Bhagavad Gita

Why it’s on the list: The seven-hundred-verse dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and Krishna on the eve of battle — on duty, action without attachment to its fruits, and how to act decisively when every option costs something.

Where I heard about it

• Robert Haisfield — put it forward in Thread of Classics, a crowd-sourced thread pairing classic texts with the people recommending them (his tweet, May 2020).

About this edition

The Gita is excerpted from the sixth book of the Mahabharata and has been read as a standalone scripture for centuries. The page count reflects Eknath Easwaran’s translation; length varies widely by edition and translation.

Connections

• Thread of Classics — the reading list it came from
• Mahabharata

Captured from Roam

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
  • That Reality which pervades the universe is indestructible. No one has power to change the Changeless. Bodies are said to die, but That which possesses the body is eternal. It cannot be limited, or destroyed.