What the scriptures say about worry

What do the scriptures say about worry?

The texts call it cintā (चिन्ता). The mind runs ahead over what has not happened. The Yaksha is told worries outnumber blades of grass; the Manas calls worry a snake that has bitten everyone. They set self-knowledge, contentment and surrender against it.

157 verses
25 stories
Weighs on the mind

Read the verses Find it on the map

Yudhishthira

किंस्विद्गुरुतरं भूमेः किंस्विदुच्चतरं च स्वात् / किंस्विच्छीघ्रतरं वायोः किंस्विद्बहुतरं तृणात् माता गुरुतरा भूमेः खात्पितोच्चतरस्तथा / मनः शीघ्रतरं वाताच्चिन्ता बहुतरी तृणात्

kiṃsvidgurutaraṃ bhūmeḥ kiṃsviduccataraṃ ca svāt / kiṃsvicchīghrataraṃ vāyoḥ kiṃsvidbahutaraṃ tṛṇāt mātā gurutarā bhūmeḥ khātpitoccatarastathā / manaḥ śīghrataraṃ vātāccintā bahutarī tṛṇāt

Yaksha: 'What is heavier than the earth? What is higher than the sky? What is faster than the wind? What is more numerous than blades of grass?' Yudhishthira: 'A mother is heavier than the earth; a father is higher than the sky; the mind is faster than the wind; worries are more numerous than blades of grass.'

Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Yaksha Prashna

Worry in the texts' own words

Someone in the verse is in it, or the text names it outright. Many readers find their own day here.

Ashtavakra
कर्तव्यदुःखमार्तण्डज्वालादग्धान्तरात्मनः । कुतः प्रशमपीयूषधारासारमृते सुखम् ॥
kartavyaduḥkhamārtaṇḍajvālādagdhāntarātmanaḥ | kutaḥ praśamapīyūṣadhārāsāramṛte sukham ||
For one whose heart is scorched by the blazing sun of 'things I must do', where is happiness without the cooling rain of calm?
Ashtavakra Gita 18.3
Depicts the endless list of obligations. our reading
Bhartrihari
आशा नाम नदी मनोरथजला तृष्णातरङ्गाकुला रागग्राहवती वितर्कविहगा धैर्यद्रुमध्वंसिनी । मोहावर्तसुदुस्तरातिगहना प्रोत्तुङ्गचिन्तातटी तस्याः पारगता विशुद्धमनसो नन्दन्ति योगीश्वराः ॥
āśā nāma nadī manorathajalā tṛṣṇātaraṅgākulā rāgagrāhavatī vitarkavihagā dhairyadrumadhvaṃsinī | mohāvartasudustarātigahanā prottuṅgacintātaṭī tasyāḥ pāragatā viśuddhamanaso nandanti yogīśvarāḥ ||
There is a river called Hope. Its water is wishes, its waves are craving; passions are its crocodiles, doubts its birds; it uproots the trees of courage; its whirlpools of delusion are hard to cross and deep, and its banks of worry tower high. Only great yogis, pure in mind, who reach the far shore, rejoice.
Bhartrihari · Vairagya Shatakam
Shows worry as the towering banks. our reading
Yudhishthira
किंस्विद्गुरुतरं भूमेः किंस्विदुच्चतरं च स्वात् / किंस्विच्छीघ्रतरं वायोः किंस्विद्बहुतरं तृणात् माता गुरुतरा भूमेः खात्पितोच्चतरस्तथा / मनः शीघ्रतरं वाताच्चिन्ता बहुतरी तृणात्
kiṃsvidgurutaraṃ bhūmeḥ kiṃsviduccataraṃ ca svāt / kiṃsvicchīghrataraṃ vāyoḥ kiṃsvidbahutaraṃ tṛṇāt mātā gurutarā bhūmeḥ khātpitoccatarastathā / manaḥ śīghrataraṃ vātāccintā bahutarī tṛṇāt
Yaksha: 'What is heavier than the earth? What is higher than the sky? What is faster than the wind? What is more numerous than blades of grass?' Yudhishthira: 'A mother is heavier than the earth; a father is higher than the sky; the mind is faster than the wind; worries are more numerous than blades of grass.'
Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Yaksha Prashna
Shows worries counted as more than blades of grass. our reading
Dhritarashtra asks; Vidura answers
नित्योद्विग्नमिदं सर्वं नित्योद्विग्रमिदं मनः / यत्तत्पदमनुद्विग्नं तन्मे वद महामते नान्यत्र विद्यातपसो नान्यत्रेन्द्रियनिग्रहात् / नान्यत्र लोभसन्त्यागाच्छान्तिं पश्यामि तेऽनघ
nityodvignamidaṃ sarvaṃ nityodvigramidaṃ manaḥ / yattatpadamanudvignaṃ tanme vada mahāmate nānyatra vidyātapaso nānyatrendriyanigrahāt / nānyatra lobhasantyāgācchāntiṃ paśyāmi te’nagha
Dhritarashtra: 'Everything is always unsettled, and this mind is always unsettled. Wise one, tell me of the state that is free from unrest.' Vidura: 'I see no peace for you apart from learning and discipline, apart from mastering the senses, apart from giving up greed.'
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti
Shows the king saying everything is always unsettled and this mind is always unsettled. our reading
Narrator
हृदयँ सोचु समुझत निज करनी। चिंता अमित जाइ नहिं बरनी॥ कृपासिंधु सिव परम अगाधा। प्रगट न कहेउ मोर अपराधा ॥
hṛdayaṁ socu samujhat nij karanī| ciṃtā amit jāi nahiṃ baranī|| kṛpāsiṃdhu siv param agādhā| pragaṭ na kaheu mor aparādhā ||
Remembering what she had done, her heart was full of a worry beyond telling. 'Shiva, an ocean of compassion, deep beyond measure, did not speak my fault aloud.'
Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand 54 (chaupai 1)
Shows worry beyond telling as she goes over what she did. our reading
Narrator
रहेउ एक दिन अवधि अधारा। समुझत मन दुख भयउ अपारा॥ कारन कवन नाथ नहिं आयउ। जानि कुटिल किधौं मोहि बिसरायउ ॥
raheu ek din avadhi adhārā| samujhat man dukh bhayau apārā|| kāran kavan nāth nahiṃ āyau| jāni kuṭil kidhauṃ mohi bisarāyau ||
Only one day of the appointed time, the support of his life, was left. Thinking of it, Bharat's grief was boundless. 'Why hasn't my Lord come? Has he forgotten me, knowing me to be crooked?'
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand
Shows the mind supplying the worst reason for the silence. our reading
I have been living in mental hell. It is partially lifted now, and I hope for better days, better states.
Complete Works, Vol. 8, Epistles, Fourth Series, CLVII, p. 494
Shows never a moment's peaceful life always high pressure. our reading
Janaka
यथा यथा विकल्पौघान्संकल्पयसि हेलया । तथा तथैति स्फारत्वं संसारस्तव चिन्तया ॥
yathā yathā vikalpaughānsaṃkalpayasi helayā | tathā tathaiti sphāratvaṃ saṃsārastava cintayā ||
The more you casually spin up fancies and possibilities, the more your world of troubles swells, through your own worrying.
Yoga Vasishtha
Depicts the spinning of scenario after scenario. our reading
Kakbhushundi
मच्छर काहि कलंक न लावा। काहि न सोक समीर डोलावा॥ चिंता साँपिनि को नहिं खाया। को जग जाहि न ब्यापी माया ॥
macchar kāhi kalaṃk na lāvā| kāhi na sok samīr ḍolāvā|| ciṃtā sāṁpini ko nahiṃ khāyā| ko jag jāhi na byāpī māyā ||
Whom has envy not stained? Whom has the wind of grief not shaken? Whom has the snake of worry not bitten? Who in the world has not been caught by illusion?
Ramcharitmanas · Uttar Kand

What feeds it, step by step

Sequences the texts state outright, in their own order.

Not dwelling on it is the medicine

Mahabharata, Shanti Parva (Narada to Shuka)

Dwelling on what is lost adds a second sorrow to the first. The medicine for sorrow is not to keep thinking of it. Thought about, sorrow does not leave, it grows. Meet the mind's pain with understanding and the body's with medicine.

Narada
भैषज्यमेतद्दुःखस्य यदेतन्नानुचिन्तयेत् / चिन्त्यमानं हि न व्येति भूयश्चापि प्रवर्धते दुःखोपघाते शारीरे मानसे चाप्युपस्थिते / यस्मिन्न शक्यते कर्तुं यत्नस्तन्नानुचिन्तयेत्
bhaiṣajyametadduḥkhasya yadetannānucintayet / cintyamānaṃ hi na vyeti bhūyaścāpi pravardhate duḥkhopaghāte śārīre mānase cāpyupasthite / yasminna śakyate kartuṃ yatnastannānucintayet
When pain of body or mind arrives and nothing can be done about it, do not keep thinking about it. Not dwelling on it is the medicine for sorrow; brooding does not make it leave, it only makes it grow.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma
Narada
प्रज्ञया मानसं दुःखं हन्याच्छारीरमौषधैः / एतद्विज्ञानमसामर्थ्यं न बालैः समतामियात्
prajñayā mānasaṃ duḥkhaṃ hanyācchārīramauṣadhaiḥ / etadvijñānamasāmarthyaṃ na bālaiḥ samatāmiyāt
Heal the pain of the mind with wisdom and the pain of the body with medicine. That is what knowledge can do; don't behave like a child about it.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma: Mokshadharma
Narada
न जानपदिकं दुःखमेकः शोचितुमर्हति / अशोचन्प्रतिकुर्वीत यदि पश्येदुपक्रमम्
na jānapadikaṃ duḥkhamekaḥ śocitumarhati / aśocanpratikurvīta yadi paśyedupakramam
No one should sit alone grieving over a trouble that has struck everyone. Instead of grieving, act to remedy it if you see a way.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma

The enemy and the illness

Mahabharata, Vana Parva (Yaksha Prashna)

Anger is the enemy hardest to defeat. Greed is the illness without end. The mind is faster than the wind. Worries outnumber the blades of grass.

Yudhishthira
कः शत्रुर्दुर्जयः पुंसां कश्चव्याधिरनन्तकः / कीदृशश्च स्मृतः साधुरसाधुः कीदृशः स्मृतः क्रोधः सुदुर्जयः शत्रुर्लोभोव्याधिरनन्तकः / सर्वभूतहितः साधुरसाधुर्निर्दयः स्मृतः
kaḥ śatrurdurjayaḥ puṃsāṃ kaścavyādhiranantakaḥ / kīdṛśaśca smṛtaḥ sādhurasādhuḥ kīdṛśaḥ smṛtaḥ krodhaḥ sudurjayaḥ śatrurlobhovyādhiranantakaḥ / sarvabhūtahitaḥ sādhurasādhurnirdayaḥ smṛtaḥ
Yaksha: 'Which enemy is hardest to conquer? Which disease has no end? Who is considered good, and who is not?' Yudhishthira: 'Anger is the enemy hardest to conquer; greed is the disease without end; one who wants the good of all beings is good; one without compassion is not.'
Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Yaksha Prashna
Yudhishthira
किंस्विद्गुरुतरं भूमेः किंस्विदुच्चतरं च स्वात् / किंस्विच्छीघ्रतरं वायोः किंस्विद्बहुतरं तृणात् माता गुरुतरा भूमेः खात्पितोच्चतरस्तथा / मनः शीघ्रतरं वाताच्चिन्ता बहुतरी तृणात्
kiṃsvidgurutaraṃ bhūmeḥ kiṃsviduccataraṃ ca svāt / kiṃsvicchīghrataraṃ vāyoḥ kiṃsvidbahutaraṃ tṛṇāt mātā gurutarā bhūmeḥ khātpitoccatarastathā / manaḥ śīghrataraṃ vātāccintā bahutarī tṛṇāt
Yaksha: 'What is heavier than the earth? What is higher than the sky? What is faster than the wind? What is more numerous than blades of grass?' Yudhishthira: 'A mother is heavier than the earth; a father is higher than the sky; the mind is faster than the wind; worries are more numerous than blades of grass.'
Mahabharata · Vana Parva · Yaksha Prashna

The river called Hope

Bhartrihari, Vairagya Shataka 10

Hope is a river whose water is wishes and whose waves are craving. Its crocodiles are attachment and its birds are restless thoughts. It uproots the tree of steadiness and its whirlpools are delusion. Its high banks are worry. Those who cross it with a clean mind rejoice.

Bhartrihari
आशा नाम नदी मनोरथजला तृष्णातरङ्गाकुला रागग्राहवती वितर्कविहगा धैर्यद्रुमध्वंसिनी । मोहावर्तसुदुस्तरातिगहना प्रोत्तुङ्गचिन्तातटी तस्याः पारगता विशुद्धमनसो नन्दन्ति योगीश्वराः ॥
āśā nāma nadī manorathajalā tṛṣṇātaraṅgākulā rāgagrāhavatī vitarkavihagā dhairyadrumadhvaṃsinī | mohāvartasudustarātigahanā prottuṅgacintātaṭī tasyāḥ pāragatā viśuddhamanaso nandanti yogīśvarāḥ ||
There is a river called Hope. Its water is wishes, its waves are craving; passions are its crocodiles, doubts its birds; it uproots the trees of courage; its whirlpools of delusion are hard to cross and deep, and its banks of worry tower high. Only great yogis, pure in mind, who reach the far shore, rejoice.
Bhartrihari · Vairagya Shatakam

Craving on a rope

Yoga Vasishtha 1.17

Craving leads a person like a bullock on a knotted rope and shrinks even the wise and brave to a blade of grass. Letting go of anxious thought is its cure.

Rama
अन्तर्ग्रथितया देहे सर्वदुश्छेदयाऽनया । रज्ज्वेवाशु बलीवर्दस्तृष्णया वाह्यते जनः ॥
antargrathitayā dehe sarvaduśchedayā’nayā | rajjvevāśu balīvardastṛṣṇayā vāhyate janaḥ ||
Knotted inside the body and hard to cut, craving drags a person along the way a rope drags a bullock.
Yoga Vasishtha
Rama
लोकोऽयमखिलं दुःखं चिन्तयोज्झितयोज्झति । तृष्णाविषूचिकामन्त्रश्चिन्तात्यागो हि कथ्यते ॥
loko’yamakhilaṃ duḥkhaṃ cintayojjhitayojjhati | tṛṣṇāviṣūcikāmantraścintātyāgo hi kathyate ||
People let go of all their sorrow when they let go of worry. Giving up worry is called the cure for the sickness of craving.
Yoga Vasishtha
Rama
अपि मेरुसमं प्राज्ञमपि शूरमपि स्थिरम् । तृणीकरोति तृष्णैका निमेषेण नरोत्तमम् ॥
api merusamaṃ prājñamapi śūramapi sthiram | tṛṇīkaroti tṛṣṇaikā nimeṣeṇa narottamam ||
Even a man who is wise, brave and steady as Mount Meru, the best of men, craving alone turns into a blade of grass in an instant.
Yoga Vasishtha

What heals it

What the texts set against it, and the verses that give footing.

Giving up the fruitkarma phala tyaga
Peace follows at once from letting go of the fruit. stated in the text
Gita 2.47-48; 12.12
Unthinkingachintana
Worry is fed by thought, so starve it with achintana to end worry. stated in the text
Yoga Vasishtha 5.21.6; Narada to Shuka; Vidura
Present momentvartamana
Do not chase the future or brood on the past. stated in the text
Yoga Vasishtha 5.12.14; Bhushunda
Surrenderśaraṇāgati
The child relies on the mother and stops worrying. stated in the text
Gita 9.22; 18.66; Manas
Contentmentsantoṣa
Freedom from anxious thought brings peace everywhere. stated in the text
Yoga Vasishtha 2.15; Ashtavakra 11.5

Krishna
श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते । ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् ॥
śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsājjñānāddhyānaṃ viśiṣyate | dhyānātkarmaphalatyāgastyāgācchāntiranantaram ||
Knowledge is better than mere practice; meditation is better than knowledge; giving up the fruit of action is better than meditation. From that renunciation, peace follows immediately.
Bhagavad Gita 12.12
Names peace placed right after releasing the grip on results, not after mastering meditation. our reading
Krishna
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana | mā karmaphalaheturbhūrmā te saṅgo’stvakarmaṇi ||
Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits. Do not let the fruit be your motive, and do not cling to doing nothing.
Bhagavad Gita 2.47
The result was never in your hands; the work is. our reading
Krishna
योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय । सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते ॥
yogasthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṃ tyaktvā dhanañjaya | siddhyasiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṃ yoga ucyate ||
Established in yoga, do your work, Dhananjaya, giving up attachment, the same in success and failure. This evenness is called yoga.
Bhagavad Gita 2.48
Names success and failure held as one before the work begins. our reading
Narada
भैषज्यमेतद्दुःखस्य यदेतन्नानुचिन्तयेत् / चिन्त्यमानं हि न व्येति भूयश्चापि प्रवर्धते दुःखोपघाते शारीरे मानसे चाप्युपस्थिते / यस्मिन्न शक्यते कर्तुं यत्नस्तन्नानुचिन्तयेत्
bhaiṣajyametadduḥkhasya yadetannānucintayet / cintyamānaṃ hi na vyeti bhūyaścāpi pravardhate duḥkhopaghāte śārīre mānase cāpyupasthite / yasminna śakyate kartuṃ yatnastannānucintayet
When pain of body or mind arrives and nothing can be done about it, do not keep thinking about it. Not dwelling on it is the medicine for sorrow; brooding does not make it leave, it only makes it grow.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Mokshadharma
Rumination is named as what feeds the pain. our reading
Vidura
सन्तापाद्भ्रश्यते रूपं सन्तापाद्भ्रश्यते बलम् / सन्तापाद्भ्रश्यते ज्ञानं सन्तापाद्व्याधिमृच्छति अनवाप्यं च शोकेन शरीरं चोपतप्यते / अमित्राश्च प्रहृष्यन्ति मा स्म शोके मनः कृथाः
santāpādbhraśyate rūpaṃ santāpādbhraśyate balam / santāpādbhraśyate jñānaṃ santāpādvyādhimṛcchati anavāpyaṃ ca śokena śarīraṃ copatapyate / amitrāśca prahṛṣyanti mā sma śoke manaḥ kṛthāḥ
Brooding destroys beauty, brooding destroys strength, brooding destroys understanding, brooding brings on illness. Grief does not get you what you want; it only wears out the body and gladdens your enemies. Do not give your mind to grief.
Mahabharata · Udyoga Parva · Vidura Niti
Counts what brooding takes: strength, judgement, health. our reading
Hanuman
ता पर मैं रघुबीर दोहाई। जानउँ नहिं कछु भजन उपाई॥ सेवक सुत पति मातु भरोसें। रहइ असोच बनइ प्रभु पोसें ॥
tā par maiṃ raghubīr dohāī| jānauṁ nahiṃ kachu bhajan upāī|| sevak sut pati mātu bharoseṃ| rahai asoc banai prabhu poseṃ ||
And on top of that, I swear by Raghubir, I know no method of worship. A servant relies on his master, a child on its mother, and lives free of worry; the master has to look after him.
Ramcharitmanas, Kishkindha Kand 4.4 (chaupai 2)
Gives the one relied on to do the looking after. our reading
Vasishtha
भविष्यं नानुसंधत्ते नातीतं चिन्तयत्यसौ । वर्तमाननिमेषं तु हसन्नेवानुवर्तते ॥
bhaviṣyaṃ nānusaṃdhatte nātītaṃ cintayatyasau | vartamānanimeṣaṃ tu hasannevānuvartate ||
He does not chase the future or brood on the past; he simply goes along with the present moment, smiling.
Yoga Vasishtha
Gives a picture of a mind not living ahead or behind. our reading
Vasishtha
चिन्तनेनैधते चिन्ता त्विन्धनेनेव पावकः । नश्यत्यचिन्ततेनैव विनेन्धनमिवानलः ॥
cintanenaidhate cintā tvindhaneneva pāvakaḥ | naśyatyacintatenaiva vinendhanamivānalaḥ ||
Worry grows by thinking, as fire grows with fuel; and it dies by not being thought, as fire dies without fuel.
Yoga Vasishtha
Shows worry lives on the attention it is fed. our reading

Practices that grow surrender and contentment

Verses that give something to do, today or in the hard moment.

Krishna
पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति । तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः ॥
patraṃ puṣpaṃ phalaṃ toyaṃ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati | tadahaṃ bhaktyupahṛtamaśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ ||
Whoever offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water, that offering of love from the pure-hearted I accept.
Bhagavad Gita 9.26
Shows devotion as what makes the gift. our reading
Bhartrihari
दानं भोगो नाशस्तिस्रो गतयो भवन्ति वित्तस्य । यो न ददाति न भुङ्क्ते तस्य तृतीया गतिर्भवति ॥
dānaṃ bhogo nāśastisro gatayo bhavanti vittasya | yo na dadāti na bhuṅkte tasya tṛtīyā gatirbhavati ||
Wealth has three destinies: giving, enjoying and loss. Whoever neither gives nor enjoys it meets the third.
Bhartrihari · Niti Shatakam
Names enjoy what one has. our reading
The seers
भर्गो विश्वसमर्चितं यदिह ते ह्यास्ते दयासागर ! तन्नो बुद्धिमहर्निशं गणपते ! शक्तचा स्वया सत्वरम । संरक्ष्यासत एव कर्मनिवहात् सत्कर्मणि प्रेरयेत् सियाऽलङ्कृतवामपार्श्व ! भगवस्त्वां सन्नमामो वयमा ॥
bhargo viśvasamarcitaṃ yadiha te hyāste dayāsāgara ! tanno buddhimaharniśaṃ gaṇapate ! śaktacā svayā satvarama | saṃrakṣyāsata eva karmanivahāt satkarmaṇi prerayet siyā’laṅkṛtavāmapārśva ! bhagavastvāṃ sannamāmo vayamā ||
Ocean of compassion, Ganapati: may your radiance, which the whole world worships, by its own power quickly guard our minds, day and night, from wrong action, and urge them to good action. Blessed one, with Siddhi at your left side, we bow to you.
Dheesh Gita 7.27
Shows namamah, we bow. our reading
Kalakavrikshiya
अवाप्यान्कामयन्नर्थान्नानवाप्यान्कदाचन / प्रत्युत्पन्नाननुभवन्मा शुचस्त्वमनागतान्
avāpyānkāmayannarthānnānavāpyānkadācana / pratyutpannānanubhavanmā śucastvamanāgatān
Wish for what can be had, never for what cannot. Enjoy what is in front of you now, and do not grieve over what has not yet come.
Mahabharata · Shanti Parva · Bhishma, Rajadharma
Shows enjoying what is present is named as the practice. our reading
Bhishma
प्राणकान्तारपाथेयं संसारोच्छेदभेषजम् / दुःखशोकपरित्राणं हरिरित्यक्षरद्वयम्॥]
prāṇakāntārapātheyaṃ saṃsārocchedabheṣajam / duḥkhaśokaparitrāṇaṃ harirityakṣaradvayam||]
Provisions for the wilderness of life, medicine that cuts the bonds of the world, rescue from sorrow and grief: the two syllables 'Ha-ri'.
Mahabharata, Shanti 46.127
Shows remembering the name. our reading
Markandeya
सर्वेषामेव भूतानां पिता माता च माधवः / गच्छध्वमेनं शरणं शरण्यं कौरवर्षभाः
sarveṣāmeva bhūtānāṃ pitā mātā ca mādhavaḥ / gacchadhvamenaṃ śaraṇaṃ śaraṇyaṃ kauravarṣabhāḥ
Madhava is the father and the mother of all beings. Go to him for refuge, best of the Kurus; he is the refuge.
Mahabharata, Vana 192.56
Tulsidas
कुंद इंदु सम देह उमा रमन करुना अयन। जाहि दीन पर नेह करउ कृपा मर्दन मयन ॥
kuṃd iṃdu sam deh umā raman karunā ayan| jāhi dīn par neh karau kṛpā mardan mayan ||
Fair as the jasmine and the moon, beloved of Uma, home of compassion, who loves the lowly: may the destroyer of Kama show me grace.
Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand 1 (sortha 4)
Shows an opening prayer for grace. our reading
Tulsidas
राम नाम मनिदीप धरु जीह देहरीं द्वार। तुलसी भीतर बाहेरहुँ जौं चाहसि उजिआर ॥
rām nām manidīp dharu jīh deharīṃ dvār| tulasī bhītar bāherahuṁ jauṃ cāhasi ujiār ||
Tulsi says: if you want light both inside and outside, place the name of Ram like a jewelled lamp on the threshold of your tongue.
Ramcharitmanas, Bal Kand 1.19 (doha 1)
Shows the name kept at the threshold of the tongue. our reading

People who lived it

Someone in the scriptures went through this, and the story shows what turned.

From the Mahabharata
Vidura Niti: the wise and the fool
Sleepless before the peace talks, King Dhritarashtra calls his half-brother Vidura for counsel. Vidura describes the marks of the wise and the fool, the faults that block progress, and the six joys of life.
Decide calmly, act steadily, forgive freely, and know what real happiness is made of.
From the Mahabharata
Krishna's peace embassy to the Kauravas
Krishna travels to Hastinapura to plead for peace between the cousins. Elders, sages and finally Gandhari urge Duryodhana to share the kingdom; he refuses, even plotting to seize Krishna, and war becomes certain.
You can make the best case for peace and still be refused. Speak anyway.
From the Mahabharata
Pingala's song: the night she stopped waiting
Pingala waited all night for a lover who never came. At last she saw that her peace depended on someone else's arrival, let the expectation go, and slept peacefully.
Letting go of an expectation can bring the sleep that waiting never will.
From the Vivekananda
Karma-Yoga 5: we help ourselves, not the world
The world does not need our help; helping is a privilege that makes us stronger. Expecting thanks brings unhappiness, so be grateful to the one you help. The world is a moral gymnasium, and calm people do the best work.
Helping is a privilege, not a debt someone owes you.

Is this where you are?

Write a line about today. Your words find their place on the map, with a verse for each.

Nearby on the map

See worry on the whole map

Questions people ask

What is the Sanskrit word for worry?

Cintā (चिन्ता). Worry, anxious rumination.

Which Bhagavad Gita verse speaks about worry?

Bhagavad Gita 12.12: Knowledge is better than mere practice; meditation is better than knowledge; giving up the fruit of action is better than meditation. From that renunciation, peace follows immediately.

How do the scriptures say to overcome worry?

They set self-knowledge, contentment and surrender against it. Peace follows at once from letting go of the fruit. (Gita 2.47-48; 12.12) Worry is fed by thought, so starve it with achintana to end worry. (Yoga Vasishtha 5.21.6; Narada to Shuka; Vidura)

Verses, translations and stories come from the Wisdom library, read with the traditional commentaries. A line marked stated in the text is a link the verse or a named commentator makes; our reading is Wisdom's own reading of the verse.