Arjuna said: Which of these are best yogis – those who worship You (the Supreme) thus with constant mental attunement, or those others who contemplate exclusively on the unmanifest Imperishable?

Arjuna is impressed by Krishna's allusion to exclusive devotion. He deals more with the questioner's mind than what the question theoretically raises. See how he begins to answer. One set of people have incessant and all-fold devotion. They are wedded to the Supreme inwardly, by dedicating all their activities. Others cherish contemplating upon the invisible and imperishable Reality, the Self. Which of these, asks Arjuna, are better? The question reminds Arjuna's earlier enquiry (3.1), whether active or contemplative life is better? There Krishna clarified that these are two phases of the same spiritual sādhana.

Lord Krishna said: Those who, infusing Me (the Supreme) in their mind, worship Me through a note of constant identity, impelled by the highest attitude and aim, I hold them to be the most united.

Krishna is dexterous in answering Arjuna. He deals more with the questioner’s mind than what the question theoretically raises. See how he begins to answer. Those who rest mentally in the Supreme and thereby remain integrated are obviously the most united with the Supreme. They think of the Supreme fondly, considering the Supreme as their refuge and reliance. Arjuna must be happy as Krishna confirms his idea. Constancy and wholesomeness result in assiduous attention and value for the highest. Their mind expands considerably, making them greatly benevolent. Their care and concern become lofty, generating expansion, making them singular in every way.

Those, on the other hand, given to all-fold contemplation of the Imperishable, Indefinable, Indistinct, All-permeating, Unthinkable, Unchangeable, Immobile, Eternal, also reach Me (the Supreme) alone, provided they are imbued with ample sense-restraint and equal-vision, and are equally interested in the welfare of all creatures.

Krishna now turns to those given to contemplation, meditation and introspection. They always think and reflect upon characteristics of the supreme Reality, like imperishability, indescribability, invisibility, all-pervadingness, un-thinkability, unchangeability. The reflection becomes deep, wholesome, even ceaseless. Such contemplation leads them to merge inwardly with the Supreme, says Krishna. He however adds that they have to regulate their senses, imbibe equal vision. What more? They must foster abiding interest in the welfare of all beings. In the name of spirituality, no lethargy or indifference towards the welfare of other beings is acceptable. Spirituality is meant to make one’s heart melt for the sake of others. Others’ welfare must be a constant concern of the lovers of the Imperishable. Such sādhakas, says Krishna, also reach the Supreme, in the same manner as do the others given to devotional proximity and association. What a beautiful way of answering the question and questioner alike. Krishna does not uphold or lower either kind of seekers. He shows no partiality to anyone. His task, as ever, is to embrace all equally, pointing where each lacks and how the gap can be effectively filled. The object and manner of contemplation may differ, but its effect is on the seeker’s mind, which makes all practices alike.

Hardship is more for those given to the path of contemplation on the Imperishable. For the embodied ones, to get attuned to the Imperishable is difficult.

For an ardent seeker, contemplating upon the imperishable Self will be far easier and effective, when instructed by the enlightened, as Krishna does to Arjuna. Right from the start (2.12) Krishna was exposing the Self to Arjuna. Arjuna was grasping it well. How pertinently he enquired about Sthita-prajñā (2.54), and how clearly Krishna answered him! In the 9th chapter, Krishna describes Self-knowledge as the Kingly knowledge and Kingly secret (Rāja-vidyā, Rāja-guhyam), explaining how kings used to possess it. He also clarifies that it is easy and comfortable to practise (9.1-2). In fact, Krishna instructed Brahmavidya to Arjuna, finding no other level or kind of instruction effective to relieve Arjuna’s grief. A true seeker should not regard Self-knowledge as difficult to pursue. He should rather take to it with fondness, resolve and a sense of emergency. That will take away all feelings of hardship and distance.

For those who renounce all their actions as dedication to Me (the Supreme), and worship the Supreme with unwavering meditation, I very soon become the deliverer from the death-ridden worldly life. For, O Partha (Arjuna), the mind of such devotees is attuned to Me (the Supreme) wholesomely.

While discussing devotion, Krishna first emphasizes dedicating all activities to the Supreme, and not taking to other ways of worship with flowers and the like. In any activity, devotion too, application of the mind together with the attitude is the most decisive. Need for eschewing saṅga (delusional clinging) is the hallmark of Krishna’s instruction. Everything done without delusional clinging becomes divine. Here Kṛṣṇa highlights the same discipline, calling it renunciation, making it immensely sublime and valuable. Anyone would love to pursue it fervently. What more? Kṛṣṇa does not make the practice limited to a few hours or so. It is made ceaseless and wholesome. Do whatever needs to be done. But, ensure that all actions are mentally offered to the Supreme, to whom belongs the entire creation, and who activates every speck of it. By this, devotion does not remain a piecemeal pursuit. It becomes co-existential with all activities. In addition to objective benefits of activities, you also gain the great sublimity, expansion and delight of devotion. Neither is the world adversely hit, nor is the individual led to any disadvantage. Both are immensely enriched and strengthened. Harmful notes of dislike, malice and intolerance, likely to infect the mind frequently, give place to loftier notes of fondness, forbearance and fraternity, which ornament the individual and the society alike. About such devotees, Kṛṣṇa says that he himself soon liberates them. This verily means, these qualities themselves liberate the mind from its own constricting clutches. Mind becomes lofty, liberal and free!

Repose your mind on Me (the Supreme) alone, and then establish the intelligence too in Me. From then on, you will certainly abide in Me (the Supreme), no doubt.

Krishna is explaining the content of true devotion, which is relevant to our inner personality alone. Mind and intelligence are all in the sole functionaries in devotion. World is a display of the Supreme, like waves of the sea. By fixing the mind and intelligence in the Supreme, devotee gets fused into the Supreme. The whole life thereafter will be in the Supreme. Sense of difference or separation will vanish altogether. Oneness and sameness alone will be felt, expressed and extended. Mind generally dwells in the world the senses perceive and interact with. Senses bring plurality, differences. On turning inward, getting tuned to the Self, the plight changes. All differences dissolve, and oneness prevails. Devotee begins to feel oneness with the Supreme and hence with all. The procedure is simple, and the outcome marvellous!

O Dhananjaya (Arjuna), if you are unable to fix your mind steadily in Me (the Supreme), then by means of yoga-practice, aspire to attain Me.

To fix the mind and intelligence in the Supreme is the simple, straightforward means in devotional sādhanā. Mind alone feels and experiences everything. Delusion, distortion and distraction are all in the mind. To set matters right, directing it wholesomely to the Supreme is the right way. If this is not possible, whatever be the reason or obstacle, says Krishna, do not feel defeated. Everyone is what nature has made him. So do not feel lost. Spirituality is a life-long pursuit. You may begin it any time! So Krishna says, take to bodily or sensory practice and proceed earnestly with it. In our land, umpteen devotional practices have come into vogue. Worship of various kinds is there. Choose any one of them. But understand that mind and intelligence are the ones to be verily offered to the Supreme, by fixing them on the Supreme.

If you are unable even to take to any practice, consider your supreme aim is to do My work. Doing all actions for the sake of Me (the Supreme), you will attain fulfilment.

Krishna gives a step by step procedure for the devotee and devotional pursuit. This chapter is quite short. Here he has covered the entire devotional sādhanā beautifully in all its essential aspects. One may not even be able to take to any devotional practice. For, it will need additional time, effort and arrangements. Moreover, one must have a taste for it. What if all this is lacking? Krishna does not force anything on anyone. It does not matter, says he. Still the benefits of spirituality can be had without any diminution. Krishna states that whatever activities you are doing, make them a full-fold offering to the Supreme. No extra time or effort comes in here. All activities being within the scheme of Nature, feel they are all for the sake of the Supreme, the wielder of Nature. That will lead to spiritual perfection.

If you are unable to do even this, have full refuge in My Yoga, and then with self-control, renounce (inwardly) all kinds of (subjective) results accruing from actions.

Some or even many may find it hard to surrender their activities to the Supreme, as it is not easy to feel or generate the required dedication and fondness. Some kind of discordance may linger in the mind. Can spirituality, a unique treasure, be denied to them? The Supreme is all-graceful. Only humans have frailties. Krishna has his golden answer to such a question. Let them, he says, nurture the enrichment called restraint and discipline, and then grow the spirit of relinquishment with regard to the mental responses to their activity and fruition alike. Every activity will lead to its objective fruition. It may be desirable or undesirable. Perform activities attentively, and accept their fruition too. As is the activity, so is its fruition. Do not intercept the process by any unwarranted thought. This is sufficient to have a yogic and peaceful heart.

Knowledge is surely better than practice, and meditative introspection excels mere knowledge. From such reflective meditation, dawns renunciation of the (internal) results of action, and from such relinquishment follows peace.

Krishna assesses various practices to help the seeker make the best choice in time and pursue it discreetly. All practices are truly aimed at attaining yogic enrichment. So, each of them must purify the mind and enlighten the intelligence, so as to enable the seeker realize that 'he is not the body, but only has the body'. Spirituality is to gain and be guided by this knowledge. Knowledge is thus more powerful than practice. Knowledge is meant to lead to meditation, which is indispensable to discern the subtlety of renouncing rāga and dveṣa, the mental responses. Meditation can bring corrections and improvements to inner personality. It also helps the seeker to be vigilant and to strive to assimilate the truth, making the mind peaceful, poised and vibrant.

He who is free of hatred towards all beings, friendly and kind to all, free of possessiveness and egoism, equal in unhappiness and happiness, forbearing, ever contented, inwardly integrated, with senses and mind well-disciplined, of firm conviction, with mind and intelligence fully resting on Me (the Supreme), is dear to Me.

Krishna covered the theoretical part of spiritual enunciation. He now takes up the practical aspect of devotional pursuit, striking a unique note. Devotion and devotional practice, to be meaningful, should aim at making one a model human. He must have enough of contentment and composure. His conduct must be such as to endear himself to others. Others must find in him such qualities and refinement, which they themselves aspire for. The devotee, says Krishna, must first eschew all kinds of hatred towards others. He should not stop there; instead should feel friendship and fondness for them all. He should further be considerate and sympathetic. Love, sympathy and sacrifice are the triple emotions that enrich the human heart. The devotee should not have the malefic notes of possessiveness towards anything in the world, including his body. All this governs his interactional life. What about his own personal traits and disciplines? Krishna says he should always remain contented. Brooding and being unpleasant is not good or proper for anyone, especially for a devotee. He must be conscious that he is a yogic practitioner, hence should incorporate yogic disciplines and enrichments. He should learn to be happy with whatever comes and goes. For all this, his mind and intelligence should be unreservedly dedicated to the Supreme. The devotee's life becomes meaningful and fulfilling only when there is total surrender and attunement, his inner personality being offered to the Supreme in all fondness and dedication.

One by whom the world is not troubled and who does not feel troubled by the world, who is freed from the clutches of delight and anger, fear and anxiety, is dear to Me (the Supreme).

Krishna brings in a social connection to devotion and devotee. As is one a member of his family, so is the family a member of the society. Thus, he is connected to his family and society alike. Being so, he should not feel any irritation or disharmony with the society. His character and behaviour should be such that others will only appreciate and compliment him heartily. His behaviour and interaction should not be a source of irritation for others. Likewise he should not feel intolerant about the society for its traits. A harmonious blending between the two is what is required every time. This is a restraint and discipline, a watchword for devotees who wish to grow in the path of devotion, endearing themselves to the object of their devotion. In short, devotional pursuit and enrichment are not to make one constricted. Rather, they should make one inclusive and all-embracing.

The devotee who is free from expectations, pure outwardly and inwardly, efficient, indifferent and impartial, free of any strong afflictions, who keeps away all sense of doership in all that he does or proposes to do, is dear to Me (the Supreme).

Devotional pursuit must enrich and empower the mind every time. Only then the devotee will be peaceful, contented and efficient. Mind can be enriched only by inner qualities and virtues. Dedication to the Supreme should lead to dropping all expectations. Expectation constricts the mind, preventing its full application. A devotee must be dexterous in whatever he does. Neither his striving nor its fruition should become a cause of suffering for him. He must have a refined indifference towards activities and their outcomes. About what he does or how it fruitions, he should have no torment. Let the triple guṇas of Nature look after the course of life and world. Have no undue concern about anything. A devoted mind should not feel any doership about whatever is done or to be done. Devotion implies such nourishing freedom and harmony.

He who does not get elated (by the pleasant) or resent (the unpleasant), neither grieves nor desires, who relinquishes the sense of auspicious and inauspicious, is dear to Me (the Supreme).

Krishna comes back to his pet formula of nir-dvandvatā, transcending the pairs of opposites, the goal of yoga. This great samatva, the spiritual magic, he disclosed and explained variously throughout the dialogue. Outlive the usual mental notes of dual responses the mind gives rise to throughout your interactions with the world. Neither cling to the desirable nor abhor the undesirable. Neither get elated nor depressed. Neither desire nor grieve. Krishna emphasizes that by the strength of devotion, one should also renounce the ideas of auspicious and inauspicious by constant spiritual attunement, thereby making life uniformly sublime and harmonious - the secret of yogic enrichment. Such a devotee alone is dear to the Supreme, he says.

A devotee who has evenness towards enemy and friend, honour and dishonour, happiness and unhappiness which are like cold and heat, who remains free of wrong identification (clinging), and is even-minded towards blame and praise, who is given to spiritual silence and indifference, contented with whatever comes or goes, has no special possessiveness about any place, and of stable mind, is dear to Me (the Supreme).

Krishna defines the pinnacle of devotional equality. Look at friend and foe alike. Love one who is even unfriendly to you. Have the freedom to love him, give him the freedom to dislike you. By unfriendliness, he gives you the rare opportunity to grow all-fold friendship and expansion. Say mentally, "I love you, giving you freedom to hate me." Imagine the degree of inner strength and gracefulness such an attitude bestows! Spirituality does not want us to treat cold and heat alike. Kṛṣṇa cites cold and heat only to describe the mutually opposite nature of sukha and duḥkha. Cold and heat are bodily experiences, sukha-duḥkhas are mental. By treating sukha-duḥkhas alike, their intensity will decline and be extinct. Even attitude should be towards all kinds of situations. One blames you, because he relishes the act. So too does one rejoice in praising another. Your response to both will be to look into the truth in their blame or praise. If there is any truth, feel grateful to them. Or else, disregard it and remain unshakeable. Contentment is an emotion. Mind is its source. Tell and train the mind to be contented with whatever you get. Never host in your mind any possessiveness about your abode. By this, your mind will be an ocean of peace and poise. What a beautiful way of imbuing devotional qualities! Who will not aspire to absorb and actualize the message? Considering devotion to be more effective, Kṛṣṇa lists qualities to enrich it, making it practical, benevolent and fulfilling!