Bhagavad Gītā भगवद्गीता

What it is

The Bhagavad Gītā, "the Song of the Lord", is a dialogue of 700 verses in 18 chapters. It is part of the Mahābhārata, in its sixth book. On the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, the archer Arjuna sees his teachers, cousins and friends in the opposing army and refuses to fight. His charioteer, Kṛṣṇa, answers his grief and doubt. The whole conversation is reported to the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra by his minister Sañjaya, who has been given the power to see it from afar.

How it is arranged

The Gītā opens with Arjuna’s collapse (chapter 1). Kṛṣṇa’s teaching begins in chapter 2 with the undying self and steady wisdom. Chapters 3 to 6 deal with action and meditation, chapters 7 to 12 with knowledge of the divine and devotion, including the vision of the cosmic form in chapter 11, and chapters 13 to 18 with nature, the three qualities (guṇas) and freedom. Commentators often read it as three groups of six chapters. The last chapter gathers everything together and ends with Arjuna ready to act.

What it teaches

The self (ātman) is not born and does not die when the body dies (2.20). Each person should do their own duty (svadharma), and do it fully, without being ruled by attachment to its fruits (2.47), keeping an even mind in success and failure (2.48). The Gītā describes several paths that meet: selfless action (karma yoga), knowledge (jñāna yoga), meditation and loving devotion (bhakti yoga). It teaches the three guṇas that colour all of nature, and it ends with an invitation to trust and surrender (18.66).

What it can mean in your life

The Gītā speaks to every moment when we do not know what to do, or know it and are afraid. It asks us to work with full attention and care while letting go of anxiety about outcomes we cannot control. It describes the person of steady wisdom (2.56), untroubled by sorrow and not craving pleasure, and reminds us that the mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy (6.5). It asks us to see the same divine presence in all beings (6.29) and to be kind and free of hatred (12.13). For centuries people of every walk of life have read a verse of it each day; Mahatma Gandhi turned to it daily.

Where to begin

Begin with chapter 2, especially verses 11 to 72, which contain the heart of the teaching. Then read chapter 3 on action, chapter 6 on meditation, chapter 12, a short chapter on devotion, and chapter 18, the conclusion. Reading one verse a day with its word meanings and a commentary is a time-honoured way to live with the Gītā.

Origins and dating

Tradition holds that the sage Vyāsa composed the Mahābhārata, and the Gītā within it, and that Kṛṣṇa spoke these words on the eve of the great war. Most historians place the composition of the Gītā in the last centuries BCE. It has been explained by great teachers of every school, among them Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja and Madhva, and has been translated into most of the world’s languages.

Passages to start with

• Bhagavad Gītā 2.20: The self is never born and never dies.
• Bhagavad Gītā 2.47: Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits.
• Bhagavad Gītā 2.56: The person of steady wisdom.
• Bhagavad Gītā 6.5: Lift yourself by yourself: the mind as friend and foe.
• Bhagavad Gītā 18.66: The final call to trust and surrender.