ये तु सर्वाणि कर्माणि मयि सन्न्यस्य मत्पराः ।
अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते ।। १२.६ ।।

तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात् ।
भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् ।। १२.७ ।।

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi sannyasya mat-parāḥ |
ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate || 12.6 ||

teṣām-ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt |
bhavāmi na-cirāt-pārtha mayy-āveśita-cetasām || 12.7 ||

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Audio-BG-12.7

Role of Intelligence in Devotion

Krishna clearly said that ‘wholesome worship’ of the Supreme is easier than seeking the Imperishable, although the latter path has its own distinct status and appeal. In verses 12.6 to 12.8, he explains what this wholesome devotion means and why it proves easy and practicable for ordinary people. If the seeker scrutinizes and understands well what Krishna says, he will find what the true nature of devotional pursuit is and how it ultimately rests solely on oneself – the seeker’s mind and intelligence.

For those who surrender all their actions to the Supreme and worship the Supreme with exclusive unwavering meditation, the Supreme very soon becomes a deliverer from the death-ridden worldly life. For, O son of Prtha, such people are attuned to the Supreme wholesomely.

Therefore, the best to do will be to fix the mind on the Supreme, fix the intelligence also on the Supreme. Once the devotee ensures this mind-intelligence attunement with the Supreme, he will virtually be dwelling in the Supreme, not in the perishable world.

Krishna’s words are quite unambiguous and their meaning and implication are not complex at all. He is emphasizing only two points: Wholesome interest and reliance on the Supreme. Once these become true of the devotee, they inevitably lead to the sense of renunciation. But the renunciation in this case is not one of total negation and relinquishment of all actions. Instead, it is one of offering one’s activities in full to the Supreme. The motivation or compulsion to make such a dedicated renunciation arises because the devotee’s mind is filled with only one interest, that of the Supreme.

Generally the world is considered to be different from God or the Supreme, and therefore, worldly interactions do not appear to be divine or sublime. Because of this bheda-buddhi (differential notion) the mind inherently suffers from, all the so called worldly activities seem to bring conflicts in the mind of the seeker. They distance the seeker from the Supreme instead of linking him to his goal.

Krishna wants the seeker to drop and outlive any such differential notes, and install in their place a vision of all-fold divinity. Instead of making the seeker distanced from the Supreme, interactions in the world should bring to him a greater touch of the Supreme. This is called devotional wholesomeness. This fundamental change, however strange or difficult it may seem, is certainly possible, and that is the crux of the whole devotional sadhana.

This means, the seeker should not the least divide his activities as devotional and non-devotional, as spiritual and worldly, feeling that the two are contradictory. All actions equally take place within the ken of creation. And everything has its ground as well as sustenance in the same Supreme. The entire universe is a display of the Supreme.

Right from the 7th chapter, it is this aspect of wholesome divinity that Krishna has been explaining and emphasizing repeatedly, from different points of view. Till chapter 6, it was a deep philosophical exposition about the nature of perceptions, their transitory and elusive character and the art and wisdom of dealing with them harmoniously and effectively.

In the past five chapters, Krishna has made it amply clear that there is nothing like the spiritual and material, godly and worldly, contradicting each other. It is all a Grand display of the One, viewed differently. The elemental world itself is a godly outcome. To be within it, interacting and experiencing its majesty, is itself quite enriching and elevating, provided one can rise to the level of wholesome perception. To help such a benevolent and edifying outlook did he expatiate so much on what creation is, how the creator remains linked in and through all. At the same time, he also explained how in the ultimate analysis the whole display is but a sensory illusion.

By this, his purpose was to dissuade the seeker from all undue attachment to the transitory world, and make the mind sufficiently detached and dispassionate, so that it will be able to cherish wholesome devotional sublimity. With the revelation of visva-rupa, Arjuna came to know just in an instant how a single source can give rise to the whole complex creational display. The whole world around can be brought into being as well as withdrawn just in an instant, thereby showing how its source is quite distinct and supreme.

In such a background, to think of the Supreme and remain mentally connected thereto will be a very natural process for the seeker. Krishna wants seekers to pursue this point of view and make it the sole basis for wholesome devotion. He says: “Link every act, without distinction, to the Supreme, as and when it is performed.” The attitude a seeker usually has towards a special religious act, must equally govern all actions in general.

Every action should be identified with the Supreme, which is the cause of the entire creation. This will be so, provided the devotee’s sole interest becomes the Supreme and the Supreme alone (mat-parah). When the all-enfolding nature of the Supreme is conceived, to pin all interest and concern on It should not be difficult. Rather, that will become the natural step. To ensure that such an all-fold interest and dedication grows deep and constant, the seeker has to take to sufficient contemplation. His whole worship must be in the way of contemplation or meditation. That alone touches and involves the mind and intelligence of the seeker. That is why Krishna enjoins contemplation as the necessary corollary of this wholesome devotional pursuit.