A core teaching · devotional in mood · a little context helps
“True devotion begins when the mind recognises the imperishable source.”
But, Arjuna, the great-minded ones, relying on the divine nature, worship Me with one-pointed minds, knowing Me as the unborn and imperishable source of all beings.
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Tap a word to focus on it.
Read literallygreat-minded ones · but · Me · Arjuna · divine nature · having taken refuge in · worship · with minds fixed on nothing else · having known · the source of beings · imperishable
Noble people rely on the divine nature, stay focused on Krishna alone, and worship him as the unborn, imperishable source of all beings.
Krishna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga" (The Royal Knowledge).
Verse 13 sits in Chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita — Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga, "The Royal Knowledge". The chapter has 34 verses in total.
At a crowded family gathering over whether to sell the ancestral land, everyone pulls you a different way. Krishna's mahatmas are held by one thing, the unchanging source, and their steadiness grows from that.
Did you like this verse?
The great-souled, Krishna says, take shelter in divine nature and worship him single-mindedly as the imperishable source.
What this verse means
Noble people rely on the divine nature, stay focused on Krishna alone, and worship him as the unborn, imperishable source of all beings.
Context & commentary
Krishna explains why some people reject him and others see clearly, while Arjuna stands frozen. The great-minded ones, unlike the deluded, take refuge in the divine nature and worship Krishna as the beginning and end of all beings.
What it looks like today
At a crowded family gathering over whether to sell the ancestral land, everyone pulls you a different way. Krishna's mahatmas are held by one thing, the unchanging source, and their steadiness grows from that.
“Devotion becomes steady when the mind stops scattering and recognises what never changes.”