From the Index of Management Areas

The 69 verses the book gathers under Decision-Making

Chapter and verse, as listed in the Index of Management Areas, each with The Meaning as it appears in the book. The Teaching and the Reflect question for every verse are in the book.

1. 1.21Arjuna asks Krishna to place his chariot in the middle of both armies.
2. 1.26Arjuna saw fathers, grandfathers, teachers, uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, friends, fathers-in-law, and well-wishers standing in both armies.
3. 1.27After seeing all his relatives standing there, Arjuna was overcome with deep compassion and grief, and then he began to speak.
4. 1.28Arjuna tells Krishna that after seeing his own people ready to fight, his body is becoming weak and his mouth is drying up.
5. 1.29Arjuna says that his body is trembling, his hair is standing on end, his bow is slipping from his hand, and his skin is burning.
6. 1.30Arjuna tells Krishna that he cannot stand steadily, his mind feels confused, and he sees unfavorable signs ahead.
7. 1.35Arjuna says that he would not kill them even for the rule of the three worlds, much less for the earth, and asks Krishna what joy could come to them from killing the sons of Dhritarashtra.
8. 1.38Arjuna says that since they can see the wrong caused by destroying the family, they should understand that they must turn away from this sin.
9. 1.46Sanjaya says that after speaking these words, Arjuna dropped his bow and arrows and sat down on the chariot, his mind overwhelmed by grief.
10. 2.6Arjuna says he does not know what is better: to win the war or to be defeated. The people standing before him are the very relatives whom he would not want to live after killing.
11. 2.7Arjuna admits that weakness has overcome him and that he is confused about dharma. He asks Krishna to clearly tell him what is truly good, accepts Krishna as his teacher, and surrenders for guidance.
12. 2.8Arjuna says that his grief is so deep that even a rich kingdom on earth or great heavenly power would not remove it. His sorrow is drying up his senses and making worldly success feel useless.
13. 2.9Sanjaya says that after speaking to Krishna, Arjuna declared, 'I will not fight,' and then became silent.
14. 2.11Krishna tells Arjuna that he is grieving for what should not be grieved over, while speaking as if he is wise. Truly wise people do not lament for the living or the dead.
15. 2.15The person who is not shaken by pleasure and pain, and who remains steady in both, becomes fit for spiritual liberation.
16. 2.16What is temporary does not last, and what is truly real never stops existing. Wise seers understand the difference between the changing body and the eternal self.
17. 2.25The soul cannot be seen by ordinary material eyes, fully grasped by ordinary thought, or changed by material conditions. Knowing this, Krishna tells Arjuna not to grieve for the eternal self.
18. 2.26Even if you think the self is repeatedly born and repeatedly dies, still there is no reason to grieve in this way. Birth and death are part of embodied existence, so grief should not stop duty.
19. 2.27For one who is born, death is certain; and for one who has died, birth is certain. Since this cycle is unavoidable, Krishna tells Arjuna not to grieve in a way that stops duty.
20. 2.28Before birth, beings are unseen. During life, they become visible. After death, they become unseen again. Since this visible phase is temporary, Krishna asks why there should be excessive lamentation.
21. 2.37If Arjuna dies in this righteous battle, he will attain heaven. If he wins, he will rule and enjoy the earth. So Krishna tells him to rise with firm determination and do his duty.
22. 2.38Krishna tells Arjuna to keep pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat equal in his mind, and then do his duty. If he acts with this balanced attitude, he will not incur fault.
23. 2.39Krishna says that He has explained wisdom about the self. Now He will explain yoga, the way to act with steady intelligence. By this wisdom, Arjuna can do his duty without becoming bound by karma.
24. 2.41A person with firm spiritual intelligence has one clear direction. But a person without determination has a mind that runs in many directions and becomes scattered by endless desires and doubts.
25. 2.52When your intelligence crosses beyond the thick confusion of delusion, you will become detached from all the things already heard and yet to be heard. Your mind will no longer be pulled by endless promises, opinions, and distractions.
26. 2.53When your intelligence is no longer disturbed by many conflicting things you have heard, and becomes steady in spiritual absorption, then you will attain yoga.
27. 2.57A person of steady wisdom is not attached to anything that happens. When good or bad comes, such a person does not become overly excited or hateful. His wisdom remains firmly established.
28. 2.60Even a wise person who is trying sincerely can have the mind forcibly carried away by the restless senses. Therefore, one should not be overconfident; sense-control needs alertness and steady practice.
29. 2.63From anger comes confusion. From confusion comes loss of memory of what is right. From loss of memory comes destruction of intelligence. When intelligence is destroyed, a person falls down.
30. 2.65When the mind becomes peaceful and clear, sorrow loses its hold. For a person with a calm and cheerful mind, intelligence quickly becomes steady.
31. 2.68Therefore, Krishna says, the person whose senses are fully controlled and restrained from sense objects has steady wisdom.
32. 2.70A peaceful person is like the ocean. Many desires may come, just as many rivers enter the ocean, but the person remains steady and full within. Peace comes to such a person, not to one who keeps chasing desires.
33. 3.2Arjuna asks Krishna to remove his confusion and clearly tell him the one sure path by which he can attain his highest good.
34. 3.34Krishna says that each sense has its likes and dislikes toward sense objects, but one should not come under their control because they are obstacles.
35. 3.40Krishna says that desire works through the senses, mind, and intellect. Through them it covers wisdom and confuses the embodied person.
36. 3.41Krishna tells Arjuna to first control the senses and destroy desire, because it destroys knowledge and realized wisdom.
37. 3.42Krishna explains that the senses are powerful, the mind is higher than the senses, the intellect is higher than the mind, and the Self is higher than the intellect.
38. 4.5Krishna says that both He and Arjuna have had many births, but Krishna knows all of them while Arjuna does not remember them.
39. 4.10Krishna says that many people became free from attachment, fear, and anger, took shelter of Him, became purified by spiritual knowledge, and attained His divine nature.
40. 4.16Krishna says that even wise people can be confused about action and inaction, so He will explain true action to Arjuna, knowing which he can become free from inauspiciousness.
41. 4.17Krishna says that we must understand right action, wrong action, and inaction, because the path of action is deep and difficult to understand.
42. 4.40An ignorant, faithless, and constantly doubting person becomes lost. One who lives in destructive doubt finds neither worldly success, nor spiritual progress, nor peace.
43. 4.42Therefore, cut the doubt born of ignorance in your heart with the sword of knowledge. Take shelter of yoga and rise to act.
44. 5.1Arjuna asks Krishna to clearly tell him which is better: renouncing actions or practising yoga while doing action.
45. 5.20Krishna says that a person established in Brahman remains steady. Such a person does not become overexcited when something pleasant comes, nor disturbed when something unpleasant comes.
46. 6.2True renunciation and true yoga are not separate. A person becomes a yogī only when the mind gives up selfish desires, restless plans, and attachment to personal gain.
47. 6.4A person is established in yoga when the mind is not attached to sense pleasures, not attached to action itself, and has given up selfish desire-driven plans.
48. 6.6When you master your mind, your mind becomes your friend. When you do not master it, the same mind behaves like an enemy and pulls you down.
49. 7.2Krishna tells Arjuna that He will fully explain knowledge along with realized understanding. When this is truly known, nothing more remains to be known for spiritual completeness.
50. 7.20Krishna says that people whose knowledge is stolen by many desires turn to other deities. According to their own nature, they follow particular rules and practices to fulfill those desires.
51. 8.1Arjuna asks Krishna to clearly explain the meanings of Brahman, adhyātma, karma, adhibhūta, and adhidaiva.
52. 8.26Krishna says that the bright and dark paths are two enduring paths of the world; one leads to non-return, and the other leads to return again.
53. 11.7Krishna tells Arjuna to see the whole universe, with everything moving and unmoving, present together within His divine body.
54. 11.33Krishna tells Arjuna to rise, do his duty, gain glory, defeat the enemies, and become only an instrument because the warriors have already been slain by Krishna.
55. 12.1Arjuna asks whether those who worship Krishna personally with steady devotion, or those who meditate on the imperishable and unmanifest reality, are better knowers of yoga.
56. 16.24Krishna says that scripture should guide us in knowing what to do and what not to do. After understanding scriptural guidance, we should act properly in this world.
57. 17.1Arjuna asks what kind of faith belongs to people who worship sincerely but ignore scriptural rules, is it sattvic, rajasic, or tamasic?
58. 17.16Austerity of the mind means keeping the mind peaceful, gentle, quiet, self- controlled, and pure in intention.
59. 18.1Arjuna asks Krishna to explain clearly the difference between sannyasa, renunciation of certain actions, and tyaga, renunciation of attachment to the results of action.
60. 18.4Krishna tells Arjuna to listen to His definite conclusion about tyaga, because renunciation is explained in three different kinds.
61. 18.7Krishna says that giving up prescribed duty is not proper; if someone abandons such duty out of delusion, that renunciation is tamasic.
62. 18.13Krishna tells Arjuna that there are five causes behind the accomplishment of all actions, and asks him to understand them carefully.
63. 18.17Krishna says that one who is free from egoistic doership and whose understanding is not tainted, even if he kills these people, does not kill and is not bound by his action.
64. 18.18Krishna explains that action is driven by three factors: knowledge, the object of knowledge, and the knower. Action is then carried out through three factors: the instrument, the action, and the doer.
65. 18.29Krishna tells Arjuna to listen carefully as He explains the three kinds of intelligence and determination according to the three gunas.
66. 18.30Krishna says that sattvic intelligence knows when to act, when to withdraw, what is right, what is wrong, what is truly dangerous, what is not, what binds, and what liberates.
67. 18.31Krishna says that rajasic intelligence does not properly understand dharma and adharma, or what should and should not be done.
68. 18.63Krishna tells Arjuna that He has explained very deep knowledge. Now Arjuna should reflect on it completely and then act according to his own considered choice.
69. 18.73Arjuna says that his confusion is now gone and his memory of truth has returned by Krishna’s grace. He is steady, free from doubt, and ready to do what Krishna has instructed.

One verse in full

प्रवृत्तिं च निवृत्तिं च कार्याकार्ये भयाभये ।

pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca kāryākārye bhayābhaye |

बन्धं मोक्षं च या वेत्ति बुद्धिः सा पार्थ सात्त्विकी ॥

bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī ||

The Meaning Krishna says that sattvic intelligence knows when to act, when to withdraw, what is right, what is wrong, what is truly dangerous, what is not, what binds, and what liberates.

Sattvic leadership intelligence clearly distinguishes when to act, when to stop, what is duty, what is risk, and what creates bondage or freedom.

Every verse under this area, with its Teaching and its Reflect question, is in The Ethical Leader’s Gita. For copies for your leadership team, see corporate and bulk gifting.

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