Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 12, Verse 3
ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते।सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम्।।
ye tv akṣaram anirdeśyam avyaktaṁ paryupāsate
sarvatra-gam acintyañca kūṭa-stham acalandhruvam
also searched as "ye tv aksharam anirdeshyam avyaktam paryupasate"
Translation
But those who meditate on the Imperishable, the indefinable, the unmanifest, omnipresent, unthinkable, common to all beings, immovable, and constant—
Vāṇi's rendering
Others seek the imperishable that cannot be named or seen — present everywhere, beyond thought, unmoving, changeless.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| येye | those who |
| तुtu | but, on the other hand (written tv before the vowel that follows) |
| अक्षरम्akṣaram | the imperishable, what never wears away |
| अनिर्देश्यम्anirdeśyam | what cannot be pointed at or named |
| अव्यक्तम्avyaktam | unmanifest, not shown to the eye |
| पर्युपासतेparyupāsate | sit close around, wait upon, worship wholly |
| सर्वत्रगम्sarvatra-gam | going everywhere, present in every place |
| अचिन्त्यम्acintyam | beyond what thought can hold (joined with ca as acintyañca) |
| चca | and |
| कूटस्थम्kūṭa-stham | standing at the peak, unshaken through all change |
| अचलम्acalam | unmoving (joined with dhruvam as acalandhruvam) |
| ध्रुवम्dhruvam | fixed, constant, the pole that does not shift |
| संनियम्यsanniyamya | having fully reined in |
| इन्द्रियग्रामम्indriya-grāmam | the whole village of the senses, the crowd of them together |
| सर्वत्रsarvatra | everywhere, in every case |
| समबुद्धयःsama-buddhayaḥ | those whose understanding stays level |
| तेte | they |
| प्राप्नुवन्तिprāpnuvanti | arrive at, reach |
| माम्mām | me |
| एवeva | indeed, none other |
| सर्वभूतहितेsarva-bhūta-hite | in the good of every living being |
| रताःratāḥ | delighting, settled with pleasure in it |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Verse 3 mean?
Krishna is describing the second kind of seeker — the one who turns not toward a form but toward the akṣara, the imperishable that cannot be named, seen, or thought. Every quality listed is a subtraction. This is the path of approaching what has no edges, and Krishna states it plainly before he says anything about its difficulty.
What does ye tv aksharam anirdeshyam avyaktam paryupasate mean?
Those who wholly attend upon the imperishable — the unnameable, the unmanifest. Paryupāsate is a warm word: to sit close around something, the way one sits near a fire. Even toward the formless, the posture Krishna describes is not cold analysis. It is nearness, sustained, without a face to look at.
Is worshipping the formless better than worshipping Krishna's form?
Krishna does not call it worse. He calls it harder. In the verses just after this one he says the road of the unmanifest costs more effort for those who wear bodies, because a body naturally reaches for something it can hold. Both arrive. Only one asks you to walk without a handrail.
What is kutastha in this verse?
Kūṭa-stha means standing at the summit, unmoved while everything below it shifts. Not frozen — simply not participating in the change. Your moods move, your circumstances move, your body moves toward its end. Krishna names something in the middle of all that motion which does not move, and says some seekers go straight for it.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna asked which is better — the one with a face, or the one without. Krishna does not answer yet. He first describes the other path fairly, and the description is a series of removals: not nameable, not visible, not thinkable, not moving. Every handle you might reach for is taken away. This is not a lesser road; the verses that follow say such seekers do arrive. But notice what it asks of you — to hold steady toward something that gives you nothing to hold. If your prayer has ever gone out into silence and found no face there, this verse is about you.