Sanskrit
ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि संन्यस्य मत्पराः । अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते ॥
ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi saṃnyasya matparāḥ ananyenaiva yogena māṃ dhyāyanta upāsate
Translation
Those verily who, renouncing all actions in Me and intent on Me, worship meditating on Me, with whole-hearted yoga,
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A third practice enters here: renouncing all action into Krishna (karma-sannyāsa) fused with undivided meditation (ananya yoga). This isn’t a third competing path so much as a description of what devotion to the personal form actually consists of in practice — the concrete content behind verse 2’s “mind fixed on Me.” This is not a third competing path but a description of what devotion to the personal form actually consists of: surrendering action to Krishna fused with ananya meditation — the concrete content of BG 12.2’s “mind fixed on Me.””
Study deeper
Word by word
- ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇiये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि
- but those who, [renouncing] all actions (ye + tu + sarvāṇi + karmāṇi)
- mayi saṃnyasya matparāḥमयि संन्यस्य मत्पराः
- in Me, intent on Me (mayi + saṃnyasya + mat-parāḥ)
- ananyenaiva yogena māṃअनन्येनैव योगेन मां
- by undivided yoga, Me (ananyena + eva + yogena + mām)
- dhyāyanta upāsateध्यायन्त उपासते
- meditating, worship (dhyāyantaḥ + upāsate)
Commentary
Site Commentary
“Fix your mind on Me” from verse 2 was an instruction with no handle on it — this verse hands you one: renounce actions into Krishna, meditate without division. An instruction that stays abstract can be agreed with and still never practiced; this verse’s whole function is to convert agreement into something a person can actually do on a given day.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you set yourself an abstract intention — "be more present," "care more" — immediately translate it into one specific, repeatable act, the way this verse converts "fix your mind on Me" into an actual practice. Vague resolutions rarely survive an ordinary day.
Professional
- When leadership hands down an abstract value like "be customer-obsessed," your real job is defining the concrete practice that embodies it for your team — the value alone, unconverted into procedure, changes nothing day to day.
Family & Social
- If you tell someone close to you "I'll be there for you," follow it immediately with the specific form that takes — a weekly call, a standing task. The promise means little until it's been converted into an actual practice.
Ask yourself
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