You want to read the Gita properly, so that it changes how you live and does not only fill a shelf. In what order should you read it? Which translation? Which commentary? And how do you keep it your own?

Four choices answer this: the order, the translation, the commentary and a question of your own. For a first reading, go in order, use one plain translation, bring in one commentary after you have met each verse yourself, and carry one question through the whole. The Gita also says how to study it: with humility, by asking, and in service (Gita 4.34). Then it asks you to think it over fully and choose for yourself (Gita 18.63).

This is about how to read, not about what any verse teaches. The teachings are in the hubs of the library, and the book's setting is in What Is the Gita?. If you are new, Begin the Gita is the path that puts these pages in order.

In what order should you read it?

There are three common orders, and each suits a different need.

• Front to back. Chapter 1 to chapter 18 gives you the story and the whole picture. It suits a first full pass. Go slowly: the Gita has about seven hundred verses, and a chapter a week is a good pace.
• By question. If a trouble drives you to the book, begin with the verses that speak to it. Find something to read and Not sure where to start? help you choose, and learning paths such as Daily Practice or The Gita in Seven Days give a ready order.
• One verse a day. It is the slowest and the best for building a habit.

For a first time, look at the map first, in The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance. Then read from the front, lightly. Then come back by question.

The order matters because the Gita is a conversation that builds. Arjuna breaks down on the field. Then he does the one thing that opens the book: he becomes a student and asks.

He admits that his mind is confused about duty, asks for what is truly good for him, and puts himself in Lord Krishna's hands as a disciple. Lord Krishna begins his answer a few verses later (Gita 2.11). Read in order, you hear the question before the answer, and the answer then makes sense.

One rule holds for every order: read a verse together with the verses before and after it. A single verse quoted alone can say almost anything.

Which translation should you use?

A translation is one translator's reading. Two good ones can differ in tone, and sometimes in more than tone.

Choose one plain translation, in the language you think in, and stay with it. Keep a second for comparison. When a word puzzles you, check it against the word-by-word meaning, which the site gives for every verse, alongside the Sanskrit, the transliteration and the plain meaning in English and Hindi.

When two translations disagree, do not choose the one you prefer. Read the word meanings, then the verses around, and then ask a commentary. There is no single correct translation to hunt for.

When should you bring in a commentary?

A commentary is a teacher's reading of the verses, from within a tradition. The Gita has been explained in this way for many centuries.

The teachers differ in emphasis. One stream reads the Gita as mainly pointing to knowledge of the self. Another reads it as mainly the way of action without attachment. A third reads it as mainly devotion. Each has its reasons in the text, which itself speaks of two paths of faith, knowledge and action (Gita 3.3); The Paths at a Glance sets out how the Gita fits them together.

Some advice follows from this.

• Meet the verse yourself first.
• Then read one commentary beside it, and check its claims against the verse.
• Add a second commentary after your first pass. Three at once, in the first round, only confuse.

The Gita describes the right spirit for learning from a teacher, and a commentary is a teacher in book form:

Humility, sincere questions and service are the three things asked. A book is read in the same spirit: without hurry and without a wish to win.

Why read with a question of your own?

Arjuna's Gita begins with a question that is entirely his. Yours may be as plain: "How do I work without being crushed by the result?" Pick one question for a month and write it in a notebook. At each reading ask: what does this verse say to my question?

Even Arjuna, a few chapters on, felt lost.

He said that Lord Krishna's words seemed mixed and asked for one clear path. Lord Krishna answers that there are two paths of faith (Gita 3.3). So when the Gita seems to say two things, ask, as Arjuna did. Do not close the book.

The library is built to help with this. A hub is one topic, and each hub has three readings: Simple, In Depth and Scholarly. Choose by the time and depth you have.

Who is speaking, and to whom?

Many readers lose their way because they do not know who is talking. The Gita has four voices, and it helps to know them.

The book opens with the blind king Dhritarashtra asking his minister Sanjaya what happened on the field of Kurukshetra (Gita 1.1). So the story reaches us as a report. Sanjaya narrates what he sees and hears. Arjuna is the one who asks. Lord Krishna is the one who answers. At the end Sanjaya says he heard this teaching directly from Lord Krishna, by the grace of the sage Vyasa (Gita 18.75).

This shapes the reading in a simple way. "You" in most verses is Arjuna, a warrior at a particular moment, and the Gita keeps widening what is said to him until it reaches every reader. Ask first what the verse meant for the man to whom it was said. Then ask what it means for you. The story behind the field is told in the Mahabharata, and What Is the Gita? gives the part you need.

Does every passage read the same way?

No. The Gita is not only reasoning. A passage can be an argument, a practice, an address to the heart or a vision, and each is read in its own way.

A devotional verse read like a proof loses its warmth. An argument read like a prayer loses its reasons. When you are lost in a passage, ask which kind it is. Chapter 12: The Yoga of Devotion, an Overview shows how the Gita speaks when it speaks from the heart.

How do you read one verse in ten minutes?

If you want a commentary, read it after step 5, not before.

Can you read together with others?

Yes, and the Gita's own method of asking and learning (Gita 4.34) fits a small group well. A simple plan: one person reads the verse aloud, each person says it in their own words, and the group keeps one question for the week. Differences in understanding are the point. Bring them to a commentary afterwards, not before. Satsang and Study Circle is the path made for this.

Five ways of misreading

• Reading only favourite verses. Read the neighbours. The Gita is one conversation, not a heap of sayings.
• Treating one translation word as final. Check the word meaning and the context.
• Reading to win an argument. The Gita says it is not to be spoken to those who do not wish to listen (Gita 18.67). It calls its study an offering of knowledge, not a weapon:

• Reading once and judging. The Lord asks Arjuna to reflect fully (Gita 18.63). Practice steadies the mind (Gita 6.35), and reading needs the same.
• Thinking that more reading means more understanding. The Gita names the regular study of scripture as a discipline of speech (Gita 17.15): a habit kept, not a heap read.

An example

Take Arun, an accountant who is anxious about results at work. He picks one question: "How do I do my best and not be shaken by the outcome?" He reads chapter 2 slowly, a verse a night, with a notebook. After his first pass he reads one commentary. In a month his question has changed. He no longer asks how to get the result. He asks what is his to do today.

Questions readers ask

Is it enough to read alone, or do I need a teacher?

The Gita speaks of learning from those who have seen the truth, with humility, questions and service (Gita 4.34). A good book can serve as a teacher, and a living teacher or study group helps more. Satsang and Study Circle is a path made for reading together.

Which commentary should I choose?

Choose one in a language you follow easily, which quotes the verse, explains the word and gives reasons. Judge it by whether it explains the verse in front of you. Stay with it through one chapter before you decide.

What if two translations say different things?

Compare the word meanings, then read the verses around. A difference of tone is normal. A real difference of meaning is the work of a commentary.

What if two verses seem to disagree?

Arjuna felt exactly this (Gita 3.2). The Gita answers with one frame, two paths of faith (Gita 3.3). Ask what each verse is answering. Do not keep only the one you like.

How will I know that I have understood?

You can say the verse in your own words, say what it asks of you today, and have tried it. The Gita asks for reflection and then your own choice (Gita 18.63).

The answer in one line

Read in order, with one plain translation and one commentary taken after you have met the verse, and carry a question of your own. The Gita's closing advice to Arjuna is also advice to the reader.

For a shorter start, see Where Should You Start?. For one verse read closely at every distance, see the deeper reading. The next hub in the path is The Eighteen Chapters at a Glance.