Ramana Maharshi's selected verses of Bhagavad Gita

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Bhagavan was speaking once with a visiting pandit about the great merits of the

Bhagavad Gita, when a devotee complained that it was difficult to keep all the

seven hundred verses in mind and asked if there was not one verse that could be

remembered as the quintessence of the Gita. Bhagavan thereupon mentioned Chapter

X, verse 20: ‘I am the Self, Oh Gudakesa, dwelling in the Heart of every being;

I am the beginning and the middle and also the end of all beings.’ Later he

selected forty-two verses that here follow (of which that quoted above comes

fourth) and arranged them in an appropriate order to serve as guidance. He also

prepared Tamil and Malayalam versions of these

verses.

 

Said Sanjaya:

 

1. Despondent, overwhelmed with compassion (as he sat), his troubled eyes filled

with tears, Krishna, the slayer of Madhu spoke to him. ii: 1

 

Sri Bhagavan said:

 

2. This body, O Son of Kunti,1 is known as the field; and he who is aware of it

is called the Knower of the Field by the wise. xiii:1

 

3. And know that I am the Knower of the Field in all the fields, O Bharata. The

knowledge of the field and the knower of that, in my opinion, is true knowledge.

xiii:2

 

4. I am the Self, O Gudakesa, dwelling in the Hearts of all beings. I am the

beginning and the middle and the end of all beings. x:20

 

5. For to him who is born death is indeed certain, and to him who dies birth is

certain. Therefore you should not grieve for the inevitable. ii:27

 

6. That is not born, nor does It ever die; nor, having been,does It ever cease

to be. That unborn, eternal, abiding, primeval Being is not slain when the body

is slain. ii:20

 

7. Invulnerable He is, not to be burnt, not to be drenched or dried. He is

eternal, all pervading, changeless, motionless, enduring. ii:24

 

8. Know that which pervades all this to be indestructible. That immutable none

can destroy. ii:27

 

9. The unreal has no being, the Real no non-being. These two facts the

Truth-seers perceive. ii:16

 

10. Just as the all pervading ether, being subtle, is not affected, (tainted or

contaminated by anything), even so, the Self pervading the whole body is not

tainted. xiii:33

 

11. Neither sun, nor moon, nor fire illumine this state on attaining which one

does not return. And this is My supreme abode. xv:6

 

12. This Supreme State is called the Unmanifest Imperishable (avyakto

akshara). That is My highest abode. For those who attain to It, there is no

return. viii:21

 

13. The undeluded, those who are free from pride and ignorance, who have

overcome the evil of attachment, who are ever devoted to the Self, who have

turned away from desires and are entirely beyond the dualities of pleasure and

pain, attain that imperishable state. xv:5

 

14. He who abandons the injunctions of the scriptures and behaves according to

the impulses of his desires, attains neither perfection, nor happiness, nor the

highest state of salvation. xvi:23

 

15. He who sees the Supreme Lord, residing equally in all beings — the

Imperishable One among the perishables — sees (truly). xiii:27

 

16. Only by unswerving devotion can I be known and truly seen in this form,

Arjuna, and even be entered into, O tormentor of the foe. xi:54

 

17. The faith of everyone is according to his nature, O Bharata. Man is

essentially endowed with faith. What his faith is, that indeed is he. xvii:3

 

18. One who has faith and concentration and has subdued his senses attains

knowledge. Having gained knowledge he speedily attains Supreme Peace. iv:39

 

19. To them ever steadfast in loving worship, I give the yoga of

understanding by which they attain to Me. x:10

 

20. Out of compassion for them, I, dwelling in their Heart,destroy the

darkness born of ignorance with the effulgent light of knowledge. x:11

 

21. But in those whose unwisdom is destroyed by wisdom, that wisdom like the

Sun, reveals the Supreme (Param). v:16

 

22. Mighty, they say, are the senses, mightier than these, the mind,

mightier than that the intellect, but mightier still is He. iii:42

 

23. Thus knowing Him who is beyond the intellect,O mighty in arms, control your

self by the Self and slay the enemy in the form of desire, hard though it may

be. iii:43

 

24. As a well lit fire consumes its fuel, Arjuna, so does the fire of

knowledge reduce all activity to ashes. iv:37

 

25. One whose undertakings are all free from desire and whose activity has been

purified in the flame of wisdom is termed a sage by those who know. iv: 19

 

26. Brahma Nirvana lies around those who have freed themselves from anger and

desire, who have subdued their minds and have known the Self. v:26

 

27. One should gradually, gradually attain quietude with the intellect

(buddhi) held steadfast and the mind sunk in the Self, allowing no thought to

arise. vi:25

 

28. To whatever side the restless, unsteady mind wanders away, one should check

it and bring it back controlled to the Self. vi:26

 

29. With the senses, mind and intellect subdued, the saint who devoutly seeks

liberation, without desire, fear or wrath — he is indeed ever liberated. v:28

 

30. One who is thus integrated in yoga (yoga yuktatma) sees all with an equal

eye, seeing himself in all beings and all beings in himself. vi:29

 

31. To those, however, who dwell on Me in single minded worship I guarantee

fulfilment of their needs and security. ix:22

 

32. The foremost of these is the wise one (jnani) who is ever steadfast and

devoted to the One. Very dear am I to the wise man and he to Me. vii: 17

 

33. At the end of many births the man of wisdom comes to Me, realising that

Vasudeva is all. Such a great soul is very rare to find. vii: 19

 

34. When a man casts out all desires of the mind, O son of Pritha, and is

content in himself he is said to be steadfast in wisdom. ii:35

 

35. He attains peace who abandons all desires, acting without attachment, free

from ‘I’ and ‘mine’. ii:71

 

36. He by whom the world is not afflicted and who is not afflicted by the world,

who is free from pleasure, anger, fear and anxiety — he is dear to Me. xii: 15

 

37. The same in honour and dishonour, towards friends and foes; he who

abandons the initiative in all undertakings, is called one beyond qualities.

xiv:25

 

38. For him, however, who rejoices only in the Self, is gratified with the Self

and content with the Self, no action is incumbent. iii: 17

 

39. He has nothing to gain by actions done or to lose by those undone. He is not

dependent on anyone for the achievement of any object. iii:18

 

40. Satisfied with what comes to him by chance, beyond the pairs of

opposites, free from envy, equal in success and failure, he is not bound by his

actions. iv:22

 

41. The Lord resides in the Hearts of all, O Arjuna,revolving all creatures by

prakriti as if mounted on a machine. xviii:61

 

42. Surrender unto Him with all your heart, O Bharata.Through His grace you will

attain Supreme peace and the perennial abode. xviii:62

 

(Translated by Arthur Osborne and Prof. Kulkarni)

 

Source: The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi book