Bhagavad Gita
All verses
41 hand-verified verses from across the Gita. Each opens into its own page, Sanskrit, transliteration, English, a short contemplation, and a small practice you can carry into the day.
Chapter 2
The Yoga of Knowledge— Sāṅkhya Yoga
Krishna introduces the deathless Self, the duty of action, and the ideal of a mind that stays steady through pleasure and pain.
BG 2.13
“As the embodied soul passes from childhood to youth to old age within this body, so it passes to another body at death. The wise are not bewildered by this.”
- grief
- death
- loss
- change
BG 2.14
“Contacts of the senses with their objects — bringing cold, heat, pleasure, pain — come and go and are impermanent. Endure them patiently, O Bhārata.”
- suffering
- pain
- endurance
- impermanence
BG 2.20
“The Self is never born and never dies. It has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. Unborn, eternal, ever-existing, primeval — it is not slain when the body is slain.”
- grief
- death
- self
- atman
BG 2.22
“As a person sheds worn-out garments and puts on new ones, so the embodied Self casts off worn-out bodies and enters new ones.”
- grief
- death
- impermanence
BG 2.27
“For one who is born, death is certain; for one who has died, birth is certain. Therefore, you should not grieve over what is unavoidable.”
- grief
- death
- acceptance
BG 2.38
“Treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat — then engage in your work. So acting, you will not incur any wrong.”
- equanimity
- duty
- results
- anxiety
BG 2.40
“On this path no effort is wasted, and there is no adverse result. Even a little practice of this dharma protects from great fear.”
- fear
- effort
- perseverance
- starting
BG 2.47
“You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.”
- anxiety
- career
- results
- control
BG 2.48
“Established in yoga, perform your actions, abandoning attachment, O Dhanañjaya — even-minded in success and failure. This evenness of mind is called yoga.”
- equanimity
- results
- anxiety
- career
BG 2.50
“One united with wisdom casts off both good and evil deeds in this very life. Therefore, devote yourself to yoga — yoga is skill in action.”
- wisdom
- action
- guilt
- skill
BG 2.55
“When a person gives up all the desires of the mind, O Pārtha, and is satisfied in the Self by the Self alone, that one is said to be of steady wisdom.”
- desire
- contentment
- self
- wisdom
BG 2.56
“One whose mind is unshaken in distress, who is free from craving in pleasure, and from whom attachment, fear, and anger have departed — that one is called a sage of steady wisdom.”
- equanimity
- anxiety
- fear
- anger
BG 2.62
“While dwelling on sense-objects, one develops attachment to them; from attachment arises desire, and from desire arises anger.”
- anger
- desire
- attachment
- overthinking
BG 2.63
“From anger comes delusion; from delusion, confusion of memory; from confusion of memory, the loss of reason; and from loss of reason, one is ruined.”
- anger
- conflict
- betrayal
- control
BG 2.66
“There is no wisdom for the unsteady, nor steady contemplation for them; without contemplation there is no peace, and for one without peace, where is happiness?”
- peace
- anxiety
- overthinking
- happiness
BG 2.70
“As waters enter the ever-full, unmoved ocean, so all desires enter the one of steady mind — and that one attains peace, not the one who chases desires.”
- peace
- desire
- equanimity
- contentment
BG 2.71
“The person who gives up all desires and moves about free from longing, free from possessiveness and from ego — attains peace.”
- peace
- ego
- desire
- contentment
Chapter 3
The Yoga of Action— Karma Yoga
Why one cannot simply opt out of action — and how to act in the world without being bound by what one does.
BG 3.5
“No one can remain even for a moment without performing action; everyone is helplessly driven to action by the qualities born of nature.”
- action
- duty
- avoidance
- inertia
BG 3.19
“Therefore, without attachment, always perform the work that ought to be done. By performing work without attachment, one attains the Supreme.”
- duty
- action
- career
- results
BG 3.21
“Whatever a great person does, others will do; whatever standard they set, the world follows.”
- leadership
- responsibility
- example
- influence
BG 3.27
“All actions are performed by the qualities of nature; deluded by ego, the self thinks, 'I am the doer.'”
- ego
- control
- humility
BG 3.35
“Better to perform one's own duty imperfectly than another's duty well. Even death in one's own dharma is better; another's dharma is fraught with fear.”
- confusion
- career
- purpose
- identity
BG 3.42
“The senses are said to be higher than the body; higher than the senses is the mind; higher than the mind is the intellect; and higher than the intellect is the Self.”
- self
- mind
- discernment
- wisdom
Chapter 4
The Yoga of Knowledge and the Renunciation of Action— Jñāna Karma Sannyāsa Yoga
Action done as offering becomes a form of knowledge. The chapter that insists wisdom purifies everything it touches.
BG 4.7
“Whenever there is a decline of dharma, O Bhārata, and a rise of adharma, then I manifest Myself.”
- dharma
- faith
- hope
BG 4.18
“One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among people; such a one is in yoga, doing all actions.”
- action
- wisdom
- discernment
BG 4.38
“Nothing in this world is as purifying as knowledge. One perfected in yoga discovers it within the Self in due course of time.”
- knowledge
- wisdom
- patience
BG 4.39
“The faithful, devoted to wisdom and master of the senses, attains knowledge — and on attaining knowledge, attains supreme peace without delay.”
- faith
- knowledge
- peace
Chapter 5
The Yoga of Renunciation of Action— Karma Sannyāsa Yoga
Renunciation is not refusing to act — it is acting without being soiled by the action, like a lotus leaf in water.
BG 5.10
“One who acts, offering all actions to the Supreme and giving up attachment, is untouched by sin — like a lotus leaf untouched by water.”
- surrender
- guilt
- action
- non-attachment
BG 5.22
“Pleasures born of sense-contact are wombs of suffering, having a beginning and an end. The wise do not delight in them, O son of Kunti.”
- desire
- suffering
- addiction
- pleasure
Chapter 6
The Yoga of Meditation— Dhyāna Yoga
The inner practice: seat, posture, breath, and the long training of the restless mind.
BG 6.5
“Lift yourself by your own self; do not let yourself sink. For the Self alone is the friend of the self, and the Self alone is the enemy of the self.”
- self
- depression
- hopelessness
- discipline
BG 6.6
“For one who has conquered the self, the self is a friend; but for one whose self is unconquered, the self acts as an enemy.”
- self
- discipline
- mind
- anxiety
BG 6.16
“Yoga is not for one who eats too much, nor for one who eats too little; not for one who sleeps too much, nor too little, O Arjuna.”
- balance
- moderation
- discipline
- health
BG 6.19
“As a lamp in a windless place does not flicker — that is the simile used for the controlled mind of a yogi practising union with the Self.”
- mind
- meditation
- stillness
- concentration
BG 6.35
“Without doubt, O mighty-armed, the mind is restless and difficult to control. But by practice and dispassion, it can be mastered.”
- mind
- overthinking
- anxiety
- discipline
Chapter 9
The Yoga of the Royal Knowledge— Rāja Vidyā Rāja Guhya Yoga
Devotion as the most direct path. What you offer sincerely — leaf, flower, fruit, water — reaches the divine.
BG 9.22
“To those who worship Me with single-minded devotion, ever steadfast — I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.”
- faith
- devotion
- trust
- anxiety
BG 9.27
“Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer or give away, whatever austerity you perform — do it as an offering to Me, O son of Kunti.”
- surrender
- devotion
- purpose
- meaning
Chapter 12
The Yoga of Devotion— Bhakti Yoga
The qualities of one who is dear to Krishna: friendliness, equanimity, freedom from fear, forgiveness, a quiet mind.
BG 12.13
“One who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate to all, free from possessiveness and ego, equal in pain and pleasure, forgiving —”
- compassion
- anger
- forgiveness
- relationships
BG 12.15
“One by whom the world is not disturbed, and who is not disturbed by the world; one free from elation, intolerance, fear, and anxiety — that one is dear to Me.”
- equanimity
- anxiety
- fear
- relationships
Chapter 15
The Yoga of the Supreme Self— Puruṣottama Yoga
An upside-down tree whose roots are above. The image of a life rooted in the unchanging while the branches move in the wind.
Chapter 16
The Yoga of Divine and Demonic Qualities— Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāga Yoga
Two dispositions, visible in any person on any day. One quietly frees; the other quietly consumes.
Chapter 18
The Yoga of Liberation— Mokṣa Sannyāsa Yoga
The long closing chapter. Give up the fruits; find your own dharma; take refuge. Arjuna rises, ready to act.