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The Yoga of Devotion
भक्तियोगः · Bhakti-yoga · 20 verses
Arjuna asks which is better: loving devotion to a personal God, or meditation on the formless, imperishable Absolute. Krishna says both reach him, but the path of devotion is easier for embodied beings. He then gives a graded ladder for every temperament and ends with a portrait of the devotee he holds dear: friendly, free of hatred, content, steady, unmoved by praise or blame. It is the Gita's gentlest chapter.
Traditionally linked with Venus, planet of love, devotion and harmony, and with the Moon, planet of feeling. It is read when Venus is difficult by transit, during a Venus Dasha, or when the heart feels hard, resentful or cut off. The chapter offers a way to soften without being weak. It is a reflective practice, not a prediction.
अर्जुन उवाच
एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते ।
ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः ॥
arjuna uvāca
evaṃ satatayuktā ye bhaktāstvāṃ paryupāsate |
ye cāpyakṣaramavyaktaṃ teṣāṃ ke yogavittamāḥ ||
Arjuna asks: of those devotees who always worship You with steady devotion, and those who worship the imperishable and unmanifest, which are better versed in yoga?
श्रीभगवानुवाच
मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ।
श्रद्धया परयोपेताः ते मे युक्ततमा मताः ॥
śrībhagavānuvāca
mayyāveśya mano ye māṃ nityayuktā upāsate |
śraddhayā parayopetāḥ te me yuktatamā matāḥ ||
ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते ।
सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यञ्च कूटस्थमचलन्ध्रुवम् ॥
ye tvakṣaramanirdeśyamavyaktaṃ paryupāsate |
sarvatragamacintyañca kūṭasthamacalandhruvam ||
सन्नियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं सर्वत्र समबुद्धयः ।
ते प्राप्नुवन्ति मामेव सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥
sanniyamyendriyagrāmaṃ sarvatra samabuddhayaḥ |
te prāpnuvanti māmeva sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ ||
क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम् ।
अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते ॥
kleśo’dhikatarasteṣāmavyaktāsaktacetasām |
avyaktā hi gatirduḥkhaṃ dehavadbhiravāpyate ||
Krishna says: those who fix their minds on Me and worship Me, ever steadfast and endowed with supreme faith, I consider the best in yoga. But those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the all-pervading, the unthinkable, the unchanging, the immovable and the constant, restraining all the senses, even-minded toward everything and delighting in the welfare of all beings, they too come to Me. Yet the difficulty is greater for those whose minds are set on the unmanifest, for the goal of the unmanifest is hard for embodied beings to reach.
ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्परः ।
अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते ॥
ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi saṃnyasya matparaḥ |
ananyenaiva yogena māṃ dhyāyanta upāsate ||
तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् ।
भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् ॥
teṣāmahaṃ samuddhartā mṛtyusaṃsārasāgarāt |
bhavāmi nacirātpārtha mayyāveśitacetasām ||
But those who surrender all their actions to Me, who see Me as the supreme goal and worship Me, meditating on Me with undivided yoga, those whose minds are set on Me, Arjuna, I soon lift out of the ocean of death and rebirth.
मय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय ।
निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशयः ॥
mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṃ niveśaya |
nivasiṣyasi mayyeva ata ūrdhvaṃ na saṃśayaḥ ||
अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् ।
अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय ॥
atha cittaṃ samādhātuṃ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram |
abhyāsayogena tato māmicchāptuṃ dhanañjaya ||
अभ्यासेऽप्यसमर्थोऽसि मत्कर्मपरमो भव ।
मदर्थमपि कर्माणि कुर्वन्सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि ॥
abhyāse’pyasamartho’si matkarmaparamo bhava |
madarthamapi karmāṇi kurvansiddhimavāpsyasi ||
अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः ।
सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं ततः कुरु यतात्मवान् ॥
athaitadapyaśakto’si kartuṃ madyogamāśritaḥ |
sarvakarmaphalatyāgaṃ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān ||
श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते ।
ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् ॥
śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsājjñānāddhyānaṃ viśiṣyate |
dhyānātkarmaphalatyāgastyāgācchāntiranantaram ||
Fix your mind on Me alone and let your intellect rest in Me; then you will live in Me, without doubt. If you cannot hold your mind steadily on Me, then seek Me through the practice of yoga, by returning to Me again and again. If you are not able even to practise, make Me the aim of all your work; doing actions for My sake, you will reach perfection. If even this is beyond you, take refuge in My yoga and renounce the fruit of every action, with a self restrained. Knowledge is better than mechanical practice; meditation is better than knowledge; renunciation of the fruit of action is better than meditation; and peace follows straight after renunciation.
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च ।
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी ॥
adveṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṃ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca |
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ samaduḥkhasukhaḥ kṣamī ||
सन्तुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः ।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ॥
santuṣṭaḥ satataṃ yogī yatātmā dṛḍhaniścayaḥ |
mayyarpitamanobuddhiryo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ ||
One who hates no being, who is friendly and compassionate, free of possessiveness and ego, equal in pain and pleasure and forgiving, who is always content, self-controlled, firm in resolve, and has given mind and intellect to Me, that devotee is dear to Me.
यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः ।
हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः ॥
yasmānnodvijate loko lokānnodvijate ca yaḥ |
harṣāmarṣabhayodvegairmukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ ||
अनपेक्षः शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथः ।
सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः ॥
anapekṣaḥ śucirdakṣa udāsīno gatavyathaḥ |
sarvārambhaparityāgī yo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ ||
यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति ।
शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्यः स मे प्रियः ॥
yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kāṅkṣati |
śubhāśubhaparityāgī bhaktimānyaḥ sa me priyaḥ ||
One from whom the world does not shrink, and who does not shrink from the world, who is free from joy, envy, fear and anxiety, is dear to Me. One who wants nothing, is pure, skilful, impartial and untroubled, and has given up every undertaking born of self-interest, is dear to Me. One who neither rejoices nor hates, neither grieves nor craves, who has given up both good and bad fortune and is full of devotion, is dear to Me.
समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः ।
शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः ॥
samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ |
śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅgavivarjitaḥ ||
तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येन केनचित् ।
अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नरः ॥
tulyanindāstutirmaunī santuṣṭo yena kenacit |
aniketaḥ sthiramatirbhaktimānme priyo naraḥ ||
One who is the same to friend and foe, in honour and dishonour, in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, who is free from attachment, who takes praise and blame alike, who is quiet, content with whatever comes, without a fixed home, steady in mind and full of devotion, that person is dear to Me.
ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते ।
श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रियाः ॥
ye tu dharmyāmṛtamidaṃ yathoktaṃ paryupāsate |
śraddadhānā matparamā bhaktāste’tīva me priyāḥ ||
Those who follow this immortal way of life, as I have described it, with faith, holding Me as their highest goal and full of devotion, are exceedingly dear to Me.
The verses are the traditional Sanskrit text. The explanations are original summaries, not a particular translator's words. The astrology guide is a devotional, reflective practice, not a prediction and not a substitute for professional advice.