7 Gita Teachings to Overcome Toxic and Negative Thoughts
Nidhi | Jul 24, 2025, 12:52 IST
( Image credit : Times Life Bureau )
Highlight of the story: The Bhagavad Gita isn’t just philosophy — it’s a guide for mastering the mind. In this article, we explore 7 powerful teachings from Krishna to help you overcome toxic and negative thinking. Each teaching is backed by original Sanskrit shlokas and simplified for everyday life, offering a way to transform overthinking, self-doubt, and emotional turmoil into clarity and calmness.
The mind is a restless place. It can take one small worry and turn it into a mountain. It remembers the things you wish to forget and keeps replaying them like an old song you cannot turn off. Krishna knew this struggle. When Arjuna stood on the battlefield, his hands trembling, his thoughts spiraling, it was not swords or arrows that stopped him. It was his own mind.
That is where the Gita begins. Not as a book about war, but as a guide to dealing with the storms inside us. It does not tell you to shut off your thoughts or run from them. It teaches you how to see them for what they are and live above them.
देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा।
तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति॥ (2.13)
Translation:
As the soul passes through childhood, youth, and old age within this body, so it also passes into another body at death. The wise are not deluded by these changes.
Krishna’s words are clear: your thoughts are not you. They are passing clouds. They arrive, they stay for a moment, and then they go. But the self, the real you, is untouched by them. The next time your mind fills with negativity, try to simply watch it. Let it pass without making it your identity.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥ (2.47)
Translation:
You have a right to perform your duties, but not to the fruits of your actions. Never be attached to the results, and never fall into inaction.
So much of our suffering comes from clinging to results we cannot control. We imagine every possible outcome, often the worst ones, and exhaust ourselves. Krishna tells us to focus on what we can do right now. Do the work with honesty and sincerity. Leave the rest to life, to time, to the divine.
उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः॥ (6.5)
Translation:
Raise yourself by yourself. Do not degrade yourself. The mind is both the friend and the enemy of the self.
Your mind can be your greatest supporter or your harshest enemy. Left untamed, it will drag you through old mistakes and imagined fears. But if you guide it with awareness, it will lift you up. Train your thoughts, or they will train you.
समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते॥ (2.15)
Translation:
One who is steady in pleasure and pain, whom these do not disturb, is fit for immortality.
We chase pleasure as if it will last forever and fight pain as if it will never end. Krishna teaches that both are temporary. True strength is being steady, whether life gives you sweetness or struggle. In that balance, you find peace that no passing thought can take away.
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः।
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत॥ (2.14)
Translation:
Contacts with the senses bring cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go. Endure them, O Bharata.
Every negative thought feels endless when you are in the middle of it. But it isn’t. Pain, sadness, worry — all of it comes and goes. Krishna’s words are a reminder that you are larger than your present state. The storm will pass, and the sky will clear again.
यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम्।
ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत्॥ (6.26)
Translation:
When the restless, unsteady mind wanders away, bring it back under the control of the self.
The mind will wander. It will replay old conversations, imagine problems that don’t exist, and fill your day with noise. Do not fight it with anger. Gently bring it back, again and again. That gentle returning is how you build inner stillness.
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः॥ (18.66)
Translation:
Abandon all varieties of duties and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
There are days when the mind feels too heavy to handle. When no amount of reasoning quiets the noise. Krishna gives the simplest solution: surrender. Place the weight in hands stronger than yours. Trust that you do not have to carry everything alone.The Gita’s closing message is simple yet profound. The battlefield of life is rarely outside; it is within. The real struggle is not with people or circumstances but with our own thoughts, fears, and attachments. Krishna does not ask us to silence or destroy the mind. He teaches us to rise above it, to step back and watch our thoughts like passing clouds instead of getting lost in their storm. When you learn to surrender what you cannot control and anchor yourself in the deeper self, you discover something liberating — you were never the storm. You were always the sky, vast and untouched, through which it moves.
That is where the Gita begins. Not as a book about war, but as a guide to dealing with the storms inside us. It does not tell you to shut off your thoughts or run from them. It teaches you how to see them for what they are and live above them.
1. You Are Not Your Thoughts
Stress
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देहिनोऽस्मिन्यथा देहे कौमारं यौवनं जरा।
तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति॥ (2.13)
Translation:
As the soul passes through childhood, youth, and old age within this body, so it also passes into another body at death. The wise are not deluded by these changes.
Krishna’s words are clear: your thoughts are not you. They are passing clouds. They arrive, they stay for a moment, and then they go. But the self, the real you, is untouched by them. The next time your mind fills with negativity, try to simply watch it. Let it pass without making it your identity.
2. Do What You Must, Leave the Rest
Self-awareness
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कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि॥ (2.47)
Translation:
You have a right to perform your duties, but not to the fruits of your actions. Never be attached to the results, and never fall into inaction.
So much of our suffering comes from clinging to results we cannot control. We imagine every possible outcome, often the worst ones, and exhaust ourselves. Krishna tells us to focus on what we can do right now. Do the work with honesty and sincerity. Leave the rest to life, to time, to the divine.
3. Befriend Your Mind Before It Defeats You
Mind.
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उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत्।
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः॥ (6.5)
Translation:
Raise yourself by yourself. Do not degrade yourself. The mind is both the friend and the enemy of the self.
Your mind can be your greatest supporter or your harshest enemy. Left untamed, it will drag you through old mistakes and imagined fears. But if you guide it with awareness, it will lift you up. Train your thoughts, or they will train you.
4. Stay Balanced in Joy and Pain
Equanimity
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समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते॥ (2.15)
Translation:
One who is steady in pleasure and pain, whom these do not disturb, is fit for immortality.
We chase pleasure as if it will last forever and fight pain as if it will never end. Krishna teaches that both are temporary. True strength is being steady, whether life gives you sweetness or struggle. In that balance, you find peace that no passing thought can take away.
5. Remember, This Too Will Pass
Life.
( Image credit : Pexels )
मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः।
आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत॥ (2.14)
Translation:
Contacts with the senses bring cold and heat, pleasure and pain. They come and go. Endure them, O Bharata.
Every negative thought feels endless when you are in the middle of it. But it isn’t. Pain, sadness, worry — all of it comes and goes. Krishna’s words are a reminder that you are larger than your present state. The storm will pass, and the sky will clear again.
6. Bring Your Wandering Mind Back
Spirituality
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यतो यतो निश्चरति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम्।
ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत्॥ (6.26)
Translation:
When the restless, unsteady mind wanders away, bring it back under the control of the self.
The mind will wander. It will replay old conversations, imagine problems that don’t exist, and fill your day with noise. Do not fight it with anger. Gently bring it back, again and again. That gentle returning is how you build inner stillness.
7. Surrender the Burden
Surrender
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सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज।
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः॥ (18.66)
Translation:
Abandon all varieties of duties and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not fear.
There are days when the mind feels too heavy to handle. When no amount of reasoning quiets the noise. Krishna gives the simplest solution: surrender. Place the weight in hands stronger than yours. Trust that you do not have to carry everything alone.