Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10, Verse 10 (BG 10.10) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 10.10 — Commentary Translation Until the supreme bliss-bestowing goal is discovered—that highest object in which the mind finds complete absorption—we cannot successfully withdraw from our identification with the external world of objects, emotions, and thoughts. The Self, being blissful in nature, possesses such power to draw the mind toward itself; and to the extent that the mind becomes established in this Self-nature, to that very extent it becomes liberated from the grip of sorrowful false bondage. Lord Sri Krishna describes this Vedantic truth in the verse: "Those who worship Me with devotion." Love itself is the union of identity with the beloved. The individual soul is called a devotee in proportion to its union with the Self; and when that devotee becomes continuously united, then alone does he manifest the hidden divinity that dwells within the heart. Such devotees who constantly contemplate the Self in an atmosphere of unbroken devotion, contentment, and joy—to those very devotees does the Lord Himself grant the yoga of wisdom, through which they attain the Lord alone. The yoga of wisdom has been described before. It is the attainment of true knowledge through deep meditation upon the infinite nature of the Self. In the present context, it may be explained thus: the seeker who practices through the aforementioned method gains intellectual comprehension of truth. We certainly do not mean that the finite intellect can ever grasp the infinite. We merely employ a familiar expression from common usage. When an experience grasped by the intellect is not contradicted by any other experience, that prior experience is considered authentic and beyond doubt. The experience of the Self can never be contradicted, for it is the very nature of the experiencer. Such firm knowledge is attained only by those seekers who have developed maturity and steadiness in Self-inquiry. Thus, through the meditation practice described, all veils covering truth and the distractions arising from them are completely removed; then the seeker directly experiences samadhi, which is the culmination and perfection of the yoga of wisdom. What does the Lord assuredly do for His devotees through this yoga of wisdom? This is described in the next verse.