This page has 90 important verses of the Gita that comprehensively capture its essence and teachings, which can build your faith in God (the “Supreme Being” as per Shri Krishna), and guide you through the ups and downs of life. Of the total 700 verses in the Gita, these 90 verses cover all the key messages, without missing any important point. They are listed in sequential order of the 18 Gita chapters. When you read and understand these verses, you have understood the essence of the Gita that Shri Krishna wanted to convey. Therefore, this is your reference page for important Gita verses. This long page is Chapter 5 of the book “The Essence of Gita”, and it’s better that these 90 verses are available to everyone in the public domain. Thank you.
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Chapter 2, Verse 2: Shri Krishna said: “O Arjuna, in the middle of all the army assembled here, what has caused you to become so dejected at this critical moment? The dejection which is unworthy of you.”
Chapter 2, Verse 12:”Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be.”
Chapter 2, Verse 13: “Just as the soul passes in the same body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. The wise people have no misunderstanding about this.”
Chapter 2, Verse 14: “O Arjuna, happiness and distress arise from the senses; they are fleeting and non-permanent, just like summer and winter seasons that keep coming and going. One must learn to bear happiness and distress without being disturbed.”
Chapter 2, Verse 20: “For the soul, there is no birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does it ever cease to be. It is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. It’s not killed when the body is killed.”
Chapter 2, Verse 23: “The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.”
Chapter 2, Verse 38: “O Arjuna, fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat — and by so, you will never incur sin.”
Chapter 2, Verse 40: “Effort is never wasted, and there is no failure. Even a little practice of regular effort and discipline protects one from great danger.”
Chapter 2, Verse 44: “Those with less understanding have their minds deeply attached to worldly pleasures and their intellects bewildered by such things, they are unable to get the focus and determination for success on the path to God.”
Chapter 2, Verse 47: “You have the right to perform your work and duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your work or actions, nor be attached to inaction.”
Chapter 2, Verse 50: “A man engaged in devotional service rids himself of both good and bad reactions even in this life. Therefore strive for yoga, which is the art of working sincerely with all your skills. Yoga is skill in action.”
Chapter 2, Verse 52: “When your intellect crosses beyond the quagmire of delusion, then you shall attain dispassion or detachment regarding things heard or past sensory experiences, as well as things to be heard or future desires.”
Chapter 2, Verse 56: “The one who is not disturbed in spite of threefold miseries, who does not crave for pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady mind.”
Chapter 2, Verse 70:”A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires—that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but is always still—can alone achieve peace, and not the person who strives to satisfy such desires.”
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Chapter 3, Verse 5: “No one can remain without performing actions even for a moment; indeed all beings are helplessly compelled to act by the modes born of nature.”
Chapter 3, Verse 8: “Perform your work and duties with dedication, because action is superior to inaction, and even the maintenance of your body would be impossible by inaction.”
Chapter 3, Verse 21: “Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.”
Chapter 3, Verse 25: “As ignorant people perform their duties with attachment to the results, O Arjuna, so should the wise people act without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.”
Chapter 3, Verse 26: “The wise should not unsettle the minds of the ignorant who are attached to action; they should perform their duties with devotion.”
Chapter 3, Verse 35: “Better indeed is one’s own dharma, though imperfectly performed, than the dharma of another well-performed. One who performs his own duty sincerely is not subject to sin.”
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Chapter 4, Verse 7: “Whenever and wherever there is a decline and mockery of dharma and righteousness, and a significant rise of adharma or evil – at each and every such time I will come Myself, to correct the situation by destroying the source of adharma.”
Chapter 4, Verse 8: “To protect the righteous people, and to destroy the demonic and evil people, and to reestablish the rule of dharma, I will come Myself, time after time, era after era, millennium after millennium.”
Chapter 4, Verse 18: “One who sees inaction in action, and action in inaction, is wise among men, and has become a yogi, although engaged in different types of works or activities.”
Chapter 4, Verse 38: “In this world, there is nothing so purifying as knowledge. One who becomes perfected in the practice of devotion finds this within himself in due course of time.”
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Chapter 5, Verse 10: “One who is attached to his or her duties and does them without attachment, surrendering the results to the Supreme Lord, is not tainted by sinful actions, just as a lotus leaf is not affected by the water on which it floats.”
Chapter 5, Verse 18: “The wise person or a true sage, sees with equal vision, a learned and humble brahman, a cow, an elephant, a dog, and an outcast.”
Chapter 5, Verse 29: “A devotee of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all prayers and sacrifices, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from material miseries.”
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Chapter 6, Verse 5: “Let a person elevate oneself by one’s own efforts. Let one not degrade oneself. For one’s own self is one’s friend, and one’s own self is one’s enemy.”
Chapter 6, Verse 6: “For one who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest enemy.”
Chapter 6, Verse 16: “O Arjuna, it’s not possible to become a yogi if one eats too much or does not eat at all, sleeps too much or does not sleep at all. A healthy body is needed for spiritual growth.”
Chapter 6, Verse 26: “From wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the self.”
Chapter 6, Verse 30:”Those who see me in everything and everything within me, will not be lost to me, nor will I ever be lost to them.”
Chapter 6, Verse 34: Arjuna said, “The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind.”
Chapter 6, Verse 46: “The yogi is greater than the ascetic, greater than the empiricist, and greater than the gain-seeking worker. Therefore, O Arjuna, in all situations, always strive to be a yogi.”
Chapter 6, Verse 47: “The one who is always devoted to Me with great faith, through the ups and downs of life, I consider him to be the highest of all yogis.”
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Chapter 7, Verse 7: “O Arjuna, there is nothing higher than Me. Everything that exists is within Me, and I am within everything.”
Chapter 7, Verse 14: “My divine illusion Maya, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those devotees who have surrendered to Me can easily cross it.”
Chapter 7, Verse 20: “Those whose knowledge has been stolen by material desires aim to please demigods and follow various religious rituals according to their own natures.”
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Chapter 8, Verse 5: “And at the time of death, whoever quits his body, remembering Me alone, at once attains My nature. Of this, there is no doubt.”
Chapter 8, Verse 7: “Therefore, remember Me at all times, and do your duty of fighting the war. With your mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will surely attain Me. Of this, there is no doubt.”
Chapter 8, Verse 17: “One day of Brahma lasts a thousand Yuga and his night also lasts the same amount of time. The wise who know this understand the reality about day and night.” [Note: Please do some online study on this verse 8.17 to appreciate the mind boggling numbers here. In terms of Earth years, one day and one night of Brahma (kalp) equals about 8.7 billion years. In the cosmic scale, the lifetimes of a human and a tiny fruit fly are similar. Gita’s message “transient” truly stands out from the above verse.]
Chapter 8, Verse 20: “There is an Unmanifested Eternal Being, which is higher than all manifested and unmanifested matter – it is supreme and is never destroyed even when the entire world is annihilated.”
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Chapter 9, Verse 10: “O Arjuna, under My direction, the divine energy of nature creates all moving and non-moving things. Because of this, the world revolves in its cycle of creation, preservation, and dissolution.”
Chapter 9, Verse 11: “When I descend on Earth, fools and deluded people are unable to recognize Me; they disregard or mock me in my ordinary human form. They do not know My divinity as the Supreme Being.”
Chapter 9, Verse 22: “Those who are constantly devoted to Me with unwavering faith, I take care of their needs, well-being and spiritual progress, and show them the path to bring them to Me.”
Chapter 9, Verse 27: “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you give away, and whatever austerities you perform- do that as an offering to Me.”
Chapter 9, Verse 30: “Even if one has committed many sins, if he is now sincerely engaged in My devotion, he should be considered righteous because he has corrected himself with repentance, devotion, and determination.”
Chapter 9, Verse 34: “Always think of Me, and worship Me with your prayers. Being completely devoted to Me, surely you will come to Me.”
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Chapter 10, Verse 20: “O Arjuna, I am the Supersoul seated in the hearts of all living entities. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.”
Chapter 10, Verse 25: “Among the great sages I am Bhrigu; among the sounds I am OM; among sacrifices I am the silent repetition of divine prayer, and among immovable things I am the Himalayas.”
Chapter 10, Verse 41: “Know that all beautiful, glorious, and powerful things are created by Me.”
Chapter 10, Verse 42: “O Arjuna, but what is the need for all this detailed knowledge? Just know that with only a fraction of My being, I support the entire world.”
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Chapter 11, Verse 17: Arjuna told Shri Krishna, “I see You with your crown, your mace, and chakra as a mass of radiant light, difficult to behold, blazing everywhere with immeasurable brilliance like the sun and the fire, and You are unlimited in Your cosmic form (Vishwarupa).”
Chapter 11, Verse 32: Shri Krishna tells Arjuna, “As the Supreme Being, I am Time and timeless, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy adharma. Even without your participation, all the warriors here on the opposite side will die.”
Chapter 11, Verse 33: Shri Krishna tells Arjuna, “Therefore, get up now. Prepare to fight and win. Conquer your enemies and build a prosperous kingdom based on dharma. They are already put to death in my divine arrangement, and you are just my instrument in this fight.”
Chapter 11, Verse 55: “My dear Arjuna, he who engages in my pure devotional service, free from the contamination of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for me, who makes me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being — he certainly comes to me.”
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Chapter 12, Verse 3: “Those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the omnipresent, the unthinkable, the immovable, and the eternal (Me, the Supreme Being)”
Chapter 12, Verse 7: “O Arjuna, to those whose minds are set on Me, I soon become their savior from the ocean of material existence of this world (samsara).”
Chapter 12, Verse 13: “He who is not envious but is kind to all living entities, who does not consider himself a proprietor, who is free from false ego and equal both in happiness and distress, who is always satisfied and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me — such a devotee is very dear to Me.”
Chapter 12, Verse 20:”Those who follow My teachings by adhering to dharma, and engaging in devotion with full faith in Me, making Me their supreme goal, are extremely dear to Me.”
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Chapter 13, Verse 2: Shri Krishna said, “O Arjuna, the body is called the ‘field’ of activities, and the soul is called ‘the knower of the field’ by the sages who understand the truth about the body and soul.”
Chapter 13, Verse 16: Shri Krishna said,”He exists outside and inside all living beings, those that are moving and non-moving. He is subtle and incomprehensible. He is very far but also very near.”
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Chapter 14, Verse 5: “The material nature has three qualities (gunas): sattvic (goodness), rajasic (passion), and tamasic (ignorance/inertia/darkness). These modes bind the soul to the perishable body.”
Chapter 14, Verse 20: “By surpassing the three qualities (gunas) associated with the body, one becomes free from birth, death, pain, and attains immortality.”
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Chapter 15, Verse 6: “My supreme abode is not illuminated by the sun or moon or fire. Those who reach it never return to this material world.”
Chapter 15, Verse 7: “The living beings in this world are my eternal fragments; but due to their material nature, they are struggling hard with the six senses, which includes the mind.”
Chapter 15, Verse 15: “I reside in everyone’s heart, and I give memory, knowledge and also forgetfulness. I am known by all the Vedas. I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.”
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Chapter 16, Verses 1-2-3: Shri Krishna said: “Fearlessness, purity of thought, spiritual knowledge, charity, self-control, sacrifice, study of the scriptures, austerity, and simplicity; nonviolence, truthfulness, freedom from anger; renunciation, tranquility, aversion to fault-finding, compassion for all living beings, lack of greed, gentleness, modesty, and steady determination; vigor, forgiveness, fortitude, cleanliness, freedom from envy, and the passion for honor – O Arjuna, these qualities belong to saintly men or devotees with divine nature.”
Chapter 16, Verse 4: “Pride, arrogance, hypocrisy, harshness, anger, and ignorance – these six negative qualities belong to those of demonic nature.”
Chapter 16, Verse 7: “Those who are demonic do not know what is to be done, and what is not to be done (because their pride and arrogance removes wisdom). Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them.”
Chapter 16, Verse 18: “Driven by ego, arrogance, power, lust, and anger, the demonic people hate Me, though I am present in their own bodies and in others around them. They are the lowest among people.”
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Chapter 17, Verse 4: “The people with sattvic (pure) faith worship the gods and goddesses (devi/devta); while those with rajasic (passionate) faith worship the demigods (yaksha) and demons (rakshasa); and those with tamasic (deluded/dark) faith worship ghosts (bhoot) and spirits(pret).”
Chapter 17, Verse 20: “That gift which is given out of duty, at the proper time and place, to a worthy person, and without expectation of return, is considered to be charity in the mode of goodness.”
Chapter 17, Verse 21: “Charity done with reluctance, or expectation of something in return, or with a desire for gains, is considered charity in the mode of passion, or corrupted charity.”
Chapter 17, Verse 28: “O Arjuna, whatever charity, prayer, or sacrifice is done without sincere faith, it is called ‘Asat’, and it has no value in this world or the next world (after death).
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Chapter 18, Verse 6: Shri Krishna said, “O Arjuna, the devotional activities (like prayer, charity, sacrifice) must be done without attachment and expectation of rewards. This is My definite and supreme verdict.”
Chapter 18, Verse 12: “The threefold fruits of actions or karma (good, evil, mixed) accrue even after death to those who are attached to personal rewards. But for those who renounce the fruits of their actions (by doing selfless work or “nishkama karma”) there are no such effects in this life or beyond.”
Chapter 18, Verse 20: “That knowledge by which one sees a single, imperishable, indivisible entity in all living beings – that knowledge is sattvic or pure.”
Chapter 18, Verse 25: “That action will be tamasic (in the mode of ignorance or darkness), which is based on delusion, without analysis of one’s ability, and disregarding consequences, loss or injury to others.”
Chapter 18, Verse 30: “O Arjuna, that intellect by which one knows what should be done and what should not to be done, what must be feared and what must not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating, that intellect is in the mode of goodness or sattvic.”
Chapter 18, Verse 31: “O Arjuna, that intellect which confuses between what is right and what is wrong, which confuses or swings between dharma and adharma, that intellect is in the mode of passion or rajasic.”
Chapter 18, Verse 32: “O Arjuna, that intellect which considers adharma to be dharma, and dharma to be adharma, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and always strives in the wrong direction, that intellect is in the mode of ignorance or tamasic.”
Chapter 18, Verse 35: “Determination which cannot go beyond dreaming, fearfulness, lamentation, moroseness and illusion — such unintelligent determination, is in the mode of darkness.”
Chapter 18, Verse 47: “It is better to engage in one’s own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another’s occupation and perform it perfectly. Duty or work according to one’s dharma is never affected by sinful reactions.”
Chapter 18, Verse 48: “Engage yourself in the work utilizing your talents and training, for all jobs involve mistakes or faults, just as fire comes with smoke.”
Chapter 18, Verse 66: “Abandon all types of religious practices and rituals, and come to Me with full faith. I will liberate you from all sins. Do not fear anything once you come towards Me.”
Chapter 18, Verse 73: Arjuna said: “My dear Krishna, my illusion and doubts are now gone. I have regained my understanding by Your grace. I am now free from all doubts, and ready to act as per Your instructions.”
Chapter 18, Verse 78: “Wherever there is Krishna, the master of yoga or wisdom, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer or executor, there will also surely be abundance, victory, prosperity, and morality. This is my conviction.”
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Summary: List of 90 verses covered here.
2.2, 2.12, 2.13, 2.14, 2.20, 2.23, 2.38, 2.40, 2.44, 2.47, 2.50, 2.52, 2.56, 2.70, 3.5, 3.8, 3.21, 3.25, 3.26, 3.35, 4.7, 4.8, 4.18, 4.38, 5.10, 5.18, 5.29, 6.5, 6.6, 6.16, 6.26, 6.30, 6.34, 6.46, 6.47, 7.7, 7.14, 7.20, 8.5, 8.7, 8.17, 8.20, 9.10, 9.11, 9.22, 9.27, 9.30, 9.34, 10.20, 10.25, 10.41, 10.42, 11.17, 11.32, 11.33, 11.55, 12.3, 12.7, 12.13, 12.20, 13.2, 13.16, 14.5, 14.20, 15.6, 15.7, 15.15, 16.1, 16.2, 16.3, 16.4, 16.7, 16.18, 17.4, 17.20, 17.21, 17.28, 18.6, 18.12, 18.20, 18.25, 18.30, 18.31, 18.32, 18.35, 18.47, 18.48, 18.66, 18.73, 18.78
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