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Chapter 11

<< Chapter 11 verse 53

SlOkam – Original

bhakthyA thvananyayA Sakya aham Evam vidhO’rjuna |
gyAthum dhrashtum cha thathvEna pravEshtum cha paranthapa ||

word-by-word meaning (based on puththUr krishNamAchArya swAmy’s thamizh translation)

paranthapa! arjuna! – Oh arjuna who torments the enemies!
aham – I
ananyayA bhakthyA thu – only by svayam prayOjana bhakthi (selfless exclusive bhakthi)
Evam vidha: – in this manner
thathvEna – truly
gyAthum – to know (through SAsthram)
dhrashtum cha – to see
pravEshtum cha – to attain
Sakya: – possible

Simple Translation (based on puththUr krishNamAchArya swAmy’s thamizh translation)

Oh arjuna who torments the enemies! It is possible to truly (through SAsthram) know me, see me and attain me in this manner only by svayam prayOjana bhakthi (selfless exclusive bhakthi).

Rendering based on ALkoNdavilli gOvindhAchArya swAmy’s English translation of gIthA bhAshyam

‘By Bhakti alone, Arjuna! —exclusive— am I possible to be thus —in essence— seen and known and penetrable, Parantapa!’

By Vedas, includes teaching the Vedas, inculcating their sense, learning (by rote), hearing, meditating etc.

Sacrifices=oblating in fire etc., (agnihotra), and performing the great ritualistic Sacrifices (yāga):

Devoid of Love (Bhakti) to Me, none of these, alms-givings, or rigid austerities etc., are independently, of any avail to disclose Me as My true Self. But by Love (Bhakti) exclusive, I am easy to be known in the manner that Śāstras promulgate Me; I am easy to be seen as I, in essence, am; and I am easy to be penetrable, in essence. (=Divine Communion=the actual blessed experience of the soul in God-fellowship).

So chants the Śruti:

‘Not by deliberation is this Ātma reachable, nor by concentration, nor by much hearing (learning), but is reached by him whom He may elect; to whom He may (choose to) reveal His Essence’.¹

>> Chapter 11 verse 55

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