मय्येव मन आधत्स्व मयि बुद्धिं निवेशय ।
निवसिष्यसि मय्येव अत ऊर्ध्वं न संशयः ।। १२.८ ।।

mayy-eva mana ādhatsva mayi buddhiṁ niveśaya |
nivasiṣyasi mayy-eva ata ūrdhvaṁ na saṁśayaḥ || 12.8 ||

How the Supreme redeems the devotee

Now comes the immediate result or fruition of such exclusive seeking: For those who remain exclusive in their devotion to the Supreme, says Krishna, the Supreme soon stands as the deliverer (na cirat samuddharta bhavami). The devotee is delivered from what? From worldliness, which is full of death or transitoriness. Transitoriness implies death, in the sense that when anything undergoes change, its present content or character changes into something else. This transition or replacement, in other words, means death or destruction. Hence the transitory world is death-full too.

To attain immortality is to be delivered from the transitory worldliness. In place of fear, anxiety or agitation, which worldly life imposes, the devotee will start feeling natural and harmonious with everything. It is not a physical escape at the gross level, but is a subtle inner spiritual redemption, which one experiences while living and moving in the world.

And this happens only by dint of the single attunement – mayyavesita-cetasam. The minds of such devotees are completely fused into the Supreme, through devotional fondness, recognition and renunciation. Do not think whether spirituo-devotional pursuits have a remote fruition, or such fruition is available only after the body falls. True spiritual life is to be adopted while living here and now. It is unlike ritualistic life that promises rewards to be gained after the fall of the body.

The difference between the focus of spiritual life and that of ritualistic life thus becomes quite clear. What Krishna said in 2nd chapter, while introducing karma yoga (2.49) is fully authenticated by his words here. The whole change is worked by the devotee’s mind and intelligence. The seeker has to develop the right perception (2.50).

Therefore what should earnest devotees do, and what is the exact nature of their devotional wholesomeness? Krishna gives out a twin formula for the wholesome devotional seekers:

Fix your mind on the Supreme alone, and then establish the intelligence too in the same Supreme. If you do so, you will abide in the Supreme from that moment onwards. There is no doubt at all.

What a simple, revealing statement, nay a divine assurance! By this, Krishna confirms what he said earlier at the beginning of his narration in this chapter. There (12.2) he used a different set of words, but laid down the same proposition indicating that the devotee’s mind should be fully infused in the Supreme, through exclusiveness of reliance and dedication.

Here he does not say all that. No adjective, no colourful description. He simply says that the mind and intelligence should be dissolved in the thought and reliance of the Supreme. Within the body of anyone, there are only two personality factors: the mind and the intelligence. Mind consists of memories, thoughts and emotions. Each of these has its force and persuasion to propel sensory activities. Intelligence, given constantly to knowledge and its pursuit, delights in reason, enquiry and analysis. By this, it propels the mind, giving it directions from time to time.