Bhagavad-gītā 12.3-4
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
anirdeśyam
—
indefinable
Negative gerundive: 'not able to be pointed at, not able to be predicated.' Where Kṛṣṇa is nāma-rūpa-guṇa-rich, the akṣara is nāma-rūpa-vivarjita. This is the precise difficulty Kṛṣṇa is about to flag in v.5.
-
acintyam
—
inconceivable
Negation of cintā — beyond what thought can frame. The mind has no handle on it, which is exactly why fixing the mind there is so 'troublesome.'
-
kūṭa - stham
—
unchanging, fixed at the summit
Kūṭa = peak / anvil; stha = standing. A technical Vedāntic term for that which stands above all change — yet also above all relation. Unmoving, untouched, unembraceable.
-
sanniyamya
—
fully controlling
Saṁ + ni + yam — triple intensification of 'restraint.' The impersonal path demands total sense-restraint, not partial. This is why Kṛṣṇa next calls it kleśa.
-
sama - buddhayaḥ
—
equally disposed
Their cognition (buddhi) treats all beings the same. Because they see only the unmanifest substrate, no being is more dear, none less. Compare 13-14: the bhakta is also samaḥ, but his sameness flows from love of Kṛṣṇa, not from collapse of distinction.
-
sarva - bhūta - hite
—
in the welfare of all beings
Compound: sarva (all) + bhūta (beings) + hita (welfare). Kṛṣṇa concedes — even this austere path is not selfish. The impersonalist who finishes his road is a friend to every creature.
-
prāpnuvanti
—
they attain
Active present, 3rd plural, of pra-āp — 'they reach forth and attain.' Not 'they fail.' Kṛṣṇa is generous: the road is hard, but it ends at Him.
Those who do not directly worship the Supreme Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, but who attempt to achieve the same goal by an indirect process, also ultimately achieve the same goal, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. “After many births the man of wisdom seeks refuge in Me, knowing that Vāsudeva is all.” When a person comes to full knowledge after many births, he surrenders unto Lord Kṛṣṇa. If one approaches the Godhead by the method mentioned in this verse, he has to control the senses, render service to everyone and engage in the welfare of all beings. It is inferred that one has to approach Lord Kṛṣṇa, otherwise there is no perfect realization. Often there is much penance involved before one fully surrenders unto Him. In order to perceive the Supersoul within the individual soul, one has to cease the sensual activities of seeing, hearing, tasting, working, etc. Then one comes to understand that the Supreme Soul is present everywhere. Realizing this, one envies no living entity – he sees no difference between man and animal because he sees soul only, not the outer covering. But for the common man, this method of impersonal realization is very difficult.
Arjuna becomes very happy to hear Krsna's glorification of devotional service in Text 2, but he wants to know about the others, about those jnanis and impersonalists. What is the result of their actions, what do they obtain? 'Prapnuvanti mam' , "achieve Me". 'Eva', "certainly". "They certainly achieve Me." What does that mean? That they achieve Krsna? Does that mean that someone who worships the impersonal Brahman, fully satisfied in the impersonal Brahman, will go to Krsna? Yes!, they go to Krsna but they go to the 'nirvisesa' aspect of Krsna, His impersonal aspect. But it is Him, but formless, qualityless, activityless. They achieve Krsna but not the form that the devotees are interested in. (DS) This verse explains those who don't directly worship Krsna and it also explains the process of worshiping the 'aksara' the unmanifested: controlling the senses, being equally disposed to everyone, etc...
COMMON THEME: Those who worship unmanifested will also reach Krishna eventually and surrender (Ref.
Bg. 7.19 – Vāsudeva realization after many births)
Swami Sivananda did not comment on this sloka
- BG 12 03-04 - Bhakta Marc - ISKCON Radhadesh 2012-12-16
- BG 12 03-04 - Bhakti Vigna Vinasa Narasimha Swami.MP3
- BG 12 03-04 - Jayadvaita Swami - Kuwait 2007-10-19
- BG 12 03-04 - Jayadvaita Swami - Sri Rangapattana 2011-01-11
- BG 12 03-04 - Niranjana Swami - 1993-11
- BG 12 03-04 - Vedavyasa Priya Swami - Vrindavan 2009-01-28
- BG 12 03 - Sarvabhauma Prabhu - Balaramdesh 2009-03-22 Hindi.MP3
- BG 12 03 05 - Radha Pati Prabhu - ISKCON Chowpatty 2009-11-09
- Navin Nirada Pr BG 12-03 Part-01 - 2010-06-23
- Navin Nirada Pr BG 12-03 Part-02 - 2010-06-23
- Priya Valabha Mataji BG 12-03-04 Hindi
- Balabhadra Gopala Pr BG 12-03-04 Telugu
- Jitamitra Pr Hindi Comments - BG 12-03-04 - 2015-02-21 EOK
- Rasika Govinda Pr BG 12-03-04 Tamil - 2017-12-15
- Sarvabhauma Pr Hindi BG 12-03 - Ekadashi Katha - 2009-03-22 Balaramdesh
- Shubha Krishna Pr BG 12-03-04 Hindi
- BVVNarsimhaS BG 12-03-04
- JAS BG 12-03-04 - 2007-10-19 Kuwait
- JAS BG 12-03-04 - 2011-01-11 Sri Rangapattana
- VedavyasaPSW BG 12-03-04 - 2009-01-28 Vrindavan
- Sarvabhauma Pr Hindi BG 12-04-05 - 2009-03-24 Balaramdesh
- JAS BG 12-04
- Honor the impersonalist path while choosing the easier personal one.
- Don't dismiss either; recognize both lead to Him with different difficulty.
- Choose the path most suited to your nature, knowing convergence.
- Where do I dismiss one path to validate my own?
- What does charitable view of both paths require?
A traveler sets out to reach the sky. He climbs every mountain, controls his every step, refuses every detour, treats every region with equal kindness — and at the end of his long road he too arrives. The destination is the same; the road is brutal. Kṛṣṇa grants the impersonalist his goal but does not pretend his road is easy.
Sanaka, Sanātana, Sanandana, and Sanat-kumāra were born brahma-jñānīs — naked boys with the impersonal Absolute already in their grip. They wandered as paramahaṁsas, equal to all, restraining every sense.
Yet in the Bhāgavatam it is precisely they who, upon smelling the tulasī offered to Lord Viṣṇu's lotus feet at Vaikuṇṭha's gate, melted from impersonal absorption into personal devotion. Kṛṣṇa's words here — 'they also reach Me' — are literally fulfilled in their story: the imperishable path delivered them to the Person at last.
My note
Source: vedabase.io