How many verses are in Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2?

Chapter 2, Sankhya Yoga, has 72 verses in the standard (Gita Press) text.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2: Sankhya Yoga — Summary, Key Verses & Meaning

Krishna begins his teaching: the self (atman) is eternal, so grief for the body is misplaced; act according to your duty without attachment to results.

Chapter 2 · Sankhya Yoga (The Yoga of Knowledge) · 72 verses

What happens in Chapter 2

Arjuna asks Krishna to be his teacher. Krishna first smiles and then speaks of the atman, the true self, which is never born and never dies; bodies are worn and discarded like clothes. A wise person therefore does not grieve for what is temporary. Krishna then appeals to Arjuna's own dharma as a warrior: to turn away from a righteous battle would be failure of duty.

The second half introduces buddhi yoga — action done with a steady, balanced mind. Krishna gives the most quoted verse of the Gita: we have a right to our work but not to its fruits. Arjuna then asks how a person of steady wisdom (sthitaprajna) speaks, sits and walks, and Krishna describes someone free from craving, unshaken by pleasure and pain, with senses under control like a tortoise drawing in its limbs.

Chapter 2 is often called a summary of the whole Gita: knowledge of the self, selfless action and inner steadiness all appear here.

Main themes

The eternal self (atman)
Svadharma — one's own duty
Nishkama karma — action without attachment to results
The person of steady wisdom (sthitaprajna)

Key verses

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः।
अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ
ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

2.20 — The self is never born and never dies. It did not come into being and will not cease to be. Unborn, eternal, everlasting and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed.

वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि।
तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही॥

vāsāṁsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi
tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny anyāni saṁyāti navāni dehī

2.22 — Just as a person discards worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so the embodied self leaves worn-out bodies and enters new ones.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥

karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana
mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi

2.47 — Your right is to your work alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit of action be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction either.

This does not mean "do not care about results". It means doing your best and accepting the outcome calmly — the effort is in your hands, the result depends on many things that are not.

For daily life

Give your full attention to the work in front of you, and loosen your grip on the result. It reduces anxiety and usually improves the work itself.

Sanskrit text: traditional (Gita Press numbering). English translation and explanation: MyPujaWorld.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 — Sankhya Yoga (The Yoga of Knowledge)

What happens in Chapter 2

Main themes

Key verses

For daily life

Frequently asked questions

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