Bhagavad Gita 9.22
Spoken by Krishna ★ Essential verse · Verse 22 of 34
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते | तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ||२२||
ananyāś cintayanto māṃ ye janāḥ paryupāsate | teṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yoga-kṣemaṃ vahāmy aham || 22 ||
For those who worship Me with undivided thought, always steadfast — I carry what they lack and guard what they have.
Word by word (3)
- ananyāḥ cintayantaḥ māṃ ye janāḥ paryupāsate
- — Those people who worship Me, thinking of Me without division, without other · ananyāḥ = without-other, undivided (a = not; anya = other; ananya = one for whom there is no other — 'without other,' undivided; ananyāḥ = nominative plural 'those for whom there is no other'; the ananya state is not the absence of relationships or objects but the undivided orientation of the deepest attention: the divine is the single center around which all else organizes). cintayantaḥ = thinking, contemplating (present participle of √cint = to think, to be mindful of; cintayantaḥ = 'those who are thinking, those who contemplate' — the continuous present: not 'those who thought once' but 'those who are continuously thinking'). māṃ = Me (objective — the divine as the object of the undivided contemplation). ye janāḥ = those people (ye = who, nominative plural relative; janāḥ = people, persons). paryupāsate = they worship completely, they attend upon (pari + upa + √ās = to sit around completely, to attend upon with full devotion; paryupāsate = 'they worship continuously, they attend upon'; the pari prefix adds the quality of completeness and all-around-ness: not partial worship but complete encompassing worship). V22's opening clause: ananyāś cintayanto māṃ ye janāḥ paryupāsate — those who worship Me with undivided continuous contemplation (ananya + cintayantaḥ + paryupāsate: three reinforcing terms all pointing to the same quality of complete, undivided, continuous orientation toward the divine).
- teṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yoga-kṣemaṃ vahāmy aham
- — For those ever-steadfast ones — I carry their yoga and kṣema · teṣām = for those (genitive plural — 'of those, for those'). nityābhiyuktānāṃ = of the ever-steadfast (nitya = eternal, always; abhiyukta = absorbed in, steadfast, applied; nityābhiyukta = 'ever-absorbed, always-steadfast'; nityābhiyuktānāṃ = genitive plural — the ones who are ALWAYS absorbed in the divine, not intermittently). yoga-kṣemam = yoga and kṣema (yoga = attainment, acquisition — the obtaining of what one does not yet have; kṣema = preservation, security — the safeguarding of what one already has; yoga-kṣema = the complete provision: what is lacking is brought + what is present is protected; in later Vedāntic usage, yoga-kṣema becomes a complete compound for 'welfare, wellbeing,' but the original meaning is dual: yoga = gaining what is needed + kṣema = preserving what is gained). vahāmi = I carry, I bear (√vah = to carry, to bear, to convey; vahāmi = first person singular present — 'I carry'; this is the most intimate and active verb possible: not 'I grant' or 'I cause' but 'I carry' — as a porter carries a load, as a mother carries a child; the divine is the carrier, the devotee is carried). aham = I (emphatic — 'I, Myself'; the emphatic aham at the end ensures: it is not an impersonal mechanism but the divine personally, actively, carrying).
- yoga-kṣemaṃ vahāmy aham — the divine as the carrier: the most intimate promise in the Gita
- — V22's yoga-kṣemaṃ vahāmy aham is the Gita's supreme declaration of divine care: I personally carry both what you lack (yoga) and what you need to preserve (kṣema) — for those who are ever-steadfastly absorbed in Me · Yoga-kṣemaṃ vahāmy aham is arguably the most personally intimate promise in the entire Gita. Analyze each component: (1) yoga = what is needed but not yet acquired (the gap between present state and what is needed); (2) kṣema = what is present and needs to be secured (the preservation of what has been attained); (3) vahāmi = I carry (not 'I arrange' or 'I ordain' but vahāmi — the physical-metaphysical act of personally carrying, bearing the weight); (4) aham = I Myself (the emphatic personal commitment — not through intermediaries, not through merit-systems, but aham, I Myself). The verse's logic: V21's kāma-kāmāḥ (desirers of desires) had to earn merit (yoga = acquiring merit-heaven) and then lost it (no kṣema — heaven exhausted). V22's ananyāḥ do not earn or lose: the divine carries both the acquisition (yoga) and the preservation (kṣema). The economy shifts from earning → spending → depleting to: divine carrying → no depletion possible. Śaṅkarācārya notes: yoga here = prāpti-yoga (the yoga of obtaining what one doesn't have); kṣema = rakṣaṇam (protection of what one has). The contrast is to the Vedic merit-economy: in V21, the ritualists earn merit (yoga-equivalent) and then lose it (kṣema fails — nothing preserves the heaven). In V22, for the ananya, both yoga and kṣema are carried by the divine. This is the Gita's supreme statement on the economy of grace vs. the economy of merit. V22 is cited in virtually all major devotional traditions as the definitive text on divine protection of the devotee. It is the proof-text for the Śrī Vaiṣṇava śaraṇāgati doctrine: complete self-surrender to the divine generates the divine's complete carrying of the devotee's welfare.
For those who worship Me with undivided minds, thinking of nothing else — to those ever-devoted ones I bring what they lack and protect what they have.
A modern analogy
An extraordinary mentor relationship: the mentor (the divine) actively searches out what the student (the devotee) needs but lacks (yoga = providing the missing resource, connection, insight) AND protects what the student has already built (kṣema = preventing the collapse of progress). The vahāmy (I carry) quality: the mentor is not waiting for the student to bring problems — the mentor is proactively bearing the weight. This verse's divine is this proactive-carrying mentor, but infinitely reliable — because the carrying is personal (aham), continuous (nityābhiyuktānāṃ), and comprehensive (both what's lacking AND what's present).
What it does NOT mean
This verse's 'I carry yoga and kṣema' does not mean the undivided devotee never has to work, never faces hardship, or receives magical provision without effort. 'Yoga' in this context means the bridge-to-what-is-needed (not material prosperity but what is genuinely needed for the devotee's progress toward liberation), and 'kṣema' means the protection of what is genuinely important. The undivided devotee still acts — this verse stands within the context of the divine's six praised practices (ever glorifying, striving with firm resolve, bowing in devotion, always steadfast) and the teaching that whatever you do, you offer it to the divine — but acts without the desire-for-desire-objects orientation that generates the exhausting merit-cycle of the previous verse.
Take with you
- This verse's ananya (without-other) quality is a daily orientation practice: ananya does not mean 'only this and nothing else in your life.' It means the deepest orientation of the heart has no second: the divine is the single center. Everything else — work, relationships, creative projects — can be present and engaged fully while the deepest orientation remains ananya. The test: when you return to the most fundamental question ('what is this all for?' or 'where is the ground?'), does that return point to the divine ground? That pointing-back is ananya.
- This verse's nityābhiyuktāḥ (ever-steadfast) is a practice of continuity across imperfection: nityābhiyukta does not mean 'always in perfect meditation' or 'never lapsing.' Nitya = always, including the moments of lapse. Abhiyukta = absorbed, committed. The ever-steadfast one is not the one who never falters but the one whose direction remains constant even through faltering. The previous verse's going-and-coming still happens; this verse's nitya means the direction home (mām = toward the divine) is maintained through the going-and-coming.
- This verse's yoga-kṣema pair is a complete anxiety-release framework: at any moment of anxiety, there are only two underlying fears: (1) yoga-fear (I don't have/can't get what I need) and (2) kṣema-fear (I will lose what I have). This verse addresses BOTH simultaneously: the divine carries the yoga (provision) AND the kṣema (protection). Practice it directly as an anxiety-response: when yoga-fear arises ('I don't have enough') → 'Yoga vahāmi — the divine carries what I lack.' When kṣema-fear arises ('I will lose what I have') → 'Kṣemaṃ vahāmi — the divine carries what I need to preserve.'
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
To those who worship Me with devotion, ever attached to Me, I carry what they do not have and preserve what they have. [4]
For those who worship me with devotion, meditating on my transcendental form, I carry what they have not, and I preserve for them what they have. [6]
Yea! I will lift and bear / The load of those My lovers and all theirs, / And give to these My care / A heart of rest and peace. [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
When Vedic merit is exhausted, soma-drinkers return from heaven to the mortal world, going and coming.
Abandon all dharmas, take refuge in Me alone — I will liberate you from all sins; do not grieve.
A leaf, a flower, a fruit, a drop of water — offered with devotion, I receive it: the striving heart's gift is enough.
Knowing Me as the enjoyer of all sacrifice and austerity, Great Lord of all worlds, Friend of all beings — peace comes.
Bow down, arrows scattered, warrior collapsed — this is where the Gita begins.
I am your student. My mind is bewildered about what is right. Teach me.
Verse 22 of 34 · back to Chapter 9