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
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||
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||
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||
But to those who worship Me, renouncing all actions in Me, regarding Me as the supreme gaol, meditating on Me with single-minded Yoga.