Bhagavadgita chapters list

    Chapter 1 : Visada Yoga
    Chapter 2 : Sankhya Yoga
    Chapter 3 : Karma Yoga
    Chapter 4 : Jnana Yoga
    Chapter 5 : Karma Vairagya Yoga [AKA karma sanyasa yoga]
    Chapter 6 : Abhyasa Yoga [AKA Atma samyama yoga]
Chapter 7 : Paramahamsa Vijnana Yoga
    Chapter 8 : Aksara-Parabrahman Yoga
    Chapter 9 : Raja-Vidya-Guhya Yoga
    Chapter 10 : Vibhuti-Vistara-Yoga
    Chapter 11 : Visvarupa-Darsana Yoga
    Chapter 12 : Bhakti Yoga
Chapter 13 : Ksetra-Ksetrajna Vibhaga Yoga
    Chapter 14 : Gunatraya-Vibhaga Yoga
    Chapter 15 : Purusottama Yoga
    Chapter 16 : Daivasura-Sampad-Vibhaga Yoga
    Chapter 17 : Sraddhatraya-Vibhaga Yoga
    Chapter 18 : Moksa-Opadesa Yoga

Bhagavad Gita quotes: quotations from Bhagavad-Gita

Krishna teaching Arjuna

• There is neither this world nor the world beyond nor happiness for the one who doubts

• Delusion arises from anger. The mind is bewildered by delusion. Reasoning is destroyed when the mind is bewildered. One falls down when reasoning is destroyed.
• One gradually attains tranquility of mind by keeping the mind fully absorbed in the Self by means of a well-trained intellect, and thinking of nothing else.
• One who has control over the mind is tranquil in heat and cold, in pleasure and pain, and in honor and dishonor; and is ever steadfast with the Supreme Self.
• The wise sees knowledge and action as one; they see truly.
• The mind acts like an enemy for those who do not control it.
• Perform your obligatory duty, because action is indeed better than inaction
• Sever the ignorant doubt in your heart with the sword of self-knowledge. Observe your discipline. Arise.
• A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.
• The disunited mind is far from wise; how can it meditate? How be at peace? When you know no peace, how can you know joy?
• The mind is restless and difficult to restrain, but it is subdued by practice.
• A person is said to have achieved yoga, the union with the Self, when the perfectly disciplined mind gets freedom from all desires, and becomes absorbed in the Self alone.
• Little by little, through patience and repeated effort, the mind will become stilled in the Self.
• Hell has three gates: lust, anger, and greed.
• There is nothing lost or wasted in this life.
• Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, offer service to Me, bow down to Me, and you shall certainly reach Me. I promise you because you are very dear to Me.
• To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same.
• Creation is only the projection into form of that which already exists.
• A Karma-yogi performs action by body, mind, intellect, and senses, without attachment (or ego), only for self-purification.
• One can become whatever one wants to be [if one constantly contemplates on the object of desire with faith].
• There has never been a time when you and I have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he attains another body. The wise are not deluded by these changes.
• Knowledge, the object of knowledge and the knower are the three factors which motivate action; the senses, the work and the doer comprise the threefold basis of action.
• Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.
• Those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.
• Fear not what is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed.
• Whatever I am offered in devotion with a pure heart - a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water - I accept with joy.

• A man's own self is his friend. A man's own self is his foe.
• Consciousness is eternal it is not vanquished with the destruction of the temporary body.
• Whatever you do, make it an offering to me -- the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering.
• The wise should not unsettle the mind of the ignorant who is attached to the fruits of work.
• Death is as sure for that which is born, as birth is for that which is dead. Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable.
• Unnatural work produces too much stress.
• Setting aside all noble deeds, just surrender completely to the will of God. I shall liberate you from all sins. Do not grieve.
• Hypocrisy, arrogance, pride, anger, harshness, and ignorance; these are the marks of those who are born with demonic qualities, O Arjuna.
• Still your mind in me, still yourself in me, and without a doubt you shall be united with me, Lord of Love, dwelling in your heart. 
• The person whose mind is always free from attachment, who has subdued the mind and senses, and who is free from desires, attains the supreme perfection of freedom from Karma through renunciation.
• Governing sense, mind and intellect, intent on liberation, free from desire, fear and anger, the sage is forever free.
• Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.
• On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.
• As person abandons worn-out clothes and acquires new ones, so when the body is worn out a new one is acquired by the Self, who lives within.
• This yoga should be practiced with firm determination and perseverance, without any mental reservation or doubts.
• Out of compassion I destroy the darkness of their ignorance. From within them I light the lamp of wisdom and dispel all darkness from their lives.
• When the sage climbs the heights of Yoga, he follows the path of work; but when he reaches the heights of Yoga, he is in the land of peace.
• Whenever the mind unsteady and restless strays away from the spirit, let him ever and for ever lead it again to the spirit.
• No work stains a man who is pure, who is in harmony, who is master of his life, whose soul is one with the soul of all.
• A man's own self is his friend. A man's own self is his foe.[Conflict]
• As person abandons worn-out clothes and acquires new ones, so when the body is worn out a new one is acquired by the Self, who lives within.[Self-discovery]
• Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace.
• But they for whom I am the supreme goal, who do all work renouncing self for me and meditate on me with single-hearted devotion, these I will swiftly rescue from death's vast sea, for their consciousness has entered into me. [Consciousness]
• Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can draw in their senses at will.[Choice]
• For those who wish to climb the mountain of spiritual awareness, the path is selfless work. For those who have attained the summit of union with the Lord, the path is stillness and peace.[Peace of Mind]
• Governing sense, mind and intellect, intent on liberation, free from desire, fear and anger, the sage is forever free.[Freedom]
• He is not elevated by good fortune or depressed by bad. His mind is established in God, and he is free from delusion.(mind)
• I look upon all creatures equally; none are less dear to me and none more dear. But those who worship me with love live in me, and I come to life in them.[Nature]
• It is better to do thine own duty, however lacking in merit, than to do that of another, even though efficiently. It is better to die doing one's own duty, for to do the duty of another is fraught with danger. [Danger]
• Just as a fire is covered by smoke and a mirror is obscured by dust, just as the embryo rests deep within the womb, wisdom is hidden by selfish desire.[Selfishness]
• Living creatures are nourished by food, and food is nourished by rain; rain itself is the water of life, which comes from selfless worship and service.[Service]
• Neither in this world nor elsewhere is there any happiness in store for him who always doubts [Doubt]
• O Krishna, the stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace? Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, powerful, violent; trying to control it is like trying to tame the wind.[Spirit and Spirituality]
• Offer unto me that which is very dear to thee -- which thou holdest most covetable. Infinite are the results of such an offering.[Infinity]
• On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear. [Failure]
• Out of compassion I destroy the darkness of their ignorance. From within them I light the lamp of wisdom and dispel all darkness from their lives. [Compassion]
• Sages speak of the immutable Tree of Life, with its tape root above and its branches below.[Spirit and Spirituality]
• Still your mind in me, still yourself in me, and without a doubt you shall be united with me, Lord of Love, dwelling in your heart.[Meditation]
• That one I love who is incapable of ill will, and returns love for hatred. Living beyond the reach of I and mind, and of pain and pleasure, full of mercy, contented, self-controlled, with all his heart and all his mind given to Me -- with such a one I am in love.[Hatred]
• The body is mortal, but the person dwelling in the body is immortal and immeasurable.[Body]
• The disunited mind is far from wise; how can it meditate? How be at peace? When you know no peace, how can you know joy?[Mind]
• The live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and sense craving tormenting the heart.[Wisdom]
• The non permanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of summer and winter seasons.[Appearance]
• The sage awakes to light in the night of all creatures. That which the world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.[Ignorance]
• The senses have been conditioned by attraction to the pleasant and aversion to the unpleasant: a man should not be ruled by them; they are obstacles in his path.[Obstacles]
• There has never been a time when you and I have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he attains another body. The wise are not deluded by these changes.[Change]
• Those who consciousness is unified abandon all attachment to the results of action and attain supreme peace. But those whose desires are fragmented, who are selfishly attached to the results of their work, are bound in everything they do.[Attachment]
• Those who eat too much or eat too little, who sleep too much or sleep too little, will not succeed in meditation. But those who are temperate in eating and sleeping, work and recreation, will come to the end of sorrow through meditation.[Meditation]
• To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same. [Possessions]
• Valor, glory, firmness, skill, generosity, steadiness in battle and ability to rule -- these constitute the duty of a soldier. They flow from his own nature.[Army and Navy]
• What is work and what is not work are questions that perplex the wisest of men.[Work]
• Whatever I am offered in devotion with a pure heart -- a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water -- I accept with joy.[Gratitude]
• Whatever you do, make it an offering to me -- the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your suffering.[Appreciation]
• When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place.[Mediation]
• When the senses contact sense objects, a person experiences cold or heat, pleasure or pain. These experiences are fleeting they come and go. Bear them patiently.[Feelings]
• When you move amidst the world of sense, free from attachment and aversion alike, there comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and you life in the wisdom of the Self.[Wisdom]
• Violence is not at all the subject matter of Bhagavad-Gita. The Bhagavad-Gita dose not say "kill anyone you dislike" but teaches that one should not be afraid to die while performing his duties.

Quotes on bhagavad gita by famous people

•  From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures. -Adi Shankaracharya. (prophet of advaita philosophy)
• When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous. - Albert Einstein. (The most famous scientist of our times)
• I have made the Bhagwad-Gita as the main source of my inspiration and guide for the purpose of scientific investigations and formation of my theories.- Albert Einstein. (The most famous scientist of our times)
• The Bhagavad-Gita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions.-Dr. Albert Schweizer.
• The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial phil osophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity- Alduos Huxley.
• The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his Timaeus in which it states…" behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant." This correlation can be discerned by what Krishna expresses in chapter 15 of Bhagavad-Gita.- Carl Jung. (swiss psychologist) 
• In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and  trivial. - Henry David Thoreau. ()
• I would say to the readers of the Scriptures, if they wish for a good book, read the Bhagvat-Geeta .... translated by Charles Wilkins. It deserves to be read with reverence even by Yankees...."Besides the Bhagvat-Geeta, our Shakespeare seems sometimes youthfully green... Ex oriente lux may still be the motto of scholars, for the Western world has not yet derived from the East all the light it is destined to derive thence.Henry David Thoreau.
• The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life's wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion -Herman Hesse.
• The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe.- Jawaharlal Nehru. (Prime Minister)
  
• The Mahabharata has all the essential ingredients necessary to evolve and protect humanity and that within it the Bhagavad-Gita is the epitome of the Mahabharata just as ghee is the essence of milk and pollen is the essence of flowers. - Madhvacarya.
• The Bhagavad-Gita calls on humanity to dedicate body, mind and soul to pure duty and not to become mental voluptuaries at the mercy of random desires and undisciplined impulses. -Mahatma Gandhiji.
• When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day.-Mahatma Gandhiji.
• Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning and a technical meaning. The general meaning is the joining together or union of any two or more things. The technical meaning is "a state of stability and peace and the means or practices which lead to that state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the word with both meanings. Lord Krishna is real Yogi who can maintain a peaceful mind in the midst of any crisis. -Mata Amritanandamayi Devi.
• Maharishi calls the Bhagavad-Gita the essence of Vedic Literature and a complete guide to practical life. It provides "all that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level." Maharishi reveals the deep, universal truths of life that speak to the needs and aspirations of everyone. -Maharshi Mahesh Yogi
  
•  The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe.- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
•  The Bhagavad-Gita is where God Himself talks to His devotee Arjuna. - Paramahansa Yogananda.
• I can say that in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is I have found explanations and answers to questions I had always posed regarding the interpretations of this sacred work, whose spiritual discipline I greatly admire. If the aesceticism and ideal of the apostles which form the message of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is were more widespread and more respected, the world in which we live would be transformed into a better, more fraternal place.-Dr. Paul Lesourd, (Author Professeur Honoraire, Catholic University of Paris) 
  
• I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• The Bhagavad-Gita is an empire of thought and in its philosophical teachings Krishna has all the attributes of the full-fledged montheistic deity and at the same time the attributes of the Upanisadic absolute.- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
• In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it. -Rudolph Steiner.
•  Though everything else is taken away from him, though he has to walk the streets, cold, hungry and alone, though he may know no human being into whose eyes he can look and find understanding, he shall yet be able to go his way with a smile on his lips, for he has gained inward freedom - Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. (philosopher and political leader)
• seek that Divine Knowledge by knowing which nothing remains to be known!' For such a person knowledge and ignorance has only one meaning: Have you knowledge of God? If yes, you a Jnani! If not, you are ignorant.As said in the Gita, chapter XIII/11, knowledge of Self, observing everywhere the object of true Knowledge i.e. God, all this is declared to be true Knowledge (wisdom); what is contrary to this is ignorance.-Sri Ramakrishna
•  The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization.- Sri Aurobindo.
• The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The Supreme Lord Krishnas primary purpose for descending and incarnating is relieve the world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed to spiritual development, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable intention to be perpetually within reach of all humanity. Sri  Ramanuja.
• "Science describes the structures and processess; philosophy attempts at their explaination.----- When such a perfect combination of both science and philosophy is sung to perfection that Krishna was, we have in this piece of work an appeal both to the head annd heart. _Swamy Chinmayanand.
  
• The Bhagavad-Gita is not separate from the Vaisnava philosophy and the Srimad Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrine which is transmigration of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare. When the second chapter has been read it can be clearly understood that knowledge and the soul is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studying the third chapter it is apparent that acts of righteousness are also of high priority. If we continue and patiently take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and try to ascertain the truth of its closing chapter we can see that the ultimate conclusion is to relinquish all the conceptualized ideas of religion which we possess and fully surrender directly unto the Supreme Lord.- Sri Swami Prabhupada.
• The Bhagavadita is not only a song of life but also is the music of the universe and it stands like a great lamp  Sriranga Sadguru
• Nothing has ever arisen in my life, internal or external, that the Gita has not made clear and enabled me to deal with or understand. -Swami Nirmalananda Giri.
• The secret of karma yoga which is to perform actions without any fruitive desires is taught by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita. -Swami Vivekananda.
• Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana are but three paths to this end. And common to all the three is renunciation. Renounce the desires, even of going to heaven, for every desire related with body and mind creates bondage. Our focus of action is neither to save the humanity nor to engage in social reforms, not to seek personal gains, but to realize the indwelling Self itself.- Swami Vivekananda.
• I read the Indian poem for the first time when I was in my country estate in Silesia and, while doing so, I felt a sense of overwhelming gratitude to God for having let me live to be acquainted with this work. It must be the most profound and sublime thing to be found in the world. Wlhielm von Humboldt (1767- 1835) (Prussian minister of education)