Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 17

Chapter 10 – Vibhuti Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

कथं विद्यामहं योगिंस्त्वां सदा परिचिन्तयन् ।
केषु केषु च भावेषु चिन्त्योऽसि भगवन्मया ॥

Transliteration

kathaṃ vidyāmahaṃ yogiṃstvāṃ sadā paricintayan .
keṣu keṣu ca bhāveṣu cintyo.asi bhagavanmayā ॥

Meaning

How may I know You, O Yogi, while constantly meditating on You? In what various forms, O Lord, should I think of You?

Word meanings

कथम् – how
विद्याम् – may I know
अहम् – I
योगिन् – O Yogi, master of yoga
त्वाम् – You
सदा – always
परिचिन्तयन् – meditating on all sides
केषु केषु – in which various
च – and
भावेषु – forms, things
चिन्त्यः – to be meditated upon
असि – are You
भगवन् – O Lord
मया – by me

Anvaya (word order)

योगिन्, अहं सदा परिचिन्तयन् त्वां कथं विद्याम्? भगवन्, केषु केषु च भावेषु (त्वं) मया चिन्त्यः असि?

Explanation

This verse poses a central question of chapter 10, and indeed every seeker’s question. Arjuna has heard that the Lord is the source of all and should be remembered constantly. But there is a practical difficulty: how can one think continuously of what is unmanifest and formless? The mind rests only on something concrete. So Arjuna asks two questions.

First: ‘How shall I know You, O Yogi, while ever meditating on You?’ The address yogin is apt; Arjuna calls the Lord master of yoga because in verse 7 He spoke of His vibhuti and His yoga. The prefix pari in parichintayan shows that Arjuna wants to think of the Lord from every side and in every situation, not only during meditation but even on the battlefield.

Second: ‘In which forms should I think of You, O Lord?’ Shankara explains that the Lord’s unconditioned nature, without attributes or forms, cannot easily be an object of meditation for an ordinary seeker, so Arjuna wants to know the special forms in which He may be contemplated.

The question points to a basic method of meditation: making the excellent things of the world into reminders of God. If seeing the Himalaya, the Ganga, the sun or the moon immediately brings the Lord to mind, the whole world becomes a temple. Krishna answers this very question in detail in the verses that follow.

Context

In verse 16 Arjuna asked for a complete description of the vibhutis. Here he explains that he wants it so that he can think of the Lord constantly. In the next verse he asks again for a detailed account, for he never tires of hearing this nectar.

Life lesson

A simple way to remember God continually is to let every beautiful and excellent thing in the world remind you of Him. Look for His glimpse in whatever you see, and the whole world becomes a place of worship.

Key terms

Yogin: master of yoga, address to the Lord
Parichintana: constant, all-round contemplation
Bhava: a form or thing in which the Lord is contemplated
Chintya: to be meditated upon