10.17 katham vidhyAm aham yogI

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:  SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImath varavaramunayE nama:

Chapter 10

<< Chapter 10 verse 16

SlOkam – Original

katham vidhyAm aham yogI thvAm sadhA parichinthayan |
kEshu kEshu cha bhAvEshu chinthyO’si bhagavan mayA ||

word-by-word meaning

bhagavan – Oh lord who is the ocean of auspicious qualities!
yOgI aham – I who am a bhakthi yOga nishta (bhakthi yOga practitioner)
thvAm – you
sadhA – constantly
parichinthayan – engaged in thinking [about you]
(thvAm – you)
katham vidhyAm – how can I know?
kEshu kEshu cha bhAvEshu – whichever objects (which have not been described previously)
mayA – by me
chinthya asi – how are you to be meditated (as the controller of those objects)?

Simple Translation

Oh lord who is the ocean of auspicious qualities! How can I, a bhakthi yOga nishta (bhakthi yOga practitioner), know you, by constantly engaged in thinking [about you]? How are you to be meditated by me as the controller of whichever objects (which have not been described previously)?

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

‘How can I, Your votary, know You, by constantly meditating on You? In what ways, O Lord! are You, by me, to be meditated?’

I, Your votary (yogi)=the follower of bhakti-yoga. How can I, embarked on constant meditation of You, in love, know You as the endowed of Perfection, Sovereignty and other Illustrious Attributes.

In what other ways yet untold, —ways other than those already described by You as in: ‘Decision, Knowledge etc.’ (Gītā X-4 etc)., are You —as the Ruler &c.,— to be reflected on by Me.

>> Chapter 10 verse 18

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