Yoga integrates all paths.
Krishna speaks to Arjuna
तपस्विभ्योऽधिको योगी ज्ञानिभ्योऽपि मतोऽधिकः |कर्मिभ्यश्चाधिको योगी तस्माद्योगी भवार्जुन ||६-४६||
tapasvibhyo.adhiko yogī jñānibhyo.api mato.adhikaḥ . karmibhyaścādhiko yogī tasmādyogī bhavārjuna ||6-46||
Use this verse as a call to become a yogi.
Meaning
The yogi is considered greater than ascetics, scholars, and ritual workers. Therefore, become a yogi, O Arjuna.
Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).
In plain words
Krishna urges Arjuna to become a yogi.
Word-by-word meaning
Tap a word to see its meaning.
Explanation
The yogi integrates discipline, knowledge, and action into lived union with the Divine.
Read the traditional commentary
Krishna now exalts the path of yoga above all others and issues a direct call. The yogi, he declares, is superior to the tapasvi (the ascetic who practices severe austerities), superior even to the jnani (the scholar of scriptural knowledge), and superior to the karmi (the performer of ritual action and good works).
The integrated yogi surpasses each because he unites in himself the essence of all three — discipline, wisdom, and action — without their one-sidedness.
The verse culminates in a ringing exhortation: tasmat yogi bhava Arjuna — 'therefore, be a yogi, O Arjuna.' This is the practical conclusion toward which the whole chapter has been building. Having described the goal, the method, the obstacles, and the unfailing reward, Krishna now urges Arjuna personally to take up this supreme path.
The teaching is not meant to remain abstract; it issues in a command to act. Of all the noble lives one might pursue, Krishna names the life of the yogi — the one who unites the soul with the Divine — as the highest, and calls his friend to choose it.
In daily life
Do not only know, do, or endure; unite your whole life with yoga.
A balanced seeker studies, serves, meditates, and lives ethically.
Try this today
Add one missing dimension: study, action, devotion, or meditation.
I choose to become a yogi.Reflect
Am I becoming integrated or one-sided?
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Quick check
What does ‘कर्मिभ्यः च अधिकः योगी’ mean in this verse?
Krishna on yoga, in other chapters
- Verse 2.66Without discipline there is no wisdom, without wisdom no contemplation, without contemplation no peace, and without peace happiness is impossible.
- Verse 8.10A serene and focused death is earned in life by ripening devotion and disciplined practice together, not separately.
- Verse 15.11Spiritual effort bears fruit only when the heart that makes it has first been purified.
- Verse 18.33Pure resolve steadily masters mind and senses through unwavering, disciplined practice.
Swipe left for 6.47 · Devotion completes yoga.
Questions about Bhagavad Gita 6.46
Who says Bhagavad Gita 6.46, and to whom?
Krishna speaks to Arjuna in verse 6.46, in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga (Dhyana Yoga).
What does Bhagavad Gita 6.46 mean?
The yogi is considered greater than ascetics, scholars, and ritual workers. Therefore, become a yogi, O Arjuna. (Translation: Gita Guidance (original English rendering).)
What is the lesson of Bhagavad Gita 6.46 for daily life?
Do not only know, do, or endure; unite your whole life with yoga. A balanced seeker studies, serves, meditates, and lives ethically.
What do the Sanskrit words in Bhagavad Gita 6.46 mean?
तपस्विभ्यः अधिकः योगी — the yogi is superior to the ascetics; ज्ञानिभ्यः अपि मतः अधिकः — considered superior even to the men of knowledge; कर्मिभ्यः च अधिकः योगी — and the yogi is superior to the men of action; तस्मात् — therefore; योगी भव अर्जुन — be a yogi, O Arjuna.
Where does verse 6.46 come in the Bhagavad Gita?
It is verse 46 of 47 in Chapter 6, Dhyana Yoga. The next verse is 6.47.