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Chapter XII20 verses

अथ द्वादशोऽध्यायः

भक्तियोगः

The Yoga of Devotion

Bhakti-yoga

Repose all thy mind in the Beloved and lodge thy understanding in him, and swiftly he will lift thee out of the sea of death into the secure bosom of the Eternal. — The Delight of Krishna

The soul enters in
viśvarūpa — the All-Form seen, too vast yet for the unready heart
and is led towards
madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ — the lover, equal to all, who is dear to God
Begin at 12 · 1 Play chapter

Recitations

  1. Swami Sarvagananda ji0:00
  2. Ashit Desai0:00
In this chapter

20 verses

Summary of chapter 12

The way and the Bhakta - In the eleventh chapter the original object of the teaching has been achieved and brought up to a certain completeness. What remains still to be said tums upon the difference between the current Vedantic view of spiritual liberation and the larger comprehensive freedom which the teaching of the Gita opens to the spirit. The twelfth chapter leads up to this remaining knowledge and the last six that follow develop it to a grand final conclusion.

Chapter 12 illustration, titled भक्तियोगः
Illustration · Sushanto Nath, Sri Aurobindo Society

Chapter outline

Choose a range to read just those verses.

  1. 12·1–8Arjuna's inquiry and Shri Krishna's advice regarding approaches to the Unmanifest Transcendent and the Manifest Divine.
  2. 12·9–12Alternative steps in sédhané.
  3. 12·13–20The characteristics of the God-lovers whom the Divine loves.
  4. 12·1–20Show all 20 verses

The verses

Showing verses 1–8 of 20 · Show all 20 verses

Arjuna uvācaअर्जुन उवाच

  1. 12·1एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते । ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः ॥ १ ॥evaṁ satatayuktā ye bhaktāstvāṁ paryupāsate, ye cāpyakṣaramavyaktaṁ teṣāṁ ke yogavittamāḥ.Those devotees who thus by a constant union seek after Thee, and those who seek after the unmanifest…

Śrī Bhagavān uvācaश्रीभगवानुवाच

  1. 12·2, a key verseमय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते । श्रद्धया परयोपेताः ते मे युक्ततमा मताः ॥ २ ॥mayyāveśya mano ye māṁ nityayuktā upāsate, śraddhayā parayopetāḥ te me yuktatamā matāḥ.Those who found their mind in Me and by constant union, possessed of a supreme faith, seek after Me, I hold to…
  2. 12·3ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते । सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम्‌ ॥ ३ ॥ye tvakṣaramanirdeśyaṁ avyaktaṁ paryupāsate, sarvatragamacintyaṁ ca kūṭastham acalaṁ dhruvam.Those who seek after the indefinable unmanifest Immutable omnipresent, unthinkable, self-poised, immobile…
  3. 12·4सन्नियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं सर्वत्र समबुद्धयः । ते प्राप्नुवन्ति मामेव सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥ ४ ॥sanniyamyendriyagrāmaṁ sarvatra samabuddhayaḥ, te prāpnuvanti māmeva sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ.But those who seek after the indefinable unmanifest Immutable omnipresent, unthinkable, self-poised, immobile…
  4. 12·5, a key verseक्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम्‌ ॥ अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते ॥ ५ ॥kleśo’dhikatarasteṣāṁ avyaktāsaktacetasām. avyaktā hi gatirduḥkhaṁ dehavadbhiravāpyate.The difficulty of those who devote themselves to the search of the unmanifest Brahman is greater…
  5. 12·6ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्पराः । अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते ॥ ६ ॥ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi saṁnyasya matparaḥ, ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate.But those who giving up all their actions to Me, and wholly devoted to Me, worship meditating on Me with an…
  6. 12·7तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् । भवामि न चिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् ॥ ७ ॥teṣāmahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyusaṁsārasāgarāt, bhavāmi na cirātpārtha mayyāveśitacetasām.Those who fix on Me all their consciousness, O Partha, speedily I deliver them out of the sea of death-bound…
  7. 12·8, a key verseमय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय । निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशयः ॥ ८ ॥mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya, nivasiṣyasi mayyeva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ.On Me repose all thy mind and lodge all thy understanding in Me…
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End of the chapter

ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्सुब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादेभक्तियोगो नाम द्वादशोऽध्यायः ॥ १२॥

om tatsaditi śrīmadbhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsubrahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvādebhaktiyogo nāma dvādaśo’dhyāyaḥ

Thus, in the Upanishad sung by the Lord, the science of Brahman, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the twelfth chapter entitled “The Yoga of Devotion”

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