This summary is a map of all eighteen chapters of the Gita.

The answer in one line

The eighteen chapters are in this order because the Gita is a conversation, and the conversation moves on Arjuna's questions. Each chapter raises the question that the one before left behind. There are 701 verses in all. In the first chapter a man sits down in despair. At the end the same man says that his delusion is gone and that he will act. The road from the sitting Arjuna to the standing Arjuna is itself the order of the chapters.

The map

Here are the name of each chapter, the number of its verses and its work.

Chapter 1 is Arjuna Vishada Yoga, forty-seven verses. It sets the problem: the pull between duty and love.

Chapter 2 is Sankhya Yoga, seventy-two verses. It gives the first teaching: the self, duty and giving up anxiety about the fruit.

Chapter 3 is Karma Yoga, forty-three verses. It teaches how to act without running away from action.

Chapter 4 is Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga, forty-two verses. It speaks of the tradition of teaching, the descent of the Lord and inaction in action.

Chapter 5 is Karma Sannyasa Yoga, twenty-nine verses. In it renunciation and action both reach one goal.

Chapter 6 is Dhyana Yoga, forty-seven verses. It is about training the mind, and names the highest place of the devotee.

Chapter 7 is Jnana Vijnana Yoga, thirty verses. In it the Lord tells about Himself.

Chapter 8 is Akshara Brahma Yoga, twenty-eight verses. In it the remembrance at the last hour is tied to remembrance at all times.

Chapter 9 is Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga, thirty-four verses. It is the most secret knowledge: offering with love.

Chapter 10 is Vibhuti Yoga, forty-two verses. It is about seeing the Lord in every glory.

Chapter 11 is Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga, fifty-five verses. It is the vision of the cosmic form.

Chapter 12 is Bhakti Yoga, twenty verses. It brings devotion into daily life.

Chapter 13 is Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga, thirty-five verses. It speaks of the body and the one who knows it.

Chapter 14 is Gunatraya Vibhaga Yoga, twenty-seven verses. It speaks of the three qualities and going beyond them.

Chapter 15 is Purushottama Yoga, twenty verses. It speaks of the tree of the world and the Supreme Person.

Chapter 16 is Daivasura Sampad Vibhaga Yoga, twenty-four verses. It is about recognising good and bad natures.

Chapter 17 is Shraddhatraya Vibhaga Yoga, twenty-eight verses. It shows the three forms of faith.

Chapter 18 is Moksha Sannyasa Yoga, seventy-eight verses. It is the essence and the final teaching.

Chapters 1 to 6 hold 280 verses. Chapters 7 to 12 hold 209. And chapters 13 to 18 hold 212. The largest chapter is 18, then 2. The smallest are 12 and 15, with twenty verses each. The length goes by the question. The twelfth answers one question. The second is the start of the teaching, and the eighteenth is its essence.

The chapters in five groups

Chapter 1: A man sits down in the chariot

The first chapter sets the problem and gives no answer. Arjuna has the chariot placed between the two armies (Gita 1.21–22), sees his teachers and kin on both sides, his body trembles, and he refuses to fight. At the end he lets go of his bow and sits down at the back of the chariot (Gita 1.47). The question is: if duty pulls one way and love another, what should one do?

Chapter 2: The seed of the whole Gita

Arjuna says his mind is tangled about duty, that he is a disciple and has come for refuge (Gita 2.7). Krishna's first word is that the wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead (Gita 2.11). Then comes the self, the same in every body and not destroyed (Gita 2.30). Then duty: the right is to action, not to its fruit (Gita 2.47). At the end Arjuna asks how a person of steady wisdom speaks, sits and walks (Gita 2.54), and the chapter draws that picture. In almost every later chapter some thread of this goes forward.

Chapters 3 to 6: How work is to be done

In the third chapter Arjuna asks: if knowledge is higher, why do You engage me in this terrible war (Gita 3.1)? Nobody can remain a moment without action, so giving up work is not the way. Work is to be done as an offering, with the grip let go, thinking of the good of the world. Others watch the conduct of the great. At the end Arjuna asks why a person does wrong against his wish (Gita 3.36). The answer: desire and anger.

The fourth chapter tells that knowledge came through a tradition of teachers. Arjuna's doubt is: the sun-god was first and You were born later (Gita 4.4)? The Lord says that in every age He comes to protect the good and establish dharma (Gita 4.7–8). Then comes inaction in action, the gaining of knowledge by humility, questions and service (Gita 4.34), and knowledge as a boat that carries across even great trouble (Gita 4.36).

In the fifth chapter Arjuna asks almost the same question again. At one time You praise renunciation and at another karma yoga, so tell me what is truly good (Gita 5.1). This is the knot: the question of the third chapter and this one are the same, "should I act or give it up and turn to knowledge?" In the third the answer is practical, that is, work as an offering. In the fifth it goes to the root: both roads reach one goal, and only those of lesser understanding speak of them as different (Gita 5.4–5). This is taken up in Renunciation or Karma Yoga?.

The sixth chapter is about training the mind. Lift yourself up, do not let yourself fall (Gita 6.5). Yoga in balance of food, recreation, action and sleep ends sorrow (Gita 6.17). Arjuna's real difficulty is that the mind is restless as the wind (Gita 6.33–34). The Lord says that it is hard, but it is held by practice and dispassion (Gita 6.35). The last sentence opens the road ahead: of all yogis, the highest is the one who with faith fixes his mind on the Lord and worships with love (Gita 6.47).

Chapters 7 to 12: Who holds the one who works

So far the way of working was told. Now the Lord speaks about Himself, because the one who acts should know for whom he acts. The last verse of the sixth chapter prepares this turn (Gita 6.47).

In the seventh chapter there are two natures, the lower and the higher. The illusion is hard to cross, but those who take refuge cross it (Gita 7.14). There are four kinds who worship: the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of gain and the wise (Gita 7.16).

In the eighth chapter Arjuna asks what Brahman is, what action is, and how to know the Lord at the end (Gita 8.1–2). The answer is that whatever one remembers at the end is what one reaches, so remembrance should be at all times (Gita 8.5–7). For one who remembers daily, reaching is easy (Gita 8.14). And the Lord says, "Remember Me at all times and also do your duty" (Gita 8.7).

The ninth chapter holds the most secret knowledge. The Lord Himself looks after the needs of His devotees (Gita 9.22), accepts a leaf, flower, fruit or water offered with love (Gita 9.26), and considers even a person of very bad conduct good if he returns with his whole mind (Gita 9.30). The essence is: fix your mind on Me, be My devotee, bow to Me (Gita 9.34). Devotion is here in its plainest words.

In the tenth chapter the wise worship, knowing the Lord as the source of all (Gita 10.8), and Arjuna asks how to think of the Lord everywhere (Gita 10.17). The Lord is in the heart of every being (Gita 10.20), and whatever is great or beautiful is a part of His splendour (Gita 10.41).

In the eleventh chapter Arjuna says his delusion is gone (Gita 11.1), and asks for the cosmic form (Gita 11.3). The divine sight is given to see it (Gita 11.8), then come fear and wonder, and the Lord says, I am Time (Gita 11.32). With this vision the whole teaching so far becomes alive.

In the twelfth chapter Arjuna asks who knows yoga best, the devotee or the worshippers of the formless (Gita 12.1). The answer is: fix mind and intellect on Me (Gita 12.8), and the dear devotee is free from hatred, a friend to all and compassionate (Gita 12.13–14). In only twenty verses is the whole picture of devotion. A one-glance summary of it is in Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview.

Chapters 13 to 18: Living what was learned

Here are the nature of body and mind, and what lifts and what brings down.

In the thirteenth chapter the body is the field and the one who knows it is the knower of the field. Knowledge begins with giving up ego, not showing off and avoiding harm (Gita 13.8), that is, first character, then information.

In the fourteenth chapter the three qualities bind the soul (Gita 14.5), and Arjuna asks for the marks of one beyond the qualities (Gita 14.21). At the end unbroken devotion carries across (Gita 14.26).

In the fifteenth chapter there is the tree of the world, and the soul is an eternal part of the Lord (Gita 15.7). The Lord is in the heart as memory, knowledge and forgetfulness (Gita 15.15). One who recognises the Supreme Person worships with his whole being (Gita 15.19).

In the sixteenth chapter good and bad natures stand face to face. The good begins with fearlessness and purity (Gita 16.1), and desire, anger and greed are the three gates of hell (Gita 16.21). What to do and what not to do is to be tested by scripture (Gita 16.24).

In the seventeenth chapter Arjuna asks what is the state of those who leave the scriptural rule and yet worship with faith (Gita 17.1). The answer is that a person is made of faith, as his faith is, so is he (Gita 17.3). Faith, food, worship, austerity and giving each have three forms.

The eighteenth chapter is the largest and the essence of the whole teaching. Arjuna asks what the difference is between renunciation and relinquishment (Gita 18.1). Even holy action is to be done after giving up attachment and fruit (Gita 18.6). One's own duty, even if imperfect, is better than another's performed well (Gita 18.47). Then comes the same call as in the ninth: fix your mind on Me, be My devotee (Gita 18.65). And the final assurance. Arjuna says: delusion is destroyed, memory is regained, doubts are gone, I will act as You say (Gita 18.73). Sanjaya gives his view (Gita 18.75–78).

The main points to remember

The chapters speak to each other

Later chapters do not reverse the earlier ones. They return to the same threads from a new angle.

The right is to action and not to its fruit (Gita 2.47), and in the eighteenth the same becomes doing the work after giving up attachment and fruit (Gita 18.6). The self is never destroyed (Gita 2.30), and in the fifteenth that same self is an eternal part of the Lord (Gita 15.7). In the second there is the picture of steady wisdom (Gita 2.54), and in the fourteenth that of one beyond the qualities (Gita 14.21).

The devotee yogi is highest (Gita 6.47), then comes the first question of the twelfth (Gita 12.1), and the call of the eighteenth (Gita 18.65). Going to a teacher with humility (Gita 4.34), Arjuna's stance as a disciple (Gita 2.7) and his final answer (Gita 18.73) lie on one line. And the call of the ninth chapter (Gita 9.34) and the call of the eighteenth (Gita 18.65) are in almost the same words.

Three streams run together

Through the whole order three streams run together. Action is the main subject of chapters 3 to 6 and returns at the end (Gita 18.6). Knowledge begins in the second chapter with the undying self, becomes a boat in the fourth, and reaches the knower of the field and the Supreme Person in the thirteenth and fifteenth. Devotion fills chapters 7 to 12, reaches its highest place (Gita 6.47), and returns in the final teaching.

No chapter belongs to only one stream. One who begins devotion from the twelfth meets the call to action, and one who begins work from the third meets the talk of the self.

Arjuna changes in every chapter

In the first chapter Arjuna sits down on the chariot in grief (Gita 1.47). In the second he prays as a disciple (Gita 2.7). In the third he challenges: why this war (Gita 3.1). In the sixth he objects that the mind is very restless (Gita 6.33–34). In the eleventh he is glad and afraid together, and asks for the gentle form (Gita 11.45). And in the eighteenth doubts go and he will act (Gita 18.73).

So: breaking down and sitting, then becoming a disciple, then honest objection, then wonder, and then decision. A disciple to whom everything is told and who raises no objection has not taken the matter in. That is why the Gita keeps Arjuna's objections. And when Arjuna is glad and afraid together (Gita 11.45), the Lord does not hurry him forward.

Why the Lord's nature after action

One who acts should know for whom he acts. Two verses join this (Gita 6.47, Gita 8.7).

Five roads, by your own question

If your question is about work and pressure, chapters 2, 3 and 18. About a restless mind, 2 and 6. About devotion, 9, 12 and 18. About "who am I", 2, 13 and 15. And about the pull of nature and desire, 3, 14 and 16. The short road through the whole Gita is The Gita in 7 Days.

How to read

Choose your group: for a question about work, 3 to 6; about the Lord and devotion, 7 to 12; about the way of living, 13 to 18. Read the first verses of that chapter. See which question starts or carries the chapter, often it is Arjuna's, and where the Lord's answer rests.

What the order does not mean

It does not mean that later chapters are higher and earlier ones lower. The work differs: the second gives the seed, and the eighteenth gathers the whole teaching.

It does not mean that the eighteenth is only repetition. It repeats (Gita 18.6), but also adds: the difference between renunciation and relinquishment, and the final call.

And it does not mean that reading only the big chapters, or only the chapter of your own road, is wrong. It is not wrong, but the chapters answer each other's questions. One who is stuck in one should look for the answer in a neighbouring chapter too.

Questions people ask

Why the same question again and again from the third to the fifth chapter? The first answer is practical, the second goes to the root. Both roads reach one goal (Gita 3.1, Gita 5.1, Gita 5.4–5).

Does a later chapter cancel an earlier one? No. The eighteenth repeats the call of the ninth and builds on it. The devotion of the twelfth does not remove the action of the third. It joins with it.

Where is the whole teaching in brief? The seed in the second, daily devotion in the twelfth, and the whole essence in the eighteenth.

If you have to explain it in thirty seconds

The 18 chapters of the Gita, 701 verses, are an order of Arjuna's doubts. In chapter 1 Arjuna sits down broken. In chapter 2 he becomes a disciple, and the seed of the self and giving up the fruit is given. Chapters 3 to 6 are about how to work. Chapters 7 to 12 are about who holds the one who works, that is, the Lord and devotion. Chapters 13 to 17 are about recognising nature, qualities and faith. And chapter 18 is the whole essence and the final call. At the end the same Arjuna says: delusion is gone, doubts are gone, I will act. Action, knowledge and devotion, all three streams, run together through the whole order, and later chapters do not reverse the earlier ones. They return from a new angle.

Related hubs: How to Read the Gita (before) · Arjuna's Despondency (next) · Begin the Gita (path) · The Gita in 7 Days (path) · The Imperishable Self · Renunciation or Karma Yoga? · Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview