Verified verses
Verses to Calm the Mind for Sleep
In short
When the mind will not rest at night, the tradition turns to letting go: surrender the day and its burdens (18.66), remember that this restless state, like all states, arises and passes (2.14), and settle into the wholeness and peace of the shanti verses (Isha; 'may all beings be happy').
“sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja”
Bhagavad Gita 18.66 · Chapter 18, Moksha-Sannyasa YogaLet go of all your burdens and take refuge in Me alone. I will free you from all that weighs on you; do not grieve.
Krishna's final, crowning counsel to Arjuna at the close of the Gita, on the field of Kurukshetra — to surrender every burden and take refuge in the Divine alone.
“mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ”
Bhagavad Gita 2.14 · Chapter 2, Sankhya YogaHeat and cold, pleasure and pain come and go and do not last. Endure them with patience, dear one.
Spoken by Krishna to the warrior Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra — the Gita sits within the Mahabharata's Bhishma Parva — as Arjuna, overcome with grief and unwilling to fight his own kin, laid down his bow before the war.
“oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate”
Isha Upanishad · Shanti Mantra · Shukla Yajur VedaThat is whole, this is whole; from the whole the whole arises; take the whole from the whole, and the whole yet remains.
The peace invocation chanted at the opening and close of the Upanishad — on the fullness of the Divine, from which all fullness flows, leaving the whole forever whole.
“sarve bhavantu sukhinaḥ, sarve santu nirāmayāḥ”
Traditional Vedic shanti (peace) mantra · exact scriptural origin uncertainMay all be happy, may all be free from illness, may all see goodness, may none suffer.
A beloved prayer chanted across the tradition, voiced for the wellbeing of all beings. (It is widely recited but its precise original source is not firmly established — often misattributed to the Upanishads.)
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Frequently asked questions
Which Bhagavad Gita verse helps calm the mind before sleep?
Bhagavad Gita 18.66 — 'take refuge and do not grieve' — is often turned to at night to let go of the day's burdens; 2.14 reminds you a restless state, like heat and cold, arises and passes.
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