Bhagavad Gita Lessons — All 18 Chapters

Arjuna collapses in grief and moral confusion as the battle is about to begin, refusing to fight his own kin.

Gita 1.1: On the field of dharma, at Kurukshetra, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, O Sanjaya?

Krishna begins his teaching: the soul is eternal, duty must be done without attachment to results, and the wise remain steady in pleasure and pain.

Gita 2.47: Your right is to action alone, never to its fruits.

No one can remain actionless; work done as sacrifice, without attachment, purifies and liberates.

Gita 3.19: Always perform the work that must be done without attachment.

Krishna reveals his divine births, the meaning of avatar, and how knowledge burns away the bondage of karma.

Gita 4.7: Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises, then I manifest Myself.

True renunciation is inner: the one who acts offering all to the Divine remains untouched, like a lotus leaf in water.

Gita 5.10: One who acts, offering all actions to Brahman, is untouched by sin, as a lotus leaf by water.

The practice of meditation: a steady mind, moderation in all things, and the self as friend — not enemy — of the self.

Gita 6.5: Lift yourself by yourself; the self alone is the friend of the self.

Krishna declares that nothing is higher than Him; all beings are strung on Him like pearls on a thread, and four kinds of people seek Him.

Gita 7.7: There is nothing whatsoever higher than Me; all this is strung on Me like pearls on a thread.

What happens at death: the state one remembers at the end shapes where one goes, so remember the Divine at all times.

Gita 8.5: One who, at the hour of death, remembers Me alone while leaving the body, attains My state.

The most secret teaching: devotion. Even a leaf, flower or water offered with love is accepted; the Divine carries the burdens of the devoted.

Gita 9.22: For those who worship Me with undivided thought, I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.

Krishna names his manifestations: the Self in every heart, the beginning, middle and end of all beings.

Gita 10.20: I am the Self dwelling in the heart of all beings; I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.

Arjuna is granted divine sight and beholds the cosmic form — all worlds, all beings, and Time itself devouring the armies.

Gita 11.32: I am Time, the great destroyer of worlds, come here to gather all beings.

The marks of the true devotee: hatred toward none, friendship and compassion for all, even-minded in honour and dishonour.

Gita 12.13: One who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate, free from possessiveness and ego.

The body is the field; the soul is the knower of the field. Seeing the one Lord in all beings is true vision.

Gita 13.27: One who sees the Supreme Lord dwelling equally in all beings truly sees.

Sattva, rajas and tamas bind the soul to the body; devotion lifts one beyond all three.

Gita 14.5: Sattva, rajas and tamas — these qualities born of nature bind the imperishable soul within the body.

The upside-down ashvattha tree of worldly existence, and the Supreme Person beyond both the perishable and the imperishable.

Gita 15.15: I am seated in the hearts of all; from Me come memory, knowledge, and their loss.

The divine and demonic natures; desire, anger and greed are the three gates of hell and must be abandoned.

Gita 16.21: Desire, anger and greed are the three gates of hell that destroy the self; abandon these three.

Faith conforms to one's nature; austerity of body, speech and mind, and acts done without faith, bear no fruit.

Gita 17.3: A person is made of faith; whatever one's faith is, that one truly is.

The final teaching: do your born duty, offer everything to the Divine, and take refuge in the Divine alone — do not grieve.

Gita 18.66: Abandoning all duties, take refuge in Me alone. I shall free you from all sins — do not grieve.