Chapter 9, Verse 22
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते | तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ||९-२२||
ananyāścintayanto māṃ ye janāḥ paryupāsate . teṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yogakṣemaṃ vahāmyaham ||9-22||
Meaning
9.22 For those men who worship Me alone, thinking of no other, for those ever-united, I secure what is not already possessed and preserve what they already possess.
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
After describing those who seek rewards, Krishna turns with great tenderness to the true devotees — those who worship ananya, with no thought of any other, seeking not heaven but the Divine alone. To them he makes one of the most cherished promises in all scripture: he himself carries their yoga-kshema. Yoga is the gaining of what they lack; kshema is the safeguarding of what they have.
The single-pointed devotee need not anxiously calculate and grasp; the Divine personally tends to both their attainment and their security. This is the fruit of self-surrender. When the heart stops scattering itself among countless wants and rests wholly in God, a deep providence takes over. The promise is not that life will be free of effort, but that the devotee, no longer alone in carrying its weight, is upheld by an unfailing care.
💡 Key Takeaway
Turn your heart wholly to the Divine, and a deeper providence takes up the care of both your needs and your security.
Related Verses
राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम् | प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं सुसुखं कर्तुमव्ययम् ||९-२||
rājavidyā rājaguhyaṃ pavitramidamuttamam . pratyakṣāvagamaṃ dharmyaṃ susukhaṃ kartumavyayam ||9-2||
9.2 This is the kingl science, the kingly secret, the supreme purifier, realisable by direct intuitional knowledge, according to righteousness, very easy to perform and imperishable.
महात्मानस्तु मां पार्थ दैवीं प्रकृतिमाश्रिताः | भजन्त्यनन्यमनसो ज्ञात्वा भूतादिमव्ययम् ||९-१३||
mahātmānastu māṃ pārtha daivīṃ prakṛtimāśritāḥ . bhajantyananyamanaso jñātvā bhūtādimavyayam ||9-13||
9.13 But the great souls, O Arjuna, partaking of My divine nature, worship Me with a single mind (with the mind devoted to nothing else), knowing Me as the imperishable source of beings.
सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां यतन्तश्च दृढव्रताः | नमस्यन्तश्च मां भक्त्या नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ||९-१४||
satataṃ kīrtayanto māṃ yatantaśca dṛḍhavratāḥ . namasyantaśca māṃ bhaktyā nityayuktā upāsate ||9-14||
9.14 Always glorifying Me, striving,firm in vows, prostrating themselves before Me, they worship Me with devotion always steadfast.