ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते।
सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम्।।12.3।।
Transliteration
ye tv akṣharam anirdeśhyam avyaktaṁ paryupāsate
sarvatra-gam achintyañcha kūṭa-stham achalandhruvam
sanniyamyendriya-grāmaṁ sarvatra sama-buddhayaḥ
te prāpnuvanti mām eva sarva-bhūta-hite ratāḥ
Those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the omnipresent, the unthinkable, the immovable, and the eternal.
Translation by Swami Sivananda
Hindi meaning
।।12.3।। परन्तु जो भक्त अक्षर ,अनिर्देश्य, अव्यक्त, सर्वगत, अचिन्त्य, कूटस्थ, अचल और ध्रुव की उपासना करते हैं।।
Hindi rendering by Swami Tejomayananda
English meaning
Those who worship Me as the Indestructible, the Undefinable, the Omnipresent, the Unthinkable, the Primal, the Immutable, and the Eternal;
Shri Purohit Swami
Those who contemplate on the Unmanifest, which is motionless, undefinable, all-pervading, unthinkable, peak-like, unmoving, and fixed.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan
Detailed explanation
Anirdesyam That which cannot be actually shown or which cannot be defined -- the Akshaa or Satchidananda Para Brahman is beyond the reach of the mind and speech. Why can It not be defined Because It is unmanifested. It does not have the four alities of manifested beings, vi.z, Jati (caste such as Brahmana, Kshatriya, etc.), Guna (attributes such as blueness, whiteness, tallness, shortness, etc.), Kriya (reading, walking, etc.), and Sambandha (like the relation between father and son).The unmanifest Incomprehensible by any of the organs of knowledge not manifest to any of the organs of knowledge.Upasana (worship) means sitting near. It is approaching the chosen ideal or object of worship by meditating on it, in accordance with the teachings of the scriptures and the spiritual preceptor, and dwelling steadily in the current of that one thought like a threat of oil poured from one vessel to another. It means continous and uninterrupted contemplation of God.The imperishable Brahman is omnipresent, pervading everything like the ether. It is unthinkable, because It is unmanifest. Whatever is visible to the senses can be thought of by the mind also. That which can be grasped by the organs of knowledge can be thought of by the mind also. But the Supreme Being is invisible to the senses and so cannot be grasped by the organs of knowledge and is, therefore, unthinkable. All thoughts of God ultimately lead the aspirant to iescent meditation.It is Kutastha (unchangeable). Kutastha means remaining like a mass or a heap. Therefore It is immutable and eternal. Just as the anvil remains unchanged though the ironpieces which are beaten on the anvil change their shape, so also Brahman is unchanging though the forms are changing. Hence Brahman is called Kutastha. Kuta also means a thing which appears to be good externally but which is full of evil within. Hence it refers to that seed of Samsara, viz., ignorance, which is full of evil within and which is known as the Avyakrita (undifferentiated) in the Svetasvataropanishad (Mayam tu prakritim vidyat, Mayinam tu mahesvaram) and in the Gita (Mama maya duratyaya -- The illusion of Mine is hard to pierce -- VII.14). Another interpretation for Kutastha is that which is at the root of everything. He Who is seated in Maya as its witness, as its Lord, is Kutastha.Achalam Immovable, that which is free from change. Therefore the imperishable Brahman is Dhruvam, eternal. (Cf.VIII.21)
Commentary by Swami Sivananda
Hindi commentary
।।12.3।। See Commentary under 12.4
Swami Chinmayananda
।।12.3।। व्याख्या--'तु'--यहाँ 'तु' पद साकार-उपासकोंसे निराकार-उपासकोंकी भिन्नता दिखानेके लिये आया है। 'संनियम्येन्द्रियग्रामम्'--'सम्' और 'नि'-- दो उपसर्गोंसे युक्त 'संनियम्य' पद देकर भगवान्ने यह बताया है कि सभी इन्द्रियोंको सम्यक् प्रकारसे एवं पूर्णतः वशमें करे, जिससे वे किसी अन्य विषयमें न जायँ। इन्द्रियाँ अच्छी प्रकारसे पूर्णतः वशमें न होनेपर निर्गुण-तत्त्वकी उपासनामें कठिनता होती है। सगुण-उपासनामें तो ध्यानका विषय सगुण भगवान् होनेसे इन्द्रियाँ भगवान्में लग सकती हैं; क्योंकि भगवान्के सगुण स्वरूपमें इन्द्रियोंको अपने विषय प्राप्त हो जाते हैं। अतः सगुण-उपासनामें इन्द्रिय-संयमकी आवश्यकता होते हुए भी इसकी उतनी अधिक आवश्यकता नहीं है, जितनी निर्गुण-उपासनामें है। निर्गुण-उपासनामें चिन्तनका कोई आधार न रहनेसे इन्द्रियोंका सम्यक् संयम हुए बिना (आसक्ति रहनेपर) विषयोंमें मन जा सकता है और विषयोंका चिन्तन होनेसे पतन होनेकी अधिक सम्भावना रहती है (गीता 2। 62 -- 63)। अतः निर्गुणोपासकके लिये सभी इन्द्रियोंको विषयोंसे हटाते हुए सम्यक् प्रकारसे पूर्णतः वशमें करना आवश्यक है। इन्द्रियोंको केवल बाहरसे ही वशमें नहीं करना है? प्रत्युत विषयोंके प्रति साधकके अन्तःकरणमें भी राग नहीं रहना चाहिये; क्योंकि जबतक विषयोंमें राग है, तबतक ब्रह्मकी प्राप्ति कठिन है (गीता 15। 11)।
Swami Ramsukhdas
Key teachings
Anirdesyam That which cannot be actually shown or which cannot be defined -- the Akshaa or Satchidananda Para Brahman is beyond the reach of the mind and speech.
Why can It not be defined Because It is unmanifested.
It means continous and uninterrupted contemplation of God.The imperishable Brahman is omnipresent, pervading everything like the ether.
Spiritual significance
In Bhakti Yoga (The Yoga of Devotion), this verse belongs to the Gita’s teaching on bhakti yoga. Here the text presents that teaching through these words: Those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the omnipresent, the unthinkable, the immovable, and the eternal.
It is approaching the chosen ideal or object of worship by meditating on it, in accordance with the teachings of the scriptures and the spiritual preceptor, and dwelling steadily in the current of that one thought like a threat of oil poured from one vessel to another.
Chapter 12, verse 3 is part of Bhakti Yoga. In the English translation used on this page, it says: Those who worship the imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, the omnipresent, the unthinkable, the immovable, and the eternal.
What is the spiritual context of this verse?
It appears in Bhakti Yoga, a chapter associated with Bhakti Yoga. Worship of the personal and the unmanifest.
