Topic

Practical spirituality

2 verses from the Bhagavad Gita on practical spirituality. Explore teachings across 2 chapters.

All Verses

Chapter 10 • Verse 17 →The Yoga of Divine Glories
Katham vidyam aham yogims tvam sada parichintayan, keshu keshu ca bhaveshu cintyo 'si bhagavan maya

How shall I, always meditating upon You, know You, O master of yoga? And in what particular forms are You to be thought of by me, O Blessed Lord? This sincere question of the meditator — how to hold God in mind practically — is the gateway to understanding the divine through His specific manifestations.

  • •Asking how to meditate on God is a mark of sincere spiritual aspiration
  • •The Lord's specific forms provide the mind a foothold for contemplation
  • •Practical meditation requires concrete objects of focus
meditationcontemplationdivine formsquestion
Chapter 12 • Verse 5 →The Yoga of Devotion
Kleśho 'dhikataras teṣhām avyaktāsakta-chetasām, avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate

The difficulty is far greater for those whose minds are attached to the unmanifest, for the unmanifest path is hard for embodied beings to attain.

  • •Embodied beings find the impersonal path harder
  • •Attachment to the formless creates its own struggles
  • •The personal form of God is more accessible for most seekers
difficulty of impersonal pathembodied beingsunmanifest hardpersonal easier