SanskritWhy these verses
The Gita has seven hundred verses. We have chosen thirty-six that are taught in schools, quoted in daily life and used as mottos: the ones a student is most likely to be asked for, and an ordinary reader most likely to have heard. They are arranged by subject so that verses which explain each other stand together.
What you get with each verse
- The Sanskrit text in Devanagari, with its chapter and verse number.
- A roman reading, for those who read Devanagari slowly.
- The meaning in Hindi and in English, written by us in plain words that stay close to the Sanskrit.
- A note on where the verse stands, a point of language, or how it is used today.
- Copy, WhatsApp and Listen buttons.
A word of care
The Sanskrit text was copied by program from a public transcription and has not yet been checked against a printed edition, so please verify a verse before you recite it at a function or print it on a card. And since the Gita is a sacred text for many and is explained differently by different traditions, we give the direct meaning of the words only. For interpretation, turn to a teacher or to the commentaries of your own tradition.
Learn to read them yourself
The real reward is to understand a verse without a translation. How to read a shloka shows the method on verse 2.47, and the grammar pages give the tables you need.