Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 7, Verse 21
यो यो यां यां तनुं भक्तः श्रद्धयार्चितुमिच्छति।
तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां तामेव विदधाम्यहम्।।
तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां तामेव विदधाम्यहम्।।
yo yo yāṁ yāṁ tanuṁ bhaktaḥ śraddhayārcitum icchati
tasya tasyācalāṁ śraddhāṁ tām eva vidadhāmyaham
also searched as "yo yo yam yam tanum bhaktah shraddhayarcitum icchati"
Translation
Whichever devotee seeks to worship with faith whatever form, I make their faith steadfast.
Vāṇi's rendering
Whatever form anyone chooses to worship in faith — it is I who make that faith stand firm.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| योyo | whoever (yaḥ, sandhi form before y-) |
| योyo | whoever — the doubling means each and every one, without exception |
| यांyāṁ | whichever |
| यांyāṁ | whichever — repeated, so: any one at all, however chosen |
| तनुंtanuṁ | form, body, the shape a god is worshipped in |
| भक्तःbhaktaḥ | one who loves and worships |
| श्रद्धयाśraddhayā | with faith, with trusting weight placed |
| अर्चितुम्arcitum | to honour, to worship (joined to the previous word by sandhi) |
| इच्छतिicchati | wishes, chooses |
| तस्यtasya | of that one |
| तस्यtasya | of that one — repeated, matching each worshipper to their own form |
| अचलांacalāṁ | unmoving, not to be shaken (joined to tasya by sandhi) |
| श्रद्धांśraddhāṁ | that faith |
| ताम्tām | that very one |
| एवeva | precisely, none other |
| विदधामिvidadhāmi | I set in place, I make it hold |
| अहम्aham | I myself |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 21 mean?
It means the steadiness of your faith is not your own achievement, and not the achievement of the form you worship. Krishna says he places it there. Whatever shape a devotee turns toward in śraddhā, the firmness that grows in that turning comes from him.
What does the line yo yo yam yam tanum bhaktah shraddhayarcitum icchati teach?
The doubling of yo yo and yāṁ yāṁ is the heart of it — each one, whichever form, no exceptions listed. Krishna refuses to sort worshippers into approved and unapproved. He simply says: you chose, and I made the choosing hold.
Does this verse mean all forms of worship are the same?
Not identical, but not abandoned either. The forms differ; what steadies the worshipper does not. Krishna claims that work as his own, wherever it happens. This is why the Gītā can speak of lesser fruits without ever speaking of a faith that goes unattended.
If Krishna strengthens faith in other gods, why worship Krishna directly?
Because the verses that follow are honest about outcome — limited desire brings limited fruit. Krishna strengthens whatever faith you bring, and he also tells you where each road ends. Knowing who has been holding your faith up all along changes what you ask of him.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Krishna has just described people who go to other gods, pulled by their own wanting. He does not call them wrong. He says the steadiness they find there is his doing. Whatever image you kneel before — a form with four arms or none, a name learned from your grandmother, a stone at a roadside shrine — the firmness that grows in you was not manufactured by the stone. It comes from the one standing behind every form. So faith held anywhere at all is worth holding. Krishna is not competing for your attention. He is already underneath whatever you have chosen to trust.