Sankhya Yoga

Krishna begins the real teaching. The eternal soul, the steady mind, action without attachment. The chapter that holds the Gita's most quoted verse: 2.47.

All 72 verses below.

Wisdom translation, edited by Ankur Shukla. Commentary AI-drafted, human-reviewed. Reviewed June 2026. Methodology →

Verses

• 2.1Grief opens the door for instruction.
• 2.2Delusion has no place in a decisive moment.
• 2.3Weakness is optional; the call to act remains.
• 2.4Respect can make necessary action feel unbearable.
• 2.5A victory that destroys reverence is already a loss.
• 2.6Honest uncertainty is the first crack in moral paralysis.
• 2.7Clarity begins when you admit you cannot see the right action alone.
• 2.8No outer victory can cure an inner collapse.
• 2.9Refusal has stopped the war inside him.
• 2.10Guidance begins when grief is met without rejection.
• 2.11Clear seeing ends grief where the wise know none is needed.
• 2.12What truly exists was never born and never lost.
• 2.13What changes form is not what you truly are.
• 2.14Passing sensations lose power when you stop treating them as permanent.
• 2.15Freedom begins where pain and pleasure stop controlling you.
• 2.16What passes away was never ultimate; what is real cannot vanish.
• 2.17What truly pervades everything cannot be destroyed.
• 2.18What is truly you cannot be destroyed, so duty remains.
• 2.19What you are cannot be reduced to killer or victim.
• 2.20What you are cannot be touched by birth or death.
• 2.21Clear seeing makes violence look absurd.
• 2.22What you are does not end when one body is left behind.
• 2.23Your deepest reality is beyond every physical force.
• 2.24What you are cannot be harmed by anything that changes.
• 2.25What is deepest in you was never available for loss.
• 2.26Even the plain fact of change is no reason to drown in sorrow.
• 2.27What must change is not a reason for grief.
• 2.28What appears briefly was never meant to be clung to.
• 2.29The true self remains mysterious even after endless hearing.
• 2.30What is most real in a person cannot be killed, so grief loses its ground.
• 2.31Right action can feel hard and still be the best choice.
• 2.32A righteous burden can become the highest opening.
• 2.33Avoiding the right duty does not protect you; it stains you.
• 2.34A honored life can be wounded more by shame than by death.
• 2.35Retreat from duty, and respect turns to shrinkage.
• 2.36Public shame can hurt more than physical danger.
• 2.37Act now; the result does not cancel the duty.
• 2.38Equanimity frees action from the stain of panic and craving.
• 2.39Clear understanding frees action from bondage.
• 2.40Even a tiny start on the right path protects you from fear.
• 2.41Resolute seeing unifies the mind; hesitation multiplies it.
• 2.42Beautiful words can hide a mind trapped by desire.
• 2.43Flowery promises can keep desire alive while pretending to guide you.
• 2.44Craving scatters the mind before wisdom can settle.
• 2.45Freedom begins when gain and loss stop defining you.
• 2.46Complete understanding makes lesser sources unnecessary.
• 2.47Action belongs to you; the result does not.
• 2.48Equanimity turns action into yoga.
• 2.49Clear discernment is richer than reward-chasing.
• 2.50Clear action frees you from the weight of both success and failure.
• 2.51Freedom comes when action is done without clutching its reward.
• 2.52Clear seeing ends the pull of future pleasures.
• 2.53Yoga begins when the mind stops being pulled in every direction.
• 2.54Steady wisdom must be recognizable in ordinary movement.
• 2.55Steadiness begins when desire no longer defines your sense of enough.
• 2.56Steadiness remains when pleasure and pain lose their grip.
• 2.57Steady wisdom does not need life to feel favorable.
• 2.58Steadiness begins when the senses stop running outward.
• 2.59Craving ends only when a higher reality becomes more compelling.
• 2.60Restraint fails without disciplined senses.
• 2.61Wisdom becomes steady only when the senses are no longer in charge.
• 2.62What you dwell on becomes what you cling to, then what burns you.
• 2.63Anger first distorts seeing, then destroys the mind that should guide action.
• 2.64Freedom comes from meeting experience without attraction or aversion.
• 2.65Clear seeing ends suffering and lets understanding settle at once.
• 2.66Without inner discipline, even happiness has no place to stand.
• 2.67One uncontrolled sense can carry the mind away.
• 2.68Steady wisdom begins when the senses stop ruling your attention.
• 2.69What the many pursue in sleep, the wise leave behind awake.
• 2.70Peace belongs to the one who stays steady while desire moves.
• 2.71Peace begins when wanting, owning, and self-importance fall away.
• 2.72Steadiness in the supreme reality ends confusion, even at life’s edge.