Sanskrit
तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् । भवामि न चिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् ॥
teṣām ahaṃ samuddhartā mṛtyusaṃsārasāgarāt bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha mayy āveśitacetasām
Translation
These I speedily lift up from the ocean of death and existence, O Pârtha, their minds being fixed on Me.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
“Na cirāt” — without delay — is the reward for the practice just described, and it reads as a deliberate contrast with verse 5’s “difficulty” (kleśa) on the unmanifest path. Krishna is stacking the case for devotion: not only easier to undertake, but faster in its result. Na cirāt — “before long” — is set deliberately against BG 12.5’s kleśa, “trouble.” Krishna is stacking the case: devotion is not only easier to begin, but faster in its result, and Krishna himself does the lifting — samuddhartā.
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Word by word
- teṣām ahaṃ samuddhartāतेषां अहं समुद्धर्ता
- for them I become the deliverer (teṣām + aham + samuddhartā)
- mṛtyusaṃsārasāgarātमृत्युसंसारसागरात्
- from the ocean of death and rebirth (mṛtyu-saṃsāra-sāgarāt)
- bhavāmi na cirāt pārthaभवामि न चिरात् पार्थ
- I become, before long, O Pārtha (bhavāmi + na + cirāt + pārtha)
- mayy āveśitacetasāmमय्य् आवेशितचेतसां
- for those whose minds are fixed on Me (mayi + āveśita-cetasām)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Having already made devotion the easier path in verse 5, Krishna adds a second, unrelated claim here — it’s also faster. The two virtues don’t have to travel together, and when they do, it’s worth noticing rather than assuming that a path can only be legitimate if it’s also the harder, slower one.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When a habit or practice turns out to be both easier to sustain and faster to show results, treat that alignment as real signal to keep doing it — don't assume the harder, slower route is automatically the more legitimate one.
Professional
- When you can honestly say a proposed solution is both simpler to build and faster to ship, say both together — don't undersell a plan's speed out of a feeling that a "real" solution has to be the hard one.
Family & Social
- When you find a simpler way to support someone that also helps them sooner — a short daily check-in instead of an occasional long one — trust that easier and more effective aren't in tension here.
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