Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 14, Verse 26
मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते।स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान् ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते।।
māṁ ca yo ’vyabhicāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
also searched as "mam cha yo 'vyabhicharena bhakti-yogena sevate"
Translation
And he who, with unwavering devotion through Yoga, serves Me, he, transcending the Gunas, becomes fit for the state of Brahman.
Vāṇi's rendering
And whoever serves me with love that never wavers crosses beyond the three strands — ready to become the eternal.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| माम्māṁ | me |
| चca | and |
| यःyo | whoever (yaḥ, softened to yo before the next word) |
| अव्यभिचारेणavyabhicāreṇa | with love that never strays, never turns aside to another |
| भक्तियोगेनbhakti-yogena | by the way of devotion, love held as practice |
| सेवतेsevate | serves, attends upon |
| सःsa | that one |
| गुणान्guṇān | the strands — sattva, rajas, tamas |
| समतीत्यsamatītya | having wholly crossed beyond (joined to the next word by sandhi) |
| एतान्etān | these |
| ब्रह्मभूयायbrahma-bhūyāya | for becoming Brahman, for being the eternal |
| कल्पतेkalpate | becomes fit, is made ready |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14 Verse 26 mean?
It answers the question Arjuna has just asked: how does anyone get past sattva, rajas and tamas? Krishna's reply is not discipline but attachment of a different kind — serve me with love that does not waver, and the crossing happens. The strands are outgrown, not defeated.
What does 'mam cha yo vyabhicharena bhakti yogena sevate' teach about devotion?
Avyabhicāra means not straying. The love Krishna asks for is not intense, not loud — it is simply undivided. It does not go elsewhere when results are slow or the mood goes flat. Steadiness matters more than heat here. A small flame that never gutters outlasts a blaze.
Why can't I overcome the three gunas by my own effort?
Because effort is itself a strand. Striving is rajas, giving up is tamas, and even serene self-management is sattva — a golden rope, still a rope. Nothing woven from the three can lift you out of the three. Only what stands outside the weave can pull, and Krishna is naming himself.
What does it mean to become fit for Brahman?
Kalpate says ready, made suitable — not yet arrived. The verse describes ripening, not a reward handed over. When the strands stop deciding your responses, what remains is already of the nature of the eternal. You do not travel there. You become the kind of person for whom it is no longer far.
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Commentary
Arjuna asked how a man crosses the strands. Krishna does not give a technique; he gives a direction. Sattva, rajas, tamas — you cannot fight your way out of them, because the fighting is made of them. The effort is rajas. The collapse is tamas. Something outside the weave has to pull. Avyabhicāreṇa: love that does not wander off, that does not go looking elsewhere when the mood turns. That is the one thread not spun from the three. You do not climb out of your nature; you are drawn out of it. Notice where your love goes when no one is watching.