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Ananta

भक्तियोग

Chapter 12

Bhakti Yoga

The Yoga of Devotion · 20 verses

This chapter is traditionally called Bhakti Yoga, the yoga or disciplined path of bhakti, which means loving devotion to God. It opens with a question from Arjuna. Some people worship God as a person, with a form they can see and love. Others worship God as formless: no shape, no body, just pure presence. Arjuna asks which group is the better yogi. Krishna answers that those who fix the mind on Him with form, in constant union and deep faith, are the most joined. He grants that the formless path also reaches the goal, but calls it harder, since we feel we are the body and the formless gives the mind nothing to hold. Krishna then offers a ladder of easier means. Fix the mind on Him; if you cannot, keep returning it to Him again and again; if not, do works for Him; otherwise act and give up the fruit. Then He turns to the marks of the devotee He holds dear: one who hates no being, is friendly and content, the same in pleasure and pain and in honour and dishonour, and offers his mind and heart to Him. The schools differ on how worship of the form and the formless relate. Advaita Vedanta, Vishishtadvaita, and Dvaita each read that relation in their own way.

श्लोकाः
12.1अर्जुन उवाचएवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते।येचाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः

Arjuna asked: Some devotees worship You with steady, constant love. Others worship the imperishable and the unmanifest. Of these, which know yoga best?

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12.2श्री भगवानुवाचमय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते।श्रद्धया परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मताः

Krishna said: Those who fix their minds on Me and worship Me, ever steadfast and filled with supreme faith: I consider them the most perfect in yoga.

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12.3ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते।सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम्

But others worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest. It is all-pervading, unthinkable, unchanging, immovable, and eternal.

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12.4संनियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं सर्वत्र समबुद्धयः।ते प्राप्नुवन्ति मामेव सर्वभूतहिते रताः

Restraining all the senses, even-minded everywhere, glad in the welfare of all beings: they too reach Me alone.

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12.5क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम्।

For those whose minds cling to the unmanifest, the struggle is greater. The unmanifest goal is hard for the embodied to reach.

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12.6ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्पराः।अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते

But there are those who dedicate all their actions to Me and hold Me as the supreme goal. They worship Me, meditating on Me with undivided devotion.

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12.7तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात्।भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम्

For those whose minds are absorbed in Me, I soon become the deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.

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12.8मय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय।निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशयः

Fix your mind on Me alone. Let your discernment rest in Me. Then you will dwell in Me. Of this there is no doubt.

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12.9अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम्।अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय

If you cannot steady your mind on Me, then seek to reach Me through the yoga of repeated practice, Arjuna.

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12.10अभ्यासेऽप्यसमर्थोऽसि मत्कर्मपरमो भव।मदर्थमपि कर्माणि कुर्वन् सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि

If you cannot even practice, then work for My sake. By doing your actions for Me, you will reach perfection.

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12.11अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः।सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं ततः कुरु यतात्मवान्

If you cannot do even this, then take refuge in My yoga. With your mind controlled, let go of the fruits of all action.

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12.12श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते।ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम्

Knowledge is better than practice. Meditation is better than knowledge. Letting go of the fruits of action is better than meditation. From such letting go, peace follows at once.

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12.13अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च।निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी

He hates no living being. He is friendly and compassionate. He has no sense of 'mine' and no sense of 'I'. He is the same in sorrow and in happiness, and he is forgiving.

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12.14सन्तुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः।मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः

He is always content. He is steady in practice, self-controlled, and firm in conviction. He has given his mind and discernment to me. Such a devotee is dear to me.

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12.15यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः।हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः

The world is not disturbed by him, and he is not disturbed by the world. He is free from joy, impatience, fear, and anxiety. He is dear to me.

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12.16अनपेक्षः शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथः।सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः

He wants nothing. He is pure, capable, impartial, and free from distress. He has given up every undertaking. Such a devotee is dear to me.

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12.17यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति।शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्ितमान्यः स मे प्रियः

He does not rejoice, nor hate, nor grieve, nor crave. He lets go of both good and bad, and he is full of devotion. He is dear to me.

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12.18समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः।शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः

He is the same toward friend and foe, the same in honor and dishonor. He is the same in cold and heat, in happiness and sorrow. He is free from attachment.

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12.19तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येनकेनचित्।अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिर्भक्ितमान्मे प्रियो नरः

Blame and praise are the same to him. He is silent, content with whatever comes. He has no fixed home, his mind is steady, and he is full of devotion. Such a person is dear to me.

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12.20ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते।श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रियाः

But those who hold to this immortal teaching, just as I have declared it, who have faith and look to me as the supreme goal, those devotees are exceedingly dear to me.

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Chapter 12 of 18

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