Bhagavad Gita Teachings is collected from commentaries of the
Bhagavad Gita. The teachings have been collected from various sources.
From anger comes delusion; from delusion ‘loss of memory’; from loss of memory the destruction of discrimination; from destruction of discrimination, he perishes. (Chapter II, 63)
Those who are free from pride and delusion.
Those who have conquered the evil attachments of this world.
Those whose desires and cravings have disappeared.
Those who are no longer bound by the pairs called pleasure and pain.
Those who abide perpetually in the Atman,
Reach thatEternal State
Those whose desires and cravings have disappeared.
Those who are no longer bound by the pairs called pleasure and pain.
Those who abide perpetually in the Atman,
Reach that
That state which the enlightened enter is My Supreme
Infinite Being, which is illuminated with Self-consciousness,
And not by the light of the sun, moon or fire.
Thus once he attains Me, there is no return. (Chapter XV, 5-6)
Infinite Being, which is illuminated with Self-consciousness,
And not by the light of the sun, moon or fire.
Thus once he attains Me, there is no return. (Chapter XV, 5-6)
Sacrifice which involves knowledge of Brahman is superior to sacrifice which is ritualistic and only involves material offerings. In knowledge or enlightenment one finds the reward of all actions. (Chapter IV, verse 33)
A person should uplift himself with his own will,
He should understand the Atman with the help of his will. (Chapter VI, 5-6)
He should understand the Atman with the help of his will. (Chapter VI, 5-6)
Bodies are said to die,
But, That which pervades all is Eternal
It is limitless and immutable.
It does not slay nor is it slain.
It is not born nor does it die.
It never ends and it never begins.
It is deathless, birthless, changeless, eternal. (Chapter II, 17-22)
But, That which pervades all is Eternal
It is limitless and immutable.
It does not slay nor is it slain.
It is not born nor does it die.
It never ends and it never begins.
It is deathless, birthless, changeless, eternal. (Chapter II, 17-22)
(Source: Bhagavad Gita A New perspective – Ila and Raj Ahuja)
That which is unreal cannot come to be.
That which is real cannot cease to be.
Those who know truth, see clearly between these.
One who sees actionlessness in action,
and action only in actionlessness,
is wise among men. Throughout all actions,
he remains impartial and complete.
Of those who rightly worship Me,
there are four kinds: first those who aim
for benefits to be obtained,
then those who further wish to know,
those who seek truth beyond all else,
and those who truly come to know.
Unfathomable is the way of karma.
O mighty armed! As the ocean remains calm and undisturbed, though the waters flow into it, so a self-controlled man remains unmoved when desires enter into him. Such a saint attains peace, not he who craves the objects of sense!
That man attains peace who, abandoning all desires, moves about without attachment and longing, without the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’
Subduing self by the Self (atman) destroy the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome!
He who acts and thinks not of fruits of action, he is sannyasin, a yogi.
It is not wise for an intelligent being like you to lament at the time of crisis. You should not be weak at the time of adversity; you should fight the adversities with a brave heart.
You should not grieve for those who are not worthy to be grieved for. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.
For a warrior, nothing is more dignified than a war against the evil. A warrior should be pleased when confronted with a war, for it comes as an open gate to heaven.
Anger gives rise to delusion. Delusion corrupts the mind, and a corrupt mind destroys the power to reason properly. Defeat is imminent when the power of reasoning is lost.
You have the right over your responsibilities, and the proper actions required of it, but you don’t have the right to the rewards resulting out of it.
You should never engage in an action only for the desire of the rewards, and you should not desire inaction.
I am the thread that runs through all these pearls. (7.7)
The scriptures is your authority as regards the determination of what is to be done and what is not to be done. (16.4)
That gift is referred to as born of sattva which gift is given with the idea that it ought to be given, to one who will not serve in return, and at the (proper) place, (proper) time and to a (proper) person. (17.20)
The gift which is given expecting reciprocation, or again, with a desire for its result, and which is given grudgingly that is considered to be born of rajas. (17.21)
Gift which is made at an improper place and time, and to undeserving persons, without proper treatment and with disdain, is declared to be born of tamas. (17.22)
Control thy sense at the outset, and slay this sinful destroyer of jnana and vijnana.
Whatever you eat, whatever you give in charity, whatever austerity you practice, whatever you do, O Arjuna, make it as an offering unto me.
A man with a disciplined mind, who moves among sense objects, with the senses under control and free from attachment and aversion, he rises to a state of peace…having attained peace, there is for him an end of all sorrow; of such a man of peace the understanding soon attains equilibrium.
You are birthless and deathless. Weapons cannot cleave you, fire cannot burn you, waters cannot wet you, nor winds dry you. You are immutable, eternal, all pervading, beyond time and space.
Mankind comes to Me from many roads, and by whatever road they approach Me I welcome them, because all roads lead to Me.
There is no purifier in this world like knowledge. He who is himself perfected in Yoga finds it in the Self in time.
As the blazing fire reduces fuel to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all actions to ashes.
Actions do not taint Me, nor have I any desire for the fruits of actions. He who knows Me thus is not bound by his actions.
Whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the Fire of knowledge, him the wise call sage.
In whatever way people are devoted to Me, in that measure I manifest Myself to them. All men, in every manner (of seeking Me), pursue a path to Me." (The Gita IV:11).
He dwells in the world, enveloping all — everywhere. (The Gita XIII:14)
He who perceives Me everywhere and beholds everything in Me never loses sight of Me, nor do I ever lose sight of him. (The Gita VI:30)
On Me fix thy mind, be thou My devotee, with ceaseless worship bow reverently before Me. Having thus united thyself to Me as thy Highest Goal, thou shalt be Mine own. (The Gita IX:34)
This Self [Soul] is never born nor does it ever perish; nor having come into existence will it again cease to be. It is birthless, eternal, changeless, ever-same (unaffected by the usual processes associated with time). It is not slain when the body is killed. (The Gita II:20)
Arjuna says to Krishna : You praise both the renunciation of work as well as its unselfish performance — so which is better?
Krishna ’s answer is that the renunciation of work and its unselfish performance both lead to the soul’s salvation. But of the two, the unselfish performance of work is better than its renunciation.
People today, because they are driven by insatiable desires, have become tightly bound by scheming and anger. They spend their lives grabbing for riches and amassing wealth. Stuffed until choking with pride and conceit, drunk with their own affluence and assets, they have given themselves to the dark forces of insolence and cruelty. Thus they sing deeper into their despondency.
The wise grieve neither for the living nor the dead.
There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor any of these rulers of men; nor will we ever cease to be hereafter.
Contacts of the senses with objects produce cold and heat pleasure and pain. They come and go and are impermanent. Bear with them. The person who these cannot afflict, who is the same in pleasure and pain, wise, he is fit for immortality.
This Self cannot be cut, cannot be burnt, cannot be made wet, cannot be dried up. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable, immovable and primeval.
O mighty armed! As the ocean remains calm and undisturbed, though the waters flow into it, so a self-controlled man remains unmoved when desires enter into him. Such a saint attains peace, not he who craves the objects of sense!
That man attains peace who, abandoning all desires, moves about without attachment and longing, without the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’
Subduing self by the Self (atman) destroy the enemy in the form of desire, difficult to overcome!
He who acts and thinks not of fruits of action, he is sannyasin, a yogi.
It is not wise for an intelligent being like you to lament at the time of crisis. You should not be weak at the time of adversity; you should fight the adversities with a brave heart.
You should not grieve for those who are not worthy to be grieved for. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.
For a warrior, nothing is more dignified than a war against the evil. A warrior should be pleased when confronted with a war, for it comes as an open gate to heaven.
Anger gives rise to delusion. Delusion corrupts the mind, and a corrupt mind destroys the power to reason properly. Defeat is imminent when the power of reasoning is lost.
You have the right over your responsibilities, and the proper actions required of it, but you don’t have the right to the rewards resulting out of it.
You should never engage in an action only for the desire of the rewards, and you should not desire inaction.
I am the thread that runs through all these pearls. (7.7)
The scriptures is your authority as regards the determination of what is to be done and what is not to be done. (16.4)
That gift is referred to as born of sattva which gift is given with the idea that it ought to be given, to one who will not serve in return, and at the (proper) place, (proper) time and to a (proper) person. (17.20)
The gift which is given expecting reciprocation, or again, with a desire for its result, and which is given grudgingly that is considered to be born of rajas. (17.21)
Gift which is made at an improper place and time, and to undeserving persons, without proper treatment and with disdain, is declared to be born of tamas. (17.22)
Control thy sense at the outset, and slay this sinful destroyer of jnana and vijnana.
Whatever you eat, whatever you give in charity, whatever austerity you practice, whatever you do, O Arjuna, make it as an offering unto me.
A man with a disciplined mind, who moves among sense objects, with the senses under control and free from attachment and aversion, he rises to a state of peace…having attained peace, there is for him an end of all sorrow; of such a man of peace the understanding soon attains equilibrium.
You are birthless and deathless. Weapons cannot cleave you, fire cannot burn you, waters cannot wet you, nor winds dry you. You are immutable, eternal, all pervading, beyond time and space.
Mankind comes to Me from many roads, and by whatever road they approach Me I welcome them, because all roads lead to Me.
There is no purifier in this world like knowledge. He who is himself perfected in Yoga finds it in the Self in time.
As the blazing fire reduces fuel to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge reduce all actions to ashes.
Actions do not taint Me, nor have I any desire for the fruits of actions. He who knows Me thus is not bound by his actions.
Whose undertakings are all devoid of desires and purposes, and whose actions have been burnt by the Fire of knowledge, him the wise call sage.
In whatever way people are devoted to Me, in that measure I manifest Myself to them. All men, in every manner (of seeking Me), pursue a path to Me." (The Gita IV:11).
He dwells in the world, enveloping all — everywhere. (The Gita XIII:14)
He who perceives Me everywhere and beholds everything in Me never loses sight of Me, nor do I ever lose sight of him. (The Gita VI:30)
On Me fix thy mind, be thou My devotee, with ceaseless worship bow reverently before Me. Having thus united thyself to Me as thy Highest Goal, thou shalt be Mine own. (The Gita IX:34)
This Self [Soul] is never born nor does it ever perish; nor having come into existence will it again cease to be. It is birthless, eternal, changeless, ever-same (unaffected by the usual processes associated with time). It is not slain when the body is killed. (The Gita II:20)
Krishna ’s answer is that the renunciation of work and its unselfish performance both lead to the soul’s salvation. But of the two, the unselfish performance of work is better than its renunciation.
Arjuna says to Krishna : You praise both the renunciation of work as well as its unselfish performance — so which is better?
The reason? Action is better than inaction; even the maintenance of one’s physical life cannot be performed without action and the true worker is also the true renouncer for he does his work in a detached spirit.
People today, because they are driven by insatiable desires, have become tightly bound by scheming and anger. They spend their lives grabbing for riches and amassing wealth. Stuffed until choking with pride and conceit, drunk with their own affluence and assets, they have given themselves to the dark forces of insolence and cruelty. Thus they sing deeper into their despondency.
The wise grieve neither for the living nor the dead.
There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor any of these rulers of men; nor will we ever cease to be hereafter.
Contacts of the senses with objects produce cold and heat pleasure and pain. They come and go and are impermanent. Bear with them. The person who these cannot afflict, who is the same in pleasure and pain, wise, he is fit for immortality.
This Self cannot be cut, cannot be burnt, cannot be made wet, cannot be dried up. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable, immovable and primeval.
Bhagavad Gita on Path of Spiritual Living
With the mind purified by devotion to performance of action, with the body conquered, and with the senses subdued, one who has realised his self as the Self of all beings remains free from taints even while acting.
Freed from attachment, fear and anger, absorbed in the Divine, taking refuge in him and purified by the fire of knowledge, many have attained the all pervading Being.
Cut asunder, with the sword of knowledge, this doubt about the Self that ignorance has caused in your heart, and stand up, taking refuge in Yoga.
Even as a man casts off worn-off garments and puts on new ones so does the embodied being cast off old and enter new bodies.
Gita Chapter Seven Teachings
Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect and personality; this is the eightfold division of Manifested Nature.
O Valiant One, know thou that my Superior Nature is the very Life which sustains the universe.
It is the womb of all being; for I am He by Whom the worlds were created and shall be dissolved.
O Arjuna! There is nothing higher than Me; all is strung upon Me as rows of pearls upon a thread.
O Arjuna! I am the Fluidity in water, the Light in the sun and in the moon. I am the mystic syllable Om in the Vedic scriptures, the Sound in ether, the Virility in man.
I am the Fragrance of earth, the Brilliance of fire. I am the Life Force in all beings, and I am the Austerity of the ascetics.
Know, O Arjuna, that I am the eternal Seed of being; I am the Intelligence of the intelligent, the Splendour of the resplendent.
I am the Strength of the strong, of them who are free from attachment and desire; and, O Arjuna, I am the Desire for righteousness.
Whatever be the nature of their life, whether it be pure or passionate or ignorant, they are all derived from Me. They are in Me, but I am not in them.
Among thousands of men, one perchance strives for perfection; even among those successful strivers, only one perchance knows Me in essence.
Four kinds of virtuous men worship me – they are the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth and the wise. Of these the wise, ever steadfast and devoted to the One (Supreme Truth) excels; for I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and he is dear to Me.
Noble indeed are the four kind of men; but the wise man, I deem as My very Self; for, steadfast in mind he is established in Me alone, as the Supreme Goal.
At the end of many births the wise man comes to Me, realizing that all this is Vasudeva, the innermost Self, such a great soul is very hard to find.
Bhagavad Gita on Contentment
When a man completely casts away, O Partha, all the desires of the mind, satisfied in the Self alone by the Self, then is he said to be one of steady wisdom. (Bhagavad Gita, 2. 55)
With their minds wholly in Me [the Supreme Being], with their senses absorbed in Me, enlightening one another, and always speaking of Me, they are satisfied and delighted. (Bhagavad Gita, 10.9)
He who hates no creature, and is friendly and compassionate towards all, who is free from the feelings of ‘I and mine’, even-minded in pain and pleasure, forbearing, ever content, steady in meditation, self-controlled, and possessed of firm conviction, with mind and intellect fixed on Me – he who is thus devoted to Me, is dear to Me. (Bhagavad Gita, 12.14)
Bhagavad Gita Quotes on Self Reliance
Wherefrom has come upon you, at this critical situation, this dejection, un-Arya-like, disgraceful, and not conducive to the attainment of heave, O Arjuna?’ (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 verse 2)
Never yield to this unmanliness, O Partha! It does not befit you. Casting off this mean faint-heartedness, stand up, O Scorcher of your enemies! (Chapter 2 verse 3)
Raise yourself by yourself, don’t let yourself down; for you are your own friend, you are your own enemy. (Chapter 6 verse 5)
When one has conquered oneself (when one has thoroughly disciplined mind and sense organs), one becomes one’s own friend; but when not so disciplined, one becomes, as it were, one’s own enemy. (Chapter 6 verse 6)
Swami Ranganathananda (former president of Ramakrishna) comments on the above verses.
Stand up, assert your own manhood, your own womanhood. Develop your inner strength. What a beautiful, what a powerful, teaching! Only in the Gita, among the world’s scriptures, do you get this clear-cut teaching of self-reliance in life as the first great lesson of man’s total spiritual life.
Bhagavad Gita on the Qualities of Men
Splendor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, absence of malice and absence of pride; these are the qualities of those endowed with divine virtues, O Arjuna.
Fearlessness, purity of heart, perseverance in the yoga of knowledge, charity, sense restraint, sacrifice, study of scriptures, austerity, honesty are the transcendental qualities belonging to godly men.
Hypocrisy, arrogance, pride, anger, harshness and ignorance, these are the marks of those who are born with demonic qualities.
Teachings from Chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita
No authority or effectiveness in life is possible unless the man in power has self control and self mastery. No man can live a happy and mighty life unless he has conquered his passions and crowned himself with kingship over himself. (11.17)
The eternal Truth is one and the same, everywhere, at all times; only Its manifestations are varied and the degree of Divinity sparkling from each differs according to the grossness or subtlety of the equipment through which the same Infinite Reality expresses itself. (11.17)
Each man sees the world as he himself is. We look at the world through the windows of our mind; as our mind is, so is the world to us. (11.20)
That terrible-looking monstrous happening called ‘death,’ when approached in a correct perspective and with true understanding, unmasks itself to reveal a gladdening cheerful face. (11.29)