Bhagavad Gita 4.11: meaning and translation
Chapter 4: Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga. Krishna says
In whatever way people come to him, Krishna says, in that same way he receives them.
Click or tap a word for its meaning and its dictionary page.
Text and layers
Text and layers
These choices stay in this browser.
Bhagavad Gita 4.11
ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् ।मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ॥
Ye yatha mam prapadyante tanstathaiva bhajamyahamMama vartmanuvartante manushyah partha sarvashah
ye yathā māṃ prapadyante tāṃstathaiva bhajāmyaham |mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ ||
Our explanation In whatever way people come to him, Krishna says, in that same way he receives them. Everywhere, and in every way, people follow his path. Telang's footnote reads this as saying that the Lord is not partial: all worship, to whomever it is offered, reaches him.
हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि जो जिस भाव से उनकी ओर आता है, वे उसे उसी भाव से अपनाते हैं। हर तरह से, सब ओर, मनुष्य उन्हीं के मार्ग पर चलते हैं। तेलंग की टिप्पणी के अनुसार इसका अर्थ है कि भगवान पक्षपात नहीं करते: पूजा किसी को भी अर्पित हो, वह उन्हीं तक पहुँचती है।
Word by word
Every word, with its dictionary page
Word by word
- ये ye · who (pronoun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: yad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 844, col. 2 “who, which, what, whichever, whatever, that”
- यथा yathā · in whatever way (indeclinable) Dictionary: yathā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 841, col. 2 “in which manner or way, according as, as, like”
- 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.)”
- प्रपद्यन्ते prapadyante · come to, seek refuge in (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: 1. pra-pad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 682, col. 1 “to fly to for succour, take refuge with”
- तान् tān · them (pronoun (masculine), accusative plural) Dictionary: tad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 434, col. 1 “m. he, f. she, n. it, that, this”
- तथा tathā · in that way (indeclinable) Dictionary: tathā, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 433, col. 3 “in that manner, so, thus”
- एव eva · just (indeclinable) Dictionary: 1. eva, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 232, col. 2 “just, exactly, very, same, only, even, alone, merely”
- भजामि bhajāmi · receive, serve (present, 1st person singular) Dictionary: bhaj, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 743, col. 1 “to serve, honour, revere, love, adore”
- अहम् aham · "I" (Krishna) (pronoun, nominative singular) Dictionary: aham, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 124, col. 2 “nom. sg. ‘I,’”
- मम mama · "my" (Krishna's) (pronoun, genitive singular) Dictionary: 1. mad, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 777, col. 2 “base of the first pers. pron. in the sg. number (esp. in comp.)”
- वर्त्म vartma · path (noun (neuter), accusative singular) Dictionary: vartman, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 925, col. 3 “the track or rut of a wheel, path, road, way, course”
- अनुवर्तन्ते anuvartante · follow (present, 3rd person plural) Dictionary: anu-vṛt, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 39, col. 1 “to go after; to follow, pursue”
- मनुष्याः manuṣyāḥ · people (noun (masculine), nominative plural) Dictionary: manuṣya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 784, col. 3 “a man, human being”
- पार्थ pārtha · O Partha (noun (masculine), vocative singular) Dictionary: 2. pārtha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 621, col. 3
- सर्वशः sarvaśaḥ · in every way (indeclinable) Dictionary: sarvaśas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1189, col. 2 “wholly, completely, entirely, thoroughly, collectively, altogether”
Old translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 59.
I serve men in the way in which they approach me1. In every way, O son of Prithâ! men follow in my path2.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) - I. e. I give to each worshipper what is proper for him. ↩
- The original words used here occur before in a different sense (see p. 55). Here the meaning is that to whomsoever directly addressed, all worship is worship of me (see p. 84). In the whole passage, Krishna says that the Deity is not chargeable with partiality on account of the variety of human qualities and states. ↩
Compare 3 translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 59.
I serve men in the way in which they approach me1. In every way, O son of Prithâ! men follow in my path2.
Footnotes (the translator’s own) - I. e. I give to each worshipper what is proper for him. ↩
- The original words used here occur before in a different sense (see p. 55). Here the meaning is that to whomsoever directly addressed, all worship is worship of me (see p. 84). In the whole passage, Krishna says that the Deity is not chargeable with partiality on account of the variety of human qualities and states. ↩
You are reading this one
Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 51.
However men approach Me, even so do I accept them, for the path men take from every side is Mine, O Pârtha.
You are reading this one
Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 89.
In whatever way men worship Me, in the same way do I fulfil their desires: (it is) My path, O son of Prithâ, (that) men tread, in all ways.
You are reading this one
Cite this verse
The translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 59. Bhagavad Gita 4.11.
The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 51. Bhagavad Gita 4.11.
The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 89. Bhagavad Gita 4.11.
Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 4.11: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 27, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/4/11/
Pujadeep’s explanations are free to quote with credit: name Pujadeep and link to the page. How to credit
Classical readings, by school
No readings by school on this verse yet.
Share
Show the ways to share
Send one picture or the text to one chat. The picture names its source and the address of this page.
Drawing the picture
See the words
Bhagavad Gita 4.11
ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् ।
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः ॥
“I serve men in the way in which they approach me. In every way, O son of Prithâ! men follow in my path.”
(K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 59, public domain)
“However men approach Me, even so do I accept them, for the path men take from every side is Mine, O Pârtha.”
(Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 51, public domain)
“In whatever way men worship Me, in the same way do I fulfil their desires: (it is) My path, O son of Prithâ, (that) men tread, in all ways.”
(Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 89, public domain)
Sanskrit: G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922.
https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/4/11/ Nothing is sent from this site. Your own app sends it, to the chat you choose. The picture quotes the translation you chose on this page, with its name and year.
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes
Questions families ask
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 4.11?
Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 4 (Jnana Karma Sannyasa Yoga).
Where does the Sanskrit text come from?
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source
Is the meaning on this page a translation?
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Source and licence
- Sanskrit text
- The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
- Translation
- The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Common wording
- In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
- Our explanation
- Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the cited edition, October 15, 2026.
- Updated
- October 27, 2026