IoClfPirgHXBad5SxjH2i6?mode=ems_copy_t

10 snips
Sep 9, 2025 • 59min
1667: Born to Give: How the Universe Trains the Soul
Discover how giving is the soul's true nature, as Raghunath and Kaustubha explore Anne Frank's wisdom that generosity never leads to poverty. They delve into the Bhagavad-gītā's peace formula, emphasizing that letting go of possessions alleviates anxiety. Hear how life's challenges become spiritual practices when offered consciously. Learn about Krishna's delightful exchanges with devotees, showing that love, not opulence, is what truly matters. Ultimately, the hosts inspire listeners to embrace giving as a path to joy and connection.

Sep 8, 2025 • 1h
1666: Modern Minds Stuck in Outrage Cycles — The Bhakti Exit Strategy
Hate shrinks the soul, but devotion expands it. This episode weaves together Booker T. Washington’s timeless wisdom with the Bhakti-yoga path of love and transformation. From Washington’s refusal to let hatred narrow his soul to Nārada’s “curse that cures” and Baby Krishna’s Dāmodara pastime, Raghunath and Kaustubha explore how bhakti disarms resentment, envy, and bitterness—and replaces them with clarity, compassion, and joy. Discover why contempt is spiritual quicksand, how outrage has become the new addiction, and why love is the only effective recovery plan. With humor, storytelling, and insights from the Bhāgavatam, this episode offers a practical strategy for cutting through outrage and expanding the heart. 🎧 Tune in now and join thousands worldwide on the transformative journey of bhakti. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.10.32-43 ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 ********************************************************************* Join the Gita Collective Whatsapp group! https://chat.whatsapp.com/IoClfPirgHXBad5SxjH2i6?mode=ems_copy_t *********************************************************************

Sep 3, 2025 • 60min
1665: War & Peace & Bhakti: When Tolstoy’s Insight Meets Baby Krishna
Pierre Bezukhov’s captivity in War and Peace leads him to a discovery straight out of yogic wisdom: happiness is within, suffering can transform into blessing, and the company of a saintly soul changes everything. Raghunath and Kaustubha unpack Tolstoy’s descriptions of Pierre’s awakening through Platon Karataev and connect them with the bhakti truths of the Bhagavad-Gītā and the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. From Pierre’s realization that “Life is everything. Life is God” to baby Krishna’s playful liberation of two fallen demigods, the timeless message shines through—what looks like misery may be the doorway to divine joy. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.10.20-31 ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 ********************************************************************* Join the Gita Collective Whatsapp group! https://chat.whatsapp.com/IoClfPirgHXBad5SxjH2i6?mode=ems_copy_t ********************************************************************* To donate or get a set of Srimad Bhagavatam during this Bhadra Purnima, contact Malini here: +1 (669) 289-5563

Sep 2, 2025 • 1h
1664: The Price of Wealth and the Vision of the Yogi
The Sage Nārada’s tough-love blueprint takes center stage as Raghunath and Kaustubha explore how losing comfort—or choosing austerity—acts like “ointment for the eyes,” restoring humility, compassion, and spiritual clarity. Along the way, a striking line from Benjamin Franklin sheds light on the danger of being possessed by wealth, while the timeless wisdom of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam reveals why voluntary simplicity has always been the yogi’s path to deeper vision. Key Highlights * Franklin’s insight: wealth often ends up possessing us. * How wealth dulls empathy and blinds spiritual sight. * Nārada’s corrective: austerity as medicine for the heart. * Why suffering can deepen compassion. * Simplicity as the yogic path to clear vision. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.10.13-19 ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 ********************************************************************* Join the Gita Collective Whatsapp group! https://chat.whatsapp.com/IoClfPirgHXBad5SxjH2i6?mode=ems_copy_t

Sep 1, 2025 • 1h 1min
1663: Not Me, Not Mine: Walt Whitman & the Yogis Agree—Our Bodies Are On Loan
Walt Whitman’s startling line—“every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you”—meets the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where Nārada Muni confronts two proud sons of Kubera and forces them to consider: who really owns the body? From Whitman’s atoms to the yogic teaching “not me, not mine,” we uncover the liberating truth that the body is a vehicle on loan, entrusted for a higher purpose. Along the way we also explore how sages wield the power to curse—and why those curses are often hidden blessings. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.10.1-12 ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 ********************************************************************* Join the Gita Collective Whatsapp group! https://chat.whatsapp.com/IoClfPirgHXBad5SxjH2i6?mode=ems_copy_t

Aug 27, 2025 • 57min
1662: Krishna: Unlimited Brahman or Adorable Baby? A Paradox at the Heart of Vedānta
This episode dives into one of Vedānta’s deepest paradoxes: how the all-pervading, unlimited Brahman appears as a child and is bound by a rope. With reflections from physicist Niels Bohr and insights from the Bhāgavatam, Raghunath and Kaustubha unpack how truth, when probed deeply, transcends logic—and how love alone can bind the infinite. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.9.15-23 ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108

Aug 26, 2025 • 58min
1661: Bhakti Means Love, and Love Overpowers All
The Supreme Truth—eternal, formless yet personal, beyond time and space—gets tied up with a rope. In this rich and revealing episode, Raghunath and Kaustubha explore how love alone—not ritual, renunciation, or knowledge—can bind the Absolute. Featuring insights from Jesuit mysticism, Krishna’s childhood pastimes, and a few insects with questionable IQs. 🌀 Topics include: * Why the most advanced yogis can’t catch what a mother’s love can * Love as the ultimate conclusion of Vedanta * Mascara, butter theft, and the metaphysics of kajal * Damodara-līlā and the yoga of divine intimacy 🎧 Tune in and rediscover yoga’s greatest secret: only love delivers the soul. #BhaktiYoga #KrishnaBhakti #WisdomOfTheSages #SpiritualPodcast #Vedanta #PowerOfLove #SrimadBhagavatam ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108

Aug 25, 2025 • 53min
1660: Reclaim Your Inner World: The Meditation of the Bhakti Yogis
In a world that floods the mind with distraction and noise, Bhakti Yoga teaches a sacred alternative: reclaim the inner world through smarana—the practice of intentional, emotionally infused remembrance. In this episode, Raghunath and Kaustubha explore how what we think about—over and over again—shapes who we become. Drawing from the Bhagavad Gita, the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and a quote from self-help pioneer Earl Nightingale, they examine how the bhakti tradition trains the mind through focused repetition and deep feeling. With reflections on Mother Yaśodā’s love for Krishna, and the esoteric path of Rāgānuga Bhakti, this episode opens the door to a meditation practice unlike any other. Whether you’re new to yoga philosophy or seeking to deepen your inner life, this conversation offers a clear and powerful invitation: take your inner world seriously—because it becomes your reality. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.9.1-9 ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108 ********************************************************************* Join the Gita Collective Whatsapp group! https://chat.whatsapp.com/IoClfPirgHXBad5SxjH2i6?mode=ems_copy_t

Aug 20, 2025 • 56min
1659: 4 Counterintuitive Secrets of Happiness — From Yale to Vedānta
What really makes us happy? In this episode, we draw from Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos’ research — featured on the Rich Roll Podcast — to uncover four surprising truths about happiness: the arrival fallacy, the bronze medal effect, how comfort can backfire, and why giving beats self-focus. What’s remarkable is how these modern insights echo wisdom preserved in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The yogic texts long ago revealed that happiness and distress both come to us inevitably, and that wise souls redirect their energy toward devotion. In bhakti, this opens the door to a transcendental joy far beyond worldly ups and downs — most beautifully seen in the eternal love between Krishna and the residents of Vrindavan. Srimad Bhagavatam 10.8.46-52 ********************************************************************* LOVE THE PODCAST? WE ARE COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AND WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN! Go to https://www.wisdomofthesages.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/@WisdomoftheSages LISTEN ON ITUNES: https://podcasts/apple.com/us/podcast/wisdom-of-the-sages/id1493055485 CONNECT ON FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/wisdomofthesages108


