A reader’s mapपाठक का मानचित्र
The eighteen chapters.
Each chapter carries the word “yoga” in its name, because each is a way of joining what we know to how we live.
अर्जुनविषादयोग
Arjuna’s despairArjuna-viṣāda-yoga
The armies are drawn up; Arjuna sees his own people on both sides and puts down his bow.
सांख्ययोग
Knowledge of the SelfSāṅkhya-yoga
The essence of the whole Gita: the Self is never born and never dies; act without craving the fruit; the marks of a steady mind.
कर्मयोग
The yoga of actionKarma-yoga
No one can remain without acting. Work done as offering, for the holding-together of the world.
ज्ञानकर्मसंन्यासयोग
Knowledge and the renunciation of actionJñāna-karma-sannyāsa-yoga
The teaching handed down through a lineage; action that does not bind; knowledge as the fire that purifies.
कर्मसंन्यासयोग
The yoga of renunciationKarma-sannyāsa-yoga
Renouncing action and acting selflessly lead to the same place; the second is the easier road.
ध्यानयोग
The yoga of meditationDhyāna-yoga
Seat, posture, moderation in food and sleep; the restless mind mastered by practice and dispassion.
ज्ञानविज्ञानयोग
Knowledge and realisationJñāna-vijñāna-yoga
The Divine as the thread on which all this is strung; the four kinds of people who turn to God.
अक्षरब्रह्मयोग
The imperishable AbsoluteAkṣara-brahma-yoga
What endures when everything else passes; remembrance at the last hour.
राजविद्याराजगुह्ययोग
The royal knowledge, the royal secretRāja-vidyā-rāja-guhya-yoga
Devotion is open to everyone, whatever their birth. A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water — offered with love, that is enough.
विभूतियोग
The divine gloriesVibhūti-yoga
Wherever there is excellence, splendour or strength, know it to be a spark of the Divine.
विश्वरूपदर्शनयोग
The vision of the cosmic formViśvarūpa-darśana-yoga
Arjuna is given sight to see the whole universe in one form, and asks for the gentle face to return.
भक्तियोग
The yoga of devotionBhakti-yoga
The shortest chapter, and the portrait of the devotee: without hatred, friendly, compassionate, free of ego.
क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञविभागयोग
The field and its knowerKṣetra-kṣetrajña-vibhāga-yoga
The body as a field, and the one who knows it; humility and non-violence named as knowledge itself.
गुणत्रयविभागयोग
The three gunasGuṇa-traya-vibhāga-yoga
Sattva, rajas and tamas — how each binds, and what it looks like to rise beyond them.
पुरुषोत्तमयोग
The supreme PersonPuruṣottama-yoga
The world as an inverted tree, cut with the axe of non-attachment; the supreme Person beyond the perishable.
दैवासुरसम्पद्विभागयोग
Divine and demonic naturesDaivāsura-sampad-vibhāga-yoga
Two sets of qualities and where each leads; desire, anger and greed named as the three gates.
श्रद्धात्रयविभागयोग
The three kinds of faithŚraddhā-traya-vibhāga-yoga
A person is made of their faith. Food, sacrifice, austerity and giving, each in three grades.
मोक्षसंन्यासयोग
Liberation through renunciationMokṣa-sannyāsa-yoga
The longest chapter gathers everything up. Arjuna says his delusion is gone, and takes up his bow.
Begin reading
Where a first reader should start.
Begin with Chapter 2 — it holds the essence of the whole. Then read Chapters 3, 6, 9 and 12 for action, meditation, devotion and the character of a devotee. Only then go back and read all eighteen in order.
Read a little each day rather than a great deal at once. Keep an edition with the Sanskrit, a transliteration and a faithful translation side by side. And listen to a discourse when you can: the Gita was spoken before it was written, and it opens differently when heard.