मय्यावेश्य मनो ये मां नित्ययुक्ता उपासते।श्रद्धया परयोपेतास्ते मे युक्ततमा मताः ॥
mayyāveśya mano ye māṃ nityayuktā upāsate|śraddhayā parayopetāste me yuktatamā matāḥ ||
Those who fix their mind in Me and worship with supreme śraddhā — these I consider the most perfectly yoked!
Word by word (3)
- mayyāveśya mano ye māṃ nitya-yuktā upāsate
- — Those who, having fixed their mind in Me, worship Me, ever-united · Mayyāveśya = having fixed/placed in Me (mayi = in Me; āveśya = having entered/placed; from ā + viś = to enter into = to fully immerse; āveśa = possession, full entry; mayyāveśya = having fully placed into Me). Manaḥ = the mind (the inner faculty of ordinary thought and intention). Mayyāveśya manaḥ = having placed the mind fully into Me = the mind in Krishna-āveśa (immersion). Ye māṃ = those who Me (relative pronoun). Nitya-yuktāḥ = perpetually united (nitya = ever, perpetually; yukta = yoked; nitya-yukta = ever-yoked/ever-united). Upāsate = worship, sit near, serve (upa + āsate = sit near = to serve/worship by presence). The key addition over V1's satata-yukta: mayyāveśya manaḥ = the MIND is specifically PLACED IN Krishna. Not just devotional action but cognitive orientation: the mind's home is Krishna.
- śraddhayā parayopetās te me yuktatamā matāḥ
- — endowed with supreme śraddhā — these I consider the most perfectly yoked · Śraddhayā = with śraddhā (instrumental; śraddhā = faith, confidence, trust — the word's root: śrat + dhā = placing the heart/head = putting one's very being into = total cognitive commitment). Parayā = supreme/highest (instrumental feminine of para = highest, supreme). Upetāḥ = endowed with, possessing (from upa + √i = to come to = having arrived at having = possessing). Śraddhayā parayopetāḥ = endowed with the highest śraddhā. Te me = those in My opinion. Yuktatamāḥ = the most perfectly yoked (superlative of yukta; yuktatama = the most fully united, the best yogī). Matāḥ = considered (past participle of √man = to think). The verse's answer: śraddhā (faith/trust/commitment) + mano-āveśa (mind-fixation in Krishna) + nitya-yoga (perpetual practice) = yuktatama. The supreme qualifier is not ritual correctness or intellectual sophistication but śraddhā — the total commitment of one's being.
- mayyāveśya manaḥ — the cognitive act of bhakti
- — The mind's placement in Krishna as the defining act of bhakti · Mayyāveśya manaḥ (having placed the mind in Me) is the Gita's most precise description of bhakti's cognitive act. In the psychology of the Gita (Ch.3.40-42's faculty hierarchy: indriya → manas → buddhi → ātman), the manas (mind/sensory processor) is the interface between the outer world and the inner self. When the mind's HOME is Krishna (mayyāveśya), all perception passes through a Krishna-oriented filter. This is different from mere intellectual belief about Krishna — it is the restructuring of ordinary consciousness so that its center-of-gravity is the beloved divine. Compare Ch.6.47 (yoginām api sarveṣāṃ... mad-gatenāntarātmanā = among all yogis, the one who with inner-self gone-to-Me is best).
Krishna's direct answer to V1: those who place their mind entirely in Krishna, who worship constantly with the highest śraddhā (total trust and commitment) — these are the yuktatamāḥ (most perfectly yoked, the best yogis). The saguna-bhakti path wins.
A modern analogy
Like a teacher saying: 'The student who loves what they study so much that it lives in their mind constantly — not just during study hours, but during meals, during walks — that student learns the deepest.' Mayyāveśya = the subject you can't stop thinking about.
Sit with this: V2 says the key qualifier is śraddhayā parayā (supreme śraddhā/faith) + mind fixed in Me. Is śraddhā (total trust-commitment) something you choose, or something that happens? Can you practice your way into that level of śraddhā, or does it require a gift?
V2's mayyāveśya manaḥ (mind fixed in Me) is the bhakti equivalent of Patañjali's citta-vṛtti-nirodha (cessation of mind's fluctuations). Both describe the same cognitive state from different angles: Yoga-Sūtra's negative formulation (stop the mind's fluctuations) = Gita's positive formulation (place the mind in the divine). The difference: Yoga-Sūtra's approach is concentration/suppression; Gita's approach is love-directed absorption. The result is the same but the experience is different: suppression produces restraint; love produces absorption. This is why the Gita holds bhakti as yuktatama (most perfectly yoked) — love is a more complete unification than discipline.
Bhakti lens
V2's śraddhayā parayā (supreme śraddhā) is bhakti's most essential quality. Śraddhā is not blind belief but the Gita's term for the total cognitive-emotional-volitional orientation of the self toward the divine. The Gita devotes all of Ch.17 to understanding the three types of śraddhā (sāttvik, rājasik, tāmasik). V2 places supreme (parā) śraddhā as the defining quality of the highest bhakta. This means bhakti's excellence is measured not by ritual correctness, philosophical correctness, or even meditative achievement — but by the QUALITY and DEPTH of one's commitment.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Those who, fixing their thought on Me, contemplate Me, always devout, endued with supreme faith, those in my opinion are the best Yogins. [1]
Those who, fixing their mind on Me, worship Me, ever-steadfast, and endowed with supreme Shraddha — they in my opinion are the best versed in Yoga. [4]
Whoever serve Me — as I show Myself — Constantly true, in full devotion fixed, Those hold I very holy. [7]
Fixing (their) mind on me, they that constantly adore me, being endued (besides) with the highest faith, are deemed by me to be the most devoted. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Of all yogis, the one whose inner self is merged in Me, worshipping with śraddhā — that one I hold to be most united.
Therefore remember Me at all times and fight — mind and intellect fixed on Me, you will come to Me without doubt.
Do My work, hold Me supreme, be My devotee, attachment-free, without enmity toward all — such a one comes to Me!
I am your student. My mind is bewildered about what is right. Teach me.
Peaceful, fearless, vowed to brahmacharya, mind on Krishna — yoked in practice, with the Supreme as the final goal.
With mind attached, practising yoga, taking refuge in Me — hear how you shall know Me fully, without doubt.