The Bhagavad Gita, one verse a day

एवमुक्त्वाऽर्जुनः संख्ये रथोपस्थ उपाविशत्

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.

Even Arjuna sat down. Start from where you actually are.

कार्पण्यदोषोपहतस्वभावःपृच्छामि त्वां धर्मसंमूढचेताः

My nature is overwhelmed by weakness, and my mind is confused about duty. I ask you: tell me with certainty what is best for me. I am your student; instruct me, for I have taken refuge in you.

Asking for help is where the teaching begins.

मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः

Contacts with the senses, O son of Kunti, bring heat and cold, pleasure and pain. They come and go; they are impermanent. Endure them, O Bharata.

Notice one feeling today that comes and then goes.

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः

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.

The part of you that matters most cannot be hurt by today.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन

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.

Give one task your full attention and let its outcome be.

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय

O Dhananjaya, perform actions while established in yoga, abandoning attachment. Remain equal in success and failure, for equanimity is called yoga.

Do the work the same way, whether it goes well or badly.

दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः

The steady-minded sage is unshaken by sorrow, free from craving in joy, and beyond attachment, fear, and anger.

Let a good moment be good, and a hard one be hard, without being carried off.

ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते

Thinking about sense objects creates attachment to them. Attachment gives rise to desire; desire gives rise to anger.

When irritation starts, look for the thought it started from.

आपूर्यमाणमचलप्रतिष्ठंसमुद्रमापः प्रविशन्ति यद्वत्

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.

A want can pass through you the way a river enters the sea.

तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर

Therefore, always perform your duty without attachment; by acting without attachment, a person reaches the supreme.

Do what needs doing today, and hold the result loosely.

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात्

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.

Your own path, walked unevenly, is still yours to walk.

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत

Whenever there is a decline of dharma and a rise of adharma, I manifest myself.

When things fall apart, something steadying rises to meet it.

न हि ज्ञानेन सदृशं पवित्रमिह विद्यते

No purifier compares to knowledge in this world. The one perfected in yoga finds that knowledge within the self in time.

Understanding arrives with time. Keep showing up.

ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः

One who offers actions to Brahman, renounces attachment, and acts is not stained by wrongdoing, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.

Be in the thick of it, and stay as untouched as a lotus leaf.

उद्धरेदात्मनाऽऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्

Lift yourself by yourself; do not let yourself fall. The true self is its own friend, and the true self is its own enemy.

Speak to yourself today the way a good friend would.

युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु

Yoga that destroys suffering comes from balanced eating, balanced activity, balanced work, and balanced sleep and waking.

Eat, work and sleep in balance. Calm begins there.

असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलं

The mind is hard to control, but it is mastered through practice and detachment.

The mind wanders. Bring it back, once more, without scolding it.

मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय

O Dhananjaya, nothing exists higher than Me. All this world is strung on Me like pearls on a thread.

Everything you meet today hangs on one thread.

अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते

Those who think of me alone and worship me with unwavering focus—I carry their welfare and security.

Put one worry down. You do not have to carry all of it.

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति

Whoever offers me a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water with devotion, I accept that devoted offering from the pure-hearted.

A small thing given with love is enough.

अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः

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.

Look for the same presence in the people you meet today.

दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता

If a thousand suns rose together in the sky, their light would still barely match that great being's radiance.

Let something be bigger than your plans for a moment.

अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च

One who hates no being, is friendly and compassionate, free from possessiveness and ego, equal in pleasure and pain, and forgiving.

Be friendly to everyone, and forgive one thing.

समं सर्वेषु भूतेषु तिष्ठन्तं परमेश्वरम्

One who sees the supreme being equally present in all beings, imperishable amid the perishing, truly sees.

See the same life in a stranger as in yourself.

ममैवांशो जीवलोके जीवभूतः सनातनः

The embodied being in this world is my eternal part, yet it draws the mind and the five senses, which rest in nature.

You are part of something that does not end.

त्रिविधं नरकस्येदं द्वारं नाशनमात्मनः

Desire, anger, and greed are the three gates of ruin. Abandon these three.

Watch for wanting, anger and greed: three doors to keep shut.

सत्त्वानुरूपा सर्वस्य श्रद्धा भवति भारत

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.

What you trust is what you become. Choose it on purpose.

यत्तदग्रे विषमिव परिणामेऽमृतोपमम्

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.

The hard thing now may be the one that brings ease later.

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज

Abandon all duties and take refuge in Me alone. I will free you from all wrongdoing; do not grieve.

Let go of what you cannot hold, and take refuge.

नष्टो मोहः स्मृतिर्लब्धा त्वत्प्रसादान्मयाच्युत

Arjuna said: By your grace, O Achyuta, my delusion is destroyed and memory restored. I stand free of doubt and will do what you say.

Doubt clears. Stand up and act.