Bhagwad Gita (English) | Chapter 12 | Verse 1

Chapter 12, Verse 1

Devotional Service

Arjuna inquired: Which is considered to be more perfect: those who are properly engaged in Your devotional service, or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?

Verse

अर्जुन उवाचएवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते।येचाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः।।12.1।।

arjuna uvācha
evaṁ satata-yuktā ye bhaktās tvāṁ paryupāsate
ye chāpy akṣharam avyaktaṁ teṣhāṁ ke yoga-vittamāḥ

Meaning of each word

arjunaḥ uvācha — Arjun said;
evam — thus;
satata — steadfastly;
yuktāḥ — devoted;
ye — those;
bhaktāḥ — devotees;
tvām — you;
paryupāsate — worship;
ye — those;
cha — and;
api — also;
akṣharam — the imperishable;
avyaktam — the formless Brahman;
teṣhām — of them;
ke — who;
yoga-vit-tamāḥ — more perfect in Yog

Interpretation

In this verse, Arjuna is asking an important question about two types of spiritual paths. He wants to know which path is better or more perfect. The first group consists of his friends and devotees who actively serve and worship God in a personal way. They love and dedicate their time to the Supreme Lord, who they see in a personal form, like Krishna. This means they engage in activities like prayer, singing, and other forms of devotion that express their love and connection to God.

The second group Arjuna refers to worships the impersonal aspect of the divine, known as Brahman. This is a more abstract idea. Instead of seeing God with a face and personality, they focus on the infinite and formless energy that they believe connects everything in the universe. For them, worshiping this impersonal Brahman means meditating, contemplating, or trying to understand the deeper, invisible energy behind life.

Arjuna is curious about which of these two paths—devotional service to a personal form of God versus worshiping the impersonal Brahman—is better or more complete. This question shows he is trying to understand the best way to connect with spirituality and seek the truth. He wants clarity on whether it is better to actively engage with a personal God or to focus on a more philosophical, formless understanding of the divine.

This distinction is important because it acknowledges that different people have different spiritual tastes and ways to seek fulfillment. Some prefer the loving and personal relationship of devotion, while others are drawn to understanding the broader, formless energy that exists everywhere. Each path has its own merits, and Arjuna is seeking to learn which one leads to the highest realization.

Other Verses of Chapter 12

Verse 2
The Blessed Lord said: He whose mind is fixed on My personal form, always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith, is considered by Me to be most perfect.

Verse 3
Those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the omnipresent, the unthinkable, the immovable, and the eternal.

Verse 4
Having restrained all the senses, being even-minded everywhere, and intent on the welfare of all beings, they verily come unto Me.

Verse 5
For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.

Verse 6
But to those who worship Me, renouncing all actions in Me, regarding Me as the supreme goal, meditating on Me with single-minded yoga.

Verse 7
To those whose minds are set on Me, O Arjuna, verily I soon become the savior out of the ocean of Samsara.

Verse 8
Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in Me always, without a doubt.

Verse 9
My dear Arjuna, O winner of wealth, if you cannot fix your mind upon Me without deviation, then follow the regulated principles of bhakti-yoga. In this way you will develop a desire to attain to Me.

Verse 10
If you cannot practice the regulations of bhakti-yoga, then just try to work for Me, because by working for Me you will come to the perfect stage.

Verse 11
If, however, you are unable to work in this consciousness, then try to act giving up all results of your work and try to be self-situated.

Verse 12
If you cannot take to this practice, then engage yourself in the cultivation of knowledge. Better than knowledge, however, is meditation, and better than meditation is renunciation of the fruits of action, for by such renunciation one can attain peace of mind.

Verse 13
He who hates no creature, is friendly and compassionate to all, is free from attachment and egoism, is balanced in pleasure and pain, and is forgiving.

Verse 14
Ever content, steady in meditation, self-controlled, possessing firm conviction, with the mind and intellect dedicated to Me, he, My devotee, is dear to Me.

Verse 15
He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anxiety, who is steady in happiness and distress, is very dear to Me.

Verse 16
A devotee who is not dependant on the ordinary course of activities, who is pure, expert, without cares, free from all pains, and who does not strive for some result, is very dear to Me.

Verse 17
One who neither grasps pleasure or grief, who neither laments nor desires, and who renounces both auspicious and inauspicious things, is very dear to Me.

Verse 18
He who is the same to foe and friend, and also in honor and dishonor, who is the same in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, and who is free from attachment.

Verse 19
He to whom censure and praise are equal, who is silent, content with anything, homeless, of a steady mind, and full of devotion; that man is dear to me.

Verse 20
He who follows this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engages himself with faith, making Me the supreme goal, is very, very dear to Me.

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