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Read & reflect

Bhagavad Gita

Explore the Sanskrit verses chapter by chapter. Read a passage in context, compare a named translation and take time with the questions it raises.

Chapter 5 · Verse 20

न प्रहृष्येत्प्रियं प्राप्य नोद्विजेत्प्राप्य चाप्रियम्।

स्थिरबुद्धिरसम्मूढो ब्रह्मविद्ब्रह्मणि स्थितः।।5.20।।

Compare translations and commentaries at IIT Kanpur’s Gita Supersite →

A simple way to read

Begin by identifying the speaker and the question being discussed. Read the preceding and following verses before lifting a sentence out of the conversation. Different translators and philosophical commentators can make different interpretive choices; note whose explanation you are following.

Keep three short notes: what the passage says, your interpretation and what remains unclear. A personal reflection can be valuable without being presented as the only meaning of the text.

For a starting point, read our introduction to chapter two or the guide to action and attachment to results.