Chapter 12, Verse 3
ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते | सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यञ्च कूटस्थमचलन्ध्रुवम् ||१२-३||
ye tvakṣaramanirdeśyamavyaktaṃ paryupāsate . sarvatragamacintyañca kūṭasthamacalandhruvam ||12-3||
Meaning
Swami Sivananda did not comment on this sloka
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Having praised the devotees of the personal God, Krishna now describes the other path with equal dignity. He lists the attributes of the formless Absolute: imperishable (akṣaram), indefinable (anirdeśyam), unmanifested (avyaktam), all-pervading, inconceivable to thought (acintyam), unchanging like a mountain peak (kūṭa-stham), immovable and eternal. These are not flaws but the very nature of the impersonal Brahman that some aspirants choose to worship.
The accumulation of negations and absolutes shows why this path is so demanding: the mind has nothing concrete to hold. Yet Krishna honours these seekers fully, for they too reach the same supreme reality, only by a steeper road described in the verses that follow.
💡 Key Takeaway
The formless Absolute is imperishable and all-pervading, worshipped by those who seek the Divine beyond all form.
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?
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.
श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाज्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते | ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम् ||१२-१२||
śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsājjñānāddhyānaṃ viśiṣyate . dhyānātkarmaphalatyāgastyāgācchāntiranantaram ||12-12||
12.12 Better indeed is knowledge than practice; than knowledge meditation is better; than meditation the renunciation of the fruits of actions: peace immediately follows renunciation.