Sanskrit
मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते । श्रद्धया परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मताः ॥
mayy āveśya mano ye māṃ nityayuktā upāsate śraddhayā parayopetās te me yuktatamā matāḥ
Translation
They who with mind fixed on Me ever harmonised worship Me, with faith supreme endowed, these, in My opinion, are best in yoga.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Krishna answers without hedging: devotion to his personal form, held with supreme faith, is “yuktatama” — best in yoga. The verdict is delivered first; the reasoning behind it (why this path is easier for embodied beings) doesn’t arrive until verse 5, after the alternative has been described in verses 3-4. The verdict comes first, undated: devotion to the personal form, held with śraddhayā parayā, “supreme faith,” is yuktatama, best in yoga. The reason — why it is easier for embodied beings — waits until BG 12.5, after the alternative has been laid out.
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Word by word
- mayy āveśya mano ye māṃमय्य् आवेश्य मनो ये मां
- those who, fixing the mind on Me (mayi + āveśya + manaḥ + ye + mām)
- nityayuktā upāsateनित्ययुक्ता उपासते
- ever-devoted, worship (nitya-yuktāḥ + upāsate)
- śraddhayā parayopetāsश्रद्धया परयोपेतास्
- endowed with supreme faith (śraddhayā + parayā + upetāḥ)
- te me yuktatamā matāḥते मे युक्ततमा मताः
- they, in My view, are the most perfect in yoga (te + me + yuktatamāḥ + matāḥ)
Commentary
Site Commentary
Krishna could have opened with the argument and let the verdict fall out at the end; instead he states the verdict and makes the reader wait for the reasoning. Conviction doesn’t always arrive last in a person’s mind either — sometimes you know which choice is right before you can fully say why, and the honest move is to say so rather than manufacture reasoning you don’t yet have.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you already feel certain which choice is right for you, don't wait for a complete justification before acting on it — conviction is allowed to arrive before its full reasoning does, as long as you stay honest that the reasoning is still catching up.
Professional
- When advocating for a decision under time pressure, state your recommendation plainly before you've finished building the full case for it — a clear verdict followed by supporting reasoning often lands better than reasoning that only concludes at the very end.
Family & Social
- If you tell someone what you think they should do before you've worked out the full explanation, say so directly — offering conviction without a complete case isn't dishonest, pretending the case was already complete is.
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