Sanskrit
ध्यानेनात्मनि पश्यन्ति केचिदात्मानमात्मना । अन्ये साङ्ख्येन योगेन कर्मयोगेन चापरे ॥
dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecid ātmānam ātmanā anye sāṅkhyena yogena karmayogena cāpare
Translation
Some by meditation behold the Self in the self by the Self; others by the Sânkhya Yoga, and others by the Yoga of Action;
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Having just said that knowing purusha-and-prakriti ends rebirth, Krishna immediately concedes there’s more than one way to arrive at that seeing: meditation (dhyana), the Sankhya path of analytical knowledge, and karma yoga, the discipline of action without attachment to results that chapters 2 and 3 built at length. Naming karma yoga here as one option among several is a useful check on reading any single chapter of the Gita as the whole teaching — the text keeps returning to this same plurality-of-paths move (see also chapter 12’s opening question about jnana versus bhakti). Three routes to the same seeing: meditation, the Sāṅkhya path of analysis, and karma-yoga. Naming karma-yoga here as one option among several is a check on reading any single chapter as the whole teaching — the Gita keeps returning to this plurality-of-paths move.
Study deeper
Word by word
- dhyānenātmani paśyanti kecidध्यानेनात्मनि पश्यन्ति केचिद्
- by meditation, some see in the self (dhyānena + ātmani + paśyanti + kecit)
- ātmānam ātmanāआत्मानं आत्मना
- the Self, by the self (ātmānam + ātmanā)
- anye sāṅkhyena yogenaअन्ये साङ्ख्येन योगेन
- others by the yoga of knowledge (anye + sāṅkhyena + yogena)
- karmayogena cāpareकर्मयोगेन चापरे
- and others by the yoga of action (karma-yogena + ca + apare)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Having just made the chapter’s strongest claim, Krishna immediately dilutes any sense that there’s one correct way to arrive there — meditation, analytical knowledge, and the disciplined action of karma yoga all get named in the same breath. It’s the same reflex chapter 12 opens with, offering jnana and bhakti side by side rather than ranking them, and it recurs often enough across the text to be a pattern rather than a one-off hedge.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- Right after you find the practice that works for you, resist assuming it's the only one that could — this verse states its strongest claim and then immediately names two other paths to the same place, a habit worth borrowing whenever you feel your method is the method.
Professional
- When you've found the technical approach that solved your problem, present it as one validated path, not the only one — naming the alternatives that could have gotten a team to the same result costs you nothing and keeps the door open for someone else's different route.
Family & Social
- If a particular way of coping helped you through something hard, offer it to someone else as one option among several rather than the prescription — what got you there isn't necessarily what will get them there.
Ask yourself
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