Seven hundred verses spoken between two armies at Kurukshetra, when Arjuna lowered his bow and Krishna answered his despair. The Gita sits inside the Mahabharata, yet it is read everywhere on its own — as a guide to duty, grief, work and love.
Where
Jyotisar, Kurukshetra
Length
700 verses in 18 chapters
Spoken to
Arjuna, by Krishna as his charioteer
Act because it is right, and release the results. Work becomes worship.
Discern the eternal self from the changing body, mind and world.
Love and surrender — the path Krishna calls the surest and sweetest of all.
Arjuna Vishada Yoga
Arjuna's despair on seeing his kinsmen arrayed for war.
Sankhya Yoga
The immortality of the soul and the summary of the whole teaching.
Karma Yoga
Action without attachment; no one can remain inactive.
Jnana Karma Sanyasa Yoga
Divine knowledge and the purpose of Krishna's descent.
Karma Sanyasa Yoga
Renunciation of action compared with action in yoga.
Dhyana Yoga
Meditation, discipline, and the steady mind.
Jnana Vijnana Yoga
Knowledge of the absolute and the two natures.
Akshara Brahma Yoga
The imperishable Brahman and the moment of death.
Raja Vidya Yoga
The king of knowledge: a leaf, a flower offered with love is enough.
Vibhuti Yoga
The divine glories present in all excellence.
Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga
The terrifying, all-containing universal form.
Bhakti Yoga
The path of devotion and the qualities of a dear devotee.
Kshetra Kshetrajna Yoga
The field of the body and the knower of the field.
Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga
The three gunas: goodness, passion and ignorance.
Purushottama Yoga
The eternal banyan tree and the supreme person.
Daivasura Sampad Yoga
Divine and demoniac natures in human beings.
Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga
Three kinds of faith, food, sacrifice and charity.
Moksha Sanyasa Yoga
Liberation through surrender; the final instruction.
“You have the right to your actions, but never to their fruits.”
“Whenever dharma declines, O Arjuna, I manifest Myself to protect the good.”
“The soul is never born and never dies; it is eternal, ever-existing, and primeval.”
“Abandon all varieties of dharma and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sin.”
“A person is made by their faith. As their faith is, so are they.”
“For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends.”