7 Bhagavad Gita Shlokas to Stop Overthinking and Calm Your Mind
Riya Kumari | Jul 23, 2025, 23:58 IST
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
So picture this: it’s 2:47 a.m. You’re lying in bed, pretending you’re asleep because, I don’t know, apparently pretending helps now? You’ve replayed a conversation from 2019 seventeen different ways, stalked your ex’s sister’s new boyfriend (who, by the way, looks like a tax deduction), and questioned every life choice from your haircut to your degree.
There’s a version of rock bottom people don’t talk about. It doesn’t always look like disaster. Sometimes, it looks like lying in bed for hours because you think the world doesn’t need you. It’s replaying every word you said in a conversation and deciding everyone must secretly hate you. It’s hearing a compliment and instantly thinking, “They don’t mean it. They’re just being nice.” It’s hiding, not because you want peace, but because you’re convinced you’ll be judged if you show up. It’s when even your own mind turns against you. This kind of pain doesn’t scream. It whispers, constantly. That you’re not enough. That you’ll mess it up. That everyone else is moving ahead, while you’re stuck in the same cycle of self-loathing, anxiety, shame. But thousands of years ago, the Bhagavad Gita described this very breakdown. A warrior named Arjuna collapsed, not because he lacked strength, but because his mind was screaming. Krishna didn’t dismiss his pain. He didn’t offer false cheer. He gave truth. The kind that hurts, but heals. Here are 7 verses that don’t just sound wise, they feel like rescue when your own thoughts won’t let you breathe.
1. “You have a right to perform your actions, but never to the results.”
(Chapter 2, Verse 47)
When your self-worth is tied to outcomes, to people’s approval, to getting it perfect, you will never feel safe. Because those things are never in your control. This verse doesn’t say don’t care. It says: care about the right things. Your effort. Your honesty. The steps you take when no one’s clapping. You feel anxious because you think everything rests on the result. It doesn’t. You were never meant to control everything. You were only meant to show up.
This isn’t a call to care less. It’s a call to detach wisely. We live in a world obsessed with outcomes, likes, promotions, relationships, wins. But Krishna reminds us: your peace is not meant to be held hostage by results. Your job is the effort. The integrity. The doing. The outcome? That’s not your weight to carry. Overthinking is often our attempt to control the future. But the Gita says: your freedom begins when you stop trying to own what was never yours in the first place.
2. “Even a little progress on this path protects you from great fear.”
(Chapter 2, Verse 40)
You cry because you think healing means never falling again. That unless you’re perfect, you’re a failure. But Krishna says: Even a little step matters. Even brushing your teeth today. Getting out of bed. Replying to a friend. Choosing not to spiral, for even ten minutes. That’s not nothing. That’s survival. Stop measuring progress in big wins. Start noticing the small mercies you give yourself. That’s where strength begins.
One step. That’s all it takes to change your direction. When your mind spirals, it tells you that if you can’t fix everything, fixing anything is pointless. That’s a lie. This verse reminds us: spiritual growth, emotional healing, mental calm—it doesn’t demand perfection. It honors movement. You don’t need to have it all figured out. Just keep showing up. Even small efforts matter. Especially small efforts.
3. “The mind is restless, turbulent, strong and stubborn.”
(Chapter 6, Verse 34)
You’re not broken. You’re just listening too hard to a mind that was always going to be noisy. Your thoughts feel like truth. But they’re just thoughts. Not every feeling is a fact. Not every scenario your brain invents will happen. And here’s the Gita’s wisdom: You don’t need to fight your thoughts. Just don’t let them lead. You are not your thoughts. You are the one witnessing them. And the witness is always stronger.
The Gita doesn’t romanticize the mind. It tells the truth. Your mind is powerful, but it is not always wise. It resists stillness, creates problems that don’t exist, and revisits wounds that have already healed. And that’s okay. The problem isn’t that your mind wanders, it’s that you believe everything it says. When you notice your thoughts running wild, don’t fight them. Just don’t follow them. Awareness is enough. You are not your thoughts. You are the one who notices them.
4. “One must elevate, not degrade, oneself by the mind.”
(Chapter 6, Verse 5)
You talk to yourself like someone you hate. You call it realism, or humility, but it’s cruelty. You wouldn’t speak to a stranger the way you speak to yourself in the mirror. This verse calls it out. You can’t beg the world for kindness and feed yourself poison at the same time. You are responsible for how you treat yourself in silence. That voice inside? It doesn’t have to be a bully. It can be a guide. A friend. A quiet ally. Start rewriting the script. Start choosing gentler words. You don’t have to earn your right to love yourself. You were always worthy.
You spend the most time with yourself. What are you telling yourself when no one is watching? This verse asks you to be responsible for the way you treat yourself, not just in action, but in thought. Stop being your own saboteur. Stop calling it humility when it's really self-hate. Speak to yourself like someone who’s worth saving, because you are. Use your mind to uplift, not punish. Self-respect isn’t pride. It’s survival.
5. “He who is the same in pleasure and pain, who dwells in the Self, is fit for immortality.”
(Chapter 2, Verse 15)
You’re scared of pain because you think it’s proof you’re losing. But what if it’s proof you’re human? You don’t need to avoid sadness. You just need to stop drowning in it. Life will never be just highs. There will be nights you cry without knowing why. But that’s not weakness. That’s weather. You don’t fix storms by yelling at the clouds. You fix them by finding shelter in yourself. And that shelter begins when you stop asking, “Why is this happening to me?” And start whispering, “Okay, what now?”
We chase happiness. We run from pain. The Gita suggests something else: balance. Your emotions are not problems to be fixed, they’re weather. They come. They pass. If you can stay steady, kind in joy, grounded in sorrow, you win a peace that doesn’t depend on circumstances.
Maturity is when you stop asking, “Why is this happening to me?” and start asking, “What is this teaching me?”
6. “Let a man lift himself by himself; let him not degrade himself.”
(Chapter 6, Verse 5)
No one knows your pain like you do. But that also means, no one can save you the way you can. This verse is brutal. And freeing. No one is coming. But that’s not a curse. It’s a call. You are your own turning point. You’ve torn yourself down in your head a thousand times. Try building yourself up, once. Say something kind. Make one hard choice. Start the damn chapter. Apply for the thing. Cut off the toxic friend. The life you want isn’t out there. It’s on the other side of what you believe about yourself.
You are both your friend and your enemy. No one overthinks us like us. No one critiques us harder. But also, no one has more power to heal. This verse doesn’t ask you to wait for external validation. It asks you to become your own anchor.
Self-mastery isn’t about ego. It’s about responsibility. The thoughts you repeat shape the life you live. Choose better ones.
7. “Get up, O Arjuna! This faint-heartedness does not become you.”
(Chapter 2, Verse 3)
You don’t need another affirmation. You need to move. Overthinking will tell you to wait until you’re “ready.” But Krishna didn’t wait. He interrupted Arjuna’s collapse. And he said: Get up. Not because he was dismissing the pain. But because he knew: the cure is in doing, not just thinking. This is the verse you remember when you want to hide again. When your brain says, You’ll mess it up, You say, Maybe. But I’m doing it anyway. Courage is not clarity. Courage is the decision to move even when your mind says you can’t.
This is not motivational fluff. It’s an intervention. There comes a moment when thinking more won’t help you. When you don’t need another perspective, you need to move. Take the risk. End the chapter. Begin the thing. Krishna tells Arjuna: Enough. You weren’t made for shrinking. You were made to act. That stillness you want? It won’t come from waiting. It comes from walking through the fog. Let courage carry you where clarity can’t.
FINAL THOUGHT
The Gita never said, “Don’t feel.” It said, Don’t get trapped. It understood that the mind is powerful, but peace is possible when you stop identifying with every emotion and start standing beside it. You don’t fix overthinking by outthinking it. You fix it by seeing through it.
Sometimes, the calm you’re looking for doesn’t come from having all the answers. It comes from finally understanding which questions never mattered.
1. “You have a right to perform your actions, but never to the results.”
Goal
( Image credit : Unsplash )
(Chapter 2, Verse 47)
When your self-worth is tied to outcomes, to people’s approval, to getting it perfect, you will never feel safe. Because those things are never in your control. This verse doesn’t say don’t care. It says: care about the right things. Your effort. Your honesty. The steps you take when no one’s clapping. You feel anxious because you think everything rests on the result. It doesn’t. You were never meant to control everything. You were only meant to show up.
This isn’t a call to care less. It’s a call to detach wisely. We live in a world obsessed with outcomes, likes, promotions, relationships, wins. But Krishna reminds us: your peace is not meant to be held hostage by results. Your job is the effort. The integrity. The doing. The outcome? That’s not your weight to carry. Overthinking is often our attempt to control the future. But the Gita says: your freedom begins when you stop trying to own what was never yours in the first place.
2. “Even a little progress on this path protects you from great fear.”
Steps
( Image credit : Unsplash )
(Chapter 2, Verse 40)
You cry because you think healing means never falling again. That unless you’re perfect, you’re a failure. But Krishna says: Even a little step matters. Even brushing your teeth today. Getting out of bed. Replying to a friend. Choosing not to spiral, for even ten minutes. That’s not nothing. That’s survival. Stop measuring progress in big wins. Start noticing the small mercies you give yourself. That’s where strength begins.
One step. That’s all it takes to change your direction. When your mind spirals, it tells you that if you can’t fix everything, fixing anything is pointless. That’s a lie. This verse reminds us: spiritual growth, emotional healing, mental calm—it doesn’t demand perfection. It honors movement. You don’t need to have it all figured out. Just keep showing up. Even small efforts matter. Especially small efforts.
3. “The mind is restless, turbulent, strong and stubborn.”
Alone
( Image credit : Unsplash )
(Chapter 6, Verse 34)
You’re not broken. You’re just listening too hard to a mind that was always going to be noisy. Your thoughts feel like truth. But they’re just thoughts. Not every feeling is a fact. Not every scenario your brain invents will happen. And here’s the Gita’s wisdom: You don’t need to fight your thoughts. Just don’t let them lead. You are not your thoughts. You are the one witnessing them. And the witness is always stronger.
The Gita doesn’t romanticize the mind. It tells the truth. Your mind is powerful, but it is not always wise. It resists stillness, creates problems that don’t exist, and revisits wounds that have already healed. And that’s okay. The problem isn’t that your mind wanders, it’s that you believe everything it says. When you notice your thoughts running wild, don’t fight them. Just don’t follow them. Awareness is enough. You are not your thoughts. You are the one who notices them.
4. “One must elevate, not degrade, oneself by the mind.”
Affirmations
( Image credit : Unsplash )
(Chapter 6, Verse 5)
You talk to yourself like someone you hate. You call it realism, or humility, but it’s cruelty. You wouldn’t speak to a stranger the way you speak to yourself in the mirror. This verse calls it out. You can’t beg the world for kindness and feed yourself poison at the same time. You are responsible for how you treat yourself in silence. That voice inside? It doesn’t have to be a bully. It can be a guide. A friend. A quiet ally. Start rewriting the script. Start choosing gentler words. You don’t have to earn your right to love yourself. You were always worthy.
You spend the most time with yourself. What are you telling yourself when no one is watching? This verse asks you to be responsible for the way you treat yourself, not just in action, but in thought. Stop being your own saboteur. Stop calling it humility when it's really self-hate. Speak to yourself like someone who’s worth saving, because you are. Use your mind to uplift, not punish. Self-respect isn’t pride. It’s survival.
5. “He who is the same in pleasure and pain, who dwells in the Self, is fit for immortality.”
Emotion
( Image credit : Unsplash )
(Chapter 2, Verse 15)
You’re scared of pain because you think it’s proof you’re losing. But what if it’s proof you’re human? You don’t need to avoid sadness. You just need to stop drowning in it. Life will never be just highs. There will be nights you cry without knowing why. But that’s not weakness. That’s weather. You don’t fix storms by yelling at the clouds. You fix them by finding shelter in yourself. And that shelter begins when you stop asking, “Why is this happening to me?” And start whispering, “Okay, what now?”
We chase happiness. We run from pain. The Gita suggests something else: balance. Your emotions are not problems to be fixed, they’re weather. They come. They pass. If you can stay steady, kind in joy, grounded in sorrow, you win a peace that doesn’t depend on circumstances.
Maturity is when you stop asking, “Why is this happening to me?” and start asking, “What is this teaching me?”
6. “Let a man lift himself by himself; let him not degrade himself.”
Clarity
( Image credit : Unsplash )
(Chapter 6, Verse 5)
No one knows your pain like you do. But that also means, no one can save you the way you can. This verse is brutal. And freeing. No one is coming. But that’s not a curse. It’s a call. You are your own turning point. You’ve torn yourself down in your head a thousand times. Try building yourself up, once. Say something kind. Make one hard choice. Start the damn chapter. Apply for the thing. Cut off the toxic friend. The life you want isn’t out there. It’s on the other side of what you believe about yourself.
You are both your friend and your enemy. No one overthinks us like us. No one critiques us harder. But also, no one has more power to heal. This verse doesn’t ask you to wait for external validation. It asks you to become your own anchor.
Self-mastery isn’t about ego. It’s about responsibility. The thoughts you repeat shape the life you live. Choose better ones.
7. “Get up, O Arjuna! This faint-heartedness does not become you.”
Peace
( Image credit : Unsplash )
(Chapter 2, Verse 3)
You don’t need another affirmation. You need to move. Overthinking will tell you to wait until you’re “ready.” But Krishna didn’t wait. He interrupted Arjuna’s collapse. And he said: Get up. Not because he was dismissing the pain. But because he knew: the cure is in doing, not just thinking. This is the verse you remember when you want to hide again. When your brain says, You’ll mess it up, You say, Maybe. But I’m doing it anyway. Courage is not clarity. Courage is the decision to move even when your mind says you can’t.
This is not motivational fluff. It’s an intervention. There comes a moment when thinking more won’t help you. When you don’t need another perspective, you need to move. Take the risk. End the chapter. Begin the thing. Krishna tells Arjuna: Enough. You weren’t made for shrinking. You were made to act. That stillness you want? It won’t come from waiting. It comes from walking through the fog. Let courage carry you where clarity can’t.
FINAL THOUGHT
Sometimes, the calm you’re looking for doesn’t come from having all the answers. It comes from finally understanding which questions never mattered.