This summary is about verses 10.7 to 10.11 of the tenth chapter of the Gita. It is the eleventh stop on The Path of Devotion. Before it is The Devotee Dear to the Lord, which gives the marks of the dear devotee. Here is the road by which devotion grows deep. After it comes By Devotion Alone. Three words keep returning: vibhuti, buddhi yoga and satsang.

The answer in one line

One who knows the Lord's glory in truth becomes unshakable in devotion (Gita 10.7), and knowing it, worships with love (Gita 10.8). Such devotees find contentment and joy in speaking of Him together (Gita 10.9). And to those who stay steadily and lovingly engaged, the Lord Himself gives buddhi yoga (Gita 10.10) and, sitting in their hearts, lights the lamp of knowledge (Gita 10.11).

What problem this answers

When we come to know the greatness of one we love, our love changes. Habit becomes reverence. So how does truly knowing the Lord's glory awaken devotion? What do we get from the company of devotees? And what, in the end, does the Lord Himself give?

The setting

At the start of the tenth chapter the Lord says: I will speak a supreme word again, because you are dear to Me and I wish your good (Gita 10.1). Not even the gods and great sages know My source, for I am the beginning of them all (Gita 10.2).

After these five verses Arjuna calls the Lord the supreme Brahman and the supreme abode. Not satisfied by hearing the nectar of His words, he asks for His powers and glories in full (Gita 10.18), and the Lord names the chief of them (Gita 10.19).

The glories are not the subject here. Here is what comes before them: why we are to know them, and what knowing them does.

The verses in order

Verse 10.7: knowing leads to unshakable devotion

One who knows in truth the Lord's vibhuti and His power joins Him with unshakable devotion. There is no doubt in this. Vibhuti means glory, all that is beautiful, great and mighty, which is His. Power is the strength by which He holds all of it up.

"In truth" means as it is. It is the difference between a thing heard and a thing recognised.

The fruit is not a heap of information. It is a joining, and an unshakable one, which does not move. Knowing His glory is not gathering facts about the universe. It is the kind of seeing that turns the mind towards the Lord. And at the end stands the Lord's own assurance.

Verse 10.8: knowing the source, worshipping with love

The Lord says: I am the source of the whole world, and everything moves because of Me. Knowing this, the wise worship with faith and love.

There are two things here. One is the source: everything came out of Him. The other is the support: everything goes on because of Him. For one who sees this, love is no separate task. Once it is seen who gave the breath, the understanding and the relationships, gratitude rises by itself. That is why knowing and worshipping come in one sentence.

In the seventh chapter there is another form of this. At the end of many births the man of knowledge takes refuge, knowing that all is Vasudeva, and such a great soul is rare (Gita 7.19). It is taken up in Four Kinds of Devotees. In the eighteenth chapter the course runs the other way: by devotion one knows Him in truth, and having known, enters into Him (Gita 18.55). So knowing awakens devotion, and devotion deepens knowing.

Verse 10.9: talking of the Lord together

Those whose minds are in the Lord and whose lives are given to Him explain to one another, always speak of Him, and are content and find joy.

There are four things here. First, in this devotion both the mind and the life are given. Second, the explaining is among each other. Nobody is always the teacher. One who speaks today listens tomorrow. Third, the talk is "always". It is the colour of life, not a meeting of one day. And fourth, there are two fruits: contentment, which fills an inner lack, and joy, which is the blossoming of a filled mind.

Tradition calls this satsang. The name is not in the verse, but the description is the same. From the side of learning, the Gita says to receive knowledge from those who have seen the truth, with humility, questions and service (Gita 4.34). Arjuna's "I am never satisfied" (Gita 10.18) is an example of it.

Verse 10.10: the buddhi yoga the Lord gives

Until now the devotee was the one acting. In this verse the Lord gives. To those who are steadily engaged and worship with love, He gives buddhi yoga, the wisdom of discernment by which they come to Him.

The one who receives has two marks: steadiness and love. And what is given is not the goal. It is a means on the road, for the verse says "by which they come to Me".

The same word came in the second chapter, where a single resolute intellect stood against the scattered intellects of many branches (Gita 2.39, Gita 2.41). Its lesson is in Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect. In both places it is an understanding fixed in one direction. There it steadied action, and here it brings the devotee to the Lord.

Its everyday form is in the ninth chapter: for those who think of Him without turning aside, the Lord makes up what is lacking and keeps what they have (Gita 9.22).

Verse 10.11: the lamp of knowledge in the heart

Out of compassion for those same devotees, the Lord sits in their hearts and destroys the darkness born of ignorance with the shining lamp of knowledge.

The reason is compassion, not reward. And the Lord does not come from outside. He is already within. In the Gita He says: I am seated in the heart of all, and memory and knowledge come from Me (Gita 15.15, Gita 18.61).

A lamp does not make anything new. It shows what was hidden in the dark, as the sun rises and removes the darkness (Gita 5.16). It shows who I am and who the Lord is.

The five verses at a glance

In verse 10.7 the devotee knows the glory in truth, and the Lord joins him to unshakable devotion, without doubt. In verse 10.8 the devotee knows the source and worships with faith and love, because He is the source and the support of all. In verse 10.9 the devotee gives mind and life and speaks with others of the Lord, and finds contentment and joy. In verse 10.10 the devotee stays steady and worships with love, and the Lord gives buddhi yoga. In verse 10.11 the devotee keeps the same spirit, and the Lord lights the lamp of knowledge in his heart.

Why the order is like this

Knowing alone leaves the heart cold. Love alone may wander, because it has no light. Talk together keeps both alive. And the last step is not in our hands. The understanding that brings us to the Lord, He gives Himself.

Companion verses are these. The wise devotee and the Lord are dear to each other (Gita 7.17–18). Fix your mind on Me, be My devotee, worship and bow to Me (Gita 9.34, Gita 18.65). And as people approach Me, so I receive them (Gita 4.11). The "giving" here is the higher form of that receiving.

Arjuna after the verses

Arjuna calls the Lord the supreme Brahman, the supreme abode, the primal God and the unborn. He says that Narada, Asita, Devala and Vyasa say the same, and now the Lord says it Himself (Gita 10.12–13). He says, "I take as true all that You tell me" (Gita 10.14).

But he accepts and does not stop listening. He asks how to know the Lord while thinking of Him always, and in which forms to think of Him (Gita 10.17). The rest of the chapter answers this "in which forms". "No doubt" and "I still wish to hear" can walk together.

Action after the light comes

The lamp does not mean work falls away. The Lord says: having reflected fully, do as you wish (Gita 18.63). The light does not take away the freedom to choose. It clears it. And at the end Arjuna says that his delusion is destroyed, memory has returned, doubts are gone, and he will act as the Lord has said (Gita 18.73).

Companion verses are these. Offer all actions and do your duty (Gita 3.30). And for one who cannot hold the mind on Him, action done for the Lord's sake (Gita 12.10). Devotion and action are two parts of one stride.

Three common misunderstandings

The first misunderstanding is that all the glories must be known first, and only then devotion will come. That is not so. The Lord Himself says: what need is there of knowing all this? I hold up this whole world with a single part of Myself (Gita 10.42). One true glimpse is enough. Knowing is more the fruit of devotion than its condition (Gita 7.19).

The second is that the Lord is the giver, so I need do nothing. That is not so. The gift is for those who stay steadily engaged and worship with love (Gita 10.10), and the command to fix the mind comes to us too (Gita 9.34). Turning is our work. The light is His.

The third is that devotion needs a company. That is not so. Verse 10.9 describes a joy and sets no condition (Gita 10.9). Even for a yogi alone the Lord is easy to reach, if he remembers Him steadily (Gita 8.14). And the lamp burns in each devotee's own heart (Gita 10.11).

A seven-day practice

On the first and second days recognise something that shows the Lord's glory, and say that this too is from Him (Gita 10.7–8). On the third and fourth days speak with one person about the Lord for ten minutes (Gita 10.9). On the fifth and sixth days worship or remember Him with love at a fixed time each day, whether the mind is in it or not. Steadiness is the point (Gita 10.10). And on the seventh day sit quietly for a while and put one tangled question before the Lord within. The answer need not come at once. Readiness to listen is itself the practice (Gita 10.11).

Questions people ask

Is "knowing in truth" the same as studying scripture? Study helps (Gita 4.34), but knowing in truth is deeper. It is seeing a thing as it is, and it is by devotion that one knows in truth (Gita 18.55). Study and worship go together.

If the Lord Himself gives understanding, why make an effort? The gift is for those who stay steady and worship with love (Gita 10.10). He looks after what they lack and keeps what they have (Gita 9.22), but the command to fix the mind comes to us (Gita 9.34). Effort does not light the lamp, but it opens the door.

Is this buddhi yoga the same as in chapter 2? It is the same family and a different work. There it steadied action (Gita 2.39, Gita 2.41), and here it brings the devotee to the Lord (Gita 10.10). In both places the cure for scattering is one resolve.

Is devotion incomplete without satsang? No. Even a yogi alone finds Him easily (Gita 8.14), and the lamp is in every heart (Gita 10.11). Satsang helps and gives joy (Gita 10.9), but it does not close the road for the one who walks alone.

Is it selfish to worship in order to gain knowledge? No. All four kinds of doers of good who worship Him are called noble (Gita 7.16–18). What is gained here is no worldly profit but a means of reaching the Lord (Gita 10.10). It is part of the same road.

If you have to explain it in thirty seconds

Knowing the greatness of one we love makes the love deeper. One who knows the Lord's glory and power in truth becomes unshakable in devotion (Gita 10.7). Knowing that all came from Him and goes on by Him, he worships with love (Gita 10.8). Devotees speak of Him together and find contentment and joy (Gita 10.9). And to those who stay steadily and lovingly engaged, the Lord Himself gives buddhi yoga (Gita 10.10) and, sitting in the heart, lights the lamp of knowledge (Gita 10.11). Turning is our work. The light is His.

Related hubs: The Path of Devotion (path) · The Devotee Dear to the Lord (before) · By Devotion Alone (next) · Four Kinds of Devotees · Buddhi Yoga: The Resolute Intellect