The Gita has 18 chapters, so a chapter a day takes 18 days. Chapters run from 20 verses (12 and 15) to 78 (chapter 18). A day’s reading takes 4 to 13 minutes in English, or 5 to 20 minutes to recite the Sanskrit.
You can start any day. For Gita Jayanti 2026, start on Thursday, 3 December and chapter 18 falls on Sunday, 20 December, the day tradition says the Gita was spoken.
Times assume about 10 seconds a verse for the English and 15 to recite the Sanskrit.
Day 147 verses · 8 min in English · 12 min to reciteFor Jayanti: Thu 3 Dec
Chapter 1: The Yoga of Arjuna's DespairArjuna Vishada Yoga
The armies line up at Kurukshetra. Arjuna asks Krishna to drive the chariot between them, sees his grandfather Bhishma and his teacher Drona on the other side, and puts down his bow.
“Sanjaya said: Saying this, Arjuna sat down on the chariot seat in the midst of the battlefield, casting aside his bow and arrows, his mind overwhelmed by grief.”
Day 272 verses · 12 min in English · 18 min to reciteFor Jayanti: Fri 4 Dec
Chapter 2: The Yoga of KnowledgeSankhya Yoga
Krishna starts to answer. He speaks of the self that is never born and never dies, of doing your own work without holding on to the result, and ends with a portrait of a person whose mind stays steady.
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन । मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥
“You have a right to action alone, never to its fruits. Do not become the cause of the result, and do not cling to inaction.”
Day 343 verses · 8 min in English · 11 min to reciteFor Jayanti: Sat 5 Dec
Chapter 3: The Yoga of ActionKarma Yoga
Arjuna asks why he should act at all if knowledge is higher. Krishna says nobody can stay without acting for even a moment, and explains how to work without being bound by it.
Day 529 verses · 5 min in English · 8 min to reciteFor Jayanti: Mon 7 Dec
Chapter 5: The Yoga of RenunciationKarma Sanyasa Yoga
Arjuna asks which is better, giving up action or acting without attachment. Krishna says both lead to the same place, and that of the two, acting without attachment is better.
ब्रह्मण्याधाय कर्माणि सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा करोति यः । लिप्यते न स पापेन पद्मपत्रमिवाम्भसा ॥
“One who offers actions to Brahman, renounces attachment, and acts is not stained by wrongdoing, just as a lotus leaf is untouched by water.”
Day 828 verses · 5 min in English · 7 min to reciteFor Jayanti: Thu 10 Dec
Chapter 8: The Imperishable AbsoluteAkshara Brahma Yoga
Arjuna asks seven questions, from what Brahman is to how Krishna is known at the time of death. Krishna answers with what a person remembers at the end.
तस्मात्सर्वेषु कालेषु मामनुस्मर युध्य च । मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्मामेवैष्यस्यसंशयम् ॥
“Therefore, remember Me at all times and fight. With mind and intellect offered to Me, you will surely come to Me.”
Day 1042 verses · 7 min in English · 11 min to reciteFor Jayanti: Sat 12 Dec
Chapter 10: The Yoga of Divine GloriesVibhuti Yoga
Arjuna asks where he should look for Krishna. Krishna lists his glories: among months Margashirsha, among rivers the Ganga, among the Pandavas Arjuna himself.
अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः । अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ॥
“I am the Self, O Gudakesha, seated in the heart of all beings. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.”
Day 1155 verses · 10 min in English · 14 min to reciteFor Jayanti: Sun 13 Dec
Chapter 11: The Universal FormVishvarupa Darshana Yoga
Arjuna asks to see Krishna’s universal form and is given the eyes to see it. What he sees frightens him, and he asks Krishna to take his familiar form again.
श्री भगवानुवाचकालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धोलोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः । ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वेयेऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ॥
“The Blessed Lord said: I am Time, the great destroyer of worlds, here to end all beings. Even without you, the warriors standing in the opposing ranks will not survive.”
Day 1520 verses · 4 min in English · 5 min to reciteFor Jayanti: Thu 17 Dec
Chapter 15: The Yoga of the Supreme PersonPurushottama Yoga
The world as an ashvattha tree with its roots above. Krishna names himself Purushottama, beyond both the perishable and the imperishable.
श्री भगवानुवाचऊर्ध्वमूलमधःशाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् । छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् ॥
“The Blessed Lord said: They speak of the imperishable banyan-like tree of the world, with roots above and branches below. The Vedas are its leaves. One who knows this tree knows the Vedas.”
It helps. Chapter 1 sets up the scene the rest answers, and later chapters refer back to ideas from chapters 2 to 6. If you only have a few days, see which chapters to pick first. Which chapters to pick →
What if I miss a day?
Read two chapters the next day. Chapters 5, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 have under 30 verses each and are the easiest to double up with.
Which translation should I read alongside?
Every chapter here has the Sanskrit, a Hindi anuvad and an English translation. If you want a printed edition too, our comparison of English translations covers Gita Press, Easwaran, Prabhupada and others. Compare translations →
How long does the whole Gita take?
All 700 verses take about two hours to read in English at an unhurried pace, or about three hours to recite in Sanskrit. Spread over 18 days, that is between 4 and 13 minutes a day in English.
Or one verse a day, for what you’re facing
Tell Wisdom what’s going on and it picks a verse a day for seven days, with what each one means for you.
