Every verse in this collection, in one place. Search by word, theme, or chapter and verse, like "2.47".
Chapter 2Verse 47
Sanskrit
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन। मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥
You have the right to your actions, never to the fruits of those actions.
Give your full effort to the work itself. The outcome is never fully in your hands, so anchoring your peace to it only creates anxiety. This isn't motivation to give up. It's freedom to act wholeheartedly.
Read more…Chapter 2Verse 14
Sanskrit
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः। आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत॥
This too shall pass. Meet both joy and sorrow with the same steady heart.
Sensation and circumstance are always in motion. Neither discomfort nor pleasure is permanent, and steadiness comes from not over-identifying with either while it passes through.
Read more…Chapter 2Verse 20
Sanskrit
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः। अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥
What is truly you was never born, and will never die.
What you most fundamentally are is described here as untouched by birth and death, deeper and steadier than any single chapter of a life.
Read more…Chapter 2Verse 48
Sanskrit
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय। सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते॥
Do your work in balance. That steadiness of mind is the real practice.
The Gita defines yoga here not as a posture but as balance of mind: the ability to give real effort without being thrown off by whether it succeeds or fails.
Read more…Chapter 2Verse 63
Sanskrit
क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः। स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति॥
Anger left unchecked slowly clouds the mind. Notice it before it grows.
A chain reaction, traced step by step: unchecked anger clouds judgment long before it shows on the surface.
Read more…Chapter 2Verse 70
Sanskrit
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं समुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत्। तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वे स शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी॥
Be like the ocean. Let desires arrive without disturbing your depth.
Desires will keep arriving; that isn't the problem. Peace belongs to whoever can let them arrive without being swept out to sea by each one.
Read more…Chapter 2Verse 71
Sanskrit
विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः। निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः स शान्तिमधिगच्छति॥
Let go of craving and ego, and peace has room to arrive.
Ownership and ego are named here as the two quiet sources of restlessness. Loosen their grip, and peace has room to settle in.
Read more…Chapter 3Verse 21
Sanskrit
यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः। स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते॥
Lead by example. The world follows what you do, not what you say.
People learn far more from what you do than from what you say, a reason to hold your own actions to the standard you'd want reflected back.
Read more…Chapter 3Verse 35
Sanskrit
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्। स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः॥
Better your own path walked imperfectly than someone else's walked perfectly.
A reminder to trust your own path rather than a borrowed or imitated one. Even walked imperfectly, it fits you in a way another's cannot.
Read more…Chapter 4Verse 7
Sanskrit
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत। अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्॥
Wherever goodness fades, the strength to restore it rises again.
A promise of renewal: balance that has faded doesn't stay lost. The conditions for its return keep arising, again and again.
Read more…Chapter 4Verse 8
Sanskrit
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्। धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे॥
To protect what's good and restore balance. That renewal happens again and again.
This continues the idea from the previous verse: every era finds a way to protect what's good and restore what has gone off balance.
Read more…Chapter 4Verse 34
Sanskrit
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया। उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः॥
Approach wisdom with humility, honest questions, and an open hand.
Real understanding tends to open up through humility and honest questions, not certainty. And it's often passed on person to person.
Read more…Chapter 6Verse 5
Sanskrit
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्। आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः॥
Lift yourself by your own mind. It can be your closest friend or your fiercest enemy.
You carry both your greatest support and your biggest obstacle in the same place: how you direct your own mind.
Read more…Chapter 6Verse 6
Sanskrit
बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः। अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत्॥
A mastered mind is your best friend. An unmastered one, your worst enemy.
The same mind can work for you or against you. The difference is whether it's been trained or left to run unchecked.
Read more…Chapter 6Verse 19
Sanskrit
यथा दीपो निवातस्थो नेङ्गते सोपमा स्मृता। योगिनो यतचित्तस्य युञ्जतो योगमात्मनः॥
A steady mind is a lamp that doesn't flicker, even in the wind.
A well-known image for a trained mind. Not motionless because nothing happens around it, but steady because it's learned not to flicker at every draft.
Read more…Chapter 6Verse 35
Sanskrit
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम्। अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते॥
The restless mind can be tamed through patient practice and letting go.
An honest acknowledgment that stillness of mind doesn't come easily for anyone, followed immediately by reassurance that it's still within reach.
Read more…Chapter 9Verse 22
Sanskrit
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते। तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्॥
What you truly need has a way of arriving when your focus is whole.
A verse about steady, wholehearted focus being met with support: the sense that what's genuinely needed tends to arrive.
Read more…Chapter 9Verse 26
Sanskrit
पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति। तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः॥
A small gift given with a whole heart is never small.
It's the sincerity of an offering, not its size, that gives it worth. A small gesture given wholeheartedly outweighs a grand one given carelessly.
Read more…Chapter 12Verse 13
Sanskrit
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च। निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी॥
Meet every being with kindness, and every swing of fortune with the same steady heart.
A short portrait of a settled mind: goodwill toward others, humility, and roughly the same composure whether things are going well or badly.
Read more…Chapter 12Verse 15
Sanskrit
यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः। हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः॥
Be someone the world doesn't unsettle, and who doesn't unsettle the world.
A quiet kind of strength: being someone who doesn't unsettle others, and who has enough steadiness not to be easily unsettled by them either.
Read more…Chapter 15Verse 7
Sanskrit
ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः। मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति॥
Something eternal lives at the center of you, wearing the mind and senses like a garment.
A description of the self as something eternal at the core, temporarily working through the mind and senses like tools it has taken up.
Read more…Chapter 16Verse 21
Sanskrit
त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः। कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत्॥
Lust, anger, and greed are the three gates that lead a person to ruin. Walk away from them.
Three habits of mind are singled out as the ones most likely to unravel a person from within. Worth noticing early, before they take hold.
Read more…Chapter 18Verse 66
Sanskrit
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज। अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः॥
Let go of what you're carrying alone. Surrender, and don't be afraid.
One of the Gita's most quoted lines: an offer of rest for anyone who's been carrying every responsibility alone. It's safe to let go and trust.
Read more…Chapter 18Verse 78
Sanskrit
यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः। तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम॥
Where wisdom and determined action meet, success naturally follows.
The Gita's closing verse: a statement that when wisdom and disciplined, committed action come together, good outcomes tend to follow.
Read more…