श्रीमद्भगवद्गीताShrimad Bhagavad Gita 📖 Read as a flipbook

Bhagavad Gita · Dhyana Yoga (Atma-samyama Yoga)Chapter 6, Shloka 47 (6.47)

Original Sanskrit · श्रीभगवान्

योगिनामपि सर्वेषां मद्गतेनान्तरात्मना
श्रद्धावान् भजते यो मां स मे युक्ततमो मतः
॥ 6.47 ॥

yogināmapi sarveṣāṃ madgatenāntarātmanā
śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṃ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

Translation

"And of all yogis, the one who worships Me with faith, with a mind absorbed in Me — that one, in My view, is the most steadfast yogi of all."

Interpretation

Shankaracharya. Yoginām api sarveṣāṃ rudrādityādi-dhyāna-parāṇāṃ madhye — among all yogis — even among those devoted to meditating on gods like Rudra and Aditya; mad-gatena mayi vāsudeve samāhitena antarātmanā antaḥkaraṇena — with an inner being composed in Me, Vasudeva; śraddhāvān śraddadhānaḥ san bhajate sevate yo mām, sa me … yuktatamaḥ atiśayena yuktaḥ.

Acharya Ramanuja — grammar and love. Yoginām iti pañcamy-arthe ṣaṣṭhī — "yoginām" here is the genitive case in the sense of the ablative (than); because the yogi described here is not included among the four kinds of yogis of 6.29–6.32 — this one is distinct from and above them. A simile: merv-apekṣayā sarṣapāṇām iva — like mustard seeds compared with Mount Meru — the seeds may be bigger or smaller among themselves, but before Meru all are equally small; so too ascetics and the others, and the yogis — all before this devotee. Mad-gatena antarātmanā — atyartha-mat-priyatvena mayā vinā sva-dhāraṇālābhāt — with a mind that, out of intense love for Me, cannot even sustain itself without Me; śraddhāvān … kṣaṇa-mātra-viyogāsahatayā — because unable to bear separation even for a moment, eager to attain Me. And a description of the Lord's infinite qualities: apāra-kāruṇya-sauśīlya-vātsalya-audārya-aiśvarya-mahodadhim … vasudeva-gṛhe avatīrṇam — a great ocean of boundless compassion, gracious accessibility, motherly tenderness, generosity and sovereignty, who descended in the house of Vasudeva.

The difference: Shankara — "a mind composed in Vasudeva" as the summit of right vision; Ramanuja — loving devotion as a distinct category even above yoga, and the beginning of the Gita's next six chapters (the higher knowledge).

AI-assisted draft translation — under review.

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