Chapter 2, Verse 7 · Surrender to the Guru
कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसम्मूढचेताः ।यच्छ्रेयः स्यान्निश्चितं ब्रूहि तन्मे शिष्यस्तेऽहं शाधि मां त्वां प्रपन्नम् ॥
Kārpaṇya-doṣopahata-svabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṃ dharma-sammūḍha-cetāḥYac chreyaḥ syān niścitaṃ brūhi tan me śiṣyas te'haṃ śādhi māṃ tvāṃ prapannam
My nature is overpowered by weakness and compassion. My mind is confused about dharma. I ask You — what is certainly better? I am Your disciple. Please instruct me, for I have surrendered to You.
Chapter 2, Verse 11 · Beyond Grief
अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे ।गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः ॥
Aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṃ prajñāvādāṃś ca bhāṣaseGatāsūn agatāsūṃś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ
You grieve for those who should not be grieved for, yet speak words of wisdom. The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead.
Chapter 2, Verse 12 · Eternal Existence
न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं न त्वं नेमे जनाधिपाः ।न चैव न भविष्यामः सर्वे वयमतः परम् ॥
Na tv evāhaṃ jātu nāsaṃ na tvaṃ neme janādhipāḥNa caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve vayam ataḥ param
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings. Nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.
Chapter 2, Verse 13 · Transmigration of the Soul
देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा ।तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति ॥
Dehino'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṃ yauvanaṃ jarāTathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati
Just as the embodied soul passes through childhood, youth and old age in this body, so it passes into another body at death. The wise are not deluded by this.
Chapter 2, Verse 20 · Immortality of the Soul
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि-न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणोन हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥
Na jāyate mriyate vā kadācinnāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥAjo nityaḥ śāśvato'yaṃ purāṇona hanyate hanyamāne śarīre
The soul is never born nor dies. It has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain.
Chapter 2, Verse 22 · Changing Bodies
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहायनवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि ।तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा-न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥
Vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāyanavāni gṛhṇāti naro'parāṇiTathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānyanyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī
As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Chapter 2, Verse 23 · Indestructible Soul
नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः ।न चैनं क्लेदयन्त्यापो न शोषयति मारुतः ॥
Nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṃ dahati pāvakaḥNa cainaṃ kledayanty āpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ
The soul can never be cut by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.
Chapter 2, Verse 47 · Nishkama Karma
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
Karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācanaMā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo'stv akarmaṇi
You have a right to perform your duties, but never to the fruits of your actions. Let not the fruits of action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.
Chapter 2, Verse 48 · Equanimity
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय ।सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥
Yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjayaSiddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṃ yoga ucyate
Be steadfast in yoga, O Arjuna. Perform your duty and abandon all attachment to success or failure. Such evenness of mind is called yoga.
Chapter 2, Verse 62 · Chain of Bondage
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।सङ्गात्सञ्जायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥
Dhyāyato viṣayān puṃsaḥ saṅgas teṣūpajāyateSaṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho'bhijāyate
While contemplating objects of the senses, one develops attachment to them. From attachment comes desire; from desire arises anger.
Chapter 2, Verse 70 · True Peace
आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठंसमुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् ।तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वेस शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥
Āpūryamāṇam acala-pratiṣṭhaṃsamudram āpaḥ praviśanti yadvatTadvat kāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarvesa śāntim āpnoti na kāma-kāmī
One who is not disturbed even though the fullness of desires enters, as rivers enter the ocean — that person alone attains peace, not the one who strives to satisfy desires.
Chapter 2, Verse 14 · Equanimity in Pleasure and Pain
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥
Mātrā-sparśās tu Kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥĀgamāpāyino'nityās tāṃs titikṣasva Bhārata
O son of Kunti, the contact between the senses and sense objects gives rise to fleeting sensations of cold and heat, pleasure and pain. These are temporary — endure them, O Arjuna.
Chapter 2, Verse 17 · The Indestructible Soul
अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।विनाशमव्ययस्यास्य न कश्चित्कर्तुमर्हति ॥
Avināśi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam idaṃ tatamVināśam avyayasyāsya na kaścit kartum arhati
Know that which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one can destroy the imperishable soul.
Chapter 2, Verse 30 · No Cause for Grief
देही नित्यमवध्योऽयं देहे सर्वस्य भारत ।तस्मात्सर्वाणि भूतानि न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥
Dehī nityam avadhyo'yaṃ dehe sarvasya BhārataTasmāt sarvāṇi bhūtāni na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi
O descendant of Bharata, the soul that dwells in every body is eternal and can never be killed. Therefore you should not grieve for any living being.
Chapter 2, Verse 38 · Fight Without Attachment
सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ जयाजयौ ।ततो युद्धाय युज्यस्व नैवं पापमवाप्स्यसि ॥
Sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayauTato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṃ pāpam avāpsyasi
Do battle for the sake of battle, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat — and by so doing you shall never incur sin.
Chapter 2, Verse 55 · Sthitaprajna — The Wise One
श्रीभगवानुवाच ।प्रजहाति यदा कामान्सर्वान्पार्थ मनोगतान् ।आत्मन्येवात्मना तुष्टः स्थितप्रज्ञस्तदोच्यते ॥
Śrī Bhagavān uvācaPrajahāti yadā kāmān sarvān Pārtha mano-gatānĀtmany evātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthita-prajñas tadocyate
The Supreme Lord said: O Partha, when a man gives up all the desires of the mind and finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is called a man of steady wisdom.
Chapter 2, Verse 56 · Qualities of the Wise
दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः ।वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते ॥
Duḥkheṣv anudvigna-manāḥ sukheṣu vigata-spṛhaḥVīta-rāga-bhaya-krodhaḥ sthita-dhīr munir ucyate
One whose mind is not disturbed by sorrow, who does not crave pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear and anger — such a sage is called one of steady mind.
Chapter 2, Verse 63 · The Chain of Destruction
क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः ।स्मृतिभ्रंशाद्बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ॥
Krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥSmṛti-bhraṃśād buddhi-nāśo buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati
From anger comes delusion; from delusion, loss of memory; from loss of memory, destruction of intelligence; and from destruction of intelligence, one falls down.