Chapter 12, Verse 2
श्रीभगवानुवाच | मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते | श्रद्धया परयोपेताः ते मे युक्ततमा मताः ||१२-२||
śrībhagavānuvāca . mayyāveśya mano ye māṃ nityayuktā upāsate . śraddhayā parayopetāḥ te me yuktatamā matāḥ ||12-2||
Meaning
12.2 The Blessed Lord said Those who, fixing their mind on Me, worship Me, ever steadfast and endowed with supreme faith, are the best in Yoga in My opinion.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Arjuna has just asked which path is higher: worship of the personal God or of the formless Absolute. Krishna answers directly. Those who absorb the mind in Him (mayyāveśya manaḥ), worship with unbroken constancy (nitya-yuktāḥ), and are filled with supreme faith (śraddhayā parayā) are, in His own judgement, the most perfect yogis. The verse quietly establishes the supremacy of loving devotion to a personal Lord as the most accessible and complete path.
Three pillars stand out: a mind turned wholly toward the Divine, steadiness sustained day after day, and faith that gives the practice its warmth. Devotion here is not mere emotion but a disciplined orientation of the whole being toward God.
💡 Key Takeaway
A mind fixed on God, steady practice, and supreme faith together make the most complete yogi.
Related Verses
अर्जुन उवाच | एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते | ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः ||१२-१||
arjuna uvāca . evaṃ satatayuktā ye bhaktāstvāṃ paryupāsate . ye cāpyakṣaramavyaktaṃ teṣāṃ ke yogavittamāḥ ||12-1||
12.1 Arjuna said Those devotees who, ever steadfast, thus worship Thee and those also who worship the imperishable and the unmanifested which of them are better versed in Yoga?
क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम् | अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते ||१२-५||
kleśo.adhikatarasteṣāmavyaktāsaktacetasām || avyaktā hi gatirduḥkhaṃ dehavadbhiravāpyate ||12-5||
12.5 Greater is their trouble whose minds are set on the unmanifested; for the goal; the unmanifested, is very hard for the embodied to reach.
ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्परः | अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते ||१२-६||
ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi saṃnyasya matparaḥ . ananyenaiva yogena māṃ dhyāyanta upāsate ||12-6||
12.6 But to those who worship Me, renouncing all actions in Me, regarding Me as the supreme gaol, meditating on Me with single-minded Yoga.