35 shlokas with meaning and life application
Bhagavad Gita shlokas in the category Soul 35 verses.
The Gita's teaching about the soul begins early, in chapter 2, and returns again and again. The soul, or atman, is the conscious self: unborn, imperishable and distinct from the body and mind. For many readers this teaching brings steadiness. It suggests that our deepest identity is not at the mercy of events, and that death and loss are transitions within a larger continuity.
Gita 2.20 says the soul is never born and never dies, and remains unchanged, ancient and eternal even when the body perishes, so use this knowledge to face fear, grief and the prospect of death with calm courage. Gita 2.22 compares death to changing worn-out clothes, and Gita 2.13 compares changes of body to the stages of life. Gita 2.12 says the individual self was never non-existent and will never cease to exist, which can steady us through change.
The Gita also speaks of unity and the witness. Gita 5.18 says true wisdom recognizes the same spiritual essence in every living being, and Gita 6.29 describes the perfected yogi seeing the same Self in every being, so treat all people with respect and dignity. Gita 15.7 says every being is an eternal part of the Divine, and Gita 5.13 describes the Self as a non-acting witness within the body, so avoid identifying your true self solely with roles, achievements and activities.
The soul is never born, never dies, and remains unchanged, ancient and eternal even when the body perishes.
In your life: Use the knowledge of your eternal nature to face fear, grief and the prospect of death with calm courage.
True wisdom recognizes the same spiritual essence in every living being despite external differences.
In your life: Treat all people with respect and dignity, looking beyond social labels, status, and appearances.
The perfected yogi realizes the oneness of existence by seeing the same Self in every being and all beings established in the Self.
In your life: Practice seeing beyond external differences and recognize the inherent dignity and spiritual nature present in every person.
Nature of the Soul
The soul is unborn, eternal and untouched by the death of the body.
Nature of the Soul
Spiritual vision sees one Self in all beings.
Reincarnation
Death is a change of garment, not the end of the wearer.
Nature of the Soul
You are an eternal part of the Divine, not merely your mind and senses.
Nature of the Soul
The Self resides in the body yet remains untouched by action.
Field and Knower
You are not the field of experience; you are the one who knows it.
Nature of the Soul
The self is eternal; birth and death are only passing events.
Reincarnation
The self remains constant through every change of body and circumstance.
Nature of the Soul
No force of the material world can touch the self.
Nature of the Soul
Beyond senses, mind, and intellect stands the Self.
Self Knowledge
The ego takes credit for what nature does.
Nature of the Soul
You are the higher consciousness that animates matter, not matter itself.
Death and Rebirth
Do not waste your peace grieving what cannot be avoided.
Purusha
Nature acts; the self suffers or enjoys only through identification.
Nature of the Soul
The same indestructible self lives in every being.
Three Gunas
Attachment to the qualities of nature keeps the soul in the cycle of birth.
Purusha
Your innermost self is untouched by what the body does.
Death and Rebirth
The qualities you live by set the direction of your journey.
Purusha
Know what passes away and what remains, and build your life accordingly.
Nature of the Soul
What pervades all existence cannot be destroyed.
Self Knowledge
Inner contentment frees a person from the compulsion to chase.
Death and Rebirth
A life of clarity prepares a higher destination.
Death and Rebirth
The qualities we nurture now shape what comes next.
Death and Rebirth
The mind and its impressions travel with the soul, so cultivate them wisely.
Nature of the Soul
The self is steady, unchanging and everlasting.
Nature of the Soul
Like the sky, the self holds everything and is stained by nothing.
Field and Knower
Consciousness illumines the whole field as the sun lights the world.
Nature of the Soul
The true self is untouched by the events that shape the body.
Detachment
Real freedom is needing nothing from the world to feel whole.
Self Knowledge
To see yourself as the only doer is to see wrongly.
Nature of the Soul
Real knowledge of the self changes how one understands action.
Nature of the Soul
Knowing the changeless self puts an end to needless grief.
Sense Control
The senses are instruments of the soul, not its masters.
Death and Rebirth
Change is natural; grief over it is unnecessary.
Life areas
Qualities
Topics
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Challenges