Bhagavad Gita · भगवद्गीता

A warrior drops his bow between two armies, overwhelmed by grief and fear. His charioteer answers him in 700 verses. The Bhagavad Gita has guided Gandhi, Vivekananda, scientists and soldiers — what does it actually teach about fear, duty and the self?

The Gita is eighteen chapters, about 700 verses, within the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. The armies of the Pandavas and Kauravas face each other at Kurukshetra. Arjuna, the greatest archer of his age, asks Krishna to drive his chariot between them — and there he sees his teachers, grandfather, cousins and friends on the other side. His limbs give way, his mouth dries, his bow slips from his hand. "I will not fight," he says, and sits down in the chariot, weeping.

Krishna's first words are not comfort but a challenge: "Whence has this weakness come upon you at this hour? Do not yield to unmanliness… Cast off this petty faint-heartedness and arise!" (2.2–2.3). Then he begins to teach — first about what cannot die, then about how to act without fear…

• The Self that cannot be destroyed
• Action without attachment
• Three paths, one goal
• The vision of the universal form
• What the Gita says about fear
• Commentaries

Read every chapter with Wisdom Library membership →

• Bhagavad Gita — Mahabharata, Bhishma Parva, chapters 23–40
• Shankara Gita Bhashya
• Ramanuja Gita Bhashya
• Jnaneshwari