Chapter 12: Devotion
भक्तियोग · 20 verses. Arjuna asked, "My Lord, which are the better devotees who worship You: those who try to know You as a Personal God, or those who worship You as Impersonal and Indestructible?"
- 12.1 Arjuna asked, "My Lord, which are the better devotees who worship You: those who try to know You as a Personal God, or those who worship You as Impersonal and Indestructi…
- 12.2 Lord Shri Krishna replied: Those who keep their minds fixed on Me, who worship Me always with unwavering faith and concentration, are the very best.
- 12.3 Those who worship Me as the Indestructible, the Undefinable, the Omnipresent, the Unthinkable, the Primal, the Immutable, and the Eternal;
- 12.4 Subduing their senses, viewing all conditions of life with an equal eye, and working for the welfare of all beings, they assuredly come to Me.
- 12.5 But they who fix their attention on the Absolute and Impersonal encounter greater hardships, for it is difficult for those who have a body to realize Me as without one.
- 12.6 Verily, those who surrender their actions to Me, who contemplate Me, worship Me, and meditate on Me alone, with no thought other than Me.
- 12.7 O Arjuna! I rescue them from the ocean of life and death, for their minds are fixed upon Me.
- 12.8 Then let your mind cling only to Me, let your intellect abide in Me; and without doubt, you will live hereafter in Me alone.
- 12.9 But if you cannot fix your mind firmly on Me, then, my beloved friend, try to do so through constant practice.
- 12.10 And if you are not strong enough to practice concentration, then devote yourself to My service, do all your acts for My sake, and you will still attain the goal.
- 12.11 And if thou art too weak to do even this, then seek refuge in union with Me, and with perfect self-control renounce the fruits of thy actions.
- 12.12 Knowledge is superior to blind action, meditation is superior to knowledge, renunciation of the fruit of action is superior to meditation, and peace follows from renuncia…
- 12.13 He who is incapable of hatred towards any being, who is kind and compassionate, free from selfishness, without pride, equable in pleasure and pain, and forgiving—
- 12.14 Always content, self-centered, self-controlled, resolute, with mind and reason dedicated to Me, such a devotee of Mine is beloved to Me.
- 12.15 He who does not harm the world, and whom the world cannot harm, who is not carried away by any impulse of joy, anger, or fear; such a one is My beloved.
- 12.16 He who expects nothing, is pure, watchful, indifferent, unruffled, and renounces all initiative—such a one is My beloved.
- 12.17 He who is beyond joy and hate, who neither laments nor desires, to whom good and evil fortunes are the same, such a one is beloved to Me.
- 12.18 He to whom friend and foe are alike, who welcomes equally honor and dishonor, heat and cold, pleasure and pain, and who is enamored of nothing—
- 12.19 Who is indifferent to praise and censure, enjoys silence, is content with every fate, has no fixed abode, is steadfast in mind, and filled with devotion—such a one is My …
- 12.20 Verily, those who love the spiritual wisdom as I have taught, whose faith never wavers, and who focus their entire being on Me, they are indeed My most beloved.