मय्यासक्तमनाः पार्थ योगं युञ्जन्मदाश्रयः | असंशयं समग्रं मां यथा ज्ञास्यसि तच्छृणु ||१||
mayy āsakta-manāḥ pārtha yogaṃ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ | asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ māṃ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu || 1 ||
With mind attached, practising yoga, taking refuge in Me — hear how you shall know Me fully, without doubt.
Word by word (3)
- mayi āsakta-manāḥ — pārtha
- — with mind attached/fixed upon Me — O son of Pṛthā (Arjuna) · mayi = in Me (locative singular — 'in Me' as the object of attachment). āsakta = attached, fixed (from √sañj, to attach; ā-sakta = thoroughly attached). manāḥ = mind (the manas, the faculty of sense-perception and attention). The compound māyy-āsakta-manāḥ means 'one whose mind is thoroughly fixed on Me.' This is the first precondition for the knowledge Krishna is about to reveal. pārtha = O son of Pṛthā (Kuntī's patronymic for Arjuna — affectionate, intimate address). The intimacy of 'pārtha' signals that what follows is a personal revelation, not a public teaching.
- yogaṃ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ
- — practising yoga, taking refuge in Me · yogaṃ yuñjan = practising/joining yoga (yogam accusative; yuñjan present participle — actively, continuously practising). mad-āśraya = taking refuge in Me (mad = Me; āśraya = refuge, shelter, support — same word as in the teaching of surrender). Three conditions are combined: (1) āsakta-manāḥ = mind attached to Me; (2) yogaṃ yuñjan = practising yoga; (3) mad-āśrayaḥ = taking refuge in Me. These are not sequential steps but simultaneous conditions — the mind's inner orientation (āsakta), the active practice (yuñjan), and the fundamental stance of surrender (mad-āśraya) all together constitute the receptive state for Ch.7's revelation.
- asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ māṃ yathā jñāsyasi tac chṛṇu
- — how you shall know Me completely, without doubt — hear that · asaṃśayam = without doubt (a-saṃśaya = free of saṃśaya/doubt — same word as V3 of the Gita's first chapter-end promise). samagraṃ = completely, in full (sama = equal, complete; agra = foremost; together: completely, without remainder). māṃ = Me (accusative — know Me, not just know about Me). yathā = how, in what manner. jñāsyasi = you shall know (future tense of √jñā — direct, personal knowledge, not merely intellectual). tac chṛṇu = hear that (tat = that; śṛṇu = hear, imperative). The promise: with the three conditions fulfilled (āsakta-manāḥ, yogaṃ yuñjan, mad-āśraya), Arjuna will know Krishna asaṃśayam (without doubt) and samagraṃ (completely). Ch.7 is Krishna's response to V1's invitation to hear.
Krishna opens Ch.7 with the three conditions for complete knowledge of the Divine: (1) mind attached to Me (māyy-āsakta-manāḥ), (2) actively practising yoga (yogaṃ yuñjan), (3) taking refuge in Me (mad-āśraya). With all three in place, hear how you shall know Me completely (samagraṃ) and without doubt (asaṃśayam).
A modern analogy
A skilled teacher might say: 'Pay attention (āsakta-manāḥ), practice what I show you (yogaṃ yuñjan), and trust the process (mad-āśraya) — then you will understand, not just know.' V1 is that invitation. The knowledge is about to be given; the conditions describe how to receive it.
What it does NOT mean
V1 does NOT say Arjuna must reach a state of perfection before he can hear this teaching. The three conditions are not prerequisites to be completed first — they describe the inner orientation that makes the hearing fruitful. The teaching begins now; the three conditions are the receptive stance.
Take with you
- V1 identifies the three conditions for genuine spiritual knowledge: inner attachment to the Divine (not outer compliance), active practice, and trust/refuge. All three are inner qualities, not external behaviors.
- The promise 'asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ' — complete and doubt-free knowledge — is significant. Ch.7's teaching is intended to eliminate doubt about the nature of reality, not just add information.
- Ch.7 is Krishna's most direct self-disclosure in the Gita (Ch.7-12 form the bhakti-jñāna arc). V1 is the invitation that opens it. The appropriate response is exactly what it describes: attend, practise, take refuge.
V1 opens Ch.7, the beginning of what is often called the 'Bhakti-Jñāna section' of the Gita (Ch.7-12). After the intensive yoga instruction of Ch.6 (Dhyana Yoga), Ch.7 shifts to direct theological disclosure: who is Krishna, what is his relationship to the universe, how does the devotee come to know him. The three conditions in V1 (āsakta-manāḥ, yogaṃ yuñjan, mad-āśraya) are the continuation of Ch.6's V47: the yuktatama yogi — whose inner self is merged in the Divine and who worships with śraddhā — is exactly the one who has fulfilled V1's conditions. V1 thus opens from where V47 closed: the bhakta-yogi who is ready for the direct disclosure of Ch.7. The promise 'asaṃśayaṃ samagraṃ' — without doubt, completely — is a strong guarantee. It implies that the knowledge of Ch.7-12 is not provisional or partial: it is the complete understanding of the Divine that eliminates the root of all doubt.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: the three conditions of V1 describe the disciple ready for ātman-jñāna. Mad-āśrayaḥ (taking refuge in Me) in the advaita context means having the Divine as one's sole reality — the adhikārī (qualified student) who has renounced all attachment to the mutable and rests in Brahman alone. Ch.7 will then disclose the nature of Brahman as the ground of all phenomena — the aparā and parā prakṛti (V4-5), the divine manifestations (V7-12), the supremacy over māyā (V14-15).
Bhakti lens
For the bhakta, V1's three conditions are the description of surrendered love: mad-āśraya (taking refuge in Me) is the bhakta's fundamental stance — the one who has nowhere else to go, for whom the Divine is the only reality. Yogaṃ yuñjan in this context is bhajana (devotional practice). Āsakta-manāḥ is the mind's love-attachment to the Divine. V1 opens Ch.7 as a love-disclosure: because you love Me this way, hear what I truly am.
Karma-Yoga lens
The karma yogi reads V1's yogaṃ yuñjan as the continuous karma yoga of non-attached action — the practice that, through Ch.6's refinement, has now become the natural mode of engagement. The disclosure of Ch.7 (who Krishna is, what the world is) gives the karma yogi the full cosmological understanding of their practice.
Modern parallels
Neuroscience of learning: deep encoding occurs when attention (āsakta), active processing (yuñjan), and emotional relevance (āśraya/refuge) are all engaged simultaneously. V1's three conditions are precisely the conditions that modern learning research identifies for genuine understanding as opposed to surface memorisation.
Practice
V1 as the opening dedication of each practice session: 'Let my mind be attached to You alone (māyy āsakta-manāḥ). Let this practice be yoga (yogaṃ yuñjan). Let my whole being take refuge in You (mad-āśrayaḥ).' This three-phrase opening reorients the session from technique to relationship.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
O Pārtha — with mind attached to Me, practising yoga, taking refuge in Me — hear how you shall know Me completely, without doubt. [1]
With the mind intent on Me, O son of Pritha, taking refuge in Me, and practising Yoga, how thou shalt without doubt know Me fully, that do thou hear. [4]
With mind attached to Me, O Pārtha, practising yoga and taking refuge in Me, hear how thou shalt without doubt know Me fully. [5]
O son of Pritha, hear how, with thy mind attached to Me, and practising devotion with Me as thy refuge, thou shalt know Me entirely and without doubt. [6]
Hear, then, thou Son of Pritha! how thou shalt know Me, and that fully, practising My yoga, taking refuge in Me, with mind and heart addressed to Me. [7]
O son of Pritha, with mind intent on Me, practising yoga and taking refuge in Me, hear how without doubt you shall know Me fully. [9]
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.
Mind-in-Me, devotee, worshiper, bow to Me — you will come to Me; truly I promise, you are dear to Me.
I shall declare the most secret knowledge with realization to you who do not cavil — knowing it frees you from all evil.
Knowing Me as Puruṣottama without delusion, one becomes all-knowing and worships Me with whole being.
Satisfied by knowledge and realisation, senses mastered, gold and mud equally seen — this is the true steadfast yogi.
The fruit of those of little understanding is finite — god-worshippers go to the gods; My devotees come to Me.