Introduction
A study plan for the Bhagvad Gītā (भगवद्गीता), with Sanskrit taught from the verse in front of you.
The name is Bhagvad Gītā (भगवद्गीता). The stem is bhagavat (भगवत्). Before gītā (गीता) the t (त्) is voiced to d (द्), because a t (त्) before g (ग्) is voiced, and the joined word is bhagavad (भगवद्). Formal transliteration keeps the short a (अ) of that join. Spoken Hindi and Nepali drop that a (अ), and the name is heard as Bhagvad. The title on these pages, and the address bhagvad-gita, use that spoken form.
One verse is one sitting. The verse is shown in Sanskrit, split into words, and only then put back together as phrases and as a meaning.
Sanskrit is not a separate course
The Gītā (गीता) is a conversation in verse. Case endings, compounds, and sandhi do the work that English does with extra words. If those are skipped, the English paraphrase drifts, and the drift is invisible.
So the grammar is taken from the verse:
- The verse is read first, joined, as it is recited. The line that says who is speaking (uvāca (उवाच)) is not part of the verse. It is the stage direction.
- Sandhi is undone, and the words stand apart.
- Each word is named: the form you see, the grammar, the sense.
- The words are gathered into phrases.
- The phrase is then said in English.
- One new Sanskrit fact is kept from that verse, because that verse needed it.
A textbook chapter on "the gerund" can wait forever. Lesson 1.2 needs it, because dṛṣṭvā (दृष्ट्वा) means "having seen," and the ending --tvā (त्वा) is what says "having."
This is not a course in spoken Sanskrit. It is the Sanskrit required to read this book without handing the sentence to someone else.
The book
Eighteen chapters. Seven hundred verses in the count that omits one opening question in chapter 13, seven hundred and one in the count that keeps it. This plan keeps it, and numbers it 13.1, because that is the numbering at holy-bhagavad-gita.org. The Sanskrit of these lessons is that same vulgate, the text read with Śaṅkara's (शङ्कर) commentary.
| Chapter | Verses here | Name | What this chapter is doing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47 | Arjuna-viṣāda (अर्जुन-विषाद) | The armies are named. Arjuna sees his own people and sits down. |
| 2 | 72 | Sāṅkhya (साङ्ख्य) | Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) answers. The self is not the body. Action is a right, not a claim on the fruit. |
| 3 | 43 | Karma (कर्म) | Why act at all, if knowledge is higher. Desire is the enemy in the way. |
| 4 | 42 | Jñāna-karma-sannyāsa (ज्ञान-कर्म-सन्न्यास) | Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) has taught this before. Seeing inaction in action. He descends when dharma thins. |
| 5 | 29 | Karma-sannyāsa (कर्म-सन्न्यास) | Renunciation and action meet in the person who is not the doer. |
| 6 | 47 | Dhyāna (ध्यान) | The mind is trained. The yogi sees the same self in every being. |
| 7 | 30 | Jñāna-vijñāna (ज्ञान-विज्ञान) | What Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is, and the two natures. Who turns toward him, and who does not. |
| 8 | 28 | Akṣara-brahma (अक्षर-ब्रह्म) | What is remembered at death, and the paths that leave with the breath. |
| 9 | 34 | Rāja-vidyā (राज-विद्या) | The king of knowings. A leaf, a flower, a fruit, water. |
| 10 | 42 | Vibhūti (विभूति) | Wherever something is splendid, that splendor is his. |
| 11 | 55 | Viśvarūpa (विश्वरूप) | Arjuna asks to see. The form is time, and the warriors are already struck. |
| 12 | 20 | Bhakti (भक्ति) | Who is dearest. The qualities of the one whose mind has been given. |
| 13 | 35 | Kṣetra-kṣetrajña (क्षेत्र-क्षेत्रज्ञ) | The field and the knower of the field. Knowledge, and what is to be known. |
| 14 | 27 | Guṇa-traya (गुण-त्रय) | Sattva, rajas, tamas. Going beyond the three. |
| 15 | 20 | Puruṣottama (पुरुषोत्तम) | The tree with its roots upward. The self as a portion. The person beyond both. |
| 16 | 24 | Daivāsura-sampad (दैवासुर-सम्पद्) | The divine endowment and the demonic. Three gates of hell. |
| 17 | 28 | Śraddhā-traya (श्रद्धा-त्रय) | Faith takes the color of the guṇas (गुण). oṃ tat sat (ॐ तत् सत्). |
| 18 | 78 | Mokṣa-sannyāsa (मोक्ष-सन्न्यास) | The whole teaching gathered. Arjuna's delusion breaks. The bow comes back up. |
Books that omit Arjuna's question at the start of chapter 13 number that chapter's verses one lower, and their book has 700 verses. Śaṅkarācārya (शङ्कराचार्य)'s commentary is such a book: the question is omitted, the answer that this plan numbers 13.2 is his 13.1, and his Chapter 13 has 34 verses. From 13.2 on in this plan, those books are one behind.
Chapter 1 has two long verses and two short ones, so that the count still comes to 47. Verse 1.20 is three lines, and 1.21 is one line. Verse 1.26 is three lines, and 1.29 is one line. Editions that force every number to be two lines will not match this plan from 1.20 through 1.31. After 1.31 the lines sit in the same places again.
Where two printed words both have a claim, the lesson says so. In 1.19 this plan reads abhyanunādayan (अभ्यनुनादयन्). In 1.44 it reads aniyatam (अनियतम्).
Śaṅkara (शङ्कर), Rāmānuja (रामानुज), and the commentary at holy-bhagavad-gita.org are companions. They are not the starting page. The aim of these lessons is to be able to read the verse before leaning on a commentary. The English on that site is not copied here. If their sentence and yours disagree, go back to the split.
How one sitting goes
- Read the Devanagari aloud, slowly, three times. If a speaker is named, say that name, then the verse.
- Read the IAST under it. This is the same verse, still joined.
- Undo the joins. Hyphens in the lessons are teaching marks. They are not in the manuscript.
- Take each word: form, grammar, sense. Do this before reading the English of the whole verse.
- Gather the words into the phrases marked in the lesson.
- Say the verse in one English sentence of your own. Then read the lesson's sentence and see what you dropped.
- Read the Sanskrit note. That is the grammar for the day.
- Cover the English. Read the Devanagari again. A word that goes blank is the review. It is not a reason to open the next verse.
Before a new verse, recite the previous verse aloud and gloss its three heaviest words from memory.
At the end of a unit, take a sitting with no new verse. Recite the unit. On paper, undo one sandhi you had been guessing.
A commentary, if you want one, is for after step 8. Open the same verse number at holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/1. Read it as a second pass over a verse you can already parse.
What is already written
All eighteen chapters are written, 701 verses, in the same sitting. A quiz of five questions closes each section. Cover the answer. Say the Sanskrit before you open it.
- the armies and the conches — Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र) asks. The two armies are named. The conches are blown.
- the look and the bow set down — Arjuna has the chariot set between the armies, sees his own people, and sits down.
- chapters 2–18, every verse.
- Quiz · 1.1–1.19 — one quiz for each section.
- Chapter 2 — the sections, in order, and the line that carries each one.
Chapter 1 still comes first. Stay there until these come without looking: kṣetra (क्षेत्र), senā (सेना), the dual --au (औ) / --oḥ (ओः), a gerund in --tvā (त्वा), an instrumental in --ena (एन), and the difference between māmakāḥ (मामकाः) and a neutral name for the same sons. Then take the sections in order. Do not leave a section until its quiz can be answered with the book shut.
The Sanskrit that chapter 1 teaches
Taken in order, so each fact arrives on the verse that needs it:
| Verse | The fact |
|---|---|
| 1.1 | Locative --e (ए), "on, in." āḥ (आः) before a voiced sound drops. च + एव ca + eva becomes caiva (चैव). The verb "they did" is an imperfect. |
| 1.2 | A gerund in --tvā (त्वा) ("having done"). A gerund in --ya (य) when the verb has a prefix. Visarga before t (त्) becomes s (स्). |
| 1.3 | Imperative paśya (पश्य). अ + ए a + e becomes ai (ऐ). Instrumental --ena (एन), "by." A feminine accusative, camūm (चमूम्). |
| 1.4 | Nominative plural --āḥ (आः). aḥ (अः) before c (च्) becomes ś (श्). A bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) is an adjective wearing a noun's shape. |
| 1.5 | aḥ (अः) before a voiced consonant becomes o (ओ). A stem in --vant (वन्त्) makes nominative --vān (वान्). |
| 1.6 | sarve eva (सर्वे एव), "all of them, no exception." The verb is still waiting back in 1.4. |
| 1.7 | A relative and its partner: ye (ये) … tān (तान्). Imperative nibodha (निबोध). Genitive --sya (स्य). |
| 1.8 | bhavān (भवान्) is "you," said with respect. tathā eva ca (तथा एव च) closes a list. |
| 1.9 | mad- (मद्-) is "my" inside a compound. A bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) describes the people, not an action they are doing in the verb. |
| 1.10 | tat (तत्) points at one army, idam (इदम्) at the other. तु + इदम् tu + idam becomes tvidam (त्विदम्). a- (अ-) reverses the word it sits on, and here the reversal is disputed. |
| 1.11 | Locative plural --eṣu (एषु). Imperative third person --antu (अन्तु). bhavantaḥ (भवन्तः) is "you," plural and respectful. |
| 1.12 | A present participle does the action beside the main verb. dadhmau (दध्मौ) is a perfect: "he blew." |
| 1.13 | A passive imperfect. अः + अ aḥ + a becomes o (ओ), and the dropped a (अ) leaves the avagraha. |
| 1.14 | Instrumental plural --aiḥ (ऐः). A locative with a participle describes the place. The dual --au (औ) means two. |
| 1.15 | An epithet is a noun. The name and the epithet are the same person, both nominative. |
| 1.16 | A dual --au (औ) on the two conches. One verb, from the verse before, covers the list. |
| 1.17 | ca (च) after each name is "and." a- (अ-) on aparājita (अपराजित) is "not." |
| 1.18 | The vocative turns the verse toward Dhṛtarāṣṭra (धृतराष्ट्र). pṛthak pṛthak (पृथक् पृथक्) means "each his own." |
| 1.19 | Genitive plural --āṇām (आणाम्). A participle at the end agrees with the sound, not with a new sentence. |
| 1.20 | A second gerund. A locative absolute for the moment the weapons start. The verse is three lines long. |
| 1.21 | Genitive dual --oḥ (ओः). A causal imperative, sthāpaya (स्थापय). ए + अ e + a drops the a (अ) and leaves the avagraha. |
| 1.22 | kaiḥ (कैः) is "by which ones." A gerundive, yoddhavyam (योद्धव्यम्), says "it is to be fought." |
| 1.23 | A future participle. A desiderative, "wanting to do." eḥ (एः) before a consonant becomes er (एर्). |
| 1.24 | Instrumental of the person who asked. A gerund in --tvā (त्वा) on a causal stem. iti (इति) closes a quotation that is about to be spoken. |
| 1.25 | The suffix --taḥ (तः) means "in front of, from." iti (इति) ends what Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) said. |
| 1.26 | Accusative plural of the family words. pitṛ (पितृ) becomes pitṝn (पितॄन्). The verse is three lines long. |
| 1.27 | A gerund in --ya (य). Instrumental --ayā (अया) on a feminine ā (आ)-stem. A participle for the manner of speaking. |
| 1.28 | अ + इ a + i becomes e (ए). A neuter plural subject takes a plural verb. |
| 1.29 | Locative --e (ए) on the body. च … च ca … ca means "both … and." The verse is one line long. |
| 1.30 | Ablative --āt (आत्), "from." An infinitive in --tum (तुम्). इ + अ i + a becomes ya (य). iva (इव) means "as if." |
| 1.31 | अस् + अ as + a becomes o (ओ) plus avagraha. A gerund hatvā (हत्वा), "having killed," states the act he is refusing. |
| 1.32 | न … न च na … na ca stacks the refusals. kim (किम्) plus an instrumental means "what is the use of." |
| 1.33 | येषाम् … ते yeṣām … te is "those whose." ए + इ e + i becomes a (अ) plus the i (इ). The sentence does not stop at the double danda. |
| 1.34 | A nominative list with no verb of its own. The verb is in the next verse. |
| 1.35 | An infinitive with icchāmi (इच्छामि). अपि … अपि api … api means "even … even." kim nu (किम् नु) scales the refusal down. |
| 1.36 | Optative syāt (स्यात्), "would be." ātatāyin (आततायिन्) is a legal word, and Arjuna grants it on the way to rejecting it. |
| 1.37 | tasmāt (तस्मात्), "from that, therefore." arhāḥ (अर्हाः) plus an infinitive means "we ought." Optative syāma (स्याम), "we would be." |
| 1.38 | yadi api (यदि अपि), "even if." A bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) for the state of their minds. |
| 1.39 | A gerundive, "it is to be known." Instrumental plural asmābhiḥ (अस्माभिः), "by us." |
| 1.40 | A locative absolute: when this is destroyed, that happens. uta (उत) leans on the last verb. |
| 1.41 | Ablative --āt (आत्), "from, because of." A second locative absolute. Vocative vārṣṇeya (वार्ष्णेय). |
| 1.42 | Dative --āya (आय), "unto, for." hi (हि) presses the claim. A bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) for the ancestors whose rites have lapsed. |
| 1.43 | Instrumental plural --aiḥ (ऐः). A passive verb, utsādyante (उत्साद्यन्ते), "they are uprooted." |
| 1.44 | iti (इति) marks the sentence as something heard. anuśuśruma (अनुशुश्रुम) is a perfect, "we have heard." |
| 1.45 | aho bata (अहो बत) is a cry, not a case ending. vayam (वयम्) is "we." |
| 1.46 | yadi (यदि) plus an optative. A comparative, kṣematara (क्षेमतर), "more fortunate." |
| 1.47 | ए + उ e + u becomes a (अ) plus u (उ). Two gerunds, then the main verb. A bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) for the mind he sits down with. |
Later chapters reuse these. New facts (the self as ātman (आत्मन्), the imperative of yoga in 2.48, the long compounds of the guṇas (गुण), the theology of chapters 7–12) are taught on the verse where they first do work.
Sound
Devanagari stands in front of every romanized Sanskrit word in these notes, so the spelling can be sounded out. The roman letters are the pronunciation key. A few values that English spelling hides:
- a (अ) as in "about," ā (आ) as in "father."
- i (इ) as in "bit," ī (ई) as in "machine." u (उ) as in "put," ū (ऊ) as in "flute."
- e (ए) as in "they," ai (ऐ) as in "aisle." o (ओ) as in "go," au (औ) as in "house." These are pure, not diphthongs sliding into a second vowel, except ai (ऐ) and au (औ), which do glide.
- ṛ (ऋ) is a vowel. It is a short vocalic r (र्), close to the "ri" in "crisp," but the r (र्) is the vowel. ṝ (ॠ) is that vowel held long. You need it for pitṝn (पितॄन्) and bhrātṝn (भ्रातॄन्).
- ṃ (ं) is a nasal at the end of a syllable. ḥ (ः) is an echo of the vowel before it, with a soft breath.
- ś (श्) and ṣ (ष्) are both "sh." ś (श्) is palatal, the tongue near the palate. ṣ (ष्) is retroflex, the tongue turned back.
- c (च्) is "ch" as in "church." ch (छ्) is that sound with a puff of breath.
- Dots under ṭ ḍ ṇ (ट् ड् ण्) mark retroflex consonants. Aspirated letters (kh (ख्), gh (घ्), th (थ्), dh (ध्), ph (फ्), bh (भ्)) are the consonant plus a puff, not a new sound.
- ñ (ञ्) as in "canyon." ṅ (ङ्) is the nasal in "sing," made at the soft palate.
The verse is an anuṣṭubh (अनुष्टुभ्). Four quarters, eight syllables each, thirty-two in the verse, a pause at the half and a stop at the end. Count them on 1.1 until the pause is in your ear. A few verses in this chapter are a line short or a line long. The lesson says which. Where the speech rises, the quarter lengthens to eleven, and the verse is a triṣṭubh (त्रिष्टुभ्), forty-four syllables. The sitting names that meter. A few of those verses mix a quarter of twelve, a jagatī (जगती), with quarters of eleven. That mix is an upajāti (उपजाति), and the sitting says which quarter is the long one.
Devanagari, enough to start: a consonant sign with no vowel mark already contains short a (अ). A vowel sign replaces that a (अ). The stroke ् (virāma (विराम)) cancels it. ः is ḥ (ः), ं is ṃ (ं), and ऽ is the avagraha, the mark of a dropped a (अ). The vowel signs, and the consonants that actually appear in chapter 1, are listed beside the first lesson.
A word that will otherwise disappoint
Yoga (योग) in the names of these chapters is not a sequence of postures. Each chapter is called a yoga because it is a way the teaching is practiced. The definition Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) will give in 2.48 is evenness of mind in success and in failure. The definition he will give in 2.50 is skill in action. Both are this book. Posture is not the subject of chapter 1, and it is not the subject of the definition.