The Yoga of Knowledge

अशोच्यानन्वशोचस्त्वं प्रज्ञावादांश्च भाषसे। गतासूनगतासूंश्च नानुशोचन्ति पण्डिताः॥

aśocyān anvaśocas tvaṁ prajñā-vādāṁś ca bhāṣase gatāsūn agatāsūṁś ca nānuśocanti paṇḍitāḥ

The Blessed Lord said: You grieve for those who need no grief, yet you speak words of wisdom. The wise mourn neither for the living nor for the dead.

Kṛṣṇa gently separates borrowed wisdom from lived wisdom. When understanding truly enters the heart, sorrow begins to loosen its grip.

देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा। तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति॥

dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā tathā dehāntara-prāptir dhīras tatra na muhyati

Just as the embodied soul passes in this body from childhood to youth to old age, so it passes into another body; the wise are not bewildered by this.

You have already lived through many endings — childhood, old selves, past chapters. Change is the soul travelling, not the soul perishing.

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः। अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे॥

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaṁ purāṇo na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

The soul is never born and never dies. Unborn, eternal, everlasting and ancient, it is not slain when the body is slain.

What is truest in you — and in those you love — cannot be destroyed. Let this quiet certainty steady you in the face of loss.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन। मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥

karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi

You have a right to your actions alone, never to their fruits. Let not the fruit of action be your motive, nor let attachment to inaction take hold.

Pour yourself completely into the doing and release your grip on the result. Work offered this way slowly loses its anxiety.

योगस्थः कुरु कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा धनञ्जय। सिद्ध्यसिद्ध्योः समो भूत्वा समत्वं योग उच्यते॥

yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjaya siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā samatvaṁ yoga ucyate

Established in yoga, perform your actions, abandoning attachment, remaining even in success and failure — this evenness of mind is called yoga.

Balance is not a mood; it is a practice. Meet the wins and setbacks of this day with the same steady breath.

ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते। सङ्गात्सञ्जायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते॥

dhyāyato viṣayān puṁsaḥ saṅgas teṣūpajāyate saṅgāt sañjāyate kāmaḥ kāmāt krodho 'bhijāyate

When a person dwells on the objects of the senses, attachment to them is born; from attachment springs desire, and from desire arises anger.

Every downfall begins as a harmless-looking thought entertained too long. Guard the doorway of attention.

क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः। स्मृतिभ्रंशाद्बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति॥

krodhād bhavati sammohaḥ sammohāt smṛti-vibhramaḥ smṛti-bhraṁśād buddhi-nāśo buddhi-nāśāt praṇaśyati

From anger comes delusion; from delusion, confusion of memory; from confused memory, the loss of discernment; and when discernment is lost, one falls.

Kṛṣṇa maps the slide from one heated moment to a ruined judgement. Interrupt the chain early — pause at the first spark.