The 30 days
Read the day’s verses on the chapter page, then come back to the verse to stop on. Days you finish turn gold.
Week 1: The question and the first answers
Chapters 1 to 3, days 1 to 7
Day 1: Chapter 1, verses 1 to 27
Dhritarashtra asks Sanjaya what happened at Kurukshetra. The armies line up, the conches sound, and Arjuna asks Krishna to drive his chariot between the two sides.
Stop on 1.1धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे समवेता युयुत्सवः ।मामकाः पाण्डवाश्चैव किमकुर्वत सञ्जय ॥“Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjaya, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do, assembled on the holy field of Kurukshetra and eager for battle?”Day 2: Chapter 1, verses 28 to 47
Arjuna sees his teachers, his grandfather and his cousins across the field. He argues against the war, then sits down and lets his bow fall.
Stop on 1.47एवमुक्त्वाऽर्जुनः संख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत् ।विसृज्य सशरं चापं शोकसंविग्नमानसः ॥“Sanjaya said: Saying this, Arjuna sat down on the chariot seat in the midst of the battlefield, casting aside his bow and arrows, his mind overwhelmed by grief.”Day 3: Chapter 2, verses 1 to 30
Arjuna asks Krishna to teach him. Krishna begins with the self in every body, which is never born and never dies.
Stop on 2.20न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणोन हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥“It is never born and never dies. It did not come into being, and it will not cease. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient, it is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.”Day 4: Chapter 2, verses 31 to 53
Krishna turns to Arjuna’s duty, then to a mind that acts fully and lets the result go.
Stop on 2.47कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥“You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not become the cause of the result, and do not cling to inaction.”Day 5: Chapter 2, verses 54 to 72
Arjuna asks how a person of steady wisdom speaks, sits and walks. Krishna answers with a portrait, and shows how one thought can slide into anger.
Stop on 2.70आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठंसमुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत् ।तद्वत्कामा यं प्रविशन्ति सर्वेस शान्तिमाप्नोति न कामकामी ॥“As rivers flow into the sea and the sea remains steady, so desires may enter a disciplined person without disturbing inner peace. The person who wants pleasures does not find peace.”Day 6: Chapter 3, verses 1 to 24
If knowledge is higher, why act at all? Krishna says no one can stay without acting for even a moment, and that he himself keeps acting.
Stop on 3.19तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर ।असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ॥“Therefore, always perform your duty without attachment; by acting without attachment, a person reaches the supreme.”Day 7: Chapter 3, verses 25 to 43
The wise act for the good of the world. Arjuna asks what pushes a person into wrong, and Krishna names desire that turns into anger.
Stop on 3.35श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥“Better is one's own duty, though imperfect, than another's duty well performed. Better death in one's own duty; another's duty is dangerous.”
Week 2: Knowledge, renunciation and the mind
Chapters 4 to 8, days 8 to 14
Day 8: Chapter 4, verses 1 to 24
Krishna says he taught this yoga long ago and takes birth age after age when dharma declines. He explains action that does not bind.
Stop on 4.7यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत ।अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदाऽऽत्मानं सृजाम्यहम् ॥“Whenever there is a decline of dharma and a rise of adharma, I manifest myself.”Day 9: Chapter 4, verses 25 to 42
Many kinds of offering, and knowledge as the purest of them. Krishna ends by telling Arjuna to cut through his doubt and stand up.
Stop on 4.38न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते ।तत्स्वयं योगसंसिद्धः कालेनात्मनि विन्दति ॥“No purifier compares to knowledge in this world. The one perfected in yoga finds that knowledge within the self in time.”Day 10: Chapter 5
Giving up action or acting without attachment: both lead to the same place. A person can act and stay untouched, like a lotus leaf on water.
Stop on 5.10ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः ।लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥“One who offers actions to Brahman, renounces attachment, and acts is not stained by wrongdoing, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.”Day 11: Chapter 6, verses 1 to 23
The self as its own friend and its own enemy. Then where to sit, and how to hold the body and the mind in meditation.
Stop on 6.5उद्धरेदात्मनाऽऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥“Lift yourself by yourself; do not let yourself fall. The true self is its own friend, and the true self is its own enemy.”Day 12: Chapter 6, verses 24 to 47
Arjuna says the mind is as hard to hold as the wind. Krishna agrees, names practice and letting go, and promises that no sincere effort is lost.
Stop on 6.35असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं ।अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥“The mind is hard to control, but it is mastered through practice and detachment.”Day 13: Chapter 7
Krishna describes his lower and higher nature, and says all things are strung on him like pearls on a thread.
Stop on 7.7मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय ।मयि सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव ॥“O Dhananjaya, nothing exists higher than Me. All this world is strung on Me like pearls on a thread.”Day 14: Chapter 8
Arjuna asks seven questions, from what Brahman is to how Krishna is known at the time of death. Krishna answers with what a person remembers at the end.
Stop on 8.7तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च ।मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयम् ॥“Therefore, remember Me at all times and fight. With mind and intellect offered to Me, you will surely come to Me.”
Week 3: Trust, glory, the vision and devotion
Chapters 9 to 12, days 15 to 21
Day 15: Chapter 9, verses 1 to 19
Krishna calls this the royal knowledge. The whole universe rests in him, and he is the heat of the sun and the rain.
Stop on 9.4मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना ।मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थितः ॥“All this universe is pervaded by my unmanifest form. All beings dwell in me, but I do not dwell in them.”Day 16: Chapter 9, verses 20 to 34
Those who lean on him alone are carried. He accepts even a leaf, a flower or a little water, offered with love.
Stop on 9.22अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते ।तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥“Those who think of me alone and worship me with unwavering focus—I carry their welfare and security.”Day 17: Chapter 10, verses 1 to 18
Krishna says he is the source of everything. Arjuna asks to hear more, and says he never tires of these words.
Stop on 10.8अहं सर्वस्य प्रभवो मत्तः सर्वं प्रवर्तते ।इति मत्वा भजन्ते मां बुधा भावसमन्विताः ॥“I am the source of all; everything moves from me. Knowing this, the wise worship me with wholehearted devotion.”Day 18: Chapter 10, verses 19 to 42
Krishna lists his glories: among months Margashirsha, among rivers the Ganga, among the Pandavas Arjuna himself.
Stop on 10.20अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः ।अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ॥“I am the Self, O Gudakesha, seated in the heart of all beings. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.”Day 19: Chapter 11, verses 1 to 31
Arjuna asks to see Krishna’s universal form and is given the eyes to see it: the light of a thousand suns, then a form that frightens him.
Stop on 11.12दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता ।यदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद्भासस्तस्य महात्मनः ॥“If a thousand suns rose together in the sky, their light would still barely match that great being's radiance.”Day 20: Chapter 11, verses 32 to 55
Krishna says he is Time. Arjuna, shaken, asks him to take his familiar form again, and Krishna does.
Stop on 11.32कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धोलोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः ।ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वेयेऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ॥“The Blessed Lord said: I am Time, the great destroyer of worlds, here to end all beings. Even without you, the warriors standing in the opposing ranks will not survive.”Day 21: Chapter 12
Devotion. Krishna describes, quality by quality, the devotee who is dear to him.
Stop on 12.13अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च ।निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥“One who hates no being, is friendly and compassionate, free from possessiveness and ego, equal in pleasure and pain, and forgiving.”
Week 4: Seeing clearly, and the last word
Chapters 13 to 18, days 22 to 30
Day 22: Chapter 13
The body is the field, and the one who knows it is the knower of the field. Krishna separates the two.
Stop on 13.28समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम् ।विनश्यत्स्वविनश्यन्तं यः पश्यति स पश्यति ॥“One who sees the supreme being equally present in all beings, imperishable amid the perishing, truly sees.”Day 23: Chapter 14
Sattva, rajas and tamas: how each one binds a person, and how to tell which one is at work.
Stop on 14.5सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः ।निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् ॥“Arjuna, the three qualities of nature—sattva, rajas, and tamas—bind the imperishable inner being to the body.”Day 24: Chapter 15
The world as an ashvattha tree with its roots above. Every living being is Krishna’s own eternal part.
Stop on 15.7ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः ।मनःषष्ठानीन्द्रियाणि प्रकृतिस्थानि कर्षति ॥“The embodied being in this world is my eternal part, yet it draws the mind and the five senses, which rest in nature.”Day 25: Chapter 16
Two sets of qualities. Desire, anger and greed are the three gates to ruin.
Stop on 16.21त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः ।कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभस्तस्मादेतत्त्रयं त्यजेत् ॥“Desire, anger, and greed are the three gates of ruin. Abandon these three.”Day 26: Chapter 17
Faith, food, sacrifice, austerity and giving, each in three kinds. A person is made of what they trust.
Stop on 17.3सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत ।श्रद्धामयोऽयं पुरुषो यो यच्छ्रद्धः स एव सः ॥“O Bharata, each person's trust matches their inner nature. A person is made of trust; whatever trust he holds, that is what he becomes.”Day 27: Chapter 18, verses 1 to 18
What giving up really means: let go of the fruit and keep the work. Then the five causes behind every action.
Stop on 18.11न हि देहभृता शक्यं त्यक्तुं कर्माण्यशेषतः ।यस्तु कर्मफलत्यागी स त्यागीत्यभिधीयते ॥“For embodied beings, total renunciation of action is impossible. Therefore, one who renounces the fruits of action is called a renunciant.”Day 28: Chapter 18, verses 19 to 40
Knowledge, action, the doer, understanding, resolve and happiness, each in three kinds. Some happiness tastes like poison at first and nectar at the end.
Stop on 18.37यत्तदग्रे विषमिव परिणामेऽमृतोपमम् ।तत्सुखं सात्त्विकं प्रोक्तमात्मबुद्धिप्रसादजम् ॥“That happiness is called sattvic, which seems like poison at first and like nectar in the end, born from clarity of the discerning mind and the peace of inner understanding.”Day 29: Chapter 18, verses 41 to 62
Work that fits a person’s nature, done as worship. Krishna says the Lord lives in every heart, and asks Arjuna to take refuge there.
Stop on 18.47श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।स्वभावनियतं कर्म कुर्वन्नाप्नोति किल्बिषम् ॥“One's own duty, though imperfect, is better than another's duty well performed. Doing the work set by one's nature, a person does not incur wrongdoing.”Day 30: Chapter 18, verses 63 to 78
Krishna tells Arjuna to reflect and then choose, and gives his last word. Arjuna says his doubt is gone. Sanjaya ends the telling.
Stop on 18.66सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥“Abandon all duties and take refuge in Me alone. I will free you from all wrongdoing; do not grieve.”
How the days are cut
The Gita’s chapters run from 20 verses to 78, so a chapter a day makes some days four minutes and others thirteen. This plan evens them out. Short chapters get a day each. Long ones split where the conversation turns: chapter 2 at Arjuna’s duty (2.31) and at his question about the steady person (2.54), chapter 6 at the restless mind (6.24), chapter 11 at “I am Time” (11.32), and chapter 18 at work done by one’s nature (18.41) and at Krishna’s last word (18.63).
If ten minutes a day suits you better, read a chapter a day for 18 days. For a first taste before the full read, try the Gita in 7 days, or see how to read the Bhagavad Gita for where to start and what to expect in each part.
Every chapter page has the full text: chapter 2 is where most people say the teaching begins.
Questions about reading the Gita in 30 days
How long does it take to read the Bhagavad Gita?
What if I miss a day?
Do I have to read in order?
Which translation should I use?
How does the page know what I have read?
Can I print it?
Or one verse a day, for what you’re facing
Tell Wisdom what’s going on and it picks a verse a day for seven days, with what each one means for your life.
Week 1 is free. A few questions, about two minutes.
