Ch.12: Communion through loving devotion
Sanksrit Verses
Arjuna now wants to know who is a better yogi. The one who follows the path of devotion looking upon God with form and attributes as the supreme person or the one who looks upon the formless and attributeless brahman.h.
The Lord says that all devotees who worship God with faith and adore Him are praiseworthy. Of the two paths, worshipping God without form is too difficult for men. The lord assures us that he personally comes to the rescue of that devotee who surrendering all actions to Him, constantly and exclusively thinks of Him.
Verses 8 to 12 deal with the practice of devotion. The Lord says that all men should practice whole hearted devotion. Concentration can be gained through yoga and when this is also difficult, the Lord says that we can do any work that is pleasing to the Lord. When even this is not possible, then a person can abandon the fruits of all actions to the Lord and thus be a devotee of the Lord. Such true abandonment of fruits of actions is very powerful and instantly gives peace.
Verses 13 to 20 define an ideal bhakta. He is a friend of all, free from ego and pride, ever cheerful, patient, firm in resolve and totally surrendered to the Lord, showering love and affection to all, without doership notion and treats friends and enemies in the same manner and considers the entire world as his home. When a person follows these with complete devotion and faith, they become extremely dear to the Lord.
For detailed explanations of each verse Click here
September 20th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Video of Chapter 12 on Youtube by madupu.seshagiri @ gmail.com. The Slokas are displayed in Devanagari with Translation in English. The audio is of the singing of sanskrit shlokas.