Gita Verses for Healing from Heartbreak and Breakups

दिल टूटने से उबरना

Relationships

The pain of heartbreak feels like the end of the world. But the Gita whispers the eternal truth: the soul is indestructible. Healing begins in understanding your own immortal, ever-whole nature.

This guide brings together 5 verses from the Bhagavad Gita on healing from heartbreak and breakups, drawn from chapters 2, 5, 12 and 18.

Heartbreak isn't named directly in the Gita, but its teaching on impermanence, equanimity and the unbroken inner self speaks to it gently. What is truly you was not added by the relationship and is not subtracted by its end.

  1. वासांसि जीर्णानि यथा विहाय

    vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya navāni gṛihṇāti naro ’parāṇi tathā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya nyāni sanyāti navāni dehī

    Just as a man casts off worn-out clothes and puts on new ones, so too the embodied Self casts off worn-out bodies and enters others that are new.

    मनुष्य जैसे पुराने कपड़ोंको छोड़कर दूसरे नये कपड़े धारण कर लेता है, ऐसे ही देही पुराने शरीरोंको छोड़कर दूसरे नये शरीरोंमें चला जाता है।

  2. जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च।

    jātasya hi dhruvo mṛityur dhruvaṁ janma mṛitasya cha tasmād aparihārye ’rthe na tvaṁ śhochitum arhasi

    For the born, death is certain, and for the dead, birth is certain; therefore, you should not grieve over the inevitable.

    क्योंकि पैदा हुएकी जरूर मृत्यु होगी और मरे हुएका जरूर जन्म होगा। इस (जन्म-मरण-रूप परिवर्तन के प्रवाह) का परिहार अर्थात् निवारण नहीं हो सकता। अतः इस विषयमें तुम्हें शोक नहीं करना चाहिये।

  3. बाह्यस्पर्शेष्वसक्तात्मा विन्दत्यात्मनि यत्सुखम्।

    bāhya-sparśheṣhvasaktātmā vindatyātmani yat sukham sa brahma-yoga-yuktātmā sukham akṣhayam aśhnute

    With the self unattached to external contacts, he finds happiness in the Self; with the self engaged in the meditation of Brahman, he attains endless happiness.

    बाह्यस्पर्शमें आसक्तिरहित अन्तःकरणवाला साधक आत्मामें जो सुख है, उसको प्राप्त होता है। फिर वह ब्रह्ममें अभिन्नभावसे स्थित मनुष्य अक्षय सुखका अनुभव करता है।

  4. सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।

    sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvā sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ

    Abandoning all duties, take refuge in me alone. I shall liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.

    सब धर्मों का आश्रय त्यागकर केवल मेरी शरण में आ जा। मैं तुझे सब पापों से मुक्त कर दूँगा, तू शोक मत कर।

  5. अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च।निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी॥

    adveṣhṭā sarva-bhūtānāṁ maitraḥ karuṇa eva cha nirmamo nirahankāraḥ sama-duḥkha-sukhaḥ kṣhamī

    He who hates no creature, is friendly and compassionate to all, is free from attachment and egoism, is balanced in pleasure and pain, and is forgiving.

    सब प्राणियोंमें द्वेषभावसे रहित, सबका मित्र (प्रेमी) और दयालु, ममतारहित, अहंकाररहित, सुखदुःखकी प्राप्तिमें सम, क्षमाशील, निरन्तर सन्तुष्ट, योगी, शरीरको वशमें किये हुए, दृढ़ निश्चयवाला? मेरेमें अर्पित मनबुद्धिवाला जो मेरा भक्त है, वह मेरेको प्रिय है।

✦ More verses on this theme ✦

✦ Frequently Asked Questions ✦

What does the Bhagavad Gita say about heartbreak?

Krishna teaches that pleasant and unpleasant contacts come and go like seasons — bear them (2.14). The inner Self is whole even when the outer life feels broken; the heart can hurt and still rest on that ground.

Which Gita verses help with heartbreak?

Gita 2.14 (pleasure and pain pass), 2.20 (the Self is never destroyed), 5.21 (lasting joy is within), 18.66 (surrender all sorrow), and 12.13–14 (the steady devotee through hard times) all help heartbreak heal.

How do I heal heartbreak using the Gita?

Let yourself feel it honestly. Don't perform recovery; just keep returning the mind, gently and often, to what cannot be lost. Healing comes in the returning.

Authoritative sources

Official sites of the scriptural traditions and publishing trusts behind the editions and commentaries cited on this page.