Bhagavad Gita · 12.12 · The Yoga of Devotion·12 of 20
श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते।ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् ॥
śhreyo hi jñānam abhyāsāj jñānād dhyānaṁ viśhiṣhyate
dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas tyāgāch chhāntir anantaram
Sanskrit recitation
Many paths, one devotion · 12.1–12.12 · Teaching
Translation
Better 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.
Meaning
Theoretical or indirect knowledge of Brahman gained from the scriptures is better than the practice (of restraining the modifications of the mind or worship of idols or selfmortification for the purpose of control of the mind and the senses) accompained with ignorance. Meditation is better than theoretical knowledge. Renunciation of the fruits of actions is bettern than meditation. Renunciation of the fruits of all actions as a means to the attainment of supreme peace or Moksha is merely eulogised here by the declaration of the superiority of one over the other to encourage Arjuna (and other spiritual aspirants) to practise Nishkama Karma Yoga, to create a strong desire in them to take up the Yoga of selfless action, in the same manner as by saying that the ocean was drunk by the Brahmana sage Agastya even the Brahmanas of this age are extolled because they are also Brahmanas.Desire is an enemy of peace. Desire causes restlessness of the mind. Desire is the source of all human miseries, sorrows and troubles. Stop the play of desire through discrimination, dispassion and enquiry into the nature of the Self then you will enjoy supreme peace.Renunciation of the fruits of actions, is prescribed for the purification of the aspirants heart. It annihlates desire, the enemy of wisdom. The sage, too, renounces the fruits of actions. It has become natural to him to do so.
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→
- hi
- for
- dhyānam
- meditation
- jñānam
- knowledge
- tyāgāt
- renunciation
- anantaram
- immediately
- dhyānāt
- than meditation
- jñānāt
- than knowledge
- abhyāsāt
- than (mechanical) practice
- śhreyaḥ
- better
- śhāntiḥ
- peace
- viśhiṣhyate
- better
- karma-phala-tyāgaḥ
- renunciation of the fruits of actions
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