Bhagavad Gita Shlokas With Meaning
Six well-known Bhagavad Gita shlokas in Devanagari with transliteration, Hindi and English meaning, word-by-word notes and context.
By Sanskritam Academy Editorial TeamPublished 6 min read
The Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue of 700 verses in eighteen chapters, set within the Bhīṣma Parva of the Mahābhārata. On the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, Arjuna is overcome by doubt and grief, and Kṛṣṇa answers him. The six verses below are among the most often quoted. Each is given with transliteration, meaning and the key words, so that you can understand the Sanskrit and not only the translation.
How to read these verses
- Read the Devanagari aloud slowly, pausing at the end of each line.
- Use the transliteration to check long vowels (ā, ī, ū) and the sounds ṣ, ś and ṇ.
- Study the word-by-word list and then read the verse again; the meaning should now come from the Sanskrit itself.
- Most of these verses are in the anuṣṭubh metre: four quarters of eight syllables each. Verse 2.22 is in a longer metre with eleven syllables in each quarter.
If the sounds are new to you, read how to pronounce Sanskrit correctly first.
On action and its results (2.47 and 2.48)
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana |mā karmaphalahetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi ||
- Hindi meaning
- तुम्हारा अधिकार केवल कर्म करने में है, उसके फलों में कभी नहीं। तुम कर्मफल के हेतु मत बनो, और अकर्म में भी तुम्हारी आसक्ति न हो।
- English meaning
- Your concern is with action alone, never with its fruits. Do not let the fruit of action be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction.
- Word by word
- कर्मणि (karmaṇi) — in actionएव (eva) — onlyअधिकारः (adhikāraḥ) — right, proper concernते (te) — yourमा (mā) — not, do notफलेषु (phaleṣu) — in the fruits, resultsकदाचन (kadācana) — at any timeअकर्मणि (akarmaṇi) — in inaction
- Context
- Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna to do what has to be done with full attention, without making the result the reason for acting, and without using this as an excuse to do nothing.
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय ।सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjaya |siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṃ yoga ucyate ||
- Hindi meaning
- हे धनञ्जय, आसक्ति को त्यागकर, सफलता और असफलता में समान रहकर, योग में स्थित होकर कर्म करो। यह समभाव ही योग कहलाता है।
- English meaning
- Established in yoga, O Dhanañjaya, perform your actions, giving up attachment and remaining the same in success and failure. This evenness of mind is called yoga.
- Word by word
- योगस्थः (yogasthaḥ) — established in yogaकुरु (kuru) — do, performकर्माणि (karmāṇi) — actionsसङ्गम् (saṅgam) — attachmentत्यक्त्वा (tyaktvā) — having given upसिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः (siddhyasiddhyoḥ) — in success and failureसमत्वम् (samatvam) — evenness, equanimityउच्यते (ucyate) — is called
- Context
- This verse follows 2.47 directly and defines yoga here as steadiness of mind while acting.
On change and endurance (2.14 and 2.22)
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥mātrāsparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥ |āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṃs titikṣasva bhārata ||
- Hindi meaning
- हे कुन्तीपुत्र, इन्द्रियों और विषयों के संयोग सर्दी-गर्मी और सुख-दुःख देने वाले हैं। वे आते-जाते रहते हैं और अनित्य हैं। हे भारत, उन्हें सहन करो।
- English meaning
- The contacts of the senses with their objects, O son of Kuntī, give cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go and do not last. Bear them patiently, O Bhārata.
- Word by word
- मात्रास्पर्शाः (mātrāsparśāḥ) — contacts of the senses with objectsशीत-उष्ण (śīta-uṣṇa) — cold and heatसुख-दुःख-दाः (sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ) — giving pleasure and painआगम-अपायिनः (āgama-apāyinaḥ) — coming and goingअनित्याः (anityāḥ) — impermanentतितिक्षस्व (titikṣasva) — endure, bear
- Context
- Early in the teaching, Kṛṣṇa asks Arjuna to see that pleasant and unpleasant experiences are both temporary.
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहायनवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि ।तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णा-न्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāyanavāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi |tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānyanyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī ||
- Hindi meaning
- जैसे मनुष्य पुराने वस्त्रों को त्यागकर दूसरे नए वस्त्र धारण करता है, वैसे ही देही (आत्मा) पुराने शरीरों को त्यागकर दूसरे नए शरीरों को प्राप्त होता है।
- English meaning
- As a person puts aside worn-out clothes and takes other, new ones, so the embodied self puts aside worn-out bodies and goes to other, new ones.
- Word by word
- वासांसि (vāsāṃsi) — clothesजीर्णानि (jīrṇāni) — worn out, oldविहाय (vihāya) — having given upनवानि (navāni) — newगृह्णाति (gṛhṇāti) — takesशरीराणि (śarīrāṇi) — bodiesसंयाति (saṃyāti) — goes to, attainsदेही (dehī) — the embodied one, the self
- Context
- A simile from the second chapter's teaching on the self, which the Gita describes as distinct from the body.
On dharma (4.7)
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata |abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṃ sṛjāmy aham ||
- Hindi meaning
- हे भारत, जब-जब धर्म की हानि और अधर्म की वृद्धि होती है, तब-तब मैं अपने आप को प्रकट करता हूँ।
- English meaning
- Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises, O Bhārata, then I bring myself forth.
- Word by word
- यदा यदा (yadā yadā) — wheneverधर्मस्य (dharmasya) — of dharmaग्लानिः (glāniḥ) — declineभवति (bhavati) — happens, isअभ्युत्थानम् (abhyutthānam) — riseतदा (tadā) — thenआत्मानम् (ātmānam) — myselfसृजामि (sṛjāmi) — I send forth, manifest
- Context
- In the fourth chapter Kṛṣṇa speaks of his own appearance in the world. The thought is completed in the next verse, 4.8.
On self-effort (6.5)
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥uddhared ātmanātmānaṃ nātmānam avasādayet |ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ ||
- Hindi meaning
- मनुष्य अपने द्वारा अपना उद्धार करे, अपने को नीचे न गिराए; क्योंकि वह स्वयं ही अपना मित्र है और स्वयं ही अपना शत्रु है।
- English meaning
- One should raise oneself by oneself and not let oneself sink; for one is one's own friend, and one is one's own enemy.
- Word by word
- उद्धरेत् (uddharet) — should lift upआत्मना (ātmanā) — by oneselfआत्मानम् (ātmānam) — oneselfन अवसादयेत् (na avasādayet) — should not let sinkबन्धुः (bandhuḥ) — friend, relativeरिपुः (ripuḥ) — enemy
- Context
- From the sixth chapter, on meditation and discipline of the mind. The word ātman is used here in several case forms, which makes the verse useful for grammar practice as well.
Learning the verses by heart
- Learn one quarter of a verse at a time, then join two quarters into a line.
- Recite with the text in front of you for a few days before reciting from memory.
- Say the meaning in your own words after each recitation.
- Revise the earlier verses before starting a new one.
Translations differ slightly from one commentator to another, because many words in the Gita carry more than one sense. The meanings here are kept close to the literal Sanskrit.
For shorter verses from other texts, see Sanskrit shlokas with meaning. To study the Gita verse by verse with a teacher, see the Bhagavad Gita course.