Bhagavad Gita: Verse by Verse with Its Meaning

The Bhagavad Gita ("the Song of the Lord") is a 700-verse dialogue in Sanskrit, part of the Bhishma Parva, the sixth book of the Mahabharata. On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, just before the war begins, the warrior Arjuna loses heart at the thought of fighting his own family and teachers. His charioteer Krishna answers him. Sanjaya, who has been given the power to see the battlefield from afar, reports the conversation to the blind king Dhritarashtra.

72 of 700 verses are published so far (Chapter 2). The other chapters are added as each text is checked.

Chapter 2, "Sankhya Yoga", is where the teaching begins. Arjuna asks Krishna to be his teacher. Krishna speaks of the self that is never born and never dies, of Arjuna's duty as a warrior, of acting without being driven by results, and of the person of steady wisdom (sthitaprajña).

Many teachers have written commentaries on the Gita, among them Shankara (Advaita), Ramanuja (Vishishtadvaita) and Madhva (Dvaita), and they read key verses differently. Where we show their views, each is labelled with its school. Three old public-domain English translations, by K. T. Telang (1882), Annie Besant (1895) and Swami Swarupananda (1909), sit beside our own plain explanation of each verse.

Read a chapter in order

• Chapter 2: first verse 2.1 · last verse 2.72

Where to start

• Bhagavad Gita 2.11: Ashochyananvashochastvam
• Bhagavad Gita 2.13: Dehinosminyatha dehe kaumaram
• Bhagavad Gita 2.20: Na jayate mriyate
• Bhagavad Gita 2.22: Vasansi jirnani yatha vihaya
• Bhagavad Gita 2.47: Karmanyevadhikaraste
• Bhagavad Gita 2.48: Yogasthah kuru karmani sangam
• Bhagavad Gita 2.62: Dhyayato vishayanpunsah
• Bhagavad Gita 2.63: Krodhadbhavati sammohah

Source and licence

Sanskrit text

The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.

Translation

The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.

Translation

The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.

Sanskrit text

Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Used only to date the text. The Devanagari on this page is a reading text and is not copied from this printing.

Common wording

In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

Our explanation

Explanation written for this site with AI help from the sources listed here, and reviewed. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.

Review

AI review: 2 independent reviews against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.

Sources and licences