A core teaching · devotional in mood · a little context helps
“Action and remembrance can happen together without conflict.”
Therefore, remember Me at all times and fight. With mind and intellect offered to Me, you will surely come to Me.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallytherefore · at all times · Me · remember continuously · fight · and · in Me · offered · mind · intellect · Me · indeed · you will come · without doubt
Keep the divine in mind all the time, do your duty, and place your thoughts and understanding there. Then you will surely reach the divine.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Akshara Brahma Yoga" (The Imperishable Absolute).
Verse 7 sits in Chapter 8 of the Bhagavad Gita — Akshara Brahma Yoga, "The Imperishable Absolute". The chapter has 28 verses in total.
A nurse on a twelve-hour night duty keeps her mother's prayer going under her breath while changing dressings and calming patients. Krishna asks Arjuna for that pairing: do the hard work in front of you with the mind resting on him.
Did you like this verse?
Krishna gives Arjuna two orders together: remember me at all times, and fight.
What this verse means
Keep the divine in mind all the time, do your duty, and place your thoughts and understanding there. Then you will surely reach the divine.
Context & commentary
Krishna has already taught that the final thought shapes the final destination. Now he goes further: remembrance and action can go together, and a warrior can fight while keeping inward devotion.
What it looks like today
A nurse on a twelve-hour night duty keeps her mother's prayer going under her breath while changing dressings and calming patients. Krishna asks Arjuna for that pairing: do the hard work in front of you with the mind resting on him.
“You do not have to choose between devotion and action. Both can live in the same moment.”
Explore related themes: nishkama karma (12 verses)