Sanskrit
एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते । ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः ॥
evaṃ satatayuktā ye bhaktās tvāṃ paryupāsate ye cāpy akṣaram avyaktaṃ teṣāṃ ke yogavittamāḥ
Translation
Those devotees who ever harmonised worship Thee, and those also who worship the Indestructible, the Unmanifested, whether of these is the more learned in yoga?
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Arjuna opens the chapter with a comparative question, not a request for new doctrine: given the personal, manifest Krishna described through Chapters 7-11 and the unmanifest akṣara Brahman discussed since Chapter 8, which devotee is “more learned in yoga” (yogavittamāḥ)? Framing it as a ranking rather than a right/wrong choice sets up Krishna’s answer as a graded structure rather than a single verdict. Arjuna frames it as a ranking, not a right/wrong choice, which is why Krishna’s answer is a graded structure — a preferred path, an equally valid harder one, and a four-rung ladder of concessions — rather than a single verdict.
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Word by word
- evaṃ satatayuktā yeएवं सततयुक्ता ये
- those thus ever-devoted, who (evam + satata-yuktāḥ + ye)
- bhaktās tvāṃ paryupāsateभक्तास् त्वां पर्युपासते
- as devotees worship you (bhaktāḥ + tvām + paryupāsate)
- ye cāpy akṣaram avyaktaṃये चाप्य् अक्षरं अव्यक्तं
- and those who [worship] the imperishable unmanifest (ye + ca + api + akṣaram + avyaktam)
- teṣāṃ ke yogavittamāḥतेषां के योगवित्तमाः
- of these, who are the best knowers of yoga? (teṣām + ke + yoga-vit-tamāḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Arjuna doesn’t ask which path is “true” — he asks which is “more learned,” already assuming both are real and simply want to be ranked. That’s a subtler question than it looks: most real choices between two legitimate approaches aren’t about right and wrong, they’re about fit and difficulty, and Krishna will spend the rest of the chapter answering exactly that kind of question rather than the blunter one Arjuna could have asked instead.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you compare two paths you're drawn to — a stricter routine versus a gentler one, therapy versus solo reflection — resist asking which is objectively best. Ask, like Arjuna's question implicitly assumes, which one you're actually equipped to sustain.
Professional
- Before declaring one framework or methodology superior to another, check whether you're really comparing correctness or comparing fit — a team's constraints often decide which approach is "more learned" far more than the approach's own merits do.
Family & Social
- When someone close to you follows a spiritual or self-care practice unlike yours, don't rank it against your own before understanding it — ask whether it's actually working for them, the same open question this verse starts with.
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