Today's Goal
By the end of today, you will know the 50 most important and frequently occurring words in the Gita, organized by category, giving you the vocabulary to follow the text's core arguments.
The Self, God, and Reality
These are the Gita's 'big picture' words — the concepts that define its philosophical vision.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| आत्मन् | ātman | the Self, the soul — the Gita's most central concept |
| ब्रह्मन् | brahman | the Absolute, ultimate reality |
| ईश्वर | īśvara | the Lord, God, the supreme controller |
| भगवान् | bhagavān | the Blessed Lord — how Krishna is addressed |
| पुरुष | puruṣa | spirit, consciousness, person |
| प्रकृति | prakṛti | nature, material world, primal matter |
| माया | māyā | illusion, the power that conceals reality |
| परम | parama | supreme, highest |
The Three Paths
The Gita teaches three main paths to liberation. These words define them.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| योग | yoga | union, discipline, spiritual practice |
| कर्म | karma | action, deed — and the path of selfless action |
| ज्ञान | jñāna | knowledge, wisdom — the path of understanding |
| भक्ति | bhakti | devotion — the path of loving surrender |
| ध्यान | dhyāna | meditation, contemplation |
| त्याग | tyāga | renunciation, letting go |
| संन्यास | saṃnyāsa | complete renunciation, monasticism |
Mind, Intellect, and Qualities
The Gita's psychological vocabulary — how the inner world works.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| मनस् | manas | mind — the faculty of thinking and feeling |
| बुद्धि | buddhi | intellect, discernment, higher reason |
| गुण | guṇa | quality — the three: sattva, rajas, tamas |
| सत्त्व | sattva | goodness, purity, clarity |
| रजस् | rajas | passion, activity, restlessness |
| तमस् | tamas | darkness, inertia, ignorance |
| इन्द्रिय | indriya | sense organ — the 10 senses |
| अहंकार | ahaṃkāra | ego, the 'I-maker' |
Ethics and Cosmic Order
Words about right action, duty, and the moral framework of the Gita.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| धर्म | dharma | duty, righteousness, cosmic law |
| अधर्म | adharma | unrighteousness — the opposite of dharma |
| सत्य | satya | truth |
| अहिंसा | ahiṃsā | non-violence |
| श्रद्धा | śraddhā | faith, trust, conviction |
| फल | phala | fruit, result — as in 'fruit of action' |
| पाप | pāpa | sin, wrongdoing |
| पुण्य | puṇya | merit, virtue |
States and Goals
Where the spiritual journey leads.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| मोक्ष | mokṣa | liberation, freedom from the cycle of rebirth |
| शान्ति | śānti | peace — the Gita ends with 'oṃ tat sat śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ' |
| सुख | sukha | happiness, pleasure |
| दुःख | duḥkha | suffering, sorrow |
| संसार | saṃsāra | the cycle of birth and death |
| मृत्यु | mṛtyu | death |
| जन्म | janma | birth |
| देह | deha | body |
Common Structural Words
Small but mighty — these connectors and particles appear on nearly every line.
| Devanagari | IAST | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| च | ca | and (placed after the word) |
| न | na | not, no |
| एव | eva | indeed, only, truly — adds emphasis |
| हि | hi | for, because, certainly |
| तु | tu | but, however |
| वा | vā | or |
| इति | iti | thus, so — marks the end of a quote or thought |
| तत् | tat | that — as in 'tat tvam asi' (that you are) |
| सर्व | sarva | all, everything |
Gītā Connection
With these 50 words, you can follow the major arguments of the Gita. For example, BG 2.22: 'vāsāṃsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya' — knowing that vāsāṃsi means 'garments,' jīrṇāni means 'worn out,' and deha means 'body,' you can grasp Krishna's famous metaphor: the soul changes bodies like a person changes clothes.
Practice
Cover the meanings and test yourself. How many can you recall?
- आत्मन् → Self/soul
- ब्रह्मन् → the Absolute
- कर्म → action
- ज्ञान → knowledge
- भक्ति → devotion
- धर्म → duty/righteousness
- मोक्ष → liberation
- गुण → quality
- बुद्धि → intellect
- मनस् → mind
- सुख → happiness
- दुःख → suffering
- शान्ति → peace
Group these words by category: Path, Quality, or Goal.
- योग → Path
- सत्त्व → Quality
- मोक्ष → Goal
- भक्ति → Path
- तमस् → Quality
- शान्ति → Goal
- ज्ञान → Path
- रजस् → Quality
- सुख → Goal
Translate these common Gita phrases using your new vocabulary.
- कर्मयोग → karma-yoga (the yoga of action)
- आत्मज्ञान → ātma-jñāna (self-knowledge)
- सर्वधर्म → sarva-dharma (all duties)
- मनःशान्ति → manaḥ-śānti (peace of mind)
Recap
You now know the 50 most essential Gita words across 6 categories: the divine (ātman, brahman, īśvara), the three paths (karma, jñāna, bhakti), the inner world (manas, buddhi, guṇa), ethics (dharma, satya, śraddhā), goals (mokṣa, śānti), and structural particles (ca, na, eva, hi). These words are the Gita's vocabulary backbone.
Coming Tomorrow
Tomorrow you'll learn Sanskrit's compound word system — how small words combine into massive compounds. This is the key to decoding long Sanskrit words that look intimidating but are actually just building blocks stacked together.