Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 12, Verse 9
अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम्।अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय।।
atha cittaṁ samādhātuṁ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram
abhyāsa-yogena tato mām icchāptuṁ dhanañjaya
also searched as "atha chittam samadhatum na shaknoshi mayi sthiram"
Translation
If now you are unable to focus your mind on Me, then seek to reach Me, O Arjuna, through the practice of repetition.
Vāṇi's rendering
And if you cannot hold your mind steadily on me — then reach for me through practice, again and again.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अथatha | and if; now, supposing |
| चित्तम्cittam | the mind, the thinking-and-feeling part of you |
| समाधातुम्samādhātum | to settle completely, to place and hold |
| नna | not |
| शक्नोषिśaknoṣi | you are able |
| मयिmayi | on me, in me |
| स्थिरम्sthiram | steadily, without wavering |
| अभ्यासयोगेनabhyāsa-yogena | by the discipline of repeated practice |
| ततःtataḥ | then; appears as 'tato' before the next word |
| माम्mām | me |
| इच्छiccha | seek, wish; joined by sandhi with the next word as icchāptum |
| आप्तुम्āptum | to reach, to attain |
| धनञ्जयdhanañjaya | O winner of wealth — Arjuna |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Verse 9 mean?
It means Krishna makes room for the one who cannot yet hold his mind still. If steadiness will not come, come by repetition instead — abhyāsa. The verse turns failure at concentration into the very method of approach. You are not disqualified by a wandering mind; you are simply asked to keep returning.
What does atha chittam samadhatum na shaknoshi mayi sthiram teach about a restless mind?
That restlessness is assumed, not condemned. Krishna does not tell Arjuna to become someone else first. He accepts the wandering as the starting condition and gives practice as the road. The mind that strays and is brought back a hundred times is already on the path he is describing.
What is abhyasa yoga in the Gita?
Abhyāsa is the yoga of doing it again. Not one heroic act of attention but the patient work of noticing you have drifted and turning back. Krishna names it as a real route to him, equal in seriousness to the steadier ways, and gentler on those who are still learning to sit.
Why does Krishna call Arjuna Dhananjaya in this verse?
Dhanañjaya means winner of wealth — the one who took what he set out to take. Krishna uses the name of Arjuna's proven persistence exactly where he asks for persistence. What you already spent on victory in the field, spend now on the practice of returning.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just asked for the impossible — fix your mind on me and rest there. Now he sees Arjuna's face and lowers the bar. If you cannot hold it, hold it again. Practice, abhyāsa, is not a lesser path; it is the same path walked by someone whose mind wanders. The steadiness he asked for is the fruit, not the entry fee. Nobody arrives already still. What is asked is return: the mind slips, you bring it back, and it slips again, and you bring it back. That returning is the devotion. Count nothing but the next return.