Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12, Verse 7

Chapter 12 – Bhakti Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् ।
भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् ॥

Transliteration

teṣāmahaṃ samuddhartā mṛtyusaṃsārasāgarāt .
bhavāmi nacirātpārtha mayyāveśitacetasām ॥

Meaning

O Partha, for those whose minds are set on Me, I soon become their saviour from the ocean of death-bound samsara.

Word meanings

तेषाम् – of them
अहम् – I
समुद्धर्ता – the lifter, the rescuer
भवामि – become
मृत्युसंसारसागरात् – from the ocean of death-bound samsara
नचिरात् – before long
पार्थ – O Partha
मयि – in Me
आवेशितचेतसाम् – whose minds are entered into Me

Anvaya (word order)

पार्थ, मयि आवेशितचेतसां तेषाम् अहं नचिरात् मृत्युसंसारसागरात् समुद्धर्ता भवामि ।

Explanation

This verse is the Lord's promise to His devotees, and it is among the most tender in the Gita. "For those whose minds are absorbed in Me, O Partha, I become before long the deliverer from the ocean of death and samsara." It completes the sentence of 12.6, and the key to the promise is the phrase "mayy aveshita-cetasam", those whose consciousness has entered into Me.

Notice the image: samsara is an ocean, mrityu-samsara-sagara, an ocean of death and recurring birth. A person caught in its currents may swim bravely, but waves are endless. The Lord does not tell the devotee to reach the shore by his own power alone. He says that He Himself becomes samuddharta, the lifter out, the one who raises the devotee from the water. This is the language of grace.

The words "na cirat", before long, are full of mercy. The Lord does not say the crossing will take many lifetimes; He says He will arrive quickly. This is like a child in a river who is bound to the parent's hand: the child may be afraid, but the parent is already pulling him up. The devotee's task is to keep the mind where it should be, while the Lord does what the devotee cannot, delivering from the ocean.

Shankara explains that the Lord Himself raises such devotees from samsara, which is full of the fear of death, because they are united in Him; he notes that those whose minds are firmly fixed in the Lord obtain Him quickly through the arising of knowledge. Ramanuja strongly emphasises the Lord's own act of deliverance: those who meditate on Him with exclusive devotion are rescued by Him quickly, without needing a long path. Madhva stresses that liberation is the gift of the Lord alone to the one who is devoted and knows Him.

This is a deeply consoling verse for people who feel they lack the strength to go on by themselves. It is not an invitation to passivity; the condition is that the mind is absorbed in the Lord. The grace follows the surrender. As a practical sign, we may notice that a person who truly entrusts his burdens to a higher power often finds help arriving in unexpected forms: strength, a friend, clarity, or simple peace.

Compare 9.22, in which the Lord says He carries the welfare of those who think of Him alone; 18.66, the final promise of freedom from all sin to the one who surrenders; and 7.14, "those who take refuge in Me alone cross over this maya". Together these verses form the Gita's affirmation that the Lord is not a distant observer but a rescuer.

Context

Verse 12.6 gave the practice of saguna devotion, and the sentence completes here with the Lord's promise. In the next verse (12.8) he directly commands Arjuna to place his mind and intellect in Him.

Life lesson

In devotion the seeker does not walk alone; this trust keeps us from breaking in difficulties. When we have done our own effort and rested the mind in God, he takes care of the rest.

Key terms

समुद्धर्ता: the one who lifts the devotee out of the sea
मृत्युसंसारसागर: the ocean of birth and death
नचिरात्: soon, without delay