Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 – Sankhya Yoga

The summary of the Gita — the immortality of the soul and introduction to Karma Yoga.

72 verses

All verses of this chapter

2.1 – सञ्जय उवाच – Sanjaya said: To him who was thus overcome with pity, his eyes brimming with tears and troubled, and sinking…
2.2 – श्रीभगवानुवाच – The Blessed Lord said: Arjuna, from where has this weakness come upon you at this critical hour?
2.3 – क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः – Do not yield to this unmanliness, O Partha; it does not become you.
2.4 – अर्जुन उवाच – Arjuna said: O Madhusudana, O destroyer of foes, how can I fight Bhishma and Drona in battle with arrows?
2.5 – गुरूनहत्वा हि महानुभावान् – Better indeed to live in this world even on alms than to slay these noble teachers.
2.6 – न चैतद्विद्मः कतरन्नो गरीयो – Nor do we know which is better for us — that we should conquer them or that they should conquer us.
2.7 – कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावः – My nature is overpowered by the taint of faint-hearted pity, and my mind is confused about my duty.
2.8 – न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्याद् – I see nothing that could drive away this grief which is drying up my senses — not even if I gained an…
2.9 – सञ्जय उवाच – Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus to Hrishikesha, Gudakesha, the scorcher of foes, said to Govinda, ‘I will…
2.10 – तमुवाच हृषीकेशः प्रहसन्निव भारत – O Bharata, then Hrishikesha, as if smiling, spoke these words to him who was grieving between the two armies.
2.11 – श्रीभगवानुवाच – The Blessed Lord said: You grieve for those who should not be grieved for, and yet you speak words of wisdom.
2.12 – न त्वेवाहं जातु नासं – Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor these kings; nor shall any of us ever cease to be…
2.13 – देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं – Just as the embodied Self passes through childhood, youth and old age in this body, so it passes into…
2.14 – मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः – O son of Kunti, the contacts of the senses with their objects give rise to cold and heat, pleasure and pain.
2.15 – यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते – O best among men, the steady person who remains the same in pleasure and pain, and whom these do not…
2.16 – नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो – The unreal has no true existence, and the real never ceases to be.
2.17 – अविनाशि तु तद्विद्धि येन – Know that to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded.
2.18 – अन्तवन्त इमे देहा नित्यस्योक्ताः – These bodies of the eternal, indestructible and immeasurable embodied Self are said to have an end.
2.19 – य एनं वेत्ति हन्तारं – One who thinks the Self is a slayer, and one who thinks it is slain — both fail to understand.
2.20 – न जायते म्रियते वा – The Self is never born, nor does it ever die; having once been, it does not cease to be.
2.21 – वेदाविनाशिनं नित्यं य एनमजमव्ययम् – O Partha, how can a person who knows this Self to be indestructible, eternal, unborn and imperishable kill…
2.22 – वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय – Just as a person casts off worn-out garments and puts on others that are new, so the embodied Self casts off…
2.23 – नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं – Weapons cannot cut this Self, fire cannot burn it, water cannot wet it, and wind cannot dry it.
2.24 – अच्छेद्योऽयमदाह्योऽयमक्लेद्योऽशोष्य एव च – This Self cannot be cut, burned, wetted or dried. It is eternal, all-pervading, stable, immovable and…
2.25 – अव्यक्तोऽयमचिन्त्योऽयमविकार्योऽयमुच्यते – This Self is said to be unmanifest, unthinkable and unchanging.
2.26 – अथ चैनं नित्यजातं नित्यं – And even if you think of the Self as constantly being born and constantly dying, even then, O mighty-armed…
2.27 – जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं – For death is certain for one who is born, and birth is certain for one who dies.
2.28 – अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत – O Bharata, beings are unmanifest in their beginning, manifest in their middle state, and unmanifest again at…
2.29 – आश्चर्यवत्पश्यति कश्चिदेन- – Some look upon this Self as a wonder; another speaks of it as a wonder; another hears of it as a wonder; and…
2.30 – देही नित्यमवध्योऽयं देहे सर्वस्य – O Bharata, the Self dwelling in the body of every being is eternally indestructible.
2.31 – स्वधर्ममपि चावेक्ष्य न विकम्पितुमर्हसि – Moreover, considering your own duty, you should not waver; for to a kshatriya there is nothing better than a…
2.32 – यदृच्छया चोपपन्नं स्वर्गद्वारमपावृतम् – Happy indeed are the kshatriyas, O Partha, to whom such a war comes unsought, like an open door to heaven.
2.33 – अथ चेत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं – But if you will not fight this righteous war, then, abandoning your own duty and your honour, you will incur…
2.34 – अकीर्तिं चापि भूतानि कथयिष्यन्ति – People will speak of your dishonour for ever; and for one who has been held in honour, disgrace is worse…
2.35 – भयाद्रणादुपरतं मंस्यन्ते त्वां महारथाः – The great chariot-warriors will think you withdrew from battle out of fear; and those who held you in high…
2.36 – अवाच्यवादांश्च बहून्वदिष्यन्ति तवाहिताः – Your enemies will say many unspeakable things about you, belittling your prowess.
2.37 – हतो वा प्राप्स्यसि स्वर्गं – If you are slain, you will attain heaven; if you conquer, you will enjoy the earth.
2.38 – सुखदुःखे समे कृत्वा लाभालाभौ – Treating alike pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, engage in battle.
2.39 – एषा तेऽभिहिता साङ्ख्ये बुद्धिर्योगे – O Partha, this wisdom has been taught to you from the standpoint of Sankhya.
2.40 – नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते – On this path no effort is ever lost, and no adverse result arises.
2.41 – व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन – O joy of the Kurus, on this path the resolute intellect is single and one-pointed; but the thoughts of the…
2.42 – यामिमां पुष्पितां वाचं प्रवदन्त्यविपश्चितः – O Partha, those of little discernment who delight in the letter of the Vedas and declare ‘there is nothing…
2.43 – कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम् – Full of desires, regarding heaven as the highest goal, they speak words that prescribe many special rites…
2.44 – भोगैश्वर्यप्रसक्तानां तयापहृतचेतसाम् – For those deeply attached to pleasure and power, whose minds are carried away by such words, the resolute…
2.45 – त्रैगुण्यविषया वेदा निस्त्रैगुण्यो भवार्जुन – The Vedas deal with the realm of the three gunas. Rise above the three gunas, O Arjuna: be free from the…
2.46 – यावानर्थ उदपाने सर्वतः सम्प्लुतोदके – As much use as there is in a small pond when there is a flood of water everywhere, so much use is there in…
2.47 – कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन – Your right is to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit of action be your motive, nor let…
2.48 – योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं – Established in yoga, O Dhananjaya, perform your actions, abandoning attachment and remaining even-minded in…
2.49 – दूरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धनञ्जय – Action driven by desire is far inferior to buddhi-yoga, the yoga of equanimous understanding, O Dhananjaya.
2.50 – बुद्धियुक्तो जहातीह उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते – One endowed with this equanimous understanding casts off both good and evil deeds even here in this life.
2.51 – कर्मजं बुद्धियुक्ता हि फलं – The wise, endowed with equanimous understanding, renounce the fruits born of action and, freed from the…
2.52 – यदा ते मोहकलिलं बुद्धिर्व्यतितरिष्यति – When your intellect has crossed beyond the mire of delusion, you will become indifferent to all that has…
2.53 – श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते यदा स्थास्यति – When your intellect, now bewildered by conflicting teachings, stands unshaken and immovable in samadhi, then…
2.54 – अर्जुन उवाच – Arjuna said: O Keshava, what is the description of one of steady wisdom, who is established in samadhi?
2.55 – श्रीभगवानुवाच – The Blessed Lord said: O Partha, when a person completely casts off all the desires that arise in the mind…
2.56 – दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः – One whose mind is not shaken in sorrows, who has no craving for pleasures, and who is free from attachment…
2.57 – यः सर्वत्रानभिस्नेहस्तत्तत्प्राप्य शुभाशुभम् – One who is without attachment everywhere, and who, meeting with this or that, good or bad, neither rejoices…
2.58 – यदा संहरते चायं कूर्मोऽङ्गानीव – And when, like a tortoise drawing in its limbs on every side, he withdraws his senses completely from their…
2.59 – विषया विनिवर्तन्ते निराहारस्य देहिनः – The objects of the senses fall away from the embodied one who abstains from them, but the taste for them…
2.60 – यततो ह्यपि कौन्तेय पुरुषस्य – O son of Kunti, the turbulent senses forcibly carry away the mind even of a discerning man who is striving…
2.61 – तानि सर्वाणि संयम्य युक्त – Restraining all the senses, he should sit in yoga, intent on Me as the Supreme; for he whose senses are…
2.62 – ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते – When a person dwells on sense objects, attachment to them arises; from attachment springs desire, and from…
2.63 – क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः – From anger comes delusion; from delusion, confusion of memory; from the loss of memory, the destruction of…
2.64 – रागद्वेषविमुक्तैस्तु विषयानिन्द्रियैश्चरन् – But one whose mind is disciplined, moving among sense objects with senses under control and free from…
2.65 – प्रसादे सर्वदुःखानां हानिरस्योपजायते – In that serenity, all his sorrows come to an end; for the intellect of one whose mind is serene soon becomes…
2.66 – नास्ति बुद्धिरयुक्तस्य न चायुक्तस्य – For one who is not disciplined there is no steady wisdom, and for the undisciplined there is no…
2.67 – इन्द्रियाणां हि चरतां यन्मनोऽनुविधीयते – For when the mind follows any one of the roaming senses, that sense carries away his wisdom, just as the…
2.68 – तस्माद्यस्य महाबाहो निगृहीतानि सर्वशः – Therefore, O mighty-armed one, he whose senses are restrained on every side from their objects — his wisdom…
2.69 – या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां – What is night for all beings, in that the self-controlled one is awake; and that in which all beings are…
2.70 – आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठं – As the waters enter the ocean, which is ever being filled yet remains unmoved within its bounds, so the one…
2.71 – विहाय कामान्यः सर्वान्पुमांश्चरति निःस्पृहः – The person who gives up all desires and moves through life free from longing, without the sense of ‘mine’…
2.72 – एषा ब्राह्मी स्थितिः पार्थ – O Partha, this is the Brahmic state, the state of being established in Brahman.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 – Sankhya Yoga

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