A core teaching · devotional in mood · builds on earlier teachings
“Undivided devotion reaches the one presence that holds all beings.”
O Arjuna, the supreme person is reached through undivided devotion. All beings dwell within that being, and this entire world is pervaded by that being.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallyperson · that · supreme · O Partha · through devotion · is attainable · indeed · undivided · whose · situated within · beings · by whom · all · this · pervaded
The supreme person is reached through single-pointed devotion. That presence holds all beings within it and fills the whole world.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Akshara Brahma Yoga" (The Imperishable Absolute).
Verse 22 sits in Chapter 8 of the Bhagavad Gita — Akshara Brahma Yoga, "The Imperishable Absolute". The chapter has 28 verses in total.
Before a tense meeting with the in-laws over a property matter, you remind yourself that they too live inside the one Krishna describes. Undivided devotion, he says, reaches the person who pervades everyone at that table.
Did you like this verse?
Krishna names undivided devotion as the way to the supreme person, in whom every being dwells.
What this verse means
The supreme person is reached through single-pointed devotion. That presence holds all beings within it and fills the whole world.
Context & commentary
Now Krishna adds the heart of the path: that supreme person is reached by undivided devotion, because every being already rests within that presence.
What it looks like today
Before a tense meeting with the in-laws over a property matter, you remind yourself that they too live inside the one Krishna describes. Undivided devotion, he says, reaches the person who pervades everyone at that table.
“You are not reaching something distant; you are turning toward the presence already holding everything together.”