Sacred Hindu scripture
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Sacred Hindu scripture

Bhagavad Gita.

“Thy business is with the action only, never with its fruits; so let not the fruit of action be thy motive, nor be thou to inaction attached.”

A 700-verse Sanskrit scripture that forms part of the Mahabharata epic. Set on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, it is a dialogue between the warrior prince Arjuna and his charioteer, Krishna, about duty, action and the nature of the self. Tradition attributes it to the sage Vyasa; scholars usually date it to between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE. The quotes on this site use Annie Besant's English translation (4th edition, 1922), which is in the public domain.

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Based in
India
Verses
700, in 18 chapters
Language
Sanskrit
Part of
The Mahabharata
On Motivation Stock
10 quotes · 1 book

In their words

“Perform action, O Dhananjaya, dwelling in union with the divine, renouncing attachments and balanced evenly in success and failure: equilibrium is called yoga.”

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Their book

Translated by Eknath Easwaran

The Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita

Cover of The Bhagavad Gita

Spirituality

The Bhagavad Gita

Translated by Eknath Easwaran

A 700-verse conversation on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. As the warrior Arjuna freezes before a war against his own family, Krishna teaches him about duty, action without attachment and the nature of the self. Eknath Easwaran's clear modern translation comes with chapter introductions that make the text easy to follow.

Three big ideas

  1. Act without clinging to resultsDo your work fully, and let go of the outcome. Attachment to results is what breeds anxiety.
  2. Stay steady in success and failureEvenness of mind, meeting gain and loss the same way, is what the Gita calls yoga.
  3. Your own path matters mostBetter to follow your own duty imperfectly than to copy someone else's perfectly.
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