सांख्य योगThe Yoga of Analysis

ABOUT THIS CHAPTER

Sankhya Yoga, the Yoga of Analysis, is Krishna's first reply to Arjun's collapse. It is the longest chapter of the Bhagavad Gita — 72 verses — and contains some of the text's most-cited verses (2.47, 2.48, 2.50). Krishna does not begin with reassurance. He begins with diagnosis. He tells Arjun, in effect: your problem is that you don't know who you are.

[Pillar content drafts as Chapter 2 publishes; this is a placeholder essay that will expand when verses 2.1–2.72 ship.]

THEMES

VERSES WIRED · 62 OF 72

• Verse 2.1 · Krishna
• Verse 2.2 · Krishna
  After 47 verses of silence.
• Verse 2.3 · Krishna
  Two words that launched 700 verses of wisdom. What were they?
• Verse 2.4 · Krishna
  Krishna said stand up. Arjun named two people and asked: how do I shoot at THEM?
• Verse 2.5 · Krishna
  He'd rather beg on the streets than eat a feast paid for in blood. Why?
• Verse 2.6 · Krishna
  Win and live with the blood. Lose and everything was for nothing. Which is worse?
• Verse 2.7 · Krishna
  The mightiest warrior dropped his bow and begged.
• Verse 2.8 · Krishna
  Not even heaven's throne could stop his grief.
• Verse 2.9 · Krishna
  "I will not fight." Then God answered.
• Verse 2.10 · Krishna
  A man drowning in grief. And Krishna smiled.
• Verse 2.11 · Krishna
  You sound wise but grieve like a fool.
• Verse 2.12 · Krishna
  You, me, every king — none of us began.
• Verse 2.13 · Krishna
  Child, adult, old man — death is just next.
• Verse 2.14 · Krishna
  Pleasure fades. Pain fades. Outlast them both.
• Verse 2.15 · Krishna
  Unbroken by pain, unbought by pleasure: immortal.
• Verse 2.16 · Krishna
  The real never dies. The fake never existed.
• Verse 2.17 · Krishna
  No weapon cuts it. No fire burns it.
• Verse 2.18 · Krishna
  The body dies. The soul can't. So fight.
• Verse 2.19 · Krishna
  It cannot kill. It cannot be killed.
• Verse 2.20 · Krishna
  Never born. Never dies. Never destroyed.
• Verse 2.21 · Krishna
  Know the Self — and there's no one left to kill.
• Verse 2.22 · Krishna
  Death is just the soul changing its clothes.
• Verse 2.23 · Krishna
  Sword, fire, flood, wind — not one can touch you.
• Verse 2.24 · Krishna
  Everywhere at once. Never moving. Never ending.
• Verse 2.25 · Krishna
  Unseen, unthinkable, unchanging — so stop grieving.
• Verse 2.26 · Krishna
  Even if the soul dies — you still shouldn't grieve.
• Verse 2.27 · Krishna
  Death is certain. Birth is certain. Why grieve the inevitable?
• Verse 2.28 · Krishna
  Unseen before birth, unseen after death — so why grieve?
• Verse 2.29 · Krishna
  A wonder seen, spoken, heard — yet truly known by almost no one.
• Verse 2.30 · Krishna
  What cannot be killed lives in every body — so grieve for no one.
• Verse 2.31 · Krishna
  Even set the soul aside — your own duty says don't waver.
• Verse 2.32 · Krishna
  A just war you never sought is an open door to heaven.
• Verse 2.33 · Krishna
  Refusing this righteous war doesn't save you — it damns you.
• Verse 2.34 · Krishna
  People will speak of your disgrace forever. For the honored, shame is worse than death.
• Verse 2.35 · Krishna
  The great warriors will think you fled out of fear. You — who they honored most.
• Verse 2.36 · Krishna
  Your enemies will heap unspeakable words on you, scorning your might. What could be more painful than this?
• Verse 2.37 · Krishna
  Die fighting and you go to heaven. Win and you enjoy the earth. Either way — rise up.
• Verse 2.38 · Krishna
  Make pleasure and pain the same. Gain and loss the same. Victory and defeat the same — then fight. This is how sin cannot touch you.
• Verse 2.39 · Krishna
  You have heard the philosophy of the eternal self. Now hear the science of how to act. Equipped with this buddhi — the bondage of karma will shatter.
• Verse 2.40 · Krishna
  On this path, no effort is ever lost. There is no adverse effect. Even a little of this dharma protects you from great fear.
• Verse 2.41 · Krishna
  A focused mind wins. A scattered one drowns.
• Verse 2.42 · Krishna
  They quote scripture but miss the point entirely.
• Verse 2.43 · Krishna
  Not ignorant. Just aimed too low.
• Verse 2.44 · Krishna
  Attachment steals the mind. A stolen mind cannot resolve.
• Verse 2.45 · Krishna
  Rise above the three forces that run everything.
• Verse 2.46 · Krishna
  Once you have the ocean, the well gives you nothing new.
• Verse 2.47 · Krishna
  The most famous 32 syllables ever spoken about work.
• Verse 2.48 · Krishna
  Same in victory. Same in defeat. That is the definition.
• Verse 2.49 · Krishna
  Krishna's harshest word — for those who work only for reward.
• Verse 2.50 · Krishna
  The Gita's second definition: yoga is excellence in action.
• Verse 2.51 · Krishna
  What does letting go actually buy you? This verse answers.
• Verse 2.52 · Krishna
  One day even the scriptures will have nothing left to give you.
• Verse 2.53 · Krishna
  Day 100. The instruction closes — and Arjun is about to ask the big question.
• Verse 2.54 · Krishna
  After 15 verses of teaching, Arjun finally asks the right question.
• Verse 2.55 · Krishna
  Krishna answers: here is the first mark of the steady mind.
• Verse 2.56 · Krishna
  Not shaken by sorrow. Not hooked by pleasure. This is the second mark.
• Verse 2.57 · Krishna
  Good news doesn't lift him. Bad news doesn't drop him.
• Verse 2.58 · Krishna
  The most famous image in this whole portrait: the tortoise.
• Verse 2.59 · Krishna
  You can quit the thing and still crave it. Krishna admits this.
• Verse 2.60 · Krishna
  A warning: even the wise, striving mind can be dragged away.
• Verse 2.61 · Krishna
  2.60 warned you. Here is the actual answer.
• Verse 2.62 · Krishna
  How anger is actually born — Krishna traces it, four steps back.