Bhagavad Gita 6.47
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 47 of 47
योगिनामपि सर्वेषां मद्गतेनान्तरात्मना | श्रद्धावान्भजते यो मां स मे युक्ततमो मतः ||४७||
yoginām api sarveṣāṃ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā | śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṃ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ || 47 ||
Of all yogis, the one whose inner self is merged in Me, worshipping with śraddhā — that one I hold to be most united.
Word by word (3)
- yoginām api sarveṣāṃ mad-gatena antar-ātmanā
- — of all yogis — with inner self gone into Me · yoginām = of yogis (genitive plural). api = even (emphatic — 'of all yogis, even of ALL of them'). sarveṣāṃ = of all (superlative scope — encompasses all the yogis described in V46 and throughout Ch.6). mad-gatena = gone into Me, merged into Me (mad = Me; gata = gone; mad-gata = whose movement/orientation is into Me). antar-ātmanā = with the inner self (antar = inner; ātman = Self; instrumental case — with the inner Self, using the inner Self as the instrument). The phrase 'mad-gatena antar-ātmanā' is the precise definition of the supreme yogi: their inner self (antar-ātman — the deep inner faculty of consciousness) has 'gone into' Krishna, merged into the Divine. Not the external body, not the social role — the inner self, at the deepest level.
- śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṃ
- — who, possessing śraddhā, worships Me · śraddhāvān = possessed of śraddhā (śraddhā = faith that has the quality of living trust and inner certainty — not blind belief, not mere intellectual assent, but living faith that has been tested and deepened by experience; vān = possessing). bhajate = worships, serves, devotes (from √bhaj — the root of bhakti: to share in, to participate in, to devote to). yo māṃ = who [worships] Me (yo = relative pronoun; māṃ = Me, accusative of the Divine). The coupling of śraddhā + bhajate is decisive: the supreme yogi is defined not by technique (āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna) but by inner orientation — śraddhā — and by the mode of relationship — bhajana. This is the Gita's unexpected closure: the peak of Ch.6's yoga teaching is the bhakta.
- sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
- — that one is considered by Me to be the most united — the supremely yukta · sa = that one. me = by Me (genitive/dative of Krishna). yuktatama = most united, most yukta (yukta = united, joined, in union; tama = superlative suffix 'most'). mataḥ = considered, held to be (from √man, to think, to consider). 'Yuktatama' is the superlative of 'yukta' — the word for yoga, for union, for the fulfilled yogic state. V47's final word 'yuktatamo mataḥ' echoes V1's 'anāśritaḥ karma-phalaṃ... sa yogī' and the entire chapter's definition of what constitutes the fullest form of yoga. The supreme yukta is not the deepest meditator (V24-25), not the most equal-minded (V32), not even the most purified (V45) — but the one whose inner self has gone into the Divine and who worships with śraddhā. Bhakti is the chapter's peak.
And of all yogis, he who worships Me with faith, his inmost self gone out to Me — him I hold to be the most steadfastly yoked of all.
A modern analogy
Imagine a musician who has mastered scales, harmony, theory, and repertoire. All of that technique is necessary. But the greatest musician is the one for whom music has become not a technique but a love — who plays not from technical proficiency alone but from a place of deep inner resonance with the music itself. This verse's yuktatama yogi (the one most united) is that musician: all the technique taught across the whole chapter — from the self-conquered yogi to the multi-lifetime arc — absorbed and transcended into living devotional union.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does NOT negate the preceding teaching of the whole chapter. The practices taught throughout — self-conquest, posture, breath, withdrawal of senses, samādhi (deep absorption), equal vision, abhyāsa (steady practice), vairāgya (dispassion) — are not made irrelevant. This verse shows where all this practice arrives at its highest: not mere technique-mastery, but living inner union with the Divine, expressed as devotion (bhajate) rooted in śraddhā (living faith). The meditation of this chapter and the devotion of this verse are the same path viewed from different angles.
Take with you
- This verse reveals the Gita's unexpected hierarchy: at the top of all yogic paths is the bhakta (the devotee) — the one who worships with śraddhā (living faith) and whose inner self has merged into the Divine. This doesn't replace technique; it completes it.
- The word 'antar-ātmanā' (by the inner self) is crucial: the union Krishna describes is inner, not external. It's not pilgrimage, not ritual compliance, not social religious performance — it's the inner self that has oriented into the Divine.
- Śraddhā (living faith) is the quality that makes practice a relationship rather than a technique. This verse says: of all the qualities a yogi can have, the one that places them highest is this living inner faith. Practise until your practice becomes faith.
Public-domain translations (6) compare all →
Of all yogis, the one who with inner self merged in Me worships Me with śraddhā — that one is considered by Me to be the most united. [1]
And of all Yogis, he who with the inner self merged in Me, with Shraddha devotes himself to Me, is considered by Me the most steadfast. [4]
And of all devotees, he who, with self merged in Me, worshippeth Me with faith, he is considered by Me to be the most devoted. [5]
Of all Yogis, he who with a mind fixed on Me worships Me with faith and devotion is considered by Me the most completely devoted. [6]
And, of all those devout ones, most devout is he who loveth Me with faith assured, his inner self absorbed in Me. He, I hold, hath found the highest path. [7]
And of all Yogins, he who with his inner self devoted to Me, worships Me with faith, is deemed by Me to be the most devoted. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The yogi surpasses the ascetic, the scholar, the ritualist — therefore, O Arjuna, be a yogi!
Those who fix their mind in Me and worship with supreme śraddhā — these I consider the most perfectly yoked!
Equal vision everywhere: the yogi sees the Self in all beings, and all beings within the Self — the same, everywhere.
Who acts in duty without depending on fruit — that one is the true sannyāsī and yogī, not the fireless or the inactive.
Śraddhā of the embodied is threefold — born of svabhāva (one's own nature): sāttvikī, rājasī, tāmasī. Hear this.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Verse 47 of 47 · back to Chapter 6