TeachmysoulHome · Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2
Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 2
Sankhya Yoga
The Yoga of Knowledge
Chapter 2 is the Gita in miniature. In seventy-two verses the text lays down nearly every theme the remaining chapters expand: the immortality of the Self, acting without grasping at results, yoga as a calm steady mind, the psychology of desire, and the portrait of the person of steady wisdom.
All 72 verses
Each verse links to its full Sanskrit text, transliteration, plain-English meaning, key learning and practical application.
Gita 2.1taṃ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭamaśrupūrṇākulekṣaṇam | viṣīdantamidaṃ vākyamuvāca madhusūda…Sanjaya said: To him who was thus overcome with pity, his eyes filled with tears and downcast, despairing, Krishna spoke…Gita 2.2-3kutastvā kaśmalamidaṃ viṣame samupasthitam | anāryajuṣṭamasvargyamakīrtikaramarj…The Blessed Lord said: Whence has this weakness come upon you at this critical hour, O Arjuna? It is unworthy of the nob…Gita 2.4-6kathaṃ bhīṣmamahaṃ saṅkhye droṇaṃ ca madhusūdana | iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi pūjārhā…Arjuna said: How shall I strike Bhishma and Drona with arrows in battle, O Krishna, they who are worthy of my worship? B…Gita 2.7kārpaṇyadoṣopahatasvabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṃ dharmasammūḍhacetāḥ | yacchreyaḥ syānn…My very being is stricken with the taint of helplessness; my mind is confused about dharma. I ask you: tell me decisivel…Gita 2.8-9na hi prapaśyāmi mamāpanudyād yacchokamucchoṣaṇamindriyāṇām | avāpya bhūmāvasapa…I see nothing that could dispel this grief which dries up my senses, not even unrivalled, prosperous kingship over the e…Gita 2.10tamuvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ prahasanniva bhārata | senayorubhayormadhye viṣīdantamidaṃ va…To him who sat despondent between the two armies, O Bharata, Krishna, as if smiling, spoke these words.Gita 2.11aśocyānanvaśocastvaṃ prajñāvādāṃśca bhāṣase | gatāsūnagatāsūṃśca nānuśocanti paṇ…The Blessed Lord said: You grieve for those who should not be grieved for, yet you speak words of wisdom. The wise griev…Gita 2.12na tvevāhaṃ jātu nāsaṃ na tvaṃ neme janādhipāḥ | na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve v…Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings; nor will any of us ever cease to be hereafter.Gita 2.13dehino'sminyathā dehe kaumāraṃ yauvanaṃ jarā | tathā dehāntaraprāptirdhīrastatra…Just as the embodied Self passes in this body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too does it pass into another bo…Gita 2.14mātrāsparśāstu kaunteya śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥ | āgamāpāyino'nityāstāṃstitikṣasva…Contact between the senses and their objects, O son of Kunti, gives rise to cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come …Gita 2.15yaṃ hi na vyathayantyete puruṣaṃ puruṣarṣabha | samaduḥkhasukhaṃ dhīraṃ so'mṛtat…That person whom these do not afflict, O best of men, the same in pain and pleasure, steadfast, is fit for immortality.Gita 2.16nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ | ubhayorapi dṛṣṭo'ntastvanayostattva…The unreal has no being; the real never ceases to be. The truth about both has been seen by the knowers of reality.Gita 2.17avināśi tu tadviddhi yena sarvamidaṃ tatam | vināśamavyayasyāsya na kaścitkartum…Know that to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded. No one can destroy this imperishable reality.Gita 2.18antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ | anāśino'prameyasya tasmādyudhyasva b…These bodies of the eternal, indestructible, immeasurable embodied Self are said to have an end. Therefore fight, O Bhar…Gita 2.19ya enaṃ vetti hantāraṃ yaścainaṃ manyate hatam | ubhau tau na vijānīto nāyaṃ han…He who thinks the Self a slayer, and he who thinks it slain, both fail to understand. It neither slays nor is slain.Gita 2.20na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ | ajo nityaḥ śāśv…The Self is never born, nor does it ever die; nor, having once been, does it cease to be. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, …Gita 2.21vedāvināśinaṃ nityaṃ ya enamajamavyayam | kathaṃ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha kaṃ ghātayati…He who knows the Self to be indestructible, eternal, unborn, and undiminishing, how can that person slay anyone, O Parth…Gita 2.22vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro'parāṇi | tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya …Just as a person casts off worn-out garments and puts on new ones, so the embodied Self casts off worn-out bodies and en…Gita 2.23-24nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṃ dahati pāvakaḥ | na cainaṃ kledayantyāpo na śoṣ…Weapons do not cut it, fire does not burn it, water does not wet it, wind does not dry it. It cannot be cut, burnt, wett…Gita 2.25avyakto'yamacintyo'yamavikāryo'yamucyate | tasmādevaṃ viditvainaṃ nānuśocitumarh…This Self is said to be unmanifest, unthinkable, and unchanging. Therefore, knowing it thus, you should not grieve.Gita 2.26-27atha cainaṃ nityajātaṃ nityaṃ vā manyase mṛtam | tathāpi tvaṃ mahābāho naivaṃ śo…And even if you think of the Self as perpetually born and perpetually dying, even then, O mighty-armed one, you should n…Gita 2.28avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyaktamadhyāni bhārata | avyaktanidhanānyeva tatra kā paride…Beings are unmanifest in their beginnings, manifest in their middles, and unmanifest again in their ends, O Bharata. Wha…Gita 2.29āścaryavatpaśyati kaścidena māścaryavadvadati tathaiva cānyaḥ | āścaryavaccainam…One sees it as a wonder; another speaks of it as a wonder; another hears of it as a wonder, yet even having heard, scarc…Gita 2.30dehī nityamavadhyo'yaṃ dehe sarvasya bhārata | tasmātsarvāṇi bhūtāni na tvaṃ śoc…The embodied Self in everyone's body is eternally indestructible, O Bharata. Therefore you should not grieve for any bei…Gita 2.31-32svadharmamapi cāvekṣya na vikampitumarhasi | dharmyāddhi yuddhācchreyo'nyatkṣatr…Further, looking to your own dharma, you should not waver; for a kshatriya, nothing is better than a battle for righteou…Gita 2.33-36atha cettvamimaṃ dharmyaṃ saṅgrāmaṃ na kariṣyasi | tataḥ svadharmaṃ kīrtiṃ ca hi…But if you will not fight this righteous battle, then, having abandoned your own duty and honour, you will incur sin. Pe…Gita 2.37hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṃ jitvā vā bhokṣyase mahīm | tasmāduttiṣṭha kaunteya yud…Slain, you will attain heaven; victorious, you will enjoy the earth. Therefore arise, O son of Kunti, resolved to fight.Gita 2.38sukhaduḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau | tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṃ pāp…Holding pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat as the same, then engage in battle. Thus you will incur no …Gita 2.39eṣā te'bhihitā sāṅkhye buddhiryoge tvimāṃ śṛṇu | buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha karma…This wisdom of Sankhya has been declared to you; now hear the wisdom of Yoga, endowed with which, O Partha, you will cas…Gita 2.40nehābhikramanāśo'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate | svalpamapyasya dharmasya trāyate ma…In this path no effort is ever lost and no obstacle prevails; even a little of this dharma protects from great fear.Gita 2.41vyavasāyātmikā buddhirekeha kurunandana | bahuśākhā hyanantāśca buddhayo'vyavasā…In this path, O joy of the Kurus, the resolute intelligence is one-pointed; many-branched and endless are the thoughts o…Gita 2.42-44yāmimāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ pravadantyavipaścitaḥ | vedavādaratāḥ pārtha nānyadastīti…Flowery speech is uttered by the unwise, who delight in the letter of the Veda, O Partha, declaring ‘there is nothing el…Gita 2.45traiguṇyaviṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna | nirdvandvo nityasattvastho niryog…The Vedas deal with the three gunas; be beyond the three gunas, O Arjuna, free from the pairs of opposites, ever establi…Gita 2.46yāvānartha udapāne sarvataḥ samplutodake | tāvānsarveṣu vedeṣu brāhmaṇasya vijān…As much use as there is in a well when water floods everywhere, so much use is there in all the Vedas for the knower of …Gita 2.47karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana | mā karmaphalaheturbhūrmā te saṅgo'stv…Your right is to action alone, never to its fruits. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment…Gita 2.48yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjaya | siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā s…Established in yoga, perform actions, abandoning attachment, O Dhananjaya, balanced in success and failure. Such evennes…Gita 2.49dūreṇa hyavaraṃ karma buddhiyogāddhanañjaya | buddhau śaraṇamanviccha kṛpaṇāḥ ph…Far inferior indeed is mere action to the yoga of intelligence, O Dhananjaya. Seek refuge in intelligence; pitiable are …Gita 2.50buddhiyukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛtaduṣkṛte | tasmādyogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu ka…One endowed with this intelligence casts off here both good and evil deeds. Therefore strive for yoga, yoga is skill in …Gita 2.51karmajaṃ buddhiyuktā hi phalaṃ tyaktvā manīṣiṇaḥ | janmabandhavinirmuktāḥ padaṃ …The wise, endowed with this intelligence, abandoning the fruits of action, freed from the bondage of birth, reach the st…Gita 2.52yadā te mohakalilaṃ buddhirvyatitariṣyati | tadā gantāsi nirvedaṃ śrotavyasya śr…When your intelligence crosses beyond the thicket of delusion, then you will attain indifference to what has been heard …Gita 2.53śrutivipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niścalā | samādhāvacalā buddhistadā yogamavā…When your intelligence, perplexed by what is heard, stands unmoving and steady in concentration, then you will attain yo…Gita 2.54sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava | sthitadhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kimās…Arjuna said: What is the description of one of steady wisdom, established in concentration, O Keshava? How does the pers…Gita 2.55prajahāti yadā kāmānsarvānpārtha manogatān | ātmanyevātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthitaprajñas…The Blessed Lord said: When one completely casts off all desires of the mind, O Partha, satisfied in the Self by the Sel…Gita 2.56duḥkheṣvanudvignamanāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ | vītarāgabhayakrodhaḥ sthitadhīrmun…One whose mind is unshaken in the midst of sorrows, free from craving amid pleasures, from whom passion, fear, and anger…Gita 2.57yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehastattatprāpya śubhāśubham | nābhinandati na dveṣṭi tasya p…One who is without attachment on all sides, who neither rejoices on attaining good nor hates on attaining evil, such a o…Gita 2.58yadā saṃharate cāyaṃ kūrmo'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ | indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyastasya praj…When one withdraws the senses from sense-objects on every side, as a tortoise draws in its limbs, that one's wisdom is f…Gita 2.59viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ | rasavarjaṃ raso'pyasya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā ni…Sense-objects fall away from the abstinent dweller in the body, but the taste for them remains; even this taste turns aw…Gita 2.60yatato hyapi kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ | indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasab…The turbulent senses, O son of Kunti, carry away by force the mind even of a wise person who strives.Gita 2.61tāni sarvāṇi saṃyamya yukta āsīta matparaḥ | vaśe hi yasyendriyāṇi tasya prajñā …Having restrained them all, one should sit integrated, intent on Me; for one whose senses are under control, wisdom is f…Gita 2.62-63dhyāyato viṣayānpuṃsaḥ saṅgasteṣūpajāyate | saṅgātsañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmātkrodho'bh…Brooding on sense-objects, a person develops attachment to them; from attachment springs desire, and from desire arises …Gita 2.64rāgadveṣavimuktaistu viṣayānindriyaiścaran | ātmavaśyairvidheyātmā prasādamadhig…But the self-controlled person, moving among sense-objects with senses freed from attraction and aversion and ruled by t…Gita 2.65prasāde sarvaduḥkhānāṃ hānirasyopajāyate | prasannacetaso hyāśu buddhiḥ paryavat…In serenity, all one's sorrows are destroyed; for the intellect of the tranquil-minded soon becomes firmly established.Gita 2.66nāsti buddhirayuktasya na cāyuktasya bhāvanā | na cābhāvayataḥ śāntiraśāntasya k…For the unsteady there is no wisdom, and no meditation for the unsteady; for one without meditation there is no peace, a…Gita 2.67indriyāṇāṃ hi caratāṃ yanmano'nuvidhīyate | tadasya harati prajñāṃ vāyurnāvamivā…As the wind carries away a boat on the waters, so the one roving sense to which the mind yields carries away one's under…Gita 2.68tasmādyasya mahābāho nigṛhītāni sarvaśaḥ | indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyastasya prajñā …Therefore, O mighty-armed one, the one whose senses are entirely withdrawn from sense-objects, that one's wisdom is firm…Gita 2.69yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṃ tasyāṃ jāgarti saṃyamī | yasyāṃ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā pa…What is night for all beings, therein the self-controlled one is awake; wherein all beings are awake, that is night for …Gita 2.70āpūryamāṇamacalapratiṣṭhaṃ samudramāpaḥ praviśanti yadvat | tadvatkāmā yaṃ pravi…As waters enter the ocean, which, ever being filled, remains unmoved, so the one into whom all desires enter attains pea…Gita 2.71vihāya kāmānyaḥ sarvānpumāṃścarati niḥspṛhaḥ | nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ sa śāntimadh…The person who, abandoning all desires, moves about free from longing, without the sense of ‘mine’ and without ego, that…Gita 2.72eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha naināṃ prāpya vimuhyati | sthitvāsyāmantakāle'pi brahm…This is the state of Brahman, O Partha. Having attained it, one is no longer deluded. Established therein even at the ho…
Read all 18 chapters in the app
Teachmysoul gives you all 700 Gita verses with Sanskrit, plain-English meaning, a key learning and a practical application, a calm two-minute daily habit on web, iOS and Android.
All 18 chapters
1Arjuna Vishada YogaThe Yoga of Arjuna's Despair2Sankhya YogaThe Yoga of Knowledge3Karma YogaThe Yoga of Action4Jnana Karma Sanyasa YogaKnowledge & Renunciation of Action5Karma Sanyasa YogaThe Yoga of Renunciation6Dhyana YogaThe Yoga of Meditation7Jnana Vijnana YogaKnowledge of the Absolute8Akshara Brahma YogaThe Imperishable Absolute9Raja Vidya Raja Guhya YogaThe Royal Knowledge & Royal Secret10Vibhuti YogaThe Yoga of Divine Glories11Vishvarupa Darshana YogaThe Vision of the Universal Form12Bhakti YogaThe Yoga of Devotion13Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga YogaThe Field & the Knower of the Field14Gunatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Gunas15Purushottama YogaThe Supreme Person16Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga YogaThe Divine & Demonic Natures17Shraddhatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Kinds of Faith18Moksha Sanyasa YogaLiberation through Renunciation