The Yoga of Devotion
भक्तियोग
Krishna describes the sweetest path of all — devotion, or bhakti. He says that those who love him with all their heart are very dear to him. You don't need to be the smartest or the strongest. If you are kind, forgiving, and full of love for others, you are already walking the path of bhakti.
All 20 verses — Sanskrit and English, side by side. Read with illustrations →
| # | Sanskrit | English |
|---|---|---|
| Verse 12.1 | एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते। ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः॥ evaṁ satatayuktā ye bhaktāstvāṁ paryupāsate | ye cāpyakṣaramavyaktaṁ teṣāṁ ke yogavittamāḥ || | Arjuna Arjuna asks Krishna a heartfelt question: "Some people worship You as a person they can see and love. Others worship something invisible — the formless, imperishable spirit that has no shape or name. Which of these devotees knows yoga better?" |
| Verse 12.2 | मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते। श्रद्धया परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मताः॥ mayyāveśya mano ye māṁ nityayuktā upāsate | śraddhayā parayopetāste me yuktatamā matāḥ || | Krishna Krishna answers: "Those who fix their minds on Me with unwavering devotion, who worship Me with supreme faith — I consider them the best among yogis. The ones who love Me with their whole heart are the closest to Me." |
| Verse 12.3 | ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते। सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम्॥ ye tvakṣaramanirdeśyamavyaktaṁ paryupāsate | sarvatragamacintyaṁ ca kūṭasthamacalaṁ dhruvam || | Krishna Krishna continues: "But there are others who worship the imperishable — that which cannot be defined, which has no visible form, which is everywhere at once, beyond what the mind can imagine, unchanging, immovable, and eternal..." |
| Verse 12.4 | सन्नियम्येन्द्रियग्रामं सर्वत्र समबुद्धयः। ते प्राप्नुवन्ति मामेव सर्वभूतहिते रताः॥ sanniyamyendriyagrāmaṁ sarvatra samabuddhayaḥ | te prāpnuvanti māmeva sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ || | Krishna Krishna says: "...those who control all their senses, who are even-minded in every situation, and who care deeply about the welfare of all living beings — they reach Me as surely as anyone. Those who seek Me as the formless are walking the steeper path, but it leads to the very same goal. Both ways arrive at the same place: two roads up one mountain." |
| Verse 12.5 | क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम्। अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते॥ kleśo'dhikatarasteṣāmavyaktāsaktacetasām | avyaktā hi gatirduḥkhaṁ dehavadbhiravāpyate || | Krishna Krishna says gently: "The path of the formless is harder — much harder — for beings who live in bodies. We are made of flesh and bone. We see with eyes, hear with ears, love with hearts that beat. Reaching for something with no shape, no name, no face — that is a painful struggle for those of us who live in the world of form." |
| Verse 12.6 | ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि सन्न्यस्य मत्पराः। अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते॥ ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi sannyasya matparāḥ | ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate || | Krishna But those who surrender all their actions to Me, regarding Me as the highest goal, and meditate on Me with single-minded devotion — they are the ones who worship. Krishna says, "When you offer everything you do — every small task, every act of kindness — to something greater than yourself, your whole life becomes a kind of prayer." |
| Verse 12.7 | तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात्। भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम्॥ teṣāmahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyusaṁsārasāgarāt | bhavāmi nacirātpārtha mayyāveśitacetasām || | Krishna For those whose hearts are set on Me, I swiftly become the one who lifts them out of the ocean of birth and death. Krishna promises that when someone surrenders completely, he does not wait — he reaches out immediately, like a hand pulling you from deep water. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to call. |
| Verse 12.8 | मय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय। निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशयः॥ mayyeva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya | nivasiṣyasi mayyeva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ || | Krishna Fix your mind on Me alone. Let your understanding rest in Me. Then you will live in Me forever — of this there is no doubt. Krishna says it simply: when you give your full attention to what you love most deeply, you become part of it. Like a musician who disappears into the music, or a painter lost in her painting — when your heart settles on something completely, you and it become one. |
| Verse 12.9 | अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम्। अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय॥ atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram | abhyāsayogena tato māmicchāptuṁ dhanañjaya || | Krishna If you cannot fix your mind steadily on Me, then try to reach Me through the yoga of regular practice, O Dhananjaya. Krishna understands that not everyone can focus their mind perfectly from the start. That is all right. Just keep trying, again and again, the way you learn anything difficult — by doing it every day, even when it feels impossible. Practice is its own kind of devotion. |
| Verse 12.10 | अभ्यासेऽप्यसमर्थोऽसि मत्कर्मपरमो भव। मदर्थमपि कर्माणि कुर्वन्सिद्धिमवाप्स्यसि॥ abhyāse'pyasamartho'si matkarmaparamo bhava | madarthamapi karmāṇi kurvansiddhimavāpsyasi || | Krishna If you cannot even practice regularly, then simply dedicate your actions to Me. Even by performing your work for My sake, you will reach perfection. Krishna keeps making the path easier, step by step. Can't meditate? Then practise. Can't practise? Then just do your everyday work — but do it as an offering, with love. Even that is enough. |
| Verse 12.11 | अथैतदप्यशक्तोऽसि कर्तुं मद्योगमाश्रितः। सर्वकर्मफलत्यागं ततः कुरु यतात्मवान्॥ athaitadapyaśakto'si kartuṁ madyogamāśritaḥ | sarvakarmaphalatyāgaṁ tataḥ kuru yatātmavān || | Krishna Krishna says: If you cannot even do this — practising yoga and working for My sake — then simply give up the results of everything you do. Let go of caring about the outcome. Do your work with a calm, self-controlled heart, and release the rest to Me. |
| Verse 12.12 | श्रेयो हि ज्ञानमभ्यासाद्ज्ञानाद्ध्यानं विशिष्यते। ध्यानात्कर्मफलत्यागस्त्यागाच्छान्तिरनन्तरम्॥ śreyo hi jñānamabhyāsājjñānāddhyānaṁ viśiṣyate | dhyānātkarmaphalatyāgastyāgācchāntiranantaram || | Krishna Knowledge is better than mechanical practice. Meditation is better than knowledge alone. But best of all is giving up attachment to the results of your actions, because from that letting go, peace comes immediately. |
| Verse 12.13 | अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च। निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी॥ adveṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṁ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca | nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ samaduḥkhasukhaḥ kṣamī || | Krishna Krishna says, "The devotee who is dearest to Me is one who has no hatred toward any living being, who is friendly and compassionate to all, who has let go of possessiveness and ego, who stays steady in both pain and happiness, and who is forgiving." |
| Verse 12.14 | सन्तुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः। मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः॥ santuṣṭaḥ satataṁ yogī yatātmā dṛḍhaniścayaḥ | mayyarpitamanobuddhiryo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ || | Krishna Krishna continues: the devotee who is always content, steady in yoga, self-controlled, firm in their resolve, and who has offered their mind and heart to Me — such a person is dear to Me. |
| Verse 12.15 | यस्मान्नोद्विजते लोको लोकान्नोद्विजते च यः। हर्षामर्षभयोद्वेगैर्मुक्तो यः स च मे प्रियः॥ yasmānna udvijate loko lokānna udvijate ca yaḥ | harṣāmarṣabhayodvegairmukto yaḥ sa ca me priyaḥ || | Krishna Krishna says: the one who does not cause the world to feel disturbed, and who cannot be disturbed by the world — who is free from excessive excitement, envy, fear, and anxiety — that person is also very dear to Me. |
| Verse 12.16 | अनपेक्षः शुचिर्दक्ष उदासीनो गतव्यथः। सर्वारम्भपरित्यागी यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः॥ anapekṣaḥ śucirdakṣa udāsīno gatavyathaḥ | sarvārambhaparityāgī yo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ || | Krishna Krishna says: The devotee who is free from wants, pure in heart, skillful in action, unconcerned with results, and untroubled by worry — who has given up all selfish undertakings — such a person is very dear to Me. |
| Verse 12.17 | यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति। शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्यः स मे प्रियः॥ yo na hṛṣyati na dveṣṭi na śocati na kāṅkṣati | śubhāśubhaparityāgī bhaktimānyaḥ sa me priyaḥ || | Krishna Krishna says: The one who neither rejoices wildly nor hates, who neither grieves over loss nor craves what they do not have, who has let go of clinging to both good and bad fortune, and who is full of devotion — that person is dear to Me. |
| Verse 12.18 | समः शत्रौ च मित्रे च तथा मानापमानयोः। शीतोष्णसुखदुःखेषु समः सङ्गविवर्जितः॥ samaḥ śatrau ca mitre ca tathā mānāpamānayoḥ | śītoṣṇasukhaduḥkheṣu samaḥ saṅgavivarjitaḥ || | Krishna Krishna says: The devotee who is equal toward both enemy and friend, the same in honour and dishonour, in cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, who is free from all attachment — such a person is dear to Me. |
| Verse 12.19 | तुल्यनिन्दास्तुतिर्मौनी सन्तुष्टो येनकेनचित्। अनिकेतः स्थिरमतिर्भक्तिमान्मे प्रियो नरः॥ tulyanindāstutirmaunī santuṣṭo yenakena cit | aniketaḥ sthiramatir bhaktimānme priyo naraḥ || | Krishna Krishna says: The one who is the same when blamed or praised, who is silent and thoughtful, content with whatever comes, not attached to any home, steady-minded, and full of devotion — that person is dear to Me. |
| Verse 12.20 | ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते। श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रियाः॥ ye tu dharmyāmṛtamidaṁ yathoktaṁ paryupāsate | śraddadhānā matparamā bhaktāste'tīva me priyāḥ || | Krishna Krishna says: But those who follow this immortal dharma with full faith, regarding Me as the supreme goal — such devotees are exceedingly dear to Me. They are the dearest of all. |