7 Gita Shlokas to Control Your Thoughts and Stay Positive in Every Situation
Riya Kumari | Jul 25, 2025, 23:59 IST
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
Highlight of the story: Let’s be honest. “Think positive” sounds great until life happens. Your coffee spills, your boss schedules a 7 PM call, and someone on Instagram just got engaged in Greece… again. Meanwhile, your brain? It's busy playing a loop of every decision you’ve ever regretted, including that one time in 2015 when you replied “You too” to a “Happy birthday” text.
Most people don’t realize this, but the real war, the one that exhausts us daily, isn’t with others. It’s not the job, the deadlines, or the drama. The real war is internal. Between the self you want to be, and the mind that keeps dragging you back into patterns you swore you were done with. We all have moments when we feel hijacked by our own thoughts, overthinking, replaying conversations, doubting our choices, spiraling into emotions we thought we’d outgrown. It's not weakness. It's the human condition. But 5,000 years ago, in the middle of a literal battlefield, Krishna spoke truths that are more relevant now than ever. He wasn’t handing out sermon notes. He was guiding someone through emotional paralysis, fear, guilt, self-doubt, and confusion. In other words, exactly what you’re dealing with.
1. “You have the right to perform your duties, but not to the fruits of your actions.”
You do the work. You give your all. But when the result isn’t what you hoped for, the mind turns cruel, it questions your worth, your intelligence, your entire path. This shloka reminds us: outcome is not your responsibility, your effort is. When you chase results, your peace becomes conditional. But when you act with full sincerity and let go of control over outcome, you become powerful, not because everything works out, but because your mind isn’t held hostage by results anymore.
Detach from results, not from responsibility. Do your best, truly. But don't let your mind make you feel smaller because things didn't go as planned. They rarely do.
2. “Equanimity is the real yoga.”
Most people confuse peace with silence or avoidance. But the real test is staying balanced when the noise is deafening, when praise tempts you, when blame wounds you, when plans fail or succeed wildly. This verse isn’t glorifying numbness. It’s pointing to a state of inner steadiness, where you don’t collapse under highs or lows. You still feel, but you are not ruled by those feelings. And that’s not detachment, it’s mastery.
Practice remaining centered in the middle of chaos. You don’t need perfect circumstances to feel peace, you need presence and perspective.
3. “The senses are so strong and impetuous that they forcibly carry away even the mind of a wise person.”
Ever promised yourself “just 10 minutes on Instagram” and looked up an hour later with anxiety and envy you didn’t ask for? That’s this verse, in action. The senses, what you see, hear, crave, scroll, have the power to hijack the mind. And this is not just about self-control. It’s about conscious consumption. What you feed your senses, feeds your thoughts. Garbage in, garbage out.
Guard your inputs like you guard your passwords. If you want a still mind, stop surrounding it with noise.
4. “O mighty-armed one, the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and very strong.”
This isn’t Krishna telling Arjuna, “It’s okay, try meditation.” He’s acknowledging a truth we’re all too familiar with: the mind is wild. You sit for silence, and it shows you an emotional slideshow from 2011. The Gita doesn’t deny the problem, it names it. And then it gives the solution: abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (detachment). Not once, not weekly, daily. Like brushing your teeth, but for your mind.
Don’t expect immediate control. Expect resistance. Then show up anyway. Your mind isn’t your enemy—it just needs re-training.
5. “Elevate yourself by your own mind. Don’t degrade yourself. The mind alone is friend and enemy.”
We speak to ourselves in ways we’d never speak to a friend. This verse stops you in your tracks. It says: you are the one either pulling yourself out, or dragging yourself down. No one else. It’s empowering and confronting. Because if your inner world is harsh, no amount of external validation will save you.
If you want peace, be responsible for your inner dialogue. Speak to yourself the way you wish others would.
6. “One who is regulated in eating, sleeping, working and recreation can mitigate all material pains.”
You don’t need more affirmations. You probably need more sleep. The Gita’s not asking you to become some ascetic saint, it’s saying: discipline is healing. Rhythm is medicine. The mind feels chaotic when the body is overstimulated or undernourished. Small things, when you eat, how you rest, how much you scroll, add up. There’s no spiritual shortcut around lifestyle.
Want mental stability? Start with physical balance. Show your body kindness through consistency.
7. “Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings…”
This is the Gita zooming way out. Beyond the moment, beyond the fear. It’s Krishna saying, your current struggle feels like your whole world, but it’s just one frame in a much bigger story. You’ve existed beyond this problem. You’ll exist beyond its end. You are not this moment’s anxiety, you are the awareness watching it. That shift alone can break the spiral.
Perspective kills panic. When you feel overwhelmed, step back. You are not your pain, you are the one who can witness it without drowning.
CLOSING THOUGHT
We live in a time of overstimulation, overthinking, and constant comparison. So it’s easy to think you’re broken for not feeling calm. But you’re not broken. You’re just untrained. The mind isn’t a monster, it’s a tool. Left wild, it will burn you. Trained, it will build you.
The Gita doesn’t give hollow comfort. It gives structure. Practice. Insight. It tells you not what to feel, but how to think, so that when life shakes you (and it will), you know how to return to center. Not by escaping the world. But by mastering the one inside you.
1. “You have the right to perform your duties, but not to the fruits of your actions.”
Award
( Image credit : Unsplash )
You do the work. You give your all. But when the result isn’t what you hoped for, the mind turns cruel, it questions your worth, your intelligence, your entire path. This shloka reminds us: outcome is not your responsibility, your effort is. When you chase results, your peace becomes conditional. But when you act with full sincerity and let go of control over outcome, you become powerful, not because everything works out, but because your mind isn’t held hostage by results anymore.
Detach from results, not from responsibility. Do your best, truly. But don't let your mind make you feel smaller because things didn't go as planned. They rarely do.
2. “Equanimity is the real yoga.”
Peace
( Image credit : Unsplash )
Most people confuse peace with silence or avoidance. But the real test is staying balanced when the noise is deafening, when praise tempts you, when blame wounds you, when plans fail or succeed wildly. This verse isn’t glorifying numbness. It’s pointing to a state of inner steadiness, where you don’t collapse under highs or lows. You still feel, but you are not ruled by those feelings. And that’s not detachment, it’s mastery.
Practice remaining centered in the middle of chaos. You don’t need perfect circumstances to feel peace, you need presence and perspective.
3. “The senses are so strong and impetuous that they forcibly carry away even the mind of a wise person.”
Meditate
( Image credit : Unsplash )
Ever promised yourself “just 10 minutes on Instagram” and looked up an hour later with anxiety and envy you didn’t ask for? That’s this verse, in action. The senses, what you see, hear, crave, scroll, have the power to hijack the mind. And this is not just about self-control. It’s about conscious consumption. What you feed your senses, feeds your thoughts. Garbage in, garbage out.
Guard your inputs like you guard your passwords. If you want a still mind, stop surrounding it with noise.
4. “O mighty-armed one, the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate, and very strong.”
Think
( Image credit : Unsplash )
This isn’t Krishna telling Arjuna, “It’s okay, try meditation.” He’s acknowledging a truth we’re all too familiar with: the mind is wild. You sit for silence, and it shows you an emotional slideshow from 2011. The Gita doesn’t deny the problem, it names it. And then it gives the solution: abhyasa (practice) and vairagya (detachment). Not once, not weekly, daily. Like brushing your teeth, but for your mind.
Don’t expect immediate control. Expect resistance. Then show up anyway. Your mind isn’t your enemy—it just needs re-training.
5. “Elevate yourself by your own mind. Don’t degrade yourself. The mind alone is friend and enemy.”
Self talk
( Image credit : Unsplash )
We speak to ourselves in ways we’d never speak to a friend. This verse stops you in your tracks. It says: you are the one either pulling yourself out, or dragging yourself down. No one else. It’s empowering and confronting. Because if your inner world is harsh, no amount of external validation will save you.
If you want peace, be responsible for your inner dialogue. Speak to yourself the way you wish others would.
6. “One who is regulated in eating, sleeping, working and recreation can mitigate all material pains.”
Positive mindset
( Image credit : Unsplash )
You don’t need more affirmations. You probably need more sleep. The Gita’s not asking you to become some ascetic saint, it’s saying: discipline is healing. Rhythm is medicine. The mind feels chaotic when the body is overstimulated or undernourished. Small things, when you eat, how you rest, how much you scroll, add up. There’s no spiritual shortcut around lifestyle.
Want mental stability? Start with physical balance. Show your body kindness through consistency.
7. “Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings…”
Perspective
( Image credit : Unsplash )
This is the Gita zooming way out. Beyond the moment, beyond the fear. It’s Krishna saying, your current struggle feels like your whole world, but it’s just one frame in a much bigger story. You’ve existed beyond this problem. You’ll exist beyond its end. You are not this moment’s anxiety, you are the awareness watching it. That shift alone can break the spiral.
Perspective kills panic. When you feel overwhelmed, step back. You are not your pain, you are the one who can witness it without drowning.
CLOSING THOUGHT
The Gita doesn’t give hollow comfort. It gives structure. Practice. Insight. It tells you not what to feel, but how to think, so that when life shakes you (and it will), you know how to return to center. Not by escaping the world. But by mastering the one inside you.