Capter XII
Loving Devotion
Arjuna said:
1. There are Thy ever-steadfast devotees who love and worship Thee in the above way (as
the Divine Person); there are again others who contemplate on Thee as the Imperishable
Unmanifest (Impersonal Absolute) - which of these has a greater understanding of Yoga.
The Blessed Lord said:
2. Those I consider as the most perfect in Yoga, who, with their minds fixed intently on Me
in steadfast love, worship Me with absolute faith.
3-4. Those who are devoted to the Imperishable (the Impersonal Absolute) - who is the firm
support of the world and is also undefinable, unmanifested, transcendent, motionless,
eternal and all-pervading, - even they reach Me alone, striving with their senses controlled,
and with mind tranquillised and set on the welfare of all.
5. The obstacles facing those devoted to the Impersonal Absolute are far greater; for the way
of any unclear ideal is difficult for an embodied being (the body-centred man) to
understand or follow.
6-7. But, O son of Pritha, soon will I lift from this ocean of death-bound worldly existence,
those whose minds are ever set on Me - those who abandon to Me the fruits of all their
actions together with the sense of agency thereof, and who worship Me, meditating on Me
as their sole refuge and their only love.
8. Fix your mind on Me alone; let your reason penetrate into Me; without doubt you will
then abide in Me alone for ever more.
9. If you are unable to fix your mind steadily on Me (even at the start), then try to reach
Me through the systematic practice of concentration.
10. If you are not capable of practising systematic concentration, then devote yourself
whole heartedly to works of service to Me (consisting in external worship and discharge of
duties for My sake). Thus working for Me, man can attain to perfection.
11. If even this is too difficult for you to perform, then taking refuge in Me, and thus
controlling the mind, give up the fruits of all your actions (recognising Me as their agent
and enjoyer).
12. Than (a mere formal) practice of disciplines, a clear intellectual understanding (of the
doctrine) is better. Than such understanding, meditation is better. Even better than
meditation is the abandonment of the fruits of action. For, such abandonment (of the fruits
of works and sense of their agency) is immediately followed by peace.
13-14. Friendly and compassionate to all and without any touch of hatred; devoid of
possessiveness and arrogance; ever content and contemplative; alike in happiness and
misery; self-controlled and firm in conviction; dedicated to Me with all his heart and all his
soul - dear to Me is a man who is thus devoted.
15. Who causes fear to none and whom none can frighten, who is thus free from the
agitation of the moods caused by euphoria, anger, and excitement - such a person too is
dear to Me.
16. Desireless, pure, resourceful, unattached, unworried and without any sense of self-
centred agency - a devotee thus endowed is dear to Me.
17. He who is free from elation, anger, sorrow, and craving, who neither seeks the pleasant
nor shuns the unpleasant - dear to Me is the man who is thus devoted.
18-19. Alike to friend and foe, alike in honour and insult, alike in heat and cold, alike in
praise and blame - unattached, contented, homeless, and steady in mind - dear to Me is a
man who is thus devoted.
20. Whosoever even seeks to follow the virtuous path to Immortality thus set forth, with a
mind full of faith and acceptance of Me as their supreme goal - exceedingly dear to Me are
men who are thus devoted.
Arjuna said:
1. There are Thy ever-steadfast devotees who love and worship Thee in the above way (as
the Divine Person); there are again others who contemplate on Thee as the Imperishable
Unmanifest (Impersonal Absolute) - which of these has a greater understanding of Yoga.
The Blessed Lord said:
2. Those I consider as the most perfect in Yoga, who, with their minds fixed intently on Me
in steadfast love, worship Me with absolute faith.
3-4. Those who are devoted to the Imperishable (the Impersonal Absolute) - who is the firm
support of the world and is also undefinable, unmanifested, transcendent, motionless,
eternal and all-pervading, - even they reach Me alone, striving with their senses controlled,
and with mind tranquillised and set on the welfare of all.
5. The obstacles facing those devoted to the Impersonal Absolute are far greater; for the way
of any unclear ideal is difficult for an embodied being (the body-centred man) to
understand or follow.
6-7. But, O son of Pritha, soon will I lift from this ocean of death-bound worldly existence,
those whose minds are ever set on Me - those who abandon to Me the fruits of all their
actions together with the sense of agency thereof, and who worship Me, meditating on Me
as their sole refuge and their only love.
8. Fix your mind on Me alone; let your reason penetrate into Me; without doubt you will
then abide in Me alone for ever more.
9. If you are unable to fix your mind steadily on Me (even at the start), then try to reach
Me through the systematic practice of concentration.
10. If you are not capable of practising systematic concentration, then devote yourself
whole heartedly to works of service to Me (consisting in external worship and discharge of
duties for My sake). Thus working for Me, man can attain to perfection.
11. If even this is too difficult for you to perform, then taking refuge in Me, and thus
controlling the mind, give up the fruits of all your actions (recognising Me as their agent
and enjoyer).
12. Than (a mere formal) practice of disciplines, a clear intellectual understanding (of the
doctrine) is better. Than such understanding, meditation is better. Even better than
meditation is the abandonment of the fruits of action. For, such abandonment (of the fruits
of works and sense of their agency) is immediately followed by peace.
13-14. Friendly and compassionate to all and without any touch of hatred; devoid of
possessiveness and arrogance; ever content and contemplative; alike in happiness and
misery; self-controlled and firm in conviction; dedicated to Me with all his heart and all his
soul - dear to Me is a man who is thus devoted.
15. Who causes fear to none and whom none can frighten, who is thus free from the
agitation of the moods caused by euphoria, anger, and excitement - such a person too is
dear to Me.
16. Desireless, pure, resourceful, unattached, unworried and without any sense of self-
centred agency - a devotee thus endowed is dear to Me.
17. He who is free from elation, anger, sorrow, and craving, who neither seeks the pleasant
nor shuns the unpleasant - dear to Me is the man who is thus devoted.
18-19. Alike to friend and foe, alike in honour and insult, alike in heat and cold, alike in
praise and blame - unattached, contented, homeless, and steady in mind - dear to Me is a
man who is thus devoted.
20. Whosoever even seeks to follow the virtuous path to Immortality thus set forth, with a
mind full of faith and acceptance of Me as their supreme goal - exceedingly dear to Me are
men who are thus devoted.