15 lines, each with its Sanskrit. Updated October 2026.
Krishna said these to a man who could not stand up. Keep the one that steadies you.
Krishna says pain comes and goes.
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः ।आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥
mātrāsparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkhadāḥ | āgamāpāyino 'nityās tāṃs titikṣasva bhārata ||
Heat and cold, pleasure and pain come and go through the senses. They don't last. Bear them patiently.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 2.14
नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते ।स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥
nehābhikramanāśo 'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate | svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt ||
Here no effort is lost and nothing backfires. Even a little of this dharma saves you from great fear.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 2.40
Krishna's call to Arjuna to lift himself and stand.
उद्धरेदात्मनाऽऽत्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥
uddhared ātmanātmānaṃ nātmānam avasādayet | ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ ||
Lift yourself by your own effort, and never pull yourself down. You are your own friend, and your own enemy.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 6.5
बन्धुरात्माऽऽत्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः ।अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत् ॥
bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ | anātmanas tu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat ||
Master your mind and it becomes your friend. Leave it unmastered and it works against you like an enemy.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 6.6
क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते ।क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप ॥
klaibyaṃ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayy upapadyate | kṣudraṃ hṛdayadaurbalyaṃ tyaktvottiṣṭha parantapa ||
Don't yield to this cowardice, Arjuna; it is beneath you. Cast off this petty weakness of heart and rise.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 2.3
Krishna begins his teaching here, with grief.
न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः ।अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥
na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṃ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ | ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṃ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre ||
The Self is never born and never dies. Unborn and eternal, it is not killed when the body is killed.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 2.20
वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय नवानि गृह्णाति नरोऽपराणि ।तथा शरीराणि विहाय जीर्णान्यन्यानि संयाति नवानि देही ॥
vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛhṇāti naro 'parāṇi | tathā śarīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇāny anyāni saṃyāti navāni dehī ||
As you discard worn clothes for new ones, the Self leaves old bodies and enters new ones.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 2.22
जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च ।तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥
jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyur dhruvaṃ janma mṛtasya ca | tasmād aparihārye 'rthe na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi ||
Death is certain for the born, and birth for the dead. Do not grieve over what cannot be avoided.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 2.27
अव्यक्तादीनि भूतानि व्यक्तमध्यानि भारत ।अव्यक्तनिधनान्येव तत्र का परिदेवना ॥
avyaktādīni bhūtāni vyaktamadhyāni bhārata | avyaktanidhanāny eva tatra kā paridevanā ||
Every being is unseen before birth, seen for a while, and unseen again after death. Why grieve over this?
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 2.28
His promises to the one who keeps turning to him.
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते ।तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥
ananyāś cintayanto māṃ ye janāḥ paryupāsate | teṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yogakṣemaṃ vahāmy aham ||
Those who think of Me alone and worship Me always, I bring what they lack and protect what they have.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 9.22
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥
sarvadharmān parityajya mām ekaṃ śaraṇaṃ vraja | ahaṃ tvā sarvapāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ ||
Leave every other support and take refuge in Me alone. I will free you from all sin. Do not grieve.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 18.66
पार्थ नैवेह नामुत्र विनाशस्तस्य विद्यते ।नहि कल्याणकृत्कश्चिद्दुर्गतिं तात गच्छति ॥
pārtha naiveha nāmutra vināśas tasya vidyate | na hi kalyāṇakṛt kaścid durgatiṃ tāta gacchati ||
Neither here nor hereafter is such a person ruined. No one who does good, dear friend, comes to grief.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 6.40
क्षिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा शश्वच्छान्तिं निगच्छति ।कौन्तेय प्रतिजानीहि न मे भक्तः प्रणश्यति ॥
kṣipraṃ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvacchāntiṃ nigacchati | kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati ||
Such a person quickly becomes righteous and finds lasting peace. Declare it boldly, Arjuna: My devotee never perishes.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 9.31
Arjuna said the mind is as hard to hold as the wind. Krishna agreed, and gave a way.
असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् ।अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥
asaṃśayaṃ mahābāho mano durnigrahaṃ calam | abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate ||
No doubt the mind is restless and hard to hold. Yet it is held through steady practice and letting go.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 6.35
दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः ।वीतरागभयक्रोधः स्थितधीर्मुनिरुच्यते ॥
duḥkheṣv anudvignamanāḥ sukheṣu vigataspṛhaḥ | vītarāgabhayakrodhaḥ sthitadhīr munir ucyate ||
Unshaken in sorrow, not craving in joy, free of attachment, fear and anger: that is a sage of steady mind.
Krishna to Arjuna · Bhagavad Gita 2.56
A single verse and what it means, there when you wake up.
A week of lines for what you're going through, in your inbox.
Send my weekWhen the Gita begins, Arjuna is at his lowest. His limbs give way, his mouth goes dry, the bow slips from his hand, and he says he cannot stand (1.29, 1.30).
Krishna answers him with something like a smile (2.10), and then with the lines on this page: on pain that passes and on a self that cannot be destroyed. By 18.73, Arjuna is ready to stand again.
Many readers keep 2.14 close: pleasure and pain come and go like cold and heat, so bear them patiently. For the days you cannot get up, 6.5 and 2.3 are Krishna telling you to lift yourself and stand.
Arjuna dropped his bow and sat down in grief (1.47). Krishna answers in 2.2 and 2.3: where has this weakness come from, give up this faintness of heart and stand up.
Yes, 2.20 and 2.22. The self is never born and never dies, and it leaves the body the way a person sets aside worn clothes for new ones. 2.27 adds that death is certain for the born.
Arjuna says in 6.34 that the mind is as hard to hold as the wind. Krishna agrees in 6.35 and gives the way: steady practice and letting go, abhyāsa and vairāgya.
Two verses come close. 2.14 says pleasure and pain come and go, and 6.40 says a person who does good never comes to ruin.