What is the Bhagavad Gita about?

The Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and Krishna on duty, action without attachment, steadiness of mind and living with purpose. Teachmysoul presents every verse with its Sanskrit, a plain-English meaning and a real-life application.

Yes. The first three chapters, the daily verse and streaks are free. A single one-time $2.99 purchase unlocks all 18 chapters and 700 verses, with no subscription.

How does the Bhagavad Gita help with wellness?

The Gita teaches equanimity, freedom from anxiety over outcomes, and mastering desire and fear. Teachmysoul turns these into a calm two-minute daily practice, one verse a day with a concrete way to apply it.

Home · Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 8

Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 8

Akshara Brahma Yoga

The Imperishable Absolute

The art of dying, which turns out to be the art of living: the final thought as the harvest of habitual thought, remembrance woven through action, the syllable Om, and the two paths of light and dark.

All 28 verses

Each verse links to its full Sanskrit text, transliteration, plain-English meaning, key learning and practical application.

Gita 8.1-2kiṃ tad brahma kimadhyātmaṃ kiṃ karma puruṣottama | adhibhūtaṃ ca kiṃ proktamadh…Arjuna said: What is that Brahman? What is the self? What is action, O best of persons? What is the cosmic existence, an…Gita 8.3-4akṣaraṃ brahma paramaṃ svabhāvo'dhyātmamucyate | bhūtabhāvodbhavakaro visargaḥ k…The Blessed Lord said: Brahman is the supreme Imperishable; its essential nature is called the self; the creative force …Gita 8.5antakāle ca māmeva smaranmuktvā kalevaram | yaḥ prayāti sa madbhāvaṃ yāti nāstya…And whoever, at the time of the end, remembering Me alone, departs leaving the body, such a one attains My being; of thi…Gita 8.6yaṃ yaṃ vāpi smaranbhāvaṃ tyajatyante kalevaram | taṃ tamevaiti kaunteya sadā ta…Whatever state of being one remembers when leaving the body at the end, to that very state one goes, O son of Kunti, eve…Gita 8.7tasmātsarveṣu kāleṣu māmanusmara yudhya ca | mayyarpitamanobuddhirmāmevaiṣyasyas…Therefore at all times remember Me, and fight; with mind and intellect surrendered to Me, you shall come to Me without d…Gita 8.8abhyāsayogayuktena cetasā nānyagāminā | paramaṃ puruṣaṃ divyaṃ yāti pārthānucint…With mind made steadfast by practice, engaged in the yoga of constant remembrance, not straying to anything else, one go…Gita 8.9-10kaviṃ purāṇamanuśāsitāra maṇoraṇīyaṃsamanusmaredyaḥ | sarvasya dhātāramacintyarū…One who meditates on the Seer, the Ancient, the Ruler, subtler than the subtle, the Supporter of all, of inconceivable f…Gita 8.11yadakṣaraṃ vedavido vadanti viśanti yadyatayo vītarāgāḥ | yadicchanto brahmacary…That which the knowers of the Veda call the Imperishable, which ascetics free from passion enter, desiring which they pr…Gita 8.12-13sarvadvārāṇi saṃyamya mano hṛdi nirudhya ca | mūrdhnyādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇamāsthito …Controlling all the gates of the body, confining the mind in the heart, fixing the life-breath in the head, established …Gita 8.14ananyacetāḥ satataṃ yo māṃ smarati nityaśaḥ | tasyāhaṃ sulabhaḥ pārtha nityayukt…For the ever-harmonised yogi who constantly remembers Me with undivided mind, O Partha, I am easy to attain.Gita 8.15māmupetya punarjanma duḥkhālayamaśāśvatam | nāpnuvanti mahātmānaḥ saṃsiddhiṃ par…Having come to Me, these great souls are not subject to rebirth, the abode of sorrow and impermanence; they have reached…Gita 8.16ābrahmabhuvanāllokāḥ punarāvartino'rjuna | māmupetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na v…All worlds up to the realm of Brahma are subject to return, O Arjuna; but on reaching Me, O son of Kunti, there is no re…Gita 8.17-19sahasrayugaparyantamaharyad brahmaṇo viduḥ | rātriṃ yugasahasrāntāṃ te'horātravi…Those who know the day of Brahma, lasting a thousand ages, and the night ending in a thousand ages, they are the knowers…Gita 8.20-21parastasmāttu bhāvo'nyo'vyakto'vyaktātsanātanaḥ | yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyats…But beyond this unmanifest there is another, eternal unmanifest existence, which does not perish when all beings perish.…Gita 8.22puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyastvananyayā | yasyāntaḥsthāni bhūtāni yena…That supreme Spirit, O Partha, in whom all beings abide and by whom all this is pervaded, is attainable by undivided dev…Gita 8.23-26yatra kāle tvanāvṛttimāvṛttiṃ caiva yoginaḥ | prayātā yānti taṃ kālaṃ vakṣyāmi b…Now I shall declare to you, O best of Bharatas, the times in which yogis departing return, and depart never to return. F…Gita 8.27naite sṛtī pārtha jānanyogī muhyati kaścana | tasmātsarveṣu kāleṣu yogayukto bha…Knowing these two paths, O Partha, no yogi is deluded; therefore, at all times, O Arjuna, be steadfast in yoga.Gita 8.28vedeṣu yajñeṣu tapaḥsu caiva dāneṣu yatpuṇyaphalaṃ pradiṣṭam | atyeti tatsarvami…Whatever fruit of merit is declared for the Vedas, sacrifices, austerities, and gifts, the yogi who knows this goes beyo…

← Ch 7: Jnana Vijnana Yoga Ch 9: Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga →

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.

Start reading free →

All 18 chapters

1Arjuna Vishada YogaThe Yoga of Arjuna's Despair 2Sankhya YogaThe Yoga of Knowledge 3Karma YogaThe Yoga of Action 4Jnana Karma Sanyasa YogaKnowledge & Renunciation of Action 5Karma Sanyasa YogaThe Yoga of Renunciation 6Dhyana YogaThe Yoga of Meditation 7Jnana Vijnana YogaKnowledge of the Absolute 8Akshara Brahma YogaThe Imperishable Absolute 9Raja Vidya Raja Guhya YogaThe Royal Knowledge & Royal Secret 10Vibhuti YogaThe Yoga of Divine Glories 11Vishvarupa Darshana YogaThe Vision of the Universal Form 12Bhakti YogaThe Yoga of Devotion 13Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga YogaThe Field & the Knower of the Field 14Gunatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Gunas 15Purushottama YogaThe Supreme Person 16Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga YogaThe Divine & Demonic Natures 17Shraddhatraya Vibhaga YogaThe Three Kinds of Faith 18Moksha Sanyasa YogaLiberation through Renunciation