Bhagavad Gita · 12.3 · The Yoga of Devotion·3 of 20
ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते।सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम् ॥
ye tv akṣharam anirdeśhyam avyaktaṁ paryupāsate sarvatra-gam achintyañcha kūṭa-stham
achalandhruvam sanniyamyendriya-grāmaṁ sarvatra sama-buddhayaḥ te prāpnuvanti mām eva sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ
Sanskrit recitation
Many paths, one devotion · 12.1–12.12 · Teaching
Translation
Those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the omnipresent, the unthinkable, the immovable, and the eternal.
Meaning
Anirdesyam That which cannot be actually shown or which cannot be defined -- the Akshaa or Satchidananda Para Brahman is beyond the reach of the mind and speech. Why can It not be defined Because It is unmanifested. It does not have the four alities of manifested beings, vi.z, Jati (caste such as Brahmana, Kshatriya, etc.), Guna (attributes such as blueness, whiteness, tallness, shortness, etc.), Kriya (reading, walking, etc.), and Sambandha (like the relation between father and son).The unmanifest Incomprehensible by any of the organs of knowledge not manifest to any of the organs of knowledge.Upasana (worship) means sitting near. It is approaching the chosen ideal or object of worship by meditating on it, in accordance with the teachings of the scriptures and the spiritual preceptor, and dwelling steadily in the current of that one thought like a threat of oil poured from one vessel to another. It means continous and uninterrupted contemplation of God.The imperishable Brahman is omnipresent, pervading everything like the ether. It is unthinkable, because It is unmanifest. Whatever is visible to the senses can be thought of by the mind also. That which can be grasped by the organs of knowledge can be thought of by the mind also. But the Supreme Being is invisible to the senses and so cannot be grasped by the organs of knowledge and is, therefore, unthinkable
After Swami Sivananda
Many paths, one devotion· 12.1–12.12→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
- 12.1Arjuna said, "Which of them are better versed in Yoga—those who steadfastly worship You, or those who worship the imperishable and the unmanifested?"
- 12.2The Blessed Lord said, "In My opinion, those who fix their minds on Me, worship Me ever steadfastly, and are endowed with supreme faith, are the best in Yoga."
12.3Those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the omnipresent, the unthinkable, the immovable, and the eternal.
- 12.4Having restrained all the senses, being even-minded everywhere, and intent on the welfare of all beings, they verily come unto Me.
- 12.5Greater is their trouble whose minds are set on the unmanifested, for the goal of the unmanifested is very hard for the embodied to reach.
- 12.6But to those who worship Me, renouncing all actions in Me, regarding Me as the supreme goal, meditating on Me with single-minded yoga.
- 12.7To those whose minds are set on Me, O Arjuna, verily I soon become the savior out of the ocean of Samsara.
- 12.8Fix your mind on Me, and your intellect in Me. Then you will certainly live in Me alone hereafter.
- 12.9If you are unable to fix your mind steadily on Me, then seek to reach Me through the yoga of constant practice, O Arjuna.
- 12.10If you are unable to practice even this Abhyasa Yoga, be intent on doing actions for My sake; even by doing actions for My sake, you will attain perfection.
- 12.11If you are unable to do even this, then, resort to union with Me and renounce the fruits of all actions with self-control.
- 12.12Better indeed is knowledge than practice; better than knowledge is meditation; better than meditation is the renunciation of the fruits of actions: peace immediately follows renunciation.
Word-by-word→
- te
- they
- tu
- but
- ye
- who
- cha
- and
- eva
- also
- mām
- me
- achalam
- the immovable
- dhruvam
- the eternal
- avyaktam
- the unmanifest
- ratāḥ
- engaged
- sarvatra
- everywhere
- achintyam
- the unthinkable
- akṣharam
- the imperishable
- sanniyamya
- restraining
- anirdeśhyam
- the indefinable
- paryupāsate
- worship
- prāpnuvanti
- attain
- sarvatra-gam
- the all-pervading
- kūṭa-stham
- the unchanging
- indriya-grāmam
- the senses
- sama-buddhayaḥ
- even-minded
- sarva-bhūta-hite
- in the welfare of all beings
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