Bhagavad Gita — Bhakti Yoga, Shloka 3
Bhakti Yoga
ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते । सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम् ॥ १२.३ ॥
ye tv akṣaram anirdeśyam avyaktaṁ paryupāsate | sarvatragam acintyaṁ ca kūṭastham acalaṁ dhruvam || 12.3 ||
But those who worship the Imperishable—indefinable, unmanifest, all-pervading, unthinkable, unchanging, immovable, eternal—(they too are devoted).
But those who worship the Imperishable, indefinable, unmanifest—omnipresent, unthinkable, unchanging, immovable, eternal—(they too are devoted).
But those who revere the imperishable—indescribable, unmanifest—pervading everywhere, unthinkable, ‘standing like an anvil’ (kūṭastha), unmoving, constant…
Traditional translations often harmonize these epithets with Vedāntic Brahman. Academic-literal readings note the layered negatives (anirdeśya/avyakta/acintya) as apophatic descriptors and treat kūṭastha as a metaphor for unperturbed stability.
FAQs
It points to contemplative abstraction: attention is trained away from concrete imagery toward invariance (the ‘unchanging’) and universality (‘everywhere-pervading’).
The verse characterizes ultimate reality as imperishable and beyond ordinary conceptual grasp, aligning with strands of Upaniṣadic Brahman discourse.
It begins Krishna’s description of the alternative path: worship/contemplation of the impersonal, unmanifest absolute.
Useful for secular meditation: cultivate awareness of stable features of experience (continuity, witnessing) rather than fixation on changing content.