Bhagavad Gita 12.7
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 7 of 20
तेषामहं समुद्धर्ता मृत्युसंसारसागरात्।भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् ॥
teṣāmahaṃ samuddhartā mṛtyusaṃsārasāgarāt|bhavāmi nacirātpārtha mayyāveśitacetasām ||
I swiftly lift them from the ocean of death and saṃsāra — for those whose consciousness is fixed in Me, O Pārtha!
Word by word (3)
- teṣām ahaṃ samuddhartā
- — I am their complete deliverer/rescuer · teṣām = of those (genitive plural; 'those' refers directly to the mat-parāḥ of V6 — the verse flows with no break: 'of THEM, I...'); aham = I (emphatic first-person — Krishna personally takes responsibility). samuddhartā = the one who lifts completely out (sam = completely, together + ud = upward + dhartā = sustainer/holder from √dhṛ = to hold; samuddhartā = the complete upward-holder = the one who pulls entirely free of what was trapping the devotee). The word is not just 'helper' or 'guide' but the total liberator — like a lifeguard who not only swims out but carries the swimmer entirely to dry ground. Nominative singular: this is Krishna's identity in this relationship.
- mṛtyu-saṃsāra-sāgarāt
- — from the ocean of the death-saṃsāra · mṛtyu = death (from √mṛ = to die; mṛtyu = the reality of dying, the force of mortality — not just one death but the recurring death that anchors saṃsāra). saṃsāra = the cycle of conditioned existence (from sam + √sṛ = to flow through; saṃsāra = flowing-through = the cycle that flows through forms, births, deaths, and rebirths; Sanskrit equivalents in Upanishads: bhava-cakra = wheel of becoming). sāgarāt = from the ocean (sāgara = ocean; ablative: sāgarāt = from-the-ocean; the ablative marks the point of rescue — Krishna pulls them OUT OF this particular ocean). The compound mṛtyu-saṃsāra-sāgara layers three terrors: mṛtyu (death itself), saṃsāra (the cycle that makes death repeat), and sāgara (the sheer oceanic scale of it — it surrounds, it has no visible shore, one cannot swim out alone).
- bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha mayy āveśita-cetasām
- — I become (their deliverer) without delay, O Pārtha, for those whose consciousness is fixed in Me · bhavāmi = I become/am (1st person singular present of √bhū = to be, to become; bhavāmi here = 'I arise as,' 'I become present as' — the rescue is not a future promise but a present reality that unfolds as the condition is met). na cirāt = without long delay, swiftly, without tarrying (na = not; cirāt = ablative of cira = long time; na cirāt = not-after-a-long-time = without delay — almost 'immediately'). pārtha = O Pārtha (Arjuna, son of Pṛthā/Kunti; the address is affectionate here — Krishna speaks with tender directness to Arjuna). mayy āveśita-cetasām = of those whose consciousness is placed/fixed in Me (mayi = in Me; āveśita = placed-in, fixed, entered — past participle of ā + √viś = to enter into; a beautiful compound: the mind has ENTERED INTO Krishna as its container and home; cetasām = genitive plural of cetas = the aware heart-mind). The condition: not perfection, but genuine orientation — the cetas āveśita in Krishna, even imperfectly. The promise: na cirāt = without delay.
For those whose minds are set on Me, I become before long their deliverer from the ocean of death and rebirth, O Pārtha.
A modern analogy
Like a committed friend who says: 'You reach out, I'll come — no question, no delay.' The devotee who holds Krishna as supreme has already 'reached out' through ananya-yoga (undivided devotion, offering every action to Him); the Lord's swift rescue is the answer. The ocean (saṃsāra) is vast and the swimmer cannot cross it alone — but the samuddhartā (deliverer) is already moving toward them.
Sit with this: This verse says Krishna becomes the deliverer 'without delay' for those with consciousness fixed in Him. Does 'without delay' mean instantaneous liberation, or does it mean the process begins immediately? How do you understand this promise in light of the teaching that even the harder formless path still reaches Krishna?
Public-domain translations (5) compare all →
[V7 missing from SH indexed] [1]
[V7 missing from SW indexed — combined with V6 in SW commentary] [4]
him will I swiftly lift / Forth from life's ocean of distress and death, / Whose soul clings fast to Me [7]
whose minds are fixed on me, I, without delay, come forward as their deliverer from the ocean of this world of death [9]
of them whose minds are (thus) fixed on me, I, without delay, become the deliverer from the ocean of (this) mortal world [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
For those who worship Me with undivided thought, always steadfast — I carry what they lack and guard what they have.
With mind in Me, by My grace you will cross all obstacles; but from egotism if you will not hear, you will perish.
Offer all actions to Me alone, worship through undivided yoga — the mat-parāḥ hold Me as their supreme goal.
Arjuna sees his own people ready to die — and his body breaks before his mind can argue.
Your body changed from childhood to age without 'you' dying — changing bodies is no different.
Unborn. Undying. Ancient. Eternal. Not slain when the body is slain — this is what you are.
Verse 7 of 20 · back to Chapter 12