Bhagavad Gita 12.9 Meaning: Atha chittam samadhatum

Bhagavad Gita 12.9

अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् ।अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय ॥

Atha chittam samadhatum na shaknoshi mayi sthiramAbhyasayogena tato mamichchhaptum dhananjaya

atha cittaṃ samādhātuṃ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram |abhyāsayogena tato māmicchāptuṃ dhanañjaya ||

How to read these English letters (IAST)

Our explanation If Arjuna cannot keep his mind (citta) steadily on him, Krishna says, he should seek to reach him through the yoga of practice (abhyāsa-yoga), that is, by steady and repeated effort. Krishna calls Arjuna Dhananjaya, winner of wealth.

हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि यदि अर्जुन अपना चित्त उनमें स्थिर नहीं रख पाते, तो अभ्यास-योग से, यानी बार-बार लगातार प्रयास करके, उन्हें पाने की इच्छा करें। यहाँ कृष्ण अर्जुन को धनंजय (धन को जीतने वाले) कहकर पुकारते हैं।

Word by word

Every word, with its dictionary page

Word by word

अथ atha · now, if (indeclinable) Dictionary: atha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 17, col. 3 “now; then; moreover”
चित्तम् cittam · the mind (accusative singular) Dictionary: citta, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 395, col. 3 “the heart, mind”
समाधातुम् samādhātum · to fix steadily (infinitive ('to do')) Dictionary: sam-ā-dhā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1159, col. 3 “to direct or fix the eyes or mind upon”
न na · not (indeclinable) Dictionary: 2. na, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 523, col. 1 “not, no, nor, neither”
शक्नोषि śaknoṣi · you are able (present, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: śak, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1044, col. 2 “to be strong or powerful, be able to or capable of or competent for”
मयि mayi · on "me" (Krishna) (pronoun, locative singular) Dictionary: 1. mad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 777, col. 2 “base of the first pers. pron. in the sg. number (esp. in comp.)”
स्थिरम् sthiram · firmly, steady (accusative singular) Dictionary: sthira, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1264, col. 3 “fixed, immovable, motionless, still, calm”
अभ्यासयोगेन abhyāsayogena · by the yoga of practice (compound, instrumental singular) Dictionary: 2. abhy-āsa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 76, col. 3 “repeated or permanent exercise”; yoga, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 856, col. 2 “the act of yoking, joining, attaching”
ततः tataḥ · then (indeclinable) Dictionary: tatas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 432, col. 2 “thereupon, then, after that, afterwards”
माम् mām · "me" (Krishna) (pronoun, accusative singular) Dictionary: 1. mad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 777, col. 2 “base of the first pers. pron. in the sg. number (esp. in comp.)”
इच्छ iccha · seek, wish (imperative, 2nd person singular) Dictionary: 3. iṣ, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 169, col. 1 “to endeavour to obtain, strive, seek for”
आप्तुम् āptum · to reach (infinitive ('to do')) Dictionary: 1. āp, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 142, col. 1 “to reach, overtake, meet with, fall upon”
धनञ्जय dhanañjaya · O winner of wealth (Arjuna) (vocative singular) Dictionary: dhanaṃ-jaya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 508, col. 2 “N. of Arjuna”

2 printings differ

Edition differences. Another printing or text reads this place differently.

The printed edition reads: अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् ।
अभ्यासयोगेन ततों मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय ॥ The print shows a dot like an anusvara over तो (ततों); read as a printing flaw and not shown, because tataḥ before mām becomes tato with no nasal and both proofreading references read ततो (tato). Same kind of flaw as the dots logged on 2.57 and 2.60.
Spelling The 1922 Madras printing reads: अभ्यासयोगेन ततों मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय The 1922 base printing (leaf n189) shows a stray dot over तो (ततों), a printing flaw; see normalisations.

Bhagavad Gita 12.9: meaning and translation

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