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What the Gītā says about anxiety

The mind is restless, violent, strong, stubborn. Arjuna says it himself — holding it feels as hard as holding the wind. Krishna does not disagree. He agrees, and then he says: but it can be held. That honesty is what sets these verses apart from simple reassurance. The Gītā does not pretend the mind is easy to quiet. It describes the agitation precisely — the busyness, the endless wanting, the worries that have no floor — and then offers two things: practise and letting-go. Not one without the other. The anxious mind is not a broken mind. It is a mind that has not yet learned where to rest. Krishna names the resting place and says what you lack, I bring; what you have, I protect. That is not a metaphor. It is a standing offer.

Verses

3.35
Your own dharma, done imperfectly, beats another's done well. Better to die in your own path — another's invites dread.
Another's path invites dread — anxiety begins when you live someone else's duty
6.26
Wherever the restless mind runs off, go get it — bring it back, again and again, under your rule.
Wherever the restless mind runs off, go get it — bring it back, again and again
6.33
This yoga of evenness you describe, Krishna — I cannot see it lasting. The mind is too restless.
Arjuna's honest confession: I cannot see this lasting, the mind is too restless
6.34
The mind is restless, violent, strong, stubborn. Holding it seems as hard as holding the wind.
The mind is restless, violent, strong, stubborn — as hard to hold as the wind
6.35
No doubt, the mind is hard to hold and always moving. But practice and letting-go can hold it.
Krishna agrees — then says practise and letting-go can hold even this mind
9.22
Think of me and nothing else — what you lack, I bring; what you have, I protect.
Think of me — what you lack, I bring; what you have, I protect
12.15
The one who troubles no one, and whom nothing can trouble — that one is dear to me.
The one who troubles no one and whom nothing can trouble — dear to Krishna
14.7
Restlessness is craving itself — born of thirst and clinging. It binds you through attachment to doing, doing, doing.
Restlessness named: craving itself, born of thirst and clinging, binding through doing
14.12
Greed, busyness, scheme after scheme, no rest, endless wanting — these sprout when restlessness has the upper hand.
Greed, busyness, scheme after scheme, no rest, endless wanting — restlessness at full power
16.5
The divine inheritance frees; the dark one binds. Do not worry — you were born to the divine.
Do not worry — you were born to the divine inheritance
16.11
Their worries have no floor and end only at death. Pleasure is their highest aim; they are certain this is all.
Their worries have no floor and end only at death — anxiety without limit