Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 9, Verse 22
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्।।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्।।
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmyaham
also searched as "ananyash chintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate"
Translation
Those who, excluding all else, think of Me and worship Me, aspiring after eternal union with Me, I look after their prosperity and welfare (Yoga and Ksema).
Vāṇi's rendering
Think of me and nothing else — what you lack, I bring; what you have, I protect.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अनन्याःananyāḥ | with no other — having no second object of thought (appears as ananyāś before the next word) |
| चिन्तयन्तःcintayantaḥ | thinking of, dwelling on (appears as cintayanto by sandhi) |
| माम्mām | me |
| येye | those who |
| जनाःjanāḥ | people — ordinary people, not adepts |
| पर्युपासतेparyupāsate | sit close around and attend, wait upon, worship steadily |
| तेषाम्teṣām | of them, for them |
| नित्याभियुक्तानाम्nitya-abhiyuktānām | of those constantly joined, always applied to it (nitya + abhiyuktānām joined by sandhi) |
| योगक्षेमम्yoga-kṣemam | getting what is not yet had, and keeping safe what is |
| वहामिvahāmi | I carry, I bear as a load (vahāmi + aham joined as vahāmyaham) |
| अहम्aham | I, myself |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Verse 22 mean?
Krishna makes a promise here, not a suggestion. To those whose thought does not wander off to another refuge, he carries yoga and kṣema himself — the getting of what is not yet there, the guarding of what already is. The verse asks for no ritual and no capacity. It asks for undividedness, and answers it with provision.
What does the line 'ananyash chintayanto mam ye janah paryupasate' actually say?
Ananya means without another — no second object in the mind. Paryupāsate is to sit close around something, to attend on it continuously. So the line describes people whose attention has stopped shopping. And Krishna calls them janāḥ, plain people. The qualification is not birth or learning; it is the absence of a divided thought.
What is yoga-kshema in this verse?
Yoga is acquiring what you lack. Kṣema is keeping safe what you hold. Together they name the two labours of every anxious life, and most days you are doing one or the other. Krishna says vahāmi — I carry, the way a bearer carries a load down a road. The load does not vanish. It moves shoulders.
Does this verse mean I can stop working and let Krishna provide?
No. Krishna never lets Arjuna put down the bow, and nothing here excuses the work. What changes is who is accountable for what the work yields. You still plough the field. The worry about rain, and the worry about the barn afterward, is what he takes off you. Act, and stop standing guard.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Yoga-kṣema is a householder's phrase, not a mystic's. Yoga is getting what you don't have; kṣema is keeping what you do. Between those two the whole anxious life is spent — acquiring, then guarding what was acquired. Krishna does not say the worry is foolish. He says it is his. Arjuna is being told that the mind spent on securing can be spent elsewhere, because the securing is already being done. The condition is small and total: ananya — nothing else in the thinking. Not extra effort. Only undivided attention. Give that, and the two ropes you have been holding all your life go slack in your hands.