Gita Quotes on Success & Motivation

“uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet”

Lift yourself by your own self; do not let yourself sink. The self alone is the friend, and the enemy, of the self.

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.

“karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana”

You have a right to your actions alone, never to their fruits. Let not the fruits be your motive, nor attachment draw you to inaction.

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.

“yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi saṅgaṁ tyaktvā dhanañjaya”

Steady in spirit, do your work and let go of attachment, calm alike in success and failure. This evenness of mind is yoga.

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.