{"entry":{"slug":"bg-chapter-02","title":"Bhagavad Gīta Chapter 2 — Sāṃkhya Yoga","devanagari":"सांख्ययोग","iast":"sāṃkhya-yoga","type":"bg-chapter","url":"https://thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-02/","codex":"sanatana-dharma","last_verified":"2026-05","confidence":"high"},"chapter":{"number":2,"name":"Sāṃkhya-yoga","name_translation":"The Yoga of Discriminative Knowledge","verses":72,"speaker_primary":"Kṛṣṇa (from BG 2.2 onward); Arjuna (BG 2.54)","key_verses":["2.11–2.30 (immortality of Ātman)","2.47 (foundational Karma Yoga)","2.54–2.72 (Sthitaprajña)"]},"summary":"Three movements: (1) BG 2.1–2.38: Kṛṣṇa rebukes Arjuna's grief; delivers Sāṃkhya teaching on Ātman's immortality (2.11–2.30) and svadharma argument (2.31–2.38). (2) BG 2.39–2.53: Karma Yoga instruction; BG 2.47 (the foundational verse). (3) BG 2.54–2.72: Sthitaprajña description responding to Arjuna's question.","three_key_teachings":{"atman_immortality":{"verses":"BG 2.19–2.22","key_verse_iast":"na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin — This is never born nor does it die at any time","clothes_simile":"BG 2.22: just as a person puts on new garments giving up old ones, the soul accepts new bodies","parallel":"Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.19 — the Gīta quotes the Upaniṣad nearly verbatim"},"karma_yoga":{"verse":"BG 2.47","devanagari":"कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन","iast":"karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana / mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi","translation":"Your right is to action alone, never to its fruits at any time; do not be motivated by fruits; do not be attached to inaction.","shankara_three_prohibitions":["mā phaleṣu kadācana — never let desire for fruits be your motivation (kadācana = emphatic: at ANY time)","mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr — do not be the cause of fruits; addresses deeper ego-sense 'I produce results'","mā te saṅgo 'stv akarmaṇi — do not let outcome-release become excuse for inaction"]},"sthitaprajna":{"verses":"BG 2.54–2.72","definition":"One who has given up all desires from the mind and is satisfied in the self by the self (BG 2.55)","similes":["Like a lamp in a windless place — steady, not flickering","Tortoise simile (BG 2.58): one who withdraws the senses from objects as a tortoise withdraws its limbs"],"closing":"BG 2.72: eṣā brāhmī sthitiḥ — This is the state of Brahman. Having reached this, one is no longer deluded; at the time of death, one attains brahma-nirvāṇa."}},"chain_of_destruction":"BG 2.62–2.63: sensory engagement → attachment → desire → anger → delusion → confused memory → destruction of intelligence → the person perishes. The precise psychological sequence of how Avidyā operates.","svadharma_argument":"BG 2.31–2.38: separate argument from Ātman's immortality — Kṣatriya's specific Dharma requires fighting a righteous war. Both arguments (Sāṃkhya + svadharma) reach the same conclusion for different audiences/temperaments.","brahma_nirvana":"BG 2.72 — brahma-nirvāṇa: the Gīta uses the Buddhist term nirvāṇa but qualifies it with brahma. Appears only here and BG 5.24–5.26 in the entire text.","sources":[{"tier":1,"citation":"BG 2.1–2.72 with Śaṅkara Gītābhāṣya · Gambhirananda (Advaita Ashrama, 2006), pp. 50–120"},{"tier":1,"citation":"Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.19 · Olivelle (OUP, 1998), p. 375"},{"tier":2,"citation":"Zaehner (OUP, 1969), pp. 123–160"},{"tier":2,"citation":"Hiltebeitel, Dharma (OUP, 2011) — on svadharma"}],"navigation":{"previous":{"chapter":1,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-01/","name":"Arjuna-Viṣāda Yoga"},"next":{"chapter":3,"url":"/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-03/","name":"Karma Yoga","status":"coming-soon"}},"provenance":{"confidence":"high","last_verified":"2026-05","citation":"\"BG Chapter 2 — Sanātana Dharma Codex\", thecodex.expert/sanatana-dharma/texts/bhagavad-gita/chapter-02/, last updated May 2026."}}