In Gita 9.26-29 the Lord accepts a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion, asks that every act be made an offering, promises freedom from the bonds of results, and is equal to all yet near to the devotee.
If someone is content within and needs nothing, why would that person still work? The Gita says: for the good of the world, free of clinging, and as an example that others follow.
Can we work hard and still not be eaten up by the result? Gita 2.47 to 2.51: the work is ours, the result is not, and work done this way is better work.
Arjuna raises his bow, asks Lord Krishna to station the chariot between the armies, and sees elders, teachers and kin on both sides. The scene where the Gita begins.
Arjuna's body gives way, his reasons pull both ways, and he throws down his bow. Then he says he does not know, and asks Lord Krishna to teach him. The turn that begins the Gita.
What does Arjuna ask in the Gita, when and why? Fourteen main questions in the order of the book: what each shows about his state of mind, and where to read the reply.
How the Gita turns the knowledge of the self into a steady, resolute intellect: one aim in place of many branching thoughts, what scatters the mind, and the rest in the Self where yoga begins.
Four closing words of the Lord after the universal form: this sight is rare even for the gods, no Veda, austerity, charity or sacrifice wins it, undivided devotion does, and the devotee has five marks. Three readings.
Arjuna asks why he must act if knowledge is higher. The Lord's answer in Gita 3.1 to 3.8: stopping does not free anyone, no one can stop, and the better way is a ruling mind with unclinging work.
A map of the twenty verses of Gita chapter 12: which way is best, four steps for a mind that will not stay, and the devotee the Lord holds dear, with a guide to the reading for each part.
Gita chapter 3 in a glance: Arjuna asks why act if knowledge is higher, and the Lord answers in seven steps, from work as giving to the enemy called desire. A guide to the chapter's pages.
A short daily routine for devotion: a morning offering, one act for the Lord, a pause in a hard meeting and a review at night, with questions taken from the verses. Two readings.
Whether you worship the Lord in a form or the unmanifest Reality, which is better? Gita 12.1-5 holds Arjuna's question and the Lord's answer: the goal is one, but the roads differ in how hard they are.
After the teaching of the imperishable self, the Lord speaks to Arjuna in the language of duty, reputation and fear of disgrace. Gita 2.31-37: seven verses, how far the appeal goes, and the turn to an even mind in the next verse.
Keeping the mind level when pleasure and pain, gain and loss, praise and blame come and go: the Gita's teaching of evenness on three fronts, and what it is not.
At the end of chapter 9 the Lord says a person of very bad conduct who worships wholly is to be regarded as righteous. Gita 9.30-34: what it means, where it stops, and three readings.
In Gita 7.16-19 the Lord says that four things turn people to Him: distress, a wish to know, a want and wisdom. All four are welcome, and nearest is the one who comes for Him alone.
How a quiet thought grows into attachment, desire, anger, delusion and ruin, in seven steps (Gita 2.62–63), and why the early steps are the easy place to stop.
How to begin the Gita and keep reading it: the order, a plain translation, a commentary and a question of your own, in a simple, a detailed and a deeper reading.
How does working without clinging to the fruit become part of an ordinary day? Four moments for every task: intention before, full attention during, handing over after, and an evening review, drawn from Gita 2.47-51, 3.30 and 4.19-23.
What is action, what is wrong action and what is inaction, and how can a person act all day and not be bound? Gita 4.16 to 4.24: five marks of the free actor and the act seen as an offering.
Five verses of chapter 10: whoever knows the Lord's glory in truth is joined to Him by unwavering devotion, devotees find joy in speaking of Him together, and the Lord Himself gives the wisdom and the lamp of knowledge. Three readings.
In the fear of the universal form Arjuna asks who the fierce figure is. The Lord says 'I am Time' and 'be merely an instrument'. Gita 11.31-35: the verses, their meaning and Arjuna's trembling answer.
Lord Krishna asks that all actions be offered to Him with the mind steady, without expectation, possessiveness or fever. Gita 3.30-32 and 5.10-12 show how such work leaves no stain and brings lasting peace.
Why do we tire ourselves wearing someone else's way? The Gita says one's own duty, done imperfectly, is better than another's done well. Start here for readings at three depths.
What exactly does the Gita ask us to give up, and what must we keep? Start here: renunciation drops desire-driven acts, relinquishment drops the claim on the fruit, and duty stays.
Must you give up everything for peace, or can you keep working and still be free? Start here: the Gita's answer is that real renunciation is inside, and both paths reach one goal.
At the end of chapter 12 the Lord draws the person who is dear to Him: free of hatred, friendly and compassionate, level in pain and pleasure, skilful and steady. Three readings of Gita 12.13-20, and what 'dear' means.
A map of the Bhagavad Gita's eighteen chapters, with the name, size and job of each, and how Arjuna's questions carry the book from despair to decision.
Why do we do what we do not want to do? Arjuna's question and the Lord's answer in Gita 3.36–43: desire and anger as the enemy that covers knowledge, and the order in which it is met.
How can I put down the feeling that I must handle everything alone without giving up my duties? Gita 18.57 to 18.66: surrender the actions in the mind, take refuge, reflect fully and then choose freely.
Why do we repeat what we already know is wrong? In Gita 7.14-15 the Lord says the pull on the mind is his own power, that refuge is the way across, and why some people do not take that way.
What the Lord first teaches Arjuna in his grief: who lives in the body, what can and cannot be lost, why grief assumes too much, and the second answer for the one who cannot accept the first.
What if your mind will not stay on God? In Gita 12.6-12 the Lord gives four steps, each for the person who cannot take the one above, and ends with peace that follows at once on giving up the fruit of action. The verses and three readings.
The Gita praises action, knowledge, meditation and devotion. Do they compete, and where should a person begin? They complete each other, and the Lord's steps in 12.8 to 12.12 show how to start.
In Gita 9.13-15 and 9.22 the great souls worship the Lord with an undivided mind, and he carries what they lack and preserves what they have: the care the tradition calls yogakshema.
In Gita 7.20-23 and 9.20-25 the Lord says he steadies the faith of those who worship other deities and arranges what they receive, but that the result is perishable. You reach what you worship.
The Gita says nature's modes perform all action and the self is a non-doer, yet it counts the doer among five causes. Gita 3.27-29, 5.8-14 and 18.13-17 on the mistake of 'I do it all' and how it is mended.
Why does work feel like a load, and what does the Gita mean by work as sacrifice? Start here: work done as an offering frees, and life runs on giving and receiving.
A heavy week at work feels like one lump of dread. The Gita pulls it into three parts, the work, the fear and the panic, and gives a handle for each. Start here for readings at three depths.