Bhagavad Geeta Verses

Chapters

1. The Yoga of Arjuna's Despair (47 verses)

   As the two armies stand ready for battle, Arjuna asks Krishna to drive his chariot between them. Seeing his teachers, grandfathers, and kinsmen arrayed on both sides, Arjuna is overcome with grief and refuses to fight. His bow slips from his hands.

2. The Yoga of Knowledge (72 verses)

   Krishna begins his teaching by distinguishing the eternal Self from the perishable body. He introduces the foundational concept of acting without attachment to results—the heart of the Geeta's practical philosophy. This chapter contains many of the most celebrated verses.

3. The Yoga of Action (43 verses)

   Arjuna asks why he should engage in terrible action if knowledge is superior. Krishna explains that no one can remain actionless—even maintaining the body requires action. The path lies not in renouncing action but in acting without selfish attachment, offering all work as sacrifice.

4. The Yoga of Knowledge and Renunciation of Action (42 verses)

   Krishna reveals that he has taught this eternal yoga before, age after age, whenever dharma declines. He describes how action performed with knowledge and detachment burns away karma like fire consumes fuel. The wise see inaction in action, and action in inaction.

5. The Yoga of Renunciation (29 verses)

   Arjuna asks which is better: the renunciation of action or disciplined action. Krishna teaches that both lead to liberation, but yoga of action is superior for most seekers. The wise person acts with senses controlled, seeing all beings equally, untouched by results like a lotus leaf by water.

6. The Yoga of Meditation (47 verses)

   Krishna describes the practice of meditation: the proper seat, posture, and technique for stilling the mind. He acknowledges the mind's restlessness but assures that it can be controlled through practice and detachment. Even the yogi who falls from the path is not lost.

7. The Yoga of Knowledge and Realization (30 verses)

   Krishna reveals his higher and lower natures—the material elements and the conscious life force that sustains all beings. Among thousands of seekers, perhaps one truly knows him. Four types of virtuous people worship him, but the wise devotee who knows his essential nature is most dear.

8. The Yoga of the Imperishable Absolute (28 verses)

   Arjuna asks about Brahman, the Self, karma, and the gods. Krishna explains that whatever one remembers at the moment of death determines one's next state. Those who remember him at death attain him. He describes the cosmic cycles of creation and the path of no return.

9. The Yoga of Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret (34 verses)

   Krishna shares the most confidential knowledge: he pervades the entire universe yet is not bound by it. All beings rest in him as the wind rests in space. With simple devotion—a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water—anyone can reach him. He is equally disposed to all, yet his devotees are in him.

10. The Yoga of Divine Manifestations (42 verses)

    To strengthen Arjuna's devotion, Krishna describes his divine glories—he is the source from which all beings emanate. Among the Adityas, he is Vishnu; among lights, the sun; among words, the syllable Om. Whatever is glorious, powerful, or beautiful springs from but a spark of his splendor.

11. The Yoga of the Vision of the Universal Form (55 verses)

    Arjuna asks to see Krishna's divine form. Krishna grants him divine eyes to behold the universe contained within his body—all beings, all gods, all times. Arjuna sees creation and destruction, and is overwhelmed with awe and terror. He begs Krishna to return to his gentle human form.

12. The Yoga of Devotion (20 verses)

    Arjuna asks who is the better yogi: one who worships the personal form or the formless Absolute? Krishna affirms that both paths lead to him, but the path of devotion to his personal form is easier for embodied beings. He describes the qualities that make a devotee dear to him.

13. The Yoga of the Field and the Knower (35 verses)

    Krishna distinguishes between the field (the body and material nature) and the knower of the field (the conscious Self). He describes what constitutes true knowledge: humility, non-violence, equanimity, devotion. One who truly understands this distinction is liberated.

14. The Yoga of the Three Gunas (27 verses)

    Krishna explains the three gunas—sattva (goodness), rajas (passion), and tamas (inertia)—that bind the soul to the body. Sattva attaches through happiness, rajas through action, tamas through negligence. One who transcends all three through devotion attains liberation.

15. The Yoga of the Supreme Person (20 verses)

    Krishna describes the imperishable ashvattha tree with roots above and branches below—a metaphor for the material world. He who cuts this tree with the axe of detachment attains the supreme abode. Krishna is the Supreme Person, beyond both the perishable and imperishable.

16. The Yoga of Divine and Demonic Natures (24 verses)

    Krishna contrasts divine qualities (fearlessness, purity, compassion, non-violence) with demonic ones (pride, arrogance, anger, harshness). The divine lead to liberation, the demonic to bondage. Three gates lead to ruin: lust, anger, and greed. One should let scripture guide action.

17. The Yoga of the Three Kinds of Faith (28 verses)

    Arjuna asks about those who worship with faith but ignore scriptural rules. Krishna explains that faith, like food, sacrifice, and austerity, takes three forms according to the gunas. Sattvic faith, food, and practice lead to purity and wisdom; rajasic to passion; tamasic to delusion.

18. The Yoga of Liberation through Renunciation (78 verses)

    In this culminating chapter, Krishna summarizes his teaching. He distinguishes renunciation from tyaga (abandoning the fruits of action). He describes how each person should follow their own nature and duty. In the most intimate verse, he asks Arjuna to abandon all dharmas and surrender to him alone—he will liberate him from all sin.

Overview

• Total Verses: 701
• Chapters: 18
• Languages: Sanskrit, English, Hindi