Verses

Sixteen

Fearlessness, purity of heart, steadfastness in the yoga of Knowledge, giving, self-harmony, conscious sacrifice, study of scriptures and straightforwardness…
16:1

The divine nature leads to liberation; the demonic qualities lead to bondage. Do not grieve, O Arjuna. You were born to embody the qualities of goodness.
16:5

Led astray by lack of knowledge, entangled in the net of delusion, deeply attached to the pleasures of their cravings, they fall into a foul hell.
16:16

There are three gates to hell that destroy the soul—attachment, rage and greed. Therefore, one must let go of these three.
16:21

A person who is liberated from these three doors of darkness practices what benefits his soul. Thus he attains the Supreme goal.
16:22

Seventeen

The faith of each person accords with his nature, O Arjuna. Faith is the essence of a person. As his faith is, so he is.
17:3

This is the discipline of speech: words that cause no excitable reactions in others, words that are truthful, beneficial, of good-will, and the study of sacred texts.

This is the discipline of mind: calmness of mind, good-heartedness, silence, self-control, purity of thought and feeling.
17:15-16

The threefold discipline of body, speech and mind is called pure, sattvic, when performed with the highest faith, with no desire for reward and with single-minded devotion.
17:17

Work performed without faith is nothing, asat. Acts of sacrifice, giving or self-discipline done without faith produce no positive effect, both in this world and in the world to come.
17:28

Eighteen
The sages understand renunciation, sannyasa, as refraining from all egocentric action motivated by desire. The learned understand relinquishment, tyaga, as abandoning focus on the results of an action.
18:2

He who is free from the egoistic idea, “I am the doer,” whose mind is free from ill will, even if he kills all these beings, he kills them not and he is free.
18:17

When one sees eternity in things that pass away and infinity in finite things, then one has pure knowledge. (JM)
18:20

A person should not abandon the work born of his nature—even if it is imperfect. For all undertakings are enveloped by imperfection, as fire by smoke.
18:48

Make every act an offering to Me; regard Me as your only protector. Make every thought an offering to Me; meditate on Me always. (EE)

Fix your mind on Me—you will overcome all obstacles by My grace. But if from egoism and self-will you will not hear Me, then nothing can help you.
18:57-58

Abandoning all dharmas, or reliance on external structures for support, take refuge in Me alone. I will liberate you from all harmful action. Do not grieve.
18:66

These verses were compiled from translations by Swami Chinmayananda (SwC), Ecknath Easwaran(EE), Juan Mascaro(JM), and Swami Vidyaprakashananda.