1 · Learn3 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Pick any verse to see what it means and how to use it in your life.

700 verses37 detailed

Or browse by chapter

Chapter

Chapter 2 · Contents of the Gītā Summarized · 72 verses

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

Deep profile← → keys move between verses

How to study this verse, in six steps

1Remember who is speaking. Kṛṣṇa is speaking. Take the verse as He directs.
2Say the verse and its words. Read the Sanskrit, then each word with its meaning.
3Read the translation as it is. Let the translation say what it says, without adding your own meaning.
4Read the purport. Hear the verse through the disciplic succession.
5Bring your own question. Ask: where does this verse meet my life, my trouble, my doubt?
6Act on it, remembering Kṛṣṇa. Carry one instruction into your work today.

Read the full guide: how to read the Bhagavad-gītā ›

Questions & crisisChapter 2 · Contents of the Gītā Summarized

2.7 2.9

Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 2.8

Grief, confusion, and Arjuna accepting discipleship

Karma · Action

न हि प्रपश्यामि ममापनुद्याद् -

यच्छोकमुच्छोषणमिन्द्रियाणाम् ।

अवाप्य भूभावसपत्‍नमृद्धं

राज्यं सुराणामपि चाधिपत्यम् ॥ ८ ॥

na hi prapaśyāmi mamāpanudyād

yac chokam ucchoṣaṇam indriyāṇām

avāpya bhūmāv asapatnam ṛddhaṁ

rājyaṁ surāṇām api cādhipatyam

Translation

I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous, unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

What this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.

3 study points

Taking Shelter of Kṛṣṇa

1
Arjuna says that even an unrivaled earthly kingdom or power like the demigods’ cannot remove the grief drying up his senses.
2
Learning, wealth and high position cannot solve life’s problems. A true spiritual master is fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, regardless of social position.
3
To end grief for good, take shelter of Kṛṣṇa through His genuine representative. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the path to peace.

Key points from the purport

Reconfirms complete dependence and faith

No other means to drive away grief

Any sastra or person cannot help

Even victory or opulence cannot dispel Arjuna’s lamentation

Arjuna proclaims that even an unrivalled kingdom on earth or supremacy like demigods cannot help him