Granths
Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.
श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता
Krishna's teaching to Arjuna on the field of Kurukshetra: 700 verses on duty, knowledge and devotion.
700 shlokas
18
Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva
Krishna to Arjuna
How it begins
A blind king asks what happened.
The Gita is told inside a frame. King Dhritarashtra, who cannot see, asks his minister Sanjaya to describe the battle about to begin. Sanjaya has been given the sight to see it from afar, and the whole conversation between Krishna and Arjuna reaches us through him.
धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः।
मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय॥
dharma-kṣetre kuru-kṣetre samavetā yuyutsavaḥ |
māmakāḥ pāṇḍavāś caiva kim akurvata sañjaya ||
धृतराष्ट्र पूछते हैं: हे संजय, धर्मभूमि कुरुक्षेत्र में युद्ध की इच्छा से इकट्ठे हुए
मेरे पुत्रों और पाण्डु के पुत्रों ने क्या किया?
“Sanjaya, on the field of dharma, at Kurukshetra, my sons and the sons of Pandu gathered, eager to fight. What did they do?”
Bhagavad Gita 1.1
The three paths
What the Gita teaches.
Karma yoga
Act, and do your duty well, without being bound by the reward.
Jnana yoga
Know the self within, which does not die when the body does.
Bhakti yoga
Offer every act in devotion, and you are never alone in it.
The 18 chapters
Chapter by chapter.
Each chapter with one key verse in the original Sanskrit.
Arjuna Vishada Yoga
Arjuna's despairएवमुक्त्वार्जुनः सङ्ख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत्।
विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः॥
Key verse · 1.47
The Gita begins not with an answer, but with a strong man who cannot go on.
Sankhya Yoga
the self and the duty to actमात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः।
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत॥
Key verse · 2.14
Good days and hard days both pass. Meet them with a steady mind, and keep doing what is right.
Karma Yoga
actionयद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः।
स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते॥
Key verse · 3.21
People follow what leaders do, not what they say. Set the standard you want others to keep.
Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga
knowledge and actionयदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत।
अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्॥
Key verse · 4.7
When dharma weakens, it is renewed. Every age needs people who will stand for what is right.
Karma Sannyasa Yoga
renouncing the fruitविद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि।
शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः॥
Key verse · 5.18
Learning and humility belong together, and true learning sees the same self in every being.
Dhyana Yoga
meditationअसंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम्।
अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते॥
Key verse · 6.35
The mind is restless, and Krishna admits it. Steady practice, a little every day, is how it is trained.
Jnana Vijnana Yoga
knowledge and wisdomबहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते।
वासुदेवः सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभः॥
Key verse · 7.19
Wisdom is slow work. Seeing the divine in everything is the fruit of a long journey.
Akshara Brahma Yoga
the imperishableतस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयम्॥
Key verse · 8.7
Remember the divine, and do your duty. Krishna asks for both, at the same time.
Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga
the royal secretअनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्॥
Key verse · 9.22
Those who give themselves fully are carried. Faith with steady effort is never left alone.
Vibhuti Yoga
the divine gloriesअहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः।
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च॥
Key verse · 10.20
The divine is not far away. It lives in the heart of every being.
Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga
the cosmic formकालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः।
ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वे येऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः॥
Key verse · 11.32
Time is greater than any of us. What we can choose is to act rightly within it.
Bhakti Yoga
devotionअद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च।
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी॥
Key verse · 12.13
Bhakti is not only prayer. It shows in how we treat every being: without hate, with kindness and forgiveness.
Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga
the field and its knowerक्षेत्रज्ञं चापि मां विद्धि सर्वक्षेत्रेषु भारत।
क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्ज्ञानं यत्तज्ज्ञानं मतं मम॥
Key verse · 13.2
The body is the field, and the self is its knower. Knowing the difference is true knowledge.
Some editions count an extra opening verse in this chapter and number this verse 13.3.
Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga
the three gunasसत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसम्भवाः।
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम्॥
Key verse · 14.5
Clarity, restlessness and inertia: three forces move us all. Knowing them is the first step beyond them.
Purushottama Yoga
the supreme personऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम्।
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित्॥
Key verse · 15.1
The world is a tree whose roots are above. To know where it comes from is to know the Vedas.
Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga
divine and demonic naturesत्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः।
कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत्॥
Key verse · 16.21
Desire, anger and greed: three doors that lead to ruin. Close them, and the way forward opens.
Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
three kinds of faithअनुद्वेगकरं वाक्यं सत्यं प्रियहितं च यत्।
स्वाध्यायाभ्यसनं चैव वाङ्मयं तप उच्यते॥
Key verse · 17.15
True, kind and helpful: speak like this, and keep up your study. That is the discipline of speech.
Moksha Sannyasa Yoga
freedom and renunciationसर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज।
अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः॥
Key verse · 18.66
The Gita ends where it began, with a grieving Arjuna, and Krishna's last word to him: do not grieve.
The great commentators
Three acharyas, three readings.
Adi Shankaracharya's commentary on the Gita is the oldest that survives. Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya each wrote their own, and each reads the Gita through his own school of Vedanta.
Where this comes from
Verses in the original Sanskrit. Meanings, summaries and chapter notes written by IBF. No outside translation is used. Verse numbers follow the Gita Press (Gorakhpur) edition; a few editions number some verses of Chapter 13 one higher.