Bhagavad Gita

Dharma, devotion, and action without attachment.

All 108 concepts

  • The Immortal Self — The soul is eternal, indestructible, and beyond the reach of weapons, fire, water, or wind.
  • Equanimity in Action — Perform your duty with steadfast mind, remaining equal in success and failure.
  • Right to Action, Not Results — You have the right to work, but never to the fruits of your work.
  • The Steady Wisdom — One whose mind is unshaken by adversity, free from desire, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom.
  • Controlling the Senses — As a tortoise withdraws its limbs, the wise withdraw their senses from sense objects.
  • The Chain of Destruction — Attachment leads to desire, desire to anger, anger to delusion, and delusion to destruction.
  • Action in Inaction — The wise see action in inaction and inaction in action.
  • Better One's Own Dharma — It is better to perform one's own duty imperfectly than to master another's duty.
  • The World Upheld by Sacrifice — The cycle of existence is sustained by selfless sacrifice and mutual giving.
  • Setting an Example — Whatever a great person does, common people follow; whatever standards they set, the world pursues.
  • The Self as Friend or Enemy — For one who has conquered the self, the self is the best of friends; for one who has not, the self is the greatest enemy.
  • Desire as the Enemy — It is desire, born of the quality of passion, that becomes wrath—the all-devouring enemy of the soul.
  • The Yoga of Renunciation — Renunciation is not abandoning action but abandoning attachment to the fruits of action.
  • The Chariot of the Body — Know the Self as the master of the chariot, the body as the chariot, the intellect as the charioteer, and the mind as the reins.
  • Karma Yoga - The Path of Action — Through selfless action performed as an offering to the Divine, one attains liberation.
  • Jnana Yoga - The Path of Knowledge — Through discrimination between the eternal and the temporary, the wise attain liberation.
  • Bhakti Yoga - The Path of Devotion — Through wholehearted love and surrender to the Divine, one easily attains liberation.
  • Dhyana Yoga - The Path of Meditation — Through stilling the mind in meditation, one realizes the Self directly.
  • The Lamp in a Windless Place — Like a lamp in a windless place that does not flicker, such is the disciplined mind of the yogi in meditation.
  • Moderation in All Things — Yoga is not for one who eats too much or too little, sleeps too much or too little.
  • The Gradual Mind Training — Little by little, through patience and determination, the mind should be stilled using the intellect.
  • The Restless Mind — The mind is restless, turbulent, powerful, and obstinate; controlling it is like controlling the wind.
  • Practice and Detachment — The mind is undoubtedly difficult to control, but it can be subdued through practice and dispassion.
  • No Effort is Lost — On this path no effort is ever wasted, and there is no failure. Even a little progress protects from great fear.
  • The Perfected Yogi — The highest yogi is one who, through identification with the Self, sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings.
  • Equal Vision — The wise see a learned scholar, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcaste with equal vision.
  • The Yoga of Sacred Knowledge — This knowledge is the sovereign science, the supreme secret, supremely purifying, and directly realizable.
  • Crossing the Ocean of Samsara — With the boat of knowledge, you will cross over all misery.
  • God in All Things — The Divine is present in all beings and all things—the taste in water, the light in sun and moon.
  • The Origin and Dissolution — I am the origin and dissolution of the entire universe. There is nothing higher than Me.
  • Divine Manifestations — Whatever is glorious, prosperous, or powerful, know that to spring from a fragment of My splendor.
  • The Indestructible Syllable — Om is the single syllable representing Brahman, the ultimate reality.
  • Four Types of Devotees — Four types of virtuous souls worship Me: the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise.
  • The Veil of Maya — My divine energy of illusion is difficult to overcome, but those who surrender to Me cross beyond it.
  • The Lord in the Heart — The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, directing their wanderings through His power.
  • Remembrance at Death — Whatever state of being one remembers at death, that state one will attain.
  • The Eternal Abode — Having attained Me, the great souls never return to this temporary world of suffering.
  • Equal Toward All — I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. Yet those who worship Me with devotion live in Me, and I in them.
  • The True Sacrifice — Whatever you do, eat, offer, give, or practice as austerity—do it as an offering to Me.
  • Even a Little — Even a small offering of leaf, flower, fruit, or water, if offered with love, is accepted by Me.
  • The Protected Devotee — To those who worship Me with love, ever steadfast, I give the understanding by which they come to Me.
  • I Carry What They Lack — To those steadfast devotees who worship Me with love, I preserve what they have and provide what they lack.
  • The Cosmic Vision — Arjuna beholds the entire universe, with its manifold divisions, all united in the body of the Supreme.
  • Many Mouths and Eyes — If a thousand suns were to rise at once in the sky, their brilliance might resemble the effulgence of that Supreme Person.
  • Time the Destroyer — I am Time, the great destroyer of worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people.
  • Already Destroyed — All these warriors have already been destroyed by Me. You are merely the instrument.
  • Terror and Wonder — Seeing this terrible form, all the worlds tremble with fear, and so do I.
  • Returning to the Gentle Form — Having seen this terrifying form, I am bewildered and find no peace. Please show me Your gentle form again.
  • Beyond Vedas and Austerities — This form of Mine you have seen cannot be known through Vedas, austerities, charity, or sacrifice.
  • Devotion Reveals — By undivided devotion alone can I be known and seen in reality and entered into.
  • The Visible and Invisible — I pervade the entire universe in My unmanifest form. All beings exist in Me, but I do not dwell in them.
  • Neither Do They Dwell in Me — And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My divine mystery!
  • The Divine Glories — Among lights I am the sun; among stars I am the moon; among bodies of water I am the ocean.
  • I Am the Beginning, Middle, and End — I am the generating seed of all existences. There is no being, moving or nonmoving, that can exist without Me.
  • One Fragment Supports All — With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.
  • The Supreme Devotee — One who is free from malice toward all beings, friendly and compassionate, is very dear to Me.
  • Fixed in Devotion — Those who fix their minds on Me and worship Me with unwavering faith are the best yogis.
  • The Ladder of Practice — If you cannot fix your mind on Me, then seek to reach Me by the practice of yoga.
  • Undisturbed by the World — One by whom the world is not agitated and who is not agitated by the world is dear to Me.
  • Beyond Dualities — One who is the same to friend and foe, in honor and dishonor, heat and cold, happiness and distress, is dear to Me.
  • Renouncing Shelter Elsewhere — One who has no shelter other than Me is very dear to Me.
  • The Nectar of Devotion — Those who partake of this nectar of immortality as I have declared it, endowed with faith, devoted to Me—they are exceedingly dear to Me.
  • Thinking of Me Always — Always think of Me and become My devotee. Worship Me and offer homage to Me.
  • Love as the Way — Fill your mind with Me, be My devotee, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me, and you will come to Me.
  • I Accept the Loving Offering — Whatever form a devotee wishes to worship with faith, I make that faith steady.
  • The Supreme Goal — The supreme state is not illuminated by sun, moon, or fire. Having reached it, one does not return.
  • Part of the Eternal — The living entities in this world are My eternal fragmental parts.
  • The Easy Path — Those who worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I swiftly deliver from the ocean of birth and death.
  • The Three Gunas — Sattva, rajas, and tamas—these three qualities born of nature bind the immortal soul to the body.
  • Sattva - The Mode of Goodness — Sattva, being purer than the others, illuminates and frees from sinful reactions, but binds through attachment to happiness and knowledge.
  • Rajas - The Mode of Passion — Rajas is born of unlimited desires and longings, binding the soul through attachment to action and its fruits.
  • Tamas - The Mode of Ignorance — Tamas, born of ignorance, deludes all living beings and binds through negligence, laziness, and sleep.
  • Transcending the Gunas — When the seer perceives no agent other than the gunas and knows what is beyond the gunas, he attains My nature.
  • Signs of Transcendence — One who does not hate illumination, activity, or delusion when they appear, nor longs for them when they disappear, is said to have transcended the gunas.
  • The Field and Its Knower — The body is called the field, and one who knows it is called the knower of the field.
  • What Constitutes the Field — The field is composed of the five elements, ego, intellect, the unmanifest, the senses, mind, and the sense objects.
  • True Knowledge — Humility, non-violence, patience, uprightness, service to the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control—this is declared to be knowledge.
  • The Supreme Knower — Know Me to be the Knower in all fields. Knowledge of the field and its knower—that I call true knowledge.
  • Prakriti and Purusha — Know that prakriti (nature) and purusha (spirit) are both beginningless; and know that modifications and the gunas arise from prakriti.
  • The Cause of Bondage — Purusha, seated in prakriti, experiences the gunas born of prakriti. Attachment to the gunas is the cause of birth in good and evil wombs.
  • The Witness Within — The Supreme Being in this body is called the observer, the permitter, the supporter, the experiencer, the great Lord, and the Supreme Self.
  • The Inverted Tree — There is a sacred fig tree with roots above and branches below, whose leaves are the Vedic hymns.
  • Cutting the Tree of Attachment — One must cut down this firmly rooted tree with the strong axe of detachment.
  • Three Types of Faith — The faith of embodied beings is of three kinds—sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic—according to the gunas that predominate in them.
  • Three Types of Food — Foods that increase life, purity, strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction are dear to those in sattva.
  • Three Types of Giving — Charity given without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, to a worthy person, is sattvic.
  • Three Types of Action — Action performed as duty, without attachment to fruits, without love or hatred, is sattvic.
  • Three Types of Knowledge — That knowledge by which one sees the one imperishable reality in all beings, undivided in the divided, is sattvic.
  • Three Types of Happiness — That happiness which is like poison in the beginning but nectar in the end, arising from self-realization, is sattvic.
  • True Renunciation — The wise understand renunciation as giving up actions born of desire; giving up the fruits of all action they call relinquishment.
  • The Five Causes of Action — Learn from Me the five causes for the accomplishment of all action: the body, the doer, the senses, the endeavor, and providence.
  • Deluded Self as Sole Doer — One who sees the self as the sole agent, due to imperfect understanding, does not see truly.
  • Action Without Bondage — One who is free from ego, whose intelligence is not entangled—even killing, does not kill, nor is bound.
  • The Supreme Secret — Abandon all varieties of dharma and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
  • The Greatest Secret — Because you are My very dear friend, I am speaking to you the most confidential part of knowledge.
  • You Are Most Dear — Because you are very dear to Me, I shall tell you what is beneficial. You are My very dear friend.
  • Sharing the Teaching — One who explains this supreme secret to the devotees performs the highest devotion to Me and will come to Me without doubt.
  • Most Dear to Me — There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than they who teach this, nor will there ever be one more dear.
  • Studying the Gita — And I declare that those who study this sacred dialogue worship Me by their intelligence.
  • Listening with Faith — And one who listens with faith and without envy becomes free from sin and attains the auspicious planets.
  • The Dispelling of Illusion — Have your illusion and ignorance been dispelled by hearing My words?
  • Arjuna's Transformation — My delusion is destroyed; I have regained memory through Your grace. I stand firm, with all doubts removed. I will act according to Your word.
  • The Hair-Raising Wonder — Thus I have heard this wonderful dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, causing my hair to stand on end.
  • The Vision of Yoga — By the mercy of Vyasa, I have heard this supreme and most confidential yoga directly from Krishna.
  • Remembering Again and Again — As I remember again and again this wonderful and sacred dialogue, I rejoice again and again.
  • Remembering the Wondrous Form — And when I remember that most wonderful form of Krishna, great is my wonder, and I rejoice again and again.
  • Where Krishna and Arjuna Are — Wherever there is Krishna and Arjuna, there will certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power, and morality.
  • This Is My Conviction — That is my conviction.

Essays on Bhagavad Gita