Eighteen chapters, one conversation
Begin at chapter one if this is your first reading. If you already know where you want to go, choose any chapter below.
- 1
Arjuna's despair
Arjuna-viṣāda-yoga
Arjuna looks at the people before him and loses the will to fight.
47 verses - 2
The soul, and what to do about it
Sāṅkhya-yoga
Kṛṣṇa begins with the self, duty, action and a steady mind.
72 verses - 3
Action
Karma-yoga
The question is not whether to act, but how to act without becoming bound.
43 verses - 4
Knowledge and action
Jñāna-karma-sannyāsa-yoga
An old teaching is renewed, and knowledge is joined to responsible action.
42 verses - 5
Renouncing the fruit
Karma-sannyāsa-yoga
True renunciation changes our hold on results, not our willingness to serve.
29 verses - 6
Meditation
Dhyāna-yoga
The restless mind, the practice of meditation and the patient return to focus.
47 verses - 7
Knowledge and realisation
Jñāna-vijñāna-yoga
Kṛṣṇa describes His energies and why complete knowledge is rare.
30 verses - 8
The imperishable
Akṣara-brahma-yoga
Arjuna asks about Brahman, action, remembrance and the time of death.
28 verses - 9
The most confidential knowledge
Rāja-vidyā-rāja-guhya-yoga
A confidential chapter about the world, worship and an open path of devotion.
34 verses - 10
Divine opulence
Vibhūti-yoga
Kṛṣṇa points to signs of His presence across the world we already know.
42 verses - 11
The universal form
Viśvarūpa-darśana-yoga
Arjuna is given the sight to behold a form that changes the whole conversation.
55 verses - 12
Devotion
Bhakti-yoga
A compact chapter on devotion and the qualities that make a person dear.
20 verses - 13
The field and its knower
Kṣetra-kṣetrajña-vibhāga-yoga
The body is called a field, and the chapter asks who knows that field.
35 verses - 14
The three modes
Guṇatraya-vibhāga-yoga
Clarity, restless drive and inertia are observed as changing influences.
27 verses - 15
The supreme person
Puruṣottama-yoga
An upside-down tree leads to a teaching about the Supreme Person.
20 verses - 16
Divine and demoniac natures
Daivāsura-sampad-vibhāga-yoga
Two directions of character are described for honest self-examination.
24 verses - 17
Three kinds of faith
Śraddhātraya-vibhāga-yoga
Faith, food, discipline and giving are considered through the three modes.
28 verses - 18
Conclusion, and surrender
Mokṣa-sannyāsa-yoga
The dialogue gathers its teaching, gives Arjuna room to choose, and closes.
78 verses