Sacred Scripture / Chapter 2
72 published verses from Srimad Bhagavad Gita (सांख्ययोगः). The Yoga of Knowledge and the Eternal Self. Chapter 2 is the philosophical heart and cornerstone of the entire Bhagavad Gita. Lord Krishna begins His divine teaching by expounding the immortality of the soul (Atman), the transient nature of the physical body, the supreme dignity of Swadharma, the transformative practice of Nishkama Karma Yoga, and the serene characteristics of the Sthitaprajna (sage of steady wisdom).
Explore original Sanskrit, word-by-word padartha, trilingual translations, commentary, reflections, and modern life applications.
72 verses
Verse 2.1
taṃ tathā kṛpayāviṣṭamaśrupūrṇākulekṣaṇam | viṣīdantamidaṃ vākyamuvāca madhusūdanaḥ ||1||
Sanjaya said: Seeing Arjuna overwhelmed by compassion, his eyes troubled and filled with tears, and grieving, Madhusudana spoke these words.
Verse 2.2
kutastvā kaśmalamidaṃ viṣame samupasthitam | anāryajuṣṭamasvargyamakīrtikaramarjuna ||2||
The Lord said: Arjuna, where has this confusion come from at this crisis? It is unworthy of the noble, leads neither to heaven nor to honour.
Verse 2.3
klaibyaṃ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitattvayyupapadyate | kṣudraṃ hṛdayadaurbalyaṃ tyaktvottiṣṭha parantapa ||3||
Partha, do not yield to faintheartedness; it does not befit you. Abandon this petty weakness of heart and rise, scorcher of foes.
Verse 2.4
kathaṃ bhīṣmamahaṃ saṅkhye droṇaṃ ca madhusūdana | iṣubhiḥ pratiyotsyāmi pūjārhāvarisūdana ||4||
Arjuna said: Madhusudana, how can I fight Bhishma and Drona with arrows in battle? Both deserve my reverence, destroyer of enemies.
Verse 2.5
gurūnahatvā hi mahānubhāvān śreyo bhoktuṃ bhaikṣyamapīha loke | hatvārthakāmāṃstu gurūnihaiva bhuñjīya bhogān rudhirapradigdhān ||5||
Better to live by begging here than to kill these great teachers. If I killed them, though they seek material gain, my pleasures would be stained with blood.
Verse 2.6
na caitadvidmaḥ kataranno garīyo yadvā jayema yadi vā no jayeyuḥ | yāneva hatvā na jijīviṣāmaste'vasthitāḥ pramukhe dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ ||6||
We do not know which is better: that we conquer them or they conquer us. Dhritarashtra's sons, whom we would not wish to survive after killing, stand before us.
Verse 2.7
kārpaṇyadoṣopahatasvabhāvaḥ pṛcchāmi tvāṃ dharmasammūḍhacetāḥ | yacchreyaḥ syānniścitaṃ brūhi tanme śiṣyaste'haṃ śādhi māṃ tvāṃ prapannam ||7||
My disposition is overcome by helplessness, and my mind is confused about dharma. Tell me decisively what is truly good. I am your disciple; instruct me, who has sought refuge in you.
Verse 2.8
na hi prapaśyāmi mamāpanudyādyacchokamucchoṣaṇamindriyāṇām | avāpya bhūmāvasapatnamṛddhaṃ rājyaṃ surāṇāmapi cādhipatyam ||8||
I see nothing that could remove this grief drying up my senses, even if I gained a prosperous, unrivalled kingdom on earth or sovereignty over the gods.
Verse 2.9
evamuktvā hṛṣīkeśaṃ guḍākeśaḥ parantapa | na yotsya iti govindamuktvā tūṣṇīṃ babhūva ha ||9||
Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus to Hrishikesha, Gudakesha, the scorcher of foes, told Govinda, “I will not fight,” and fell silent.
Verse 2.10
tamuvāca hṛṣīkeśaḥ prahasanniva bhārata | senayorubhayormadhye viṣīdantamidaṃ vacaḥ ||10||
Sanjaya said: Bharata, between the two armies Hrishikesha, as though smiling, spoke these words to the grieving Arjuna.
Verse 2.11
aśocyānanvaśocastvaṃ prajñāvādāṃśca bhāṣase | gatāsūnagatāsūṃśca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ ||11||
The Lord said: You grieve for those who should not be grieved for, yet speak words of wisdom. The wise do not mourn either the living or the dead.
Verse 2.12
na tvevāhaṃ jātu nāsaṃ na tvaṃ neme janādhipāḥ | na caiva na bhaviṣyāmaḥ sarve vayamataḥ param ||12||
There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings; nor shall any of us cease to exist hereafter.
Verse 2.13
dehino'sminyathā dehe kaumāraṃ yauvanaṃ jarā | tathā dehāntaraprāptirdhīrastatra na muhyati ||13||
As the embodied self passes through childhood, youth, and old age in this body, so it attains another body. The discerning are not confused by this.
Verse 2.14
mātrāsparśāstu kaunteya śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥ | āgamāpāyino'nityāstāṃstitikṣasva bhārata ||14||
Kunti's son, contact of the senses with their objects brings cold and heat, pleasure and pain. These come and go and are impermanent; endure them, Bharata.
Verse 2.15
yaṃ hi na vyathayantyete puruṣaṃ puruṣarṣabha | samaduḥkhasukhaṃ dhīraṃ so'mṛtatvāya kalpate ||15||
Best of men, the steady person whom these experiences do not disturb, who remains balanced in pleasure and pain, becomes fit for immortality.
Verse 2.16
nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ | ubhayorapi dṛṣṭo'ntastvanayostattvadarśibhiḥ ||16||
The unreal has no enduring being, and the real never ceases to be. Those who see truth have discerned the nature of both.
Verse 2.17
avināśi tu tadviddhi yena sarvamidaṃ tatam | vināśamavyayasyāsya na kaścitkartumarhati ||17||
Know that which pervades all this to be indestructible. No one can bring about the destruction of this imperishable reality.
Verse 2.18
antavanta ime dehā nityasyoktāḥ śarīriṇaḥ | anāśino'prameyasya tasmādyudhyasva bhārata ||18||
These bodies of the eternal, indestructible, immeasurable embodied self are said to have an end. Therefore, Bharata, fight.
Verse 2.19
ya enaṃ vetti hantāraṃ yaścainaṃ manyate hatam | ubhau tau na vijānīto nāyaṃ hanti na hanyate ||19||
Whoever thinks the self kills, and whoever thinks it is killed, neither understands. This self neither kills nor is killed.
Verse 2.20
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācinnāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ | ajo nityaḥ śāśvato'yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre ||20||
The self is never born and never dies; having existed, it does not cease to be. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed.
Verse 2.21
vedāvināśinaṃ nityaṃ ya enamajamavyayam | kathaṃ sa puruṣaḥ pārtha kaṃ ghātayati hanti kam ||21||
Partha, how can one who knows this self as indestructible, eternal, unborn, and unchanging cause anyone to be killed or kill anyone?
Verse 2.22
vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro'parāṇi | tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānyanyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī ||22||
As a person discards worn-out garments and takes new ones, so the embodied self leaves worn-out bodies and enters others that are new.
Verse 2.23
nainaṃ chindanti śastrāṇi nainaṃ dahati pāvakaḥ | na cainaṃ kledayantyāpo na śoṣayati mārutaḥ ||23||
Weapons do not cut this self, fire does not burn it, water does not wet it, and wind does not dry it.
Verse 2.24
acchedyo'yamadāhyo'yamakledyo'śoṣya eva ca | nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇuracalo'yaṃ sanātanaḥ ||24||
This self cannot be cut, burned, wetted, or dried. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable, unmoving, and everlasting.
Verse 2.25
avyakto'yamacintyo'yamavikāryo'yamucyate | tasmādevaṃ viditvainaṃ nānuśocitumarhasi ||25||
This self is said to be unmanifest, beyond thought, and unchanging. Knowing it thus, you should not grieve.
Verse 2.26
atha cainaṃ nityajātaṃ nityaṃ vā manyase mṛtam | tathāpi tvaṃ mahābāho naivaṃ śocitumarhasi ||26||
Even if you regard the self as continually being born and continually dying, mighty-armed one, you still should not grieve in this way.
Verse 2.27
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyurdhruvaṃ janma mṛtasya ca | tasmādaparihārye'rthe na tvaṃ śocitumarhasi ||27||
Death is certain for one who is born, and birth is certain for one who has died. Therefore you should not grieve over what is unavoidable.
Verse 2.28
avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyaktamadhyāni bhārata | avyaktanidhanānyeva tatra kā paridevanā ||28||
Beings are unmanifest before their appearance, manifest in the middle, and unmanifest again at their end, Bharata. Why lament over this?
Verse 2.29
āścaryavatpaśyati kaścidenamāścaryavadvadati tathaiva cānyaḥ | āścaryavaccainamanyaḥ śṛṇoti śrutvāpyenaṃ veda na caiva kaścit ||29||
One sees the self as a wonder; another speaks of it as a wonder, and another hears of it as a wonder. Yet even after hearing, one may not know it.
Verse 2.30
dehī nityamavadhyo'yaṃ dehe sarvasya bhārata | tasmātsarvāṇi bhūtāni na tvaṃ śocitumarhasi ||30||
The embodied self in everyone's body is always beyond being killed, Bharata. Therefore you should not grieve for any being.
Verse 2.31
svadharmamapi cāvekṣya na vikampitumarhasi | dharmyāddhi yuddhācchreyo'nyatkṣatriyasya na vidyate ||31||
Considering your own duty too, you should not waver. For a warrior there is nothing better than a battle aligned with dharma.
Verse 2.32
yadṛcchayā copapannaṃ svargadvāramapāvṛtam | sukhinaḥ kṣatriyāḥ pārtha labhante yuddhamīdṛśam ||32||
Partha, fortunate are the warriors who encounter such a battle, arising unsought and opening the gate to heaven.
Verse 2.33
atha cettvamimaṃ dharmyaṃ saṅgrāmaṃ na kariṣyasi | tataḥ svadharmaṃ kīrtiṃ ca hitvā pāpamavāpsyasi ||33||
If you do not undertake this battle aligned with dharma, you will abandon your own duty and honour and incur wrongdoing.
Verse 2.34
akīrtiṃ cāpi bhūtāni kathayiṣyanti te'vyayām | sambhāvitasya cākīrtirmaraṇādatiricyate ||34||
People will speak of your lasting dishonour. For one held in esteem, dishonour is worse than death.
Verse 2.35
bhayādraṇāduparataṃ maṃsyante tvāṃ mahārathāḥ | yeṣāṃ ca tvaṃ bahumato bhūtvā yāsyasi lāghavam ||35||
The great warriors will think you withdrew from battle out of fear. Those who once esteemed you will come to regard you lightly.
Verse 2.36
avācyavādāṃśca bahūnvadiṣyanti tavāhitāḥ | nindantastava sāmarthyaṃ tato duḥkhataraṃ nu kim ||36||
Your enemies will speak many words that should not be spoken, belittling your ability. What could be more painful than that?
Verse 2.37
hato vā prāpsyasi svargaṃ jitvā vā bhokṣyase mahīm | tasmāduttiṣṭha kaunteya yuddhāya kṛtaniścayaḥ ||37||
If killed, you will attain heaven; if victorious, you will enjoy the earth. Therefore rise, Kunti's son, resolved to fight.
Verse 2.38
sukhaduḥkhe same kṛtvā lābhālābhau jayājayau | tato yuddhāya yujyasva naivaṃ pāpamavāpsyasi ||38||
Treat pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat alike; then engage in battle. In this way you will not incur wrongdoing.
Verse 2.39
eṣā te'bhihitā sāṃkhye buddhiryoge tvimāṃ śṛṇu | buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha karmabandhaṃ prahāsyasi ||39||
This understanding has been explained through Sankhya; now hear it in relation to yoga. Joined with this understanding, Partha, you will free yourself from the bondage of action.
Verse 2.40
nehābhikramanāśo'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate | svalpamapyasya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt ||40||
In this path no effort is lost and no adverse consequence arises from an incomplete beginning. Even a little of this dharma protects from great fear.
Verse 2.41
vyavasāyātmikā buddhirekeha kurunandana | bahuśākhā hyanantāśca buddhayo'vyavasāyinām ||41||
In this path, resolute understanding has a single focus, descendant of Kuru. The understanding of the irresolute branches endlessly in many directions.
Verse 2.42
yāmimāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ pravadantyavipaścitaḥ | vedavādaratāḥ pārtha nānyadastīti vādinaḥ ||42||
Partha, those without discernment, absorbed in declarations about the Vedas and claiming there is nothing else, speak this flowery language.
Verse 2.43
kāmātmānaḥ svargaparā janmakarmaphalapradām | kriyāviśeṣabahulāṃ bhogaiśvaryagatiṃ prati ||43||
Filled with desire and aiming at heaven, they speak language promising rebirth and the fruits of action, rich in particular rites directed toward pleasure and power.
Verse 2.44
bhogaiśvaryaprasaktānāṃ tayāpahṛtacetasām | vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ samādhau na vidhīyate ||44||
For those attached to pleasure and power, whose minds are carried away by that language, resolute understanding is not established in deep concentration.
Verse 2.45
traiguṇyaviṣayā vedā nistraiguṇyo bhavārjuna | nirdvandvo nityasattvastho niryogakṣema ātmavān ||45||
The Vedas concern the three gunas. Arjuna, go beyond the three gunas; be free of opposites, established in clarity, free from anxious acquiring and preserving, and self-possessed.
Verse 2.46
yāvānartha udapāne sarvataḥ samplutodake | tāvānsarveṣu vedeṣu brāhmaṇasya vijānataḥ ||46||
Whatever purpose a well serves is fulfilled by water flooding everywhere. So is the purpose of all the Vedas fulfilled for a brahmana who knows.
Verse 2.47
karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana | mā karmaphalaheturbhūrmā te saṅgo'stvakarmaṇi ||47||
Your scope is action alone, never its fruits. Do not make the fruits of action your motive, and do not become attached to inaction.
Verse 2.48
yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjaya | siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṃ yoga ucyate ||48||
Established in yoga, perform actions, Dhananjaya, abandoning attachment and remaining equal in success and failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.
Verse 2.49
dūreṇa hyavaraṃ karma buddhiyogāddhanañjaya | buddhau śaraṇamanviccha kṛpaṇāḥ phalahetavaḥ ||49||
Action driven by reward is far inferior to the yoga of understanding, Dhananjaya. Seek refuge in discernment; pitiable are those whose motive is the fruit.
Verse 2.50
buddhiyukto jahātīha ubhe sukṛtaduṣkṛte | tasmādyogāya yujyasva yogaḥ karmasu kauśalam ||50||
One joined with understanding leaves behind both good and bad karmic results here. Therefore devote yourself to yoga; yoga is skill in action.
Verse 2.51
karmajaṃ buddhiyuktā hi phalaṃ tyaktvā manīṣiṇaḥ | janmabandhavinirmuktāḥ padaṃ gacchantyanāmayam ||51||
The wise, joined with understanding, relinquish the fruits born of action. Freed from the bondage of birth, they reach a state untouched by affliction.
Verse 2.52
yadā te mohakalilaṃ buddhirvyatitariṣyati | tadā gantāsi nirvedaṃ śrotavyasya śrutasya ca ||52||
When your understanding crosses the thicket of delusion, you will become dispassionate toward what has been heard and what remains to be heard.
Verse 2.53
śrutivipratipannā te yadā sthāsyati niścalā | samādhāvacalā buddhistadā yogamavāpsyasi ||53||
When your understanding, unsettled by what you have heard, becomes firm and unwavering in samadhi, then you will attain yoga.
Verse 2.54
sthitaprajñasya kā bhāṣā samādhisthasya keśava | sthitadhīḥ kiṃ prabhāṣeta kimāsīta vrajeta kim ||54||
Arjuna said: Keshava, what characterizes one whose wisdom is steady and who abides in samadhi? How does such a person speak, sit, and move?
Verse 2.55
prajahāti yadā kāmānsarvānpārtha manogatān | ātmanyevātmanā tuṣṭaḥ sthitaprajñastadocyate ||55||
The Lord said: When a person abandons all desires arising in the mind, Partha, and is content in the self through the self, that person is called one of steady wisdom.
Verse 2.56
duḥkheṣvanudvignamanāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ | vītarāgabhayakrodhaḥ sthitadhīrmunirucyate ||56||
One whose mind is undisturbed in suffering, who does not crave pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger is called a sage of steady understanding.
Verse 2.57
yaḥ sarvatrānabhisnehastattatprāpya śubhāśubham | nābhinandati na dveṣṭi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ||57||
One who clings to nothing, and on meeting either favourable or unfavourable circumstances neither exults nor hates, has established wisdom.
Verse 2.58
yadā saṃharate cāyaṃ kūrmo'ṅgānīva sarvaśaḥ | indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyastasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ||58||
When a person withdraws the senses from their objects completely, as a tortoise draws in its limbs, that person's wisdom is established.
Verse 2.59
viṣayā vinivartante nirāhārasya dehinaḥ | rasavarjaṃ raso'pyasya paraṃ dṛṣṭvā nivartate ||59||
Sense objects withdraw from one who abstains, but the taste for them remains. Even that taste disappears on seeing the higher reality.
Verse 2.60
yatato hyapi kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ | indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ ||60||
Even in a discerning person who strives, Kunti's son, the turbulent senses can forcibly carry away the mind.
Verse 2.61
tāni sarvāṇi saṃyamya yukta āsīta matparaḥ | vaśe hi yasyendriyāṇi tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ||61||
Having restrained all the senses, remain disciplined and intent on me. The wisdom of one whose senses are under control is established.
Verse 2.62
dhyāyato viṣayānpuṃsaḥ saṅgasteṣūpajāyate | saṅgātsañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmātkrodho'bhijāyate ||62||
As a person dwells on sense objects, attachment to them arises. From attachment comes desire, and from desire comes anger.
Verse 2.63
krodhādbhavati sammohaḥ sammohātsmṛtivibhramaḥ | smṛtibhraṃśād buddhināśo buddhināśātpraṇaśyati ||63||
From anger comes delusion; from delusion, confusion of memory; from loss of memory, destruction of discernment; and from loss of discernment, one comes to ruin.
Verse 2.64
rāgadveṣaviyuktaistu viṣayānindriyaiścaran | ātmavaśyairvidheyātmā prasādamadhigacchati ||64||
But a self-disciplined person, moving among sense objects with senses under control and free from attraction and aversion, attains serenity.
Verse 2.65
prasāde sarvaduḥkhānāṃ hānirasyopajāyate | prasannacetaso hyāśu buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate ||65||
In serenity all one's sorrows diminish, and the understanding of a serene-minded person soon becomes firmly established.
Verse 2.66
nāsti buddhirayuktasya na cāyuktasya bhāvanā | na cābhāvayataḥ śāntiraśāntasya kutaḥ sukham ||66||
For the undisciplined there is no settled understanding or sustained contemplation. Without contemplation there is no peace; without peace, how can there be happiness?
Verse 2.67
indriyāṇāṃ hi caratāṃ yanmano'nuvidhīyate | tadasya harati prajñāṃ vāyurnāvamivāmbhasi ||67||
When the mind follows the roaming senses, it carries away discernment as the wind drives a boat off course on water.
Verse 2.68
tasmādyasya mahābāho nigṛhītāni sarvaśaḥ | indriyāṇīndriyārthebhyastasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā ||68||
Therefore, mighty-armed one, the wisdom of a person whose senses are completely restrained from their objects is established.
Verse 2.69
yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṃ tasyāṃ jāgarti saṃyamī | yasyāṃ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ ||69||
What is night for all beings is a time of wakefulness for the disciplined one. What beings are awake to is night for the sage who sees.
Verse 2.70
āpūryamāṇamacalapratiṣṭhaṃ samudramāpaḥ praviśanti yadvat | tadvatkāmā yaṃ praviśanti sarve sa śāntimāpnoti na kāmakāmī ||70||
As waters enter an ocean that is ever filled yet remains firmly steady, so all desires enter the person who attains peace, not the one who craves desires.
Verse 2.71
vihāya kāmānyaḥ sarvānpumāṃścarati niḥspṛhaḥ | nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ sa śāntimadhigacchati ||71||
The person who abandons all desires and lives without craving, without possessiveness and without ego, attains peace.
Verse 2.72
eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ pārtha naināṃ prāpya vimuhyati | sthitvāsyāmantakāle'pi brahmanirvāṇamṛcchati ||72||
This is the state grounded in Brahman, Partha. Having attained it, one is no longer deluded. Established in it even at life's end, one reaches liberation in Brahman.
