Chapter 8Verse 22 of 28

Bhagavad Gita 8.22

पुरुषः स परः पार्थ भक्त्या लभ्यस्त्वनन्यया | यस्यान्तःस्थानि भूतानि येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ||

puruṣaḥ sa paraḥ pārtha bhaktyā labhyas tv ananyayā | yasyāntaḥ-sthāni bhūtāni yena sarvam idaṁ tatam ||

Translation

That supreme being, O son of Pṛthā, in whom all these beings dwell, by whom all this is pervaded, is to be attained by unswerving devotion.

The means is named. That supreme one is to be attained by unswerving devotion. He repeats the structural facts. All beings dwell in Him. All this is pervaded by Him. Then the practical sentence. The path is bhakti, single-aimed. Not divided among many goals, not turned aside by passing inducements. The cosmology and the means sit beside each other in the same verse. Knowing the structure is not the path. The structure is what makes the case for the path. Once the seeker sees the cosmos as it is, the appeal of the smaller goals collapses, and the steady devotion begins to make sense as the only proportionate response.

Reflection

What is dividing your devotion, and what would single-aim it again?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Eight

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