Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 54
भक्त्या त्वनन्यया शक्यमहमेवंविधोऽर्जुन।
ज्ञातुं दृष्टुं च तत्त्वेन प्रवेष्टुं च परंतप।।
ज्ञातुं दृष्टुं च तत्त्वेन प्रवेष्टुं च परंतप।।
bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya aham evaṁ-vidho ’rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena praveṣṭuṁ ca parantapa
also searched as "bhaktya tv ananyaya shakya aham evam-vidho 'rjuna"
Translation
But by single-minded devotion, O Arjuna, it is possible to truly know, to see, and to enter into Me, who am of this form, O harasser of foes.
Vāṇi's rendering
Only by love that holds nothing back can I be known like this, truly seen — and entered.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| भक्त्याbhaktyā | by devotion, by love |
| तुtu | but, however |
| अनन्ययाananyayā | undivided, having no other object |
| शक्यःśakya(ḥ) | possible, able to be (sandhi: śakyaḥ + aham → śakya aham) |
| अहम्aham | I |
| एवंविधःevaṁ-vidhaḥ | of this kind, in this form |
| अर्जुनarjuna | O Arjuna (sandhi: evaṁvidhaḥ + arjuna → evaṁvidho 'rjuna) |
| ज्ञातुम्jñātum | to know |
| द्रष्टुम्draṣṭum | to see |
| चca | and |
| तत्त्वेनtattvena | in truth, as it really is |
| प्रवेष्टुम्praveṣṭum | to enter into |
| चca | and |
| परन्तपparantapa | O scorcher of foes |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 54 mean?
Krishna names the single door to the vision Arjuna has just survived. Not scripture, not austerity, not sacrifice — ananyā bhakti, love that has no second object. Such love does not merely inform or impress; it knows, it sees truly, and it enters. The last verb is the one that matters.
What is the meaning of bhaktya tvananyaya shakyamaham evamvidho arjuna?
By undivided love alone, Krishna says, can he be known in this form, seen as he actually is, and entered. The word ananyayā carries the weight: no other. Not love among other loves, but love with nothing held in another direction.
What does ananya bhakti actually mean in practice?
It means the heart is not quietly also elsewhere. Devotion with a second object is still devotion, but it stops at the gate. Ananyā is not intensity of feeling; it is undividedness. Watch, over one ordinary day, where else you are hoping. That is the measure.
Why does Krishna say devotion lets you enter him, not just know him?
Knowing keeps a distance — there is a knower and a thing known. Seeing keeps it too. Praveṣṭum, to enter, dissolves the gap. Krishna is saying that love does what study cannot: it ends the position of standing outside and looking in.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna has just seen what no one has seen, and Krishna tells him how it happened. Not by recitation, not by austerity, not by the fire of offerings — those were named and set aside a verse ago. By love that keeps nothing in reserve. Ananyā: no second object, nowhere else the heart is quietly also looking. To know is the mind's work. To see is the eye's. To enter is neither — it is what happens when the one who loves stops standing outside. You cannot study your way in. You can only stop keeping something back.