Arjuna asks about two kinds of seekers. The first are always absorbed in the Lord and worship Him in His personal form. The second worship the imperishable, unmanifest Reality. Which of the two knows yoga best (Gita 12.1)? A careful reader has two questions. Is the Lord ranking the two? And if both reach Him, why rank them at all?
The answer is that the goal is one, but the seekers stand differently. Those who worship the unmanifest also reach the Lord himself (Gita 12.4). In the Lord's own view, the most united is the one who fixes the mind on Him, stays steady and has supreme faith (Gita 12.2). And the road of the unmanifest is far harder for those who live in a body (Gita 12.5). The order comes from how joined the seeker is and how much effort the road asks. It does not come from the goal.
Here we read the five verses in order, set them beside other parts of the Gita, answer four hard questions, and end with the questions these verses raise, answered from the Gita and the tradition.
Why Arjuna asks this now
At the end of chapter 11 the Lord says that only through undivided devotion can He be known in truth, seen, and entered (Gita 11.54). The next verse lists the marks of such a devotee: he works for the Lord, takes Him as the highest goal, and is free from attachment and from enmity toward all beings (Gita 11.55). Arjuna has just seen the cosmic form.
A question follows that any listener would ask. If devotion is the way to know the Lord, what about those who hold to no form at all and worship the imperishable, unmanifest Reality? Chapter 12 begins with that question.
एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते ।
ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः ॥ १२.१ ॥
evaṁ satata-yuktā ye bhaktās tvāṁ paryupāsate |
ye chāpy akṣharam avyaktaṁ teṣhāṁ ke yoga-vittamāḥ || 12.1 ||
Arjuna said: There are devotees who are constantly steadfast and worship You in Your personal, manifest form. There are others who meditate on the imperishable and unmanifest Reality. Of these two kinds of seekers, who, in Your view, is better established in yoga and more perfect in spiritual union?
मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ।
श्रद्धया परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मताः ॥ १२.२ ॥
mayy āveśhya mano ye māṁ nitya-yuktā upāsate |
śhraddhayā parayopetās te me yuktatamā matāḥ || 12.2 ||
The Blessed Lord said: Those who fix their mind on Me, who are ever steadfast, and who worship Me with supreme faith, are considered by Me to be the most perfect in yoga.
Arjuna asks who knows yoga best
Look at how Arjuna puts it. He does not ask who will be saved or who is on the right road. He asks who is the best knower of yoga (Gita 12.1). Both seekers are already at work.
One more detail: the verse uses the same word of worship for both groups. The first group are called devotees, but the worshipper of the unmanifest is a worshipper too. So this is not a question between two religions. It is a question about two directions of one practice. The phrase "thus always steadfast" for the first group points back to the state taught at the close of chapter 11.
The Lord answers in terms of being joined, not of knowing
Arjuna asked who knows best. The Lord answers by saying who is most joined. Those who fix the mind on Him, are ever steadfast, and worship with supreme faith are, in His view, the most united (Gita 12.2).
There are three marks: the mind placed in Him, steadiness, and faith. All three are inner states. None of them is a name, a form or a method. The words "in My view" show that this is the Lord's own verdict and not a school's claim.
The same test appears in chapter 6 in almost the same words. Of all yogis, the one who with faith turns his inner self to the Lord and worships Him is, in the Lord's view, the most united (Gita 6.47). Just before it, the yogi is placed above the ascetic, the scholar and the ritualist (Gita 6.46). Both times the ground is the same: faith, and a mind that rests in the Lord. The answer in chapter 12 is not new. It repeats the verdict of chapter 6, now given in reply to a direct question.
सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम् ॥ १२.३ ॥
sarvatra-gam achintyaṁ cha kūṭa-stham achalaṁ dhruvam || 12.3 ||
But those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, and the unmanifest, which is all-pervading, beyond thought, changeless, unmoving, and eternal, also attain the Supreme. (The sentence is completed in the next verse, where Krishna says such seekers, who master their senses and look upon all with equal vision, also reach Him.)
ते प्राप्नुवन्ति मामेव सर्वभूतहिते रताः ॥ १२.४ ॥
te prāpnuvanti mām eva sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ || 12.4 ||
Those seekers who have fully restrained all their senses, who look upon everyone and every situation with equal vision, and who take delight in the welfare of all beings also attain Me alone. This completes the thought begun in the previous verse: worshippers of the imperishable and unmanifest Reality also reach the Supreme, provided they are disciplined, even-minded, and compassionate.
Those who worship the unmanifest also reach the Lord alone
The two verses are one sentence. The first names the subject and the second completes it. The first describes the unmanifest: imperishable, beyond what words can point to, unmanifest, all-pervading, beyond thought, unchanging, unmoving and constant (Gita 12.3). One idea runs through the list. What is to be held cannot be grasped by the hand, seen by the eye or thought by the mind.
The second verse sets the conditions. Such a seeker must fully restrain the senses, look on all alike, and take delight in the good of all beings. Then he too reaches Me alone (Gita 12.4).
Two points stand out. First, the result is "Me alone," not some other goal. The road of the unmanifest also leads to the Lord. Second, the three conditions are not special to this road. The Gita asks them of every seeker: sages who delight in the good of all beings attain peace (Gita 5.25), and the one who sees all as himself is the highest yogi in the Lord's view (Gita 6.32). The seeker of the unmanifest does not need a different character. He needs the character the Gita asks of every yogi.
अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते ॥ १२.५ ॥
avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate || 12.5 ||
For those whose minds are fixed on the unmanifest, the struggle is much greater, because the path of the unmanifest is reached with great difficulty by embodied beings. Having said that the formless path also leads to Him, Krishna now honestly points out how demanding it is for those who still live with body-consciousness.
Why the unmanifest road is hard in a body
For those whose minds are fixed on the unmanifest the struggle is greater, because the goal of the unmanifest is reached with difficulty by embodied beings (Gita 12.5). The verse states what the road costs. On the goal itself the Lord is plain: it is one, and it is He (Gita 12.4).
The reason lies in the body. We think, feel and love through the body, and all of it runs on a form, a name or a person. Someone who wants to rest on the unmanifest must first learn to walk without that support, and the pull of the body returns at every step. This habit of the mind does not make the road false. It makes the road expensive. The Lord does not hide it, and that honesty is part of what makes the answer trustworthy.
How the rest of the Gita supports this answer
| Verses | What they add |
|---|---|
| 6.46-47 | The yogi is above all; among yogis the one who worships with faith is the most united. The same test. |
| 11.54-55 | Undivided devotion lets one know, see and enter the Lord; the marks of the devotee. |
| 18.55 | Through devotion one knows the Lord in truth, and then enters Him. |
| 8.20-21 | What is called unmanifest and imperishable is the highest goal, the Lord's own abode. |
| 9.4 | The Lord pervades the whole world in His unmanifest form. |
| 2.25 | The self too is called unmanifest and beyond thought. |
| 15.16-18 | The perishable and the imperishable, and the Supreme Person beyond both. |
| 4.11 | However people approach the Lord, He meets them in the same way. |
| 5.25, 6.32 | The three conditions of 12.4 are asked of every seeker. |
A few of these deserve a word.
Chapter 8 uses the same two words as chapter 12. What is called unmanifest and imperishable is named the highest goal, and that is the Lord's supreme abode (Gita 8.21). Just before it comes another, eternal unmanifest beyond the unmanifest of creation (Gita 8.20). So the unmanifest of chapter 12 is not the unmanifest state before creation (Gita 8.18). It is the highest Reality.
In chapter 9 the Lord says the whole world is pervaded by Him in His unmanifest form (Gita 9.4). The unmanifest is His own form, so the one who rests on it does not go to a stranger.
In chapter 4 the Lord says that however people approach Him, He responds in the same way (Gita 4.11). He does not put up a wall between the two roads.
In chapter 2 the self is also called unmanifest, beyond thought and unchanging (Gita 2.25). So the word is not new to a reader of the Gita.
Four hard questions
The goal is one, so why is the devotee placed first?
"Most united" is a comparison, and a comparison is made among those who are united (Gita 12.2). The Lord never says that the worshipper of the unmanifest is not joined to Him. He says that he too reaches Me alone (Gita 12.4). The ground of comparison is steadiness of mind and faith. The goal does not enter into it. A mind that settles easily in the Lord stays more joined on the road, and the verses name that mind first.
Do worshippers of the unmanifest worship someone else?
No, and the text gives three reasons. The result in the verse is "Me alone" (Gita 12.4). In chapter 8 the unmanifest and imperishable is the Lord's own abode (Gita 8.21). And in chapter 9 the Lord pervades the world in His unmanifest form (Gita 9.4).
One caution is needed. The word "imperishable" is used differently in chapter 15, where the perishable and the imperishable are two persons, and the Supreme Person is distinct from both (Gita 15.16–17). The Lord says He is beyond the perishable and higher than the imperishable (Gita 15.18). So the same word does not carry the same sense everywhere. In chapter 12 the Lord settles the sense Himself: whoever reaches there reaches Me.
Does "hard" mean "lesser"?
The verses say two different things, and they should not be merged. One is the Lord's verdict: the most united is the one who worships Him with faith (Gita 12.2). The other is a fact: for the embodied the road of the unmanifest is difficult (Gita 12.5). The second does not change the first, and the first is not proved by the second. Read together, they say that devotion ranks first because the mind can rest in it, and the unmanifest is hard because the mind finds nothing to rest on.
Is devotion a lower step before knowledge?
No. The Gita does not rank devotion below knowledge. Through devotion one knows the Lord in truth, and having known Him enters Him (Gita 18.55). The same three acts, knowing, seeing and entering, were given in chapter 11, and there too the means was undivided devotion (Gita 11.54). So devotion is itself a way of knowing. Those who follow it are not left outside knowledge.
How the commentators read it
Commentators fall into two streams here.
One stream takes the two roads as two paths to one Lord. For it, "most united" and "greater struggle" describe the seeker's fitness and the ease of the road. The one whose mind rests on a form finds devotion natural. The one whose mind can rest without a form has the other road open.
The other stream takes the Lord's words as a true ranking. For it, devotion is the better way, and the toil of the unmanifest road is a sign of that.
Both streams agree on three points: the Lord calls the devotee most united, the road of the unmanifest also leads to Him, and for embodied beings devotion is the more fitting road.
Questions the verses raise, answered from the Gita and the tradition
Two questions rise from the five verses: how the unmanifest stands to the Lord, and whether one seeker may walk both roads. The Gita answers both further on.
How does the unmanifest stand to the Lord?
The verses give the first part of the answer: whoever reaches the unmanifest reaches "Me alone" (Gita 12.4). The Gita then fills it in. In chapter 8 there is an eternal unmanifest state beyond the unmanifest (Gita 8.20); what is called imperishable and unmanifest is the highest goal, and the Lord calls it His own abode (Gita 8.21). In chapter 9 the whole world is pervaded by Him in His unmanifest form (Gita 9.4). In chapter 14 He is the ground of Brahman itself (Gita 14.27). In chapter 15 there are two persons, the perishable and the imperishable, and a Supreme Person distinct from both (Gita 15.16–17). The Lord is beyond the perishable and higher than even the imperishable, and that is why He is called the Supreme Person (Gita 15.18).
The answer follows. The unmanifest is not a second goal beside the Lord. It is His unmanifest form and His abode, and He is its ground. That is why the seeker of the unmanifest reaches Him alone. In His fullness He stands above even the imperishable.
Two streams of the tradition say it in their own way. One takes the unmanifest and the Lord to be one reality seen from two sides: what the way of knowledge knows as without form, the way of devotion knows as the Lord. The other takes the unmanifest to be the Lord's glory and abode, and the Lord its ground. Both agree that the seeker of the unmanifest reaches Him.
May one seeker walk both roads?
Yes, and the Gita gives the way. In this very chapter the Lord sets out an order. Fix mind and intellect on Me; if you cannot, seek Me through practice; if you cannot, work for Me; and if you cannot, give up the fruit of action (Gita 12.8–11). So a seeker can move from one means to another; the roads are joined, not divided. In chapter 5 the Lord says that only those who know little speak of knowledge and action as separate paths, and that one who stands rightly in either gains the fruit of both (Gita 5.4–5). In chapter 13 some see the self by meditation, some by knowledge, some by the yoga of action (Gita 13.25). And knowledge comes with devotion: through devotion a person knows the Lord in truth and then enters Him (Gita 18.55).
The Bhagavata tradition holds knowledge, action and devotion to be three roads for three kinds of seekers, with devotion open to all. A seeker begins with the one on which his nature can stay, and as he goes the other two join it.
So no question these verses raise is left empty. The verses give the direction, the rest of the Gita develops the relationship and the roads, and the tradition reads them in two or three streams.
A six-week practice
The verses suggest a simple practice that can run for six weeks.
- Weeks one and two: one fixed way. Each day, at the same time, for ten minutes, choose one way of remembering the Lord: a name, a form or a verse. See how long the mind stays (Gita 12.2).
- Weeks three and four: three checks. Each evening ask: how well were the senses held today, how even was my view of everyone, and for whose good did I do something (Gita 12.4)?
- Weeks five and six: five minutes with the unmanifest. Sit for five minutes with the Lord's description: imperishable, all-pervading, beyond thought, unmoving (Gita 12.3). Note what comes easily and what is hard.
- At the end, an honest answer. Ask from your own experience: which road suits the mind I actually have, and is the difficulty the one the verse describes (Gita 12.5)?
- What does my mind settle on most easily: a form, a name, or a feeling?
- Have I begun to call the harder road higher and the easier road lower? Where do the verses say so?
- Of the three conditions (restrained senses, even sight, the good of all), which is weakest in me?
The answer once more, plainly
The answer to Arjuna has three parts. The Lord takes being joined as the measure, and calls the devotee the most joined. He says that the worshipper of the unmanifest also reaches Him. And He says plainly that the road is hard for those in a body. So devotion and worship of the unmanifest are not opposed roads. They are two journeys to one goal, and the seeker's own mind decides which one can be walked. The verdict of chapter 6 returns in chapter 12 and is completed in chapter 18:
ततो मां तत्त्वतो ज्ञात्वा विशते तदनन्तरम् ॥ १८.५५ ॥
tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā viśhate tadanantaram || 18.55 ||
Through devotion, one comes to know Me in truth, as to how great I am and who I am. Then, having known Me in truth, one enters into Me immediately afterwards.
Read more: the same idea in simple words · the verse-by-verse reading · the whole topic