In my assumption, there is a godification of the verses of the Bhagavad Gita in many popular translations. This godification often replaces analysis with reverence, and discernment with obedience.

I am using LLMs to strictly translate Sanskrit ślokas into English, not to inject belief, but to remove it. My working assumption is simple:

A language model has no devotion, no fear, no incentive to sanctify. It only matches words to words.

Krishna on Agency of Control

Gita 2.47

Your entitlement is to action alone, never at any time to its fruits. Do not become the cause of the results of action, nor let your attachment be toward inaction.

Gita 18.14

The field, the doer, the various instruments, the diverse kinds of effort, and also the determining factor (daiva) — these are the five factors.

Krishna on How to Act

Gita 2.49

Action driven by results is far inferior to action guided by discernment, O Arjuna. Seek refuge in discernment. Those who act for the sake of results are pitiable.

It means planning ahead, so that a single outcome doesn’t able to raise question on extinction.

Gita 2.50

One endowed with discernment relinquishes fixation on good-done and bad-done and acts with intelligence. Such clarity in action is called yoga: skillfulness in action.

Gita 2.51

Those endowed with discernment, relinquishing the fruit born of action, are freed from bondage and attain a state free from affliction.

Gita 3.35

Better is one’s own duty, even if deficient, than another’s duty well performed. Death in one’s own duty is better; another’s duty is dangerous.

Gita 4.18

One who sees non-action in action, and action in non-action, he is intelligent among humans; he is integrated and a performer of complete action.

Gita 6.5

One should lift oneself by oneself; one should not degrade oneself. For oneself alone is the friend of oneself, and oneself alone is the enemy of oneself.

Outcome-obsession corrupts judgment under uncertainty. Moral bookkeeping further traps the actor in fear and pride. Krishna replaces both result-optimization and moral absolutism with discernment-based action.

Krishna on Self-Restraint

Gita 2.63

From anger arises delusion; from delusion comes confusion of memory; from loss of memory comes destruction of discernment; from destruction of discernment, one perishes.

Gita 2.66

For one who is undisciplined, there is no discernment; for one without discernment, there is no reflective steadiness; for one without steadiness, there is no peace; and for one without peace, how can there be well-being?

Gita 6.17

For one whose eating and recreation are balanced, whose efforts in action are balanced, whose sleep and wakefulness are balanced, yoga becomes the destroyer of suffering

Gita 6.35

The mind is difficult to restrain and restless. Yet it is restrained by practice and by non-attachment.

Krishna on Knowledge

Gita 4.39

The one who has earnest trust attains knowledge; devoted to it and with restrained senses. Having attained knowledge, one quickly reaches peace.

Gita 13.8-12

Humility, absence of pretence, non-harm, patience, straightforwardness, receptivity toward instruction, inner cleanliness, steadiness, and self-restraint. Dispassion toward sense-objects, absence of egoism, and clear recognition of the suffering inherent in birth, death, aging, and illness. Non-attachment and non-clinging toward child, spouse, home, and the like, and consistent even-mindedness in pleasant and unpleasant occurrences. Single-directed commitment without distraction, preference for reflective solitude, and absence of compulsive crowd-seeking. Constancy in self-inquiry and direct seeing of what is, this is declared to be knowledge; anything else is ignorance.

Krishna on Failure

Gita 6.40

O Arjuna, neither here nor hereafter does destruction befall such a person. For one who does good never comes to misfortune.

gita 18.48

One should not abandon one’s natural action, O son of Kunti, even if it is defective. For all undertakings are indeed covered with defects, like fire is covered with smoke.

gita 18.49

One whose intellect is unattached everywhere, who is self-mastered and free from craving, attains the highest fulfillment of non-binding action through letting go.

Gita 18.51-53

Endowed with purified discernment, having restrained oneself with steadiness, having set aside sense-objects such as sound,and having put away attraction and aversion. Dwelling in solitude, moderate in consumption, disciplined in speech, body, and mind, constantly devoted to reflective integration, taking refuge in non-attachment. Having let go of egoism, forcefulness, arrogance, desire, anger, and possessiveness, free from ‘mine-ness’ and tranquil, one becomes fit for the state of clarity

Final Autonomy

Gita 18.63

Reflect on this fully, and then do as you wish.

Conclusion :

The Bhagavad Gītā does not advocate random living or blind obedience. It assumes physical strength as a baseline (a battlefield context), demands mental discipline to sustain clarity, and finally insists on ethical responsibility under uncertainty.

In this framework, discipline (yukta) does not mean merely obeying rules. The Gītā implicitly works with three stages of learning:

  • Anuśāsana : external discipline: obeying rules and instruction
  • Abhyāsa : repeated practice: volume, endurance, and conditioning
  • Yukta : internalized discipline: trained instinct and integrated judgment

Arjuna had already passed through anuśāsan a under Droṇa and through abhyāsa in years of warfare. His victories themselves presuppose a degree of yukta. Yet when he collapses under moral and emotional pressure, Krishna does not tell him to obey more rules. He asks him to become yukta again; to restore integration, not submission.

Read this way, the Gītā is not a book of commandments, consolation, or rebellion. It is a manual for developing capacity: the ability to act clearly, decisively, and responsibly when outcomes are uncertain and guarantees are absent.

What the Gītā actually teaches:

  1. Cultivate clarity
  2. Understand your role
  3. Drop attachment to outcomes
  4. Act according to necessity
  5. Take responsibility for your action

The most functional word close to “Yoga” is “Integrity” (condition of being undivided).

Integrity (yoga) is acting with full inner clarity after understanding the necessity of one’s role (dharma).

Like a river without banks is a flood. 🏞️

Further readings: