Guinness World Record Attempt For Gita Chanting: Krishna’s Secret of Life Chapter 15

Today, I attended the Guinness World Records attempt for the largest number of people chanting the Gita across the world. It was an event organized by the Chinmaya Mission across all its global chapters, held online via Webex.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Mission, and we were targeting 108,000 people (108 is considered a highly sacred and auspicious number in Hinduism) to be online and chant at least twice on the 9th of May. The 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is known as Purushottama Yoga. It focuses on understanding the nature of the soul and the Supreme Being. In these verses, Lord Krishna reveals to humanity the “secret of life” through Vedantic philosophy.

The main teaching is that attachment is the root of all suffering. The tree of samsara (our worldly existence) keeps growing through attachment, ego, and endless cravings. But if we can “cut down” this tree with the weapon of detachment, we can attain liberation.

Detachment does not mean abandoning our duties. It simply means giving up our attachment to the outcomes of our duties, thereby not becoming prisoners of those outcomes.

Through Chapter 15, Krishna urges us to see the divine in ourselves and others, to live fully in the world without getting trapped by ego and attachment, and to always return inward to discover our truth, compassion, and awareness.

A sample of the chanting with just 35 of us in our session. Imagine this amplified to the actual number. 😉

–

Update on the record attempt.

This is what we received on June 15th, 2026:
Here’s the latest on our Guinness record attempt: we had a staggering 27,901 participants join us on Webex, with 19,253 sticking around for 5 minutes or more, and 11,949 chanting continuously for the full 5 minutes without any technical issues. However, we didn’t quite meet one of the requirements to break the record.

The main hurdle was that not all participants started at the same exact time. Guinness demands a simultaneous start, which we didn’t quite nail. We’re trying to get an additional review, but it’s a long shot. Despite this, our event was an overwhelming success, bringing together Gita devotees from around the world. We’ll be issuing participation certificates to all attendees on behalf of Chinmaya Mission.

Thanks for your unwavering support as a Webex host 🙏🏼🙏🏼.

Update on the record attempt: We have received confirmation that we have become the Guinness world record holders!!!! 

This is what we received on July 13th, 2026:

Hari Om All 🙏

With Bhagavan’s grace and Pujya Gurudev’s blessings, we’ve officially received the Guinness World Record confirmation! 🎊🎉

Guinness confirmed that “The most people chanting online simultaneously is 8,277 and was achieved by Chinmaya Mission (USA), online, on 09 May 2026.”

A heartfelt thank you to every participant, host, volunteer, and student for your dedication and patience. This was truly a global team effort 💛

More details regarding certificates and next steps will be shared soon. 

– 0 –

About Sanatana Dharma

ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः।
अनेन वेद्यं सच्छास्त्रमिति वेदान्तडिण्डिमः॥

Brahman alone is real; the universe is mithya – neither fully real nor unreal, but an appearance. The individual self (jiva) is none other than Brahman itself, not separate or different. This is the true teaching of the scriptures, as revealed by Vedanta. ~ Verse 20 from Brahma Jnānavali Māla