Key Passages from the Bhagavad Gita

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Key Passages from the Bhagavad Gita

 

This section contains a selection of the Bhagavad Gita's most important passages to study and contemplate for spiritual self-understanding.

 

Chapter 1 Verse 1 Dhritarashtra said: O Samjaya! When my children and the Pandavas assembled to fight on the sacred field of Kurukshetra, what did they do?

Chapter 1 Verse 14 Then Shri Krishna and Arjuna, seated on their excellent decorated chariot drawn by white horses, blew their divine conch shells.

Chapter 1 Verse 21 Now, O Lord of the earth (Dhritarashtra), (Arjuna) spoke the following words to Hrishikesha (Krishna).

Chapter 1 Verse 22 [Arjuna said:] O Achyuta (one who does not deviate from his divine glory), place my chariot between the armies, so that I can see the parties assembled here with whom I will have to fight in the battle.

Chapter 2 Verse 23 Weapons cannot cut the soul; it can neither be burned by the fire, nor drenched by the water, nor dried by the wind.

Chapter 2 Verse 24 The individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble and cannot be burned or dried. It is immovable, omnipresent, unchangeable, and everlasting.

Chapter 2 Verse 25 This soul is unmanifest, unthinkable, and immutable. Therefore, knowing it as such, you should not grieve.

Chapter 2 Verse 27 It is certain that after birth, death is inevitable, and after death, birth is bound to occur. You should not lament over the inevitable.

Chapter 2 Verse 29 Many think the soul is something extraordinary; others think the soul is something marvelous; some hear that the soul is astonishing, but having only heard about the soul, no one truly knows it.

Chapter 2 Verse 40 In the beginning of this selfless effort, no effort is wasted, nor is there any adverse result. A little progress on this path can save you from perilous danger.

Chapter 2 Verse 47 You have every right to do selfless work, but you should not cherish any desire for the fruits of your work. Do not let the fruit of your action be your object, nor attachment to inaction.

Chapter 2 Verse 48 O Dhanamjaya (Arjuna), remain in yoga, perform your duties, give up your attachments, and don't let your mind dwell on success or failure; balance of mind (equanimity, equilibrium, harmony) is yoga.

Chapter 2 Verse 50 Endowed with equanimity, one frees oneself in this life from virtue and vice. Devote yourself to this Yoga of equanimity. Skill in action is Yoga.

Chapter 2 Verse 54 Arjuna asks:

O Keshava (Krishna)! What are the characteristics of those established in wisdom who have attained samadhi (whose minds remain in God consciousness)? How do those constantly merged in God speak? How do they sit? How do they walk?

 

Chapter 2 Verse 55 The blessed Lord said:

O Partha (Arjuna), when a person thoroughly gives up all the cravings of his mind and is satisfied in the Self by the Self, he is said to be well established in wisdom.

 

Chapter 2 Verse 56 He whose mind remains undisturbed in sorrow, who does not seek pleasure, and who is free from passion, fear, and anger is called a sage, established in wisdom.

Chapter 2 Verse 57 The mind of a person who is free from affection, attachment, fondness, love, and tenderness, who is not affected by pleasure and pain, and who is above these qualities is established in wisdom.

Chapter 2 Verse 58 When devotees fully withdraw their senses from sense objects, as the tortoise withdraws its limbs from all directions, they are established in wisdom.

Chapter 2 Verse 59 The objects recede from an abstinent man, with the exception of the taste. Even taste falls away after the absolute is realized.

Chapter 2 Verse 60 O son of Kunti (Arjuna)! Even for those who are true seekers of liberation, their sense organs and work organs are so turbulent and powerful that they forcibly try to take over and control the mind, intellect, and ego.

Chapter 2 Verse 61 Having controlled the senses, true seekers should sit for meditation, remaining firm, and devoting the heart and the soul to Me. These seekers will be established in wisdom, which means that their senses are under control.

Chapter 2 Verse 62 Thinking of the sense objects repeatedly, a person will develop attachment for them. From attachment springs desire, from unfulfilled desire comes anger.

Chapter 2 Verse 63 From anger arises delusion; from delusion, confusion of memory and loss of reason. Without discrimination, the person goes to complete destruction.

Chapter 2 Verse 64 The person (self-controlled yogi) who withdraws his senses completely and overcomes his attraction and aversion gets peace of mind, even if he still enjoys some objects with his five senses.

Chapter 2 Verse 65 When you gain self-control by meditation, you will feel divine bliss and all your sorrows will perish. The mind and intellect of contented people are firmly established in the Self.

Chapter 2 Verse 66 The person who has not controlled his mind and senses can not have a discriminating intellect. Nor can such a person have sense of duty, and thus has no peace. How can there be happiness for someone lacking peace?

Chapter 2 Verse 67 Just as a storm overpowers a boat at sea, the mind engrossed in the biological force and the sense organs leads a person away from discrimination.

Chapter 2 Verse 68 Therefore, O Mighty-armed (Arjuna), people who can thoroughly control the power of the virulent five senses are established in wisdom in every subject.

Chapter 2 Verse 69 During the time that is night to all beings, the God-realized person remains awake; and the time when all beings are awake is night to the munis (sages).

Chapter 2 Verse 70 That man attains peace into whose desires enter him like the waters flow into a changeless sea that is being filled up from all sides. Such a man does not desire objects.

Chapter 2 Verse 71 One who gives up desire and roams the world, free from attachment, free from the idea of me and mine (ego), and devoid of pride, finds peace.

Chapter 2 Verse 72 O Partha (Arjuna), such is the state of the God-realized person. In this state, he overcomes delusion. When established in this state at the last moment of the life, he attains complete emancipation and bliss.

Chapter 3 Verse 4 A human being cannot attain the state of non-action (the formless stage) by avoiding action; not even by sannyasa (renunciation) does one attain perfection.

Chapter 3 Verse 5 Human beings cannot exist without work, even for a moment. Everyone is mechanically forced to do work according to the qualities born of nature.

Chapter 3 Verse 6 The person who outwardly controls the five organs of action, but mentally recalls the objects of the senses, is a person of delusion, a hypocrite.

Chapter 3 Verse 7 The person who controls his sense organs with his intellect while using his organs of action, who remains detached, is a superior person.

Chapter 3 Verse 8 It is wiser to work than not to work. Perform your allotted duty (inaction). If you do not work, it is very difficult to maintain your livelihood, or even to survive.

Chapter 3 Verse 10 In the beginning of creation the Creator, having created everything [including sacrifice], said, "By this you shall propagate. Let all your desires be fulfilled by simply milking the divine wish-fulfilling cow within."

Chapter 3 Verse 14 All beings have evolved from food, which grows by the power of rain. Rain is formed from vapor, which results from the oblation that has been offered. Oblation is the path of karma (action). Offering human inhalation is oblation to the soul fire. Likewise, it nourishes the human life force.

Chapter 3 Verse 15 Work is originated by the indwelling Self in every being. The indwelling soul is derived from the indestructible Brahman. Therefore, the all-pervading infinite God is present in every action (which is yajña).

Chapter 3 Verse 35 One should follow one's own religion (duty) even if it is devoid of merit, rather than follow the religion (duty) of others. It is better to die while following your own religion (duty) than to follow that of another, which would be dreadful.

Chapter 3 Verse 37 The blessed Lord said:

Passionate desire and anger are the vital enemies of the God-realized person. Passion and anger originate from rajas (actions with attachment to wealth, sensual pleasure, pomp, and grandeur). Passion remains always unfulfilled, and anger is a vicious enemy; these are the vital, sinful enemies in this world.

 

Chapter 3 Verse 38 As fire is obscured by smoke, as dust covers a mirror, or a child remains hidden in the womb of the mother, so the strongest desire and passion (illusion, delusion, and error) surround and obscure Self consciousness and spiritual knowledge.

Chapter 3 Verse 42 The five sense organs are more powerful than the gross body; the mind is more powerful than the sense organs; the intellect is more powerful than the mind; the soul (Self) is greater than the intellect.

Chapter 3 Verse 43 O Mighty-armed (Arjuna)! Having discovered the Self, the supreme power over the intellect, overcome your imperishable and insatiable desire with firm determination. Desire is the principal enemy, hard to conquer and an obstacle to soul culture.

Chapter 4 Verse 1 The Blessed Lord spoke:

I declared this indestructible science of yoga to Vivasvan. Vivasvan told it to Manu, and Manu taught it to Ikshwaku.

Chapter 4 Verse 2 All those kings who were highly realized generation after generation were aware of this yoga. O Paramtapa (slayer of enemies, Arjuna)! Over a long period of time this secret yoga technique has declined in the world.

Chapter 4 Verse 3 O Arjuna, you are my intimate friend, and you are my devotee, so today I have told you the very old secret and best transcendental mystery of brahma vidya, the science of the yoga of knowledge, which is truly profound.

Chapter 4 Verse 7 The Lord said:

O Arjuna! Whenever there is a decline in right living and an increase in wrong living, I assume a physical body.

 

Chapter 4 Verse 8 The Lord continued:

For the protection of those who are committed to the Self and for the destruction (conversion) of those who follow adharma, I come into being in every age to establish dharma.

 

Chapter 4 Verse 19 The person whose every action is free from attachment and desire, whose every action is consumed by the fire of wisdom, is a realized person, a true sage and wise.

Chapter 4 Verse 24 The means of offering is Brahman. The oblation is Brahman, offered by Brahman in the fire that is Brahman. Indeed, Brahman is to be reached by one who sees everything as Brahman.

Chapter 4 Verse 29 Others offer their exhalation (prana) as an oblation of the external air. Still others offer apana (inhalation) as an oblation to prana, and in this way they stop the flow of inhalation and exhalation. They practice pranayama (breath regulation).

Chapter 4 Verse 30 Other yogis, who regulate their prana, (who inhale with a faint breath) achieve the breathless and pulseless stage. By knowing how to sacrifice the breath, the sins of these yogis are destroyed. Their life force is merged with the all-pervading soul.

Chapter 4 Verse 34 Understand that by bowing down, by asking the proper questions, and through service, you will be taught this knowledge by those who are wise, by those who have the vision of truth.

Chapter 4 Verse 36 Even if you are the most sinful person in the world of all sinners, by the boat of transcendental knowledge, you can cross the ocean of misery and sin.

Chapter 4 Verse 37 O Arjuna, as the little fire burns much wood into ashes, so knowledge is a spiritual fire that can burn all actions (calm all restlessness).

Chapter 4 Verse 39 Those who have real love for the scriptures, the teacher, and God, who practice single-minded meditation, who have thoroughly withdrawn their senses from the lower centers to the pituitary, attain Self-realization. Having gained this knowledge, they find permanent peace and liberation.

Chapter 4 Verse 40 There are those who have no knowledge of God and no faith in God, who always doubt Him; their desires are never fulfilled. A doubtful mind perishes. Those who have doubts have neither this world, nor the world beyond, nor any happiness.

Chapter 4 Verse 41 O Dhanamjaya (Arjuna), actions do not bind those who have renounced action through yoga; free from doubts through knowledge, they are self-realized.

Chapter 4 Verse 42 O Arjuna! (Bharata) By the sword of knowledge cut out all the ignorance that remains in your heart. Be free from doubt and practice the yoga of action and yoga of knowledge. Don't be heartbroken. Stand up and fight your ignorance.

Chapter 5 Verse 8 The one who is established in yoga knows the truth and thinks, "I do not do anything at all," even while seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing…

Chapter 5 Verse 9 …speaking, releasing, holding, opening and closing the eyes. The yogi remembers that the body organs function only in relation to the objects of those organs.

Chapter 5 Verse 10 Those who perform actions, giving up attachment and offering their actions into Brahman, are not affected by sin, just as a lotus leaf is not wet by water.

Chapter 5 Verse 13 A self-controlled yogi always remains happily in the physical body, the chity with nine gates, performing no actions, and not causing others to act.

Chapter 5 Verse 17 There are those whose minds and intellects are firmly absorbed in that (Brahman), those who are constantly centered in the soul for whom the ultimate end is that (Brahman); these people become free from sins by their constant soul consciousness. They need not go back into the delusion (of family bondage). They enjoy constant liberation.

Chapter 5 Verse 18 Indeed, wise people see the Brahman in a brahmin, a low-caste person, a cow, an elephant, or a dog. Nothing distinguishes them in the perception of a Self-realized person.

Chapter 5 Verse 19 The chycle of birth and death is defeated by those whose minds are in balance, who have conquered everything and are free from defects. Perceiving Brahman everywhere and achieving balance of mind amount to the same thing. Self-realized persons, due to their balance of mind, are in the stage of Brahman.

Chapter 5 Verse 27 A person can be free and liberated while living in the body by shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the vision in between the eyebrows, and equalizing the outgoing and incoming breaths rhythmically through the nostrils.

Chapter 5 Verse 28 Thus, the organs of action, senses, mind, and intellect become introverted, and thereby, the person is ever free from desire, fear, and anger, and attains the highest goal of life-liberation.

Chapter 6 Verse 5 With the aid of your Self (soul consciousness), lift yourself up from delusion. Don't degrade yourself, for you are your own friend and you are your own enemy.

Chapter 6 Verse 6 The person who has conquered his lower self becomes his own friend, but the person who does not subdue the lower self is his own enemy.

Chapter 6 Verse 11 In a clean spot that is not too high or too low, seated upon a piece of soft cloth (silk cloth), which is on a skin on a grass mat,

Chapter 6 Verse 12 and making the mind one-pointed, the one who has mastered the mind and senses may practice meditation.

Chapter 6 Verse 13 With body, head, and neck held firmly straight and still, and with the attention between the two eyebrows, not looking about in every direction,

Chapter 6 Verse 14 the mind is tranquil, free from fear and anxiety (a brahmachari). May this yogi direct all thoughts to Me and seek Me deeply.

Chapter 6 Verse 17 The path of meditation requires a moderate, regulated life, avoiding too much or too little food, work, and sleep, or use of the senses. The attention must abide in the soul at all times. For such a person, yoga destroys all sorrows.

Chapter 6 Verse 22 and having realized the Self, it does not think there is any other greater gain. Such a mind is not affected even by great sorrow.

Chapter 6 Verse 24 Steadily, using self-restraint and discrimination, gradually rise from the lower centers to the upper center, withdraw knowledge into the soul, do not allow the senses to go back down,

Chapter 6 Verse 25 Having shunned all worldly desires and selfish moods born of thought, maintain thorough control of all your sense organs; then meditate and do not think of anything else.

Chapter 6 Verse 27 Indeed the yogi (one who meditates) whose mind is tranquil, whose impurities have all dissolved, whose life is free from defects, becomes Brahman and reaches the supreme happiness.

Chapter 6 Verse 29 The Yogi who is united in identity with the all-pervading infinite consciousness

and sees unity everywhere, beholds the Self present in all beings

and all beings as assumed in the Self.

 

Chapter 6 Verse 30 Devotees who perceive Me everywhere and perceive everything in Me are never lost to Me, nor am I ever lost to them.

Chapter 6 Verse 31 Devotees with a balance of mind, who watch Me everywhere, who perceive Me in everything, and who don't judge anything, are the real yogis. In the world, in all circumstances, they always abide in Me.

Chapter 6 Verse 34 O Lord, we all know the mind is constantly restless, deluded, turbulent, and wild. Just as no one can stop or control the wind, it is very difficult to subdue the mind.

Chapter 6 Verse 35 The blessed Lord replied:

O powerful warrior, mighty-armed Arjuna! Undoubtedly, a restless mind is very difficult to control. O son of Kunti, it can indeed be controlled by constant practice and detachment.

Chapter 6 Verse 42 Or they might be born into the family of a learned yogi, but that birth is undoubtedly very rare in this world.

Chapter 6 Verse 44 Bolstered by his practices in previous lives, the yogi continues to practice yogic techniques. With deep yoga meditation, the true seeker goes beyond ritual worship.

Chapter 6 Verse 45 The yogi who is a true seeker of the soul, who meditates deeply for long periods, birth after birth, gains purity of heart and reaches the supreme goal of liberation.

Chapter 6 Verse 46 O Arjuna, I tell you to become a yogi, because yogis are superior to those who lead a life of penance. They are greater than highly educated scholars of the scriptures, and they are more advanced than people who mechanically perform rites and rituals to ensure the fruit of their work.

Chapter 6 Verse 47 The Blessed Lord said:

Among all the yogis, those whose minds are ever fixed in Me, who are extremely devoted to Me with unflinching love and loyalty, who maintain implichit faith, and who practice meditation with single-minded devotion, are My favorites.

Chapter 7 Verse 2 I shall reveal this knowledge to you completely, with intimate and inner experience. Knowing this, nothing else remains to be known.

Chapter 7 Verse 3 Among thousands of people, rarely does one charefully try to attain perfection or realization; among those striving and succeeding, rarely does one know Me in reality.

Chapter 7 Verse 4 Earth, water, fire, air, ether (vachuum), mind, intellect, and ego are the eightfold divisions of My nature.

Chapter 7 Verse 14 This divine maya (delusion) of Mine consists of the three qualities of nature. It is extremely difficult to overcome, except by those who constantly keep their attention on Me (meditate).

Chapter 7 Verse 16 O Arjuna! O Bharatarshabha (lord of the Bharatas)! There are four types of devotees who are noble in deed and who meditate upon Me: the man in distress, the seeker of knowledge, the person with desire for material possession, and the man of knowledge and wisdom.

Chapter 7 Verse 17 Among them, the man of wisdom is the best, because he perceives constant union with the divine. He has single-minded devotion, which is meditation. I am extremely dear to him and he is extremely dear to Me.

Chapter 7 Verse 18 No doubt, these are all noble (great, soul, divine, sage, and compassionate), but the man of wisdom is really My own Self because such a person is always united with Me. To him, being established in Me is the highest goal.

Chapter 7 Verse 19 At the end of many lifetimes, the man of wisdom takes refuge in Me. He realizes that Vasudeva, the all-pervading God, is in everything and is everywhere. Such a great soul is extremely rare.

Chapter 8 Verse 6 O Son of Kunti (Arjuna)! If one leaves the body at the end (death) while thinking of a particular state of being, one attains that alone, being ever absorbed in that thought.

Chapter 8 Verse 7 Therefore O Arjuna! Remember Me at all times and fight. When your mind and understanding are directed toward Me, you will come to Me, there is no doubt.

Chapter 8 Verse 12 All the doors of the body are closed. The mind is firmly confined in the cavity of the soul. One's life is fixed in the head (cranium or fontanel). Then one is established in yoga.

Chapter 8 Verse 27 Therefore, O Arjuna, at all times, be thou firm on Yoga, established in Yoga.

Chapter 9 Verse 2 This is the supreme royal knowledge, the greatest secret (hidden) science, the most holy and excellent, known through direct perception, attainable through morality (dharma), extremely easy to practice and also imperishable.

Chapter 9 Verse 11 Being deluded, they despise Me, as I am assumed to be in the human form. They do not know My supreme nature as the great Lord of all existence.

Chapter 9 Verse 12 Those with vain aspirations and fruitless knowledge, whose actions are futile, and those who are devoid of discrimination, who abide in a fiendish and demonic nature, are attracted by enchanting delusion.

Chapter 9 Verse 13 O Partha (Arjuna!) Those who are great souls, who have embraced divine nature, worship Me with an undistracted mind, knowing Me as the origin of beings and also as the imperishable.

Chapter 9 Verse 21 Having enjoyed the vast world of heaven, they enter the world of mortality when their virtues are exhausted. Thus, sincerely following the dictum of the three Vedas, they reach the state of going and coming, due to their desire for enjoyment.

Chapter 9 Verse 22 To those who concentrate on Me without any other thoughts, who sincerely meditate (worship) and are constantly united with Me-I bring what they lack and preserve what they possess.

Chapter 9 Verse 26 From he who offers to me with devotion and a pure heart, a leaf, a flower, a piece of fruit, or water, I will accept that offering of devotion.

Chapter 9 Verse 27 Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer to the sacred fire, whatever you give (as charity), on whatever you meditate, O son of Kunti, do it as an offering to Me.

Chapter 9 Verse 29 I am the same in all beings, there are none who are disliked or dear to Me. But those who worship Me with devotion are in Me, and I am in them.

Chapter 9 Verse 30 Even if a man of the most vile conduct worships Me with undivided devotion, he is to be thought of as righteous, for he has indeed rightly resolved.

Chapter 9 Verse 31 Quickly, he becomes a virtuous person and goes into the state of eternal peace. O Son of Kunti (Arjuna), be sure, no devotee of Mine is ever lost (out of my sight).

Chapter 9 Verse 32 Those who take refuge in Me, O Partha (Arjuna!), even if they are of low origin, women, vaishyas, or shudras, they will also go to the highest goal.

Chapter 9 Verse 34 Fix your mind on Me. Be devoted to Me. Worship Me and bow to Me. Having disciplined yourself with Me as the supreme God, you yourself shall come to Me.

Chapter 10 Verse 20 I am the self, O Gudakesha (Arjuna)! Abiding in the core of all beings, I am the beginning, middle, and end of all beings.

Chapter 10 Verse 38 I am the power in the rulers. I am the wise polichy for those who want victory. Of all the secrets, I am silence. I am the wisdom of all knowers of wisdom.

Chapter 10 Verse 41 Whatever is being manifested with glory, grace, and power, know that in every case it is only a fraction of My glory.

Chapter 11 Verse 12 In the sky, if a thousand suns should rise at once, such brilliance or splendor would hardly approach that of the great self.

Chapter 11 Verse 38 You are the first of the gods, the ancient Spirit. You are the ultimate abode of this universe. You are both knower and knowable, and the supreme goal. This entire universe is pervaded by You, O Vishvarupa!

Chapter 11 Verse 39 You are vayu (breath), Yama (death), Agni (fire), Varuna (water), the moon, the Lord of creatures, and the great, grandfather! Salutations to You, a thousand times!

Chapter 11 Verse 40 Salutations to You from the front and from the back. Salutations to You from all sides. O Everything! You are of infinite glory and boundless strength. You are all-pervading, therefore, You are everything.

Chapter 11 Verse 55 O Pandava! He who does all his work for My sake, considers Me as the supreme, is devoted to Me, has no attachment, and is free from malice towards other beings, reaches Me.

Chapter 12 Verse 13 He who is free from malice toward all beings, friendly and compassionate, free from attachment to possessions and ego, indifferent to pain and pleasure, and patient (forgiving),

Chapter 12 Verse 19 He who is indifferent to blame and praise, silent, content with anything whatsoever, homeless, firm in mind, and full of devotion is dear to Me.

Chapter 13 Verse 8 Detachment from the objects of sense, complete absence of egotism, and keeping in constant view the evils of birth, death, old age, and disease.

Chapter 13 Verse 9 Non-attachment and absence of clinging to son, wife, house, and the like, constant balance of mind towards desired and undesired objects.

Chapter 13 Verse 10 Unflinching devotion to Me with single-minded yoga, love of solitary living, and dislike for the company of people.

Chapter 13 Verse 11 Constanchy in the knowledge of the supreme Self, insight into the perception of truth in all. This is declared as true knowledge and anything contrary to it is but ignorance.

Chapter 13 Verse 12 That which has to be known I shall narrate, knowing which one attains immortality. It is the beginningless, supreme Brahman who is said to be neither existent nor non-existent.

Chapter 13 Verse 13 With hands and feet everywhere, eyes, head and faces everywhere, ears everywhere, He dwells in the world, covering everything.

Chapter 13 Verse 14 He seems to have the qualities of the senses, yet He is without the senses, detached, maintaining all, free from the qualities of nature (the gunas), yet experiencing these qualities.

Chapter 13 Verse 15 He is outside as well as inside all beings. He is unmoving as well as moving. He is too subtle to be known. He is very far, and at the same time very near.

Chapter 13 Verse 16 He is undivided yet He seems to be divided among all beings. He is to be known as the maintainer of all beings, destroying them, and creating them all.

Chapter 13 Verse 17 He is the light of lights, and is said to be beyond darkness. Knowledge worth knowing and attainable through wisdom, He is seated in the heart of all.

 

Chapter 13 Verse 31 O Son of Kunti (Arjuna), this imperishable supreme soul is beginningless and without qualities. Although He remains in the body (in its reality), He is free from action and contamination.

Chapter 13 Verse 32 As the all-pervading ether (space), because of its subtlety, is not tainted, so the soul that is seated in the body is not tainted by the qualities of the body.

Chapter 14 Verse 3 Great Brahma (mother nature), is My womb, in it I place the seed of all life. The creation of all beings follows from that, O Bharata (Arjuna)!

Chapter 14 Verse 4 Whatever forms come from any womb, O Son of Kunti (Arjuna), the great Brahma is their womb and I am the father who sows the seed.

Chapter 14 Verse 11 When the light of knowledge shines through all the gates (doors) of the body, then it should be known that sattva (goodness) is predominant.

Chapter 14 Verse 19 When the seer perceives no doer other than the qualities and also knows that which is higher than the qualities, he attains My being.

Chapter 15 Verse 1 The Lord said:

They speak of the eternal ashvatthama (peepul tree) as having its roots above and branches below. Its leaves are the Vedic hymns and he who knows this is the knower of the Vedas.

 

Chapter 15 Verse 2 Its branches spread below and above, nourished by the qualities (of nature), with the objects of the senses as the sprouts (shoots), and below its roots stretch forth in all directions, binding the soul according to the actions performed in the human body.

Chapter 15 Verse 3 Its real form is not perceptible here in the world, not its end, nor its beginning, nor its existence. Cut down this deeply rooted peepul tree with the strong ax of detachment.

Chapter 15 Verse 4 Thereafter the goal must be sought from which, having gone, no one returns. "Thou art the primeval being. I take refuge in Thee from Whom the flow of this beginningless creation has proceeded."

Chapter 15 Verse 5 Those wise men who are free from arrogance and delusion, who have overcome the evils of attachment, who are in eternal union with God with desires and ambitions extinguished, who are released from the dualities such as pleasure and pain, these undeluded people reach that supreme immortal state.

Chapter 15 Verse 6 Neither the sun, nor the moon, nor even fire can illumine that supreme Self-effulgent state, attaining to which they never return to this world. That is my supreme abode.

Chapter 15 Verse 7 The eternal soul in this body, in the world of living, is a fragment of Myself. It is that alone which draws to itself the five senses and the sixth sense, the mind, that exist in material nature (prakriti).

Chapter 15 Verse 8 When the Lord acquires a body and when He departs from it, He takes them along (the senses and mind) like the blowing wind charries scents from their sources.

Chapter 15 Verse 9 Presiding over hearing, sight, touch, taste, and smell, as well as the mind, He (the fragment of the Lord, the indwelling Self) enjoys the objects of senses.

Chapter 15 Verse 10 When the soul departs, remains, or enjoys (the sense objects) while accompanied by the qualities (of nature), the deluded (ignorant, fools) do not perceive Him. Those with the eye of knowledge are able to realize Him.

Chapter 15 Verse 11 The yogis who strive (meditate) will realize that He is established in the Self. But the ignorant, whose inner being is not disciplined, strives, but cannot perceive Him.

Chapter 15 Verse 12 The brilliance that resides in the sun and illumines the entire universe, that which shines in the moon as well as in the fire, know that to be Mine.

Chapter 15 Verse 13 And permeating the earth, it is I who supports all creatures by My vital power, and having become the nectarine (watering) moon, I nourish all plants.

Chapter 15 Verse 14 Having become the vaishvanara fire in the body of all living beings, I live. Going outward (prana) and inward (apana), I digest the four kinds of food.

Chapter 15 Verse 15 I have entered into the hearts of all beings. From Me came memory, knowledge as well as their loss. I alone am that which is to be known in all the Vedas. I am the author of the Vedanta and the knower of the Vedas.

Chapter 15 Verse 16 There are two purushas in this world, the perishable and the imperishable. All beings are perishable, but kutastha (the unchanging) is called the imperishable.

Chapter 15 Verse 17 But the supreme person, who is still other than these, is also called the supreme Self who, entering into the three worlds as the eternal Lord, supports them.

Chapter 15 Verse 18 Since I am beyond the perishable and even superior to the imperishable, therefore I am known as Purushottama, the supreme person in the world as well as in the Vedas.

Chapter 15 Verse 19 O Bharata (Arjuna)! He who, thus undeluded, knows Me as the supreme person, knows all and worships Me constantly with his whole being.

Chapter 15 Verse 20 O blameless, sinless Arjuna! Thus, this most secret doctrine has been taught by Me. By grasping it in essence, a man becomes wise and his mission in life is accomplished.

Chapter 16 Verse 1 The Lord said:

Absolute fearlessness, perfect purity of mind, constant fixation in the yoga of meditation for the sake of self-realization, charity, self-restraint, sacrifice, study and teaching of the scriptures, austerity, rectitude (uprightness),

Chapter 16 Verse 2 Non-violence, truth, absence of anger, renunciation, serenity, calmness, aversion to fault-finding, compassion to all beings, freedom from desire, gentleness, modesty, and absence of fickleness,

Chapter 16 Verse 3 Vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, freedom from malice, freedom from pride. These are the marks of he who is born with divine qualities, godly gifts.

Chapter 16 Verse 4 O Partha (Arjuna)! Hypocrisy (fraud, deceit), arrogance, pride, anger, harshness, and ignorance are the marks of those born with a demonic nature.

Chapter 16 Verse 5 It is said that the divine destiny leads to liberation, the demonic qualities to bondage. O Pandava (Arjuna)! Do not grieve! You are born with divine endowments.

Chapter 16 Verse 21 This is the threefold gate of hell, which destroys the self: passion, anger, and greed. Therefore one should avoid these three.

Chapter 17 Verse 8 Foods that promote life and longevity, vitality, virtue, intelligence, strength and vigor, health, happiness, and satisfaction are juichy, soft, firm, pleasant to the stomach and naturally agreeable. These foods are dear to the good and spiritual person.

Chapter 18 Verse 42 Serenity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness; uprightness of mind, senses, and behavior; knowledge, super-consciousness and cosmic-consciousness; and love for God are the natural duty (inborn qualities) of the brahmins.

Chapter 18 Verse 46 Man attains the highest perfection by worshipping through his natural duty, Him, from whom all beings have their origin, Him by whom this universe is pervaded.

Chapter 18 Verse 48 Therefore, O son of Kunti (Arjuna), one should not abandon the duty to which one is born, even though it may be tainted with blemish, for even as fire is enveloped with smoke, all beginnings of undertakings are clouded with demerit.

Chapter 18 Verse 61 O Arjuna! The Lord abides in the hearts of all beings, causing them to revolve (according to their karma) by His illusive power, as if fixed in a machine.

Chapter 18 Verse 65 Give your mind to Me, be devoted to Me. Worship Me, bow down to Me. Doing so, you will attain Me alone. I truly promise this, because you are so extremely dear to Me.

Chapter 18 Verse 66 Resigning all your duties (dharma), take refuge in Me alone. I shall liberate you from all evils. Do not worry.

Chapter 18 Verse 75 By the grace of Vyasa, I have heard this supreme and most secret yoga, which Krishna has directly imparted to Arjuna before my eyes.

Chapter 18 Verse 76 O king! Remembering again and again this dialogue between Keshava (Krishna) and Arjuna, which is marvelous and holy, I rejoice again and again.

Chapter 18 Verse 77 Remembering also, again and again, this most wonderful form of Hari (Krishna), even greater is my wonder and I rejoice again and again.

Chapter 18 Verse 78 Wherever there is Krishna, the Lord of yoga, and Partha (Arjuna, the archer-holding the bow), there is glory, victory, prosperity, and morality. This is my conviction.

 

 

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