Sanskrit
अनन्यचेताः सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यशः । तस्याहं सुलभः पार्थ नित्ययुक्तस्य योगिनः ॥
ananyacetāḥ satataṃ yo māṃ smarati nityaśaḥ tasyāhaṃ sulabhaḥ pārtha nityayuktasya yoginaḥ
Translation
He who constantly thinketh upon Me, not thinking ever of another, of him I am easily reached, O Pârtha, of this ever-harmonised Yogî.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
A softer counterpoint to the elaborate technique of verses 12-13: for the one whose attention is simply undivided and constant, reaching Krishna is described as easy (sulabhah). The chapter keeps alternating this way between demanding yogic method and the simpler claim that steady devotion alone suffices — a tension it never fully resolves, and one the explicitly bhakti-focused chapters 9 and 12 lean into further. Su-labha — “easily gained” — is the word that undercuts the difficulty of the breath-and-syllable method just given: for the ananya-cetāḥ, the undistracted devotee, no special dying technique is needed. Chapter 12 makes this the whole argument.
Study deeper
Word by word
- ananyacetāḥ satataṃअनन्यचेताः सततं
- with mind on no other, constantly (ananya-cetāḥ + satatam)
- yo māṃ smarati nityaśaḥयो मां स्मरति नित्यशः
- who remembers Me always (yaḥ + mām + smarati + nityaśaḥ)
- tasyāhaṃ sulabhaḥ pārthaतस्याहं सुलभः पार्थ
- to him I am easy to reach, O Pārtha (tasya + aham + su-labhaḥ + pārtha)
- nityayuktasya yoginaḥनित्ययुक्तस्य योगिनः
- to the ever-yoked yogin (nitya-yuktasya + yoginaḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Right after two verses of elaborate, physiologically specific technique, this one says the goal is easy — sulabhah — for anyone whose attention is simply undivided. The chapter never picks a side between these two claims; it leaves the demanding method and the easy devotion standing next to each other, unreconciled, as if both are true depending on which capacity a person actually has.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When two pieces of advice about the same goal seem to contradict — one demanding elaborate discipline, another calling it simple — don't assume one must be wrong; you may genuinely need different routes to the same place at different times.
Professional
- When your team gets conflicting guidance — a rigorous, heavyweight process from one source and a lightweight shortcut from another — resist forcing a single resolution; assess which route actually matches your team's current capacity rather than picking the philosophically tidier answer.
Family & Social
- When advice about handling a relationship conflicts — one voice says it takes hard, structured work, another says just show up consistently — trust that both can be true for different people, and pick the version that matches what you can actually sustain.
Ask yourself
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