Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12, Verse 9 (BG 12.9) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 12.9 — Translation of Meaning The discipline of self-development that the Lord has described in the previous verse is unchanging and absolute. The seeker should anchor the mind firmly at the feet of the Divine and, through the intellect, recognize the ultimate nature underlying that form with attributes. To accomplish both these processes requires an extraordinarily subtle intellect and concentrated focus of mind. It is likely that Arjuna, like an ordinary person, felt that successfully following this path would be impossible for him. The Lord Krishna, the Ocean of Compassion, perceiving the expressions on his disciple's face, now describes an alternative approach here. If you cannot steadily absorb your consciousness into Me, then there is another way: practice the yoga of continuous effort. This yoga of practice was previously described thus: wherever this restless and unstable mind wanders, one should restrain it there and bring it under the mastery of the Self. In brief, whenever a seeker wishes to absorb the mind in a chosen object of meditation, the wandering mind deviates from that object and flows into currents of unrelated tendencies. The teaching here is that whenever the mind begins to wander in this manner, the seeker should immediately gather that attention and strive to establish it once again in the Divine Form of the Lord. Every seeker must acknowledge that during meditation practice, even for a single period, the mind does not succeed in contemplating the object of meditation exclusively. Within moments, the mind begins to wander in its realm of imagination. This wandering is not itself such a great problem—it becomes a problem only when the seeker, too, is carried away by the mind into that imaginary realm. The Lord of Yoga, Sri Krishna, teaches only this: we must not be seduced into abandoning our divine path by the allurements of the mind. To gather the attention of the troublesome mind that wanders here and there into the point of meditation, the seeker must possess the capacity to remain separate from the mind and observe it with the attitude of a witness. Once identification with the mind occurs, wherever the mind goes, there we go—such a state becomes inevitable. Therefore, to discipline the mind, the seeker must separate from it and identify with that capacity inherent within oneself, which is superior to the mind and can govern and discipline it. Superior to the mind is its ruler: discrimination, or intellect. Through the discriminative power of the intellect alone can we discipline the inferior mind. This approach is taught for those who cannot follow the direct path described in the previous verse. Through prolonged practice of this yoga of continuous effort, our mind will become so disciplined that we shall become capable of practicing the direct means of self-development, which was described in the earlier verse. If even this is not possible, then...