A core teaching · reflective in mood · easy to enter
“True strength is quiet discipline, not self-display.”
Absence of pride, absence of pretence, nonviolence, forgiveness, simplicity, service to the teacher, purity, steadiness, and self-control.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyabsence of pride · absence of pretence · nonviolence · forgiveness · simplicity · service to the teacher · purity · steadiness · self-control
A disciplined life is marked by humility, honesty, nonviolence, forgiveness, simplicity, respect for the teacher, cleanliness, steadiness, and self-mastery.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga" (Field and Knower of the Field).
Verse 8 sits in Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita — Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga, "Field and Knower of the Field". The chapter has 35 verses in total.
A new employee wants to look clever in the first team meeting. Krishna's list points elsewhere: drop the pride and pretence, be straight, forgive the colleague who took credit, and serve the person teaching you.
Did you like this verse?
Krishna's list of what counts as knowledge starts with conduct: no pride, no pretence, nonviolence, forgiveness, simplicity.
What this verse means
A disciplined life is marked by humility, honesty, nonviolence, forgiveness, simplicity, respect for the teacher, cleanliness, steadiness, and self-mastery.
Context & commentary
Krishna begins listing the qualities that shape a person fit for clear seeing. After defining the field of body and mind, he names the inner discipline that makes wisdom possible.
What it looks like today
A new employee wants to look clever in the first team meeting. Krishna's list points elsewhere: drop the pride and pretence, be straight, forgive the colleague who took credit, and serve the person teaching you.
“Real strength looks calm, clean, and unforced.”