Book · 2001 · Religion
The Bhagavad Gita
A Walkthrough for Westerners
#100 of 16,760 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts
- mentions
- 59
- people
- 20
- podcasts
- 11
- episodes
- 42
- critical mentions
- 0
You have the right to the work, but never to the fruit of the work. And this single idea makes every other book on this list make sense.
Jay Shetty · On Purpose with Jay Shetty · Apr 2026 Listen at 25:36 What they say about it
- Right to the work“You have a right to the work”4
- Modes of material nature“modes of material nature are there”4
- Studied as a monk“one of the books I studied as a monk”3
- Spoken on a battlefield“it's spoken on a battlefield”3
- Attachment and aversion“attachment and aversion are two sides of the same coin”2
The best things said about it
The Bhagavad Gita has a line that hit me like a truck when I first read it. It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection.
Jay Shetty On Purpose with Jay Shetty · Apr 2026 In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjun that the disciplined mind is a person's greatest ally, and the undisciplined mind is their greatest enemy.
Jay Shetty On Purpose with Jay Shetty · Apr 2026 The Bhagavad Gita has a beautiful verse 2.14 that says the non-permanent appearance of happiness and distress and their disappearance in due course are like the appearance and disappearance of the winter and summer seasons.
Jay Shetty On Purpose with Jay Shetty · May 2025 I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi armed form and says now I am become death the destroyer of worlds.
Joe Rogan The Joe Rogan Experience · Feb 2024 And that's what the bhagavad-gita is talking about the art of self-control the art of mind control and by practicing this each one of us will actually experience an enhancement of our consciousness.
I remember the first time I read that in the Bhagavad Gita like you're not your clothes.
Jay Shetty On Purpose with Jay Shetty · Jul 2021 Where and when it comes up
Mentions per year
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1
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1
5
3
10
3
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11
How it comes up
20 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
The Bhagavad Gita, translated by Jack Hawley, is an ancient sacred text that imparts profound spiritual wisdom, ethical duties, and philosophical guidance through a dialogue between Prince Arjuna and Krishna. Jay Shetty featured the text prominently on On Purpose with Jay Shetty as a foundational work teaching that individuals have a right to their labor but never to the fruits of their work, a concept he says ties all life lessons together. Vivek Ramaswamy recommended the scripture on The Ezra Klein Show, while Raghunath Cappo described it on The Rich Roll Podcast as the gold standard of spiritual truths. John Gray similarly included the text in an ideal educational curriculum on Conversations with Tyler. Podcast guests also drew upon its wisdom, as Sean Stone discussed incorporating Eastern philosophies into his writing, and Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar explained the five-thousand-year history of the scripture to Theo Von. Jay Shetty highlighted another key realization from the text regarding the importance of living one's own destiny rather than an imitation of someone else's life, and a guest on the a16z Podcast referenced its famous labor maxim to discuss building with a focus on enjoyment rather than outcomes.
Every mention
Jay Shetty Book number nine is the Bhagavad Gita. Here's the lesson. You have the right to the work, but never to the… 21
Recommended
“Book number nine is the Bhagavad Gita. Here's the lesson. You have the right to the work, but never to the fruit of the work. And this single idea makes every other book on this list make sense.”
Discussed
“The Bhagavad Gita has a line that hit me like a truck when I first read it. It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection.”
Discussed
“In the Bhagavad Gita, equanimity, not emotionlessness, but steadiness is power.”
Discussed
“In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjun that the disciplined mind is a person's greatest ally, and the undisciplined mind is their greatest enemy.”
Discussed
“The concept of Svadharma in the Bhagavad Gita, one's own duty or essential purpose, is not about doing more.”
Discussed
“This is arguably one of the most important teachings in the Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 2, verse 47. You have a right to the work, but never to the fruit of the work.”
Discussed
“This comes from the Bhagat Gita, the Eastern text. And the text is not a rule book or a principle book.”
Discussed
“This is known as something called rajas or the mode of passion in the Bhagavad Gita. When you do things in the mode of passion, they feel amazing at the start, but they feel like poison in the end.”
Discussed
“In the Bhagavad Gita, one of the books I studied as a monk, it talks about how attachment and aversion are two sides of the same coin.”
Discussed
“This is known in the Bhagavad Gita as something known as the mode of ignorance, where we connect over negativity, fear, ignorance, anxiety.”
Discussed
“It's as as you know as well it's the uh definition of equinimity in the Gita of that idea that one's not disturbed by happiness or distress”
Discussed
“I've always broken it down as the um in the Bhagat Gita the modes of material nature are there and so you have mode of ignorance, mode of passion, mode of goodness and pure goodness.”
Discussed
“No, I I love what you're saying because uh in the Gita, the ancient text of India, it's spoken on a battlefield and the idea is that you're always on a battlefield.”
Discussed
“The Bhagat Gita has a beautiful verse 2.14 that says the non-permanent appearance of happiness and distress and their disappearance in due course are like the appearance and disappearance of the winter and summer seasons.”
Discussed
“Like we always talk about that famous line in the Bhagavad Gita which says that it's better to do your own purpose imperfectly than to try to do someone's perfectly.”
Discussed
“and this is a i think it's a quote from the bhagavad-gita”
Discussed
“the gita is a small part of and one of the students asked the teacher”
Discussed
“and the quran and and the gita”
Discussed
“Because that in in the Gita it said that attachment and aversion are two sides of the same coin.”
Discussed
“I remember the first time I read that in the Bhagavad Gita like you're not your clothes. You know that and like like we you know we just change our clothes every day”
Discussed
“and we were just looking through my shelf and you said you'd read the bhagavad-gita”
John Gray So I would pick great points in our tradition and also other traditions, the Bhagavad Gita, Taoist works li… 1
Recommended
“So I would pick great points in our tradition and also other traditions, the Bhagavad Gita, Taoist works like Zhuangzi and Laozi, and I would give them a whole range of those.”
Raghunath Cappo and of course you know the babad Gita which is a it's a beautiful gold standard of spiritual truths 1
Recommended
“and of course you know the babad Gita which is a it's a beautiful gold standard of spiritual truths”
Vivek Ramaswamy and I'd actually because I'm in the mood today I'll recommend the bgav with Gita which is a um which is you… 1
Recommended
“and I'd actually because I'm in the mood today I'll recommend the bgav with Gita which is a um which is you obviously religious text but has has great important”
Duncan Trussell all that stuff to me is it really does bring to mind this incredible verse in the bhagavad-gita where Krish… 5
Discussed
“but so then but you get this is man this is the [ __ ] babad Gita because the babad Gita starts with a warrior R June looking out on this uh this [ __ ] massive Army”
Discussed
“all that stuff to me is it really does bring to mind this incredible verse in the bhagavad-gita where Krishna is revealing his true form to Arjun who's like the warrior figure”
Discussed
“well this is that that's in the in the babag Gita the verses you have a right to your actions and not the fruit of your actions”
Discussed
“that's a prayer that you read before that you say before you're uh going to read the Bhagavad Gita and it means har krishnas read the Bhagavad Gita”
Discussed
“and that's like and you're studying the bhavat Gita you're studying the vetas the bhava Gita and the Shima batam and all these other religious texts”
Gauranga Das and then i came across the bhagavad-gita and then i started getting answers to one of the most important pr… 5
Discussed
“and then i came across the bhagavad-gita and then i started getting answers to one of the most important principles in life”
Discussed
“bhagavad-gita describes four principles which are extremely important for us to follow”
Discussed
“the gita says this is a beautiful verse where krishna says that freedom from all of our base desires comes when we are able to control our mind and follow a strict discipline of applying ourselves to follow a certain regimen”
Discussed
“and that's what the bhagavad-gita is talking about the art of self-control the art of mind control and by practicing this each one of us will actually experience an enhancement of our consciousness”
Discussed
“as per bhagavad-gita the greatest asset is our hope if someone has hope even if he loses all the other things he can still in due course of time do his best”
Billy Carson when you look in the other text the mahabarata and the bagita you find out about these wars also they're th… 3
Discussed
“when you look in the other text the mahabarata and the bagita you find out about these wars also they're they're recorded they have weapons called the Brahma asra and the brahaha weapon”
Discussed
“and you see these wars in the mahabarata the bagita the Bible the Samaran tablets”
Discussed
“or the bhavat Gita and the mahab barata”
Joe Rogan Duncan's my favorite because just Duncan's just so chanting Buddhist mantras and talking to you about the b… 3
Discussed
“I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita Vishnu is trying to persuade the prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi armed form and says now I am become death the destroyer of worlds”
Discussed
“how could the bhagavad-gita yeah there's there's there's in so many different like ezekiel right in the bible a wheel within a wheel”
Discussed
“Duncan's my favorite because just Duncan's just so chanting Buddhist mantras and talking to you about the babat Gita and you know”
Janvi Harrison So we're doing all the regular subjects but we would also have time where we would study texts like the Bha… 2
Discussed
“So we're doing all the regular subjects but we would also have time where we would study texts like the Bhagavad Gita. We would learn you know verses and things even from four or five years old.”
Discussed
“And it's there in the Bhagavad Gita. Don't be afraid. Have trust and courage and keep keep walking forward.”
Lex Fridman Hesse immersed himself in translations of ancient Hindu and Buddhist texts, studying the "Upanishads" and t… 2
Discussed
“Hesse immersed himself in translations of ancient Hindu and Buddhist texts, studying the "Upanishads" and the "Bhagavad Gita."”
Discussed
“Let me leave you with a few words from the "Bhagavad Gita."”
Rob Dial like I started talking with you about like the East and and you started I remember you told me in 2017 like… 2
Discussed
“like I started talking with you about like the East and and you started I remember you told me in 2017 like you should read the Bhagavad Gita. So I literally wrote it I got it like the next week and read it while we were traveling.”
Discussed
“Well, so that's the beautiful thing about being a human and I think it's and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's actually in the Bhagavad Gita gives an example of a lion attacking you at a tiger attacking you at night.”
Russell Brand I'm thinking how unusual that felt, those sort of those worlds colliding, and Radhanath Swami telling those… 2
Discussed
“I'm thinking how unusual that felt, those sort of those worlds colliding, and Radhanath Swami telling those stories from the Bhagavad Gita.”
Discussed
“Is it Am I right in saying that at the end of the Gita, like Arjuna is like, "I remember." Like in a sense, we know. It's a reawakening.”
Will Smith and then i was just reading so many different books and finally i came back to the gita which was the book… 2
Discussed
“and then i was just reading so many different books and finally i came back to the gita which was the book i was brought up with”
Discussed
“i've been studying with with jay um uh i felt fell in love with the the bhagavad gita jay and i have been spending time we've been hanging we've been traveling together”
Camila Cabello i actually read over the past eight months i don't know if you i think you have read it because you quoted… 1
Discussed
“i actually read over the past eight months i don't know if you i think you have read it because you quoted a lot the gita the bhagavad gita”
Eduardo Garcia All that, the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran. Absolutely. Jambalaya, a spiritual jambalaya. 1
Discussed
“All that, the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran. Absolutely. Jambalaya, a spiritual jambalaya.”
Genevieve Harrison we did regular academic subjects but we also studied the bhagavad-gita and we did chanting together before… 1
Discussed
“we did regular academic subjects but we also studied the bhagavad-gita and we did chanting together before we started our school day”
Ryan Holiday It's the, the Bhagavad Gita says you are not entitled to, um, the fruits of the labor, just the labor. 1
Discussed
“It's the, the Bhagavad Gita says you are not entitled to, um, the fruits of the labor, just the labor.”
Sean Stone I mean, we draw upon, in the book, we draw upon some films that are a little bit closer to us time-wise. Bu… 1
Discussed
“I mean, we draw upon, in the book, we draw upon some films that are a little bit closer to us time-wise. But yeah, a lot of the stories that I draw upon are from the East, the Bhagavad Gita, a lot from the Bible, a lot of Bible stories, the Christ story, and then obviously ancient Greece.”
Theo Von You could recite the ancient text of the bag Bhagavad Gita. Bagavad Gita. Yeah. Can you tell us what the Ba… 1
Discussed
“You could recite the ancient text of the bag Bhagavad Gita. Bagavad Gita. Yeah. Can you tell us what the Bavad Gita is for our listeners that don't know? uh Gita is the scripture um which was uh written 5,000 year old”
Wesley Huff I was looking into things like the Book of Mormon and the Bhagavad Gita. 1
Discussed
“I was looking into things like the Book of Mormon and the Bhagavad Gita.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker2
Discussed
“There's a great quote um in the Bhagavad Gita which I read recently again, and I was like, "You know, you're not entitled to the fruits of your labor."”
Discussed
“there's a scripture on that book what is the scripture is in the Bhagavad Gita”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (6: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“I often say we had the babad Gita and the Book of Mormon and the Quran on the Shelf”
Passing
“Oppenheimer wrote pretty good poetry. He was interested in art. He wanted to read the Bhagavad Gita Gita in the original Sanskrit so he learned Sanskrit.”
Passing
“I had asked a question about, uh, Thoreau and Gandhi and how Thoreau was influenced by the Gita that influenced Gandhi.”
Passing
“But that is different than David Thoreau sitting there, uh, reading the Gita and thinking, well, what does this mean for, uh, human freedom and, and happiness and our duty?”
Passing
“that's like that's why you're getting a bhagavad gita”
Passing
“It's like everybody spreads that Oenheimer like that that anecdote about him reciting that line from the Bavad Gita, I become death, the destroyer of worlds. And I feel like when you're talking about when you need to change your career”