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Chapter 12 · Verse 5 · Bhakti Yoga

Bhagavad Gita 12.5

devotional Bhakti & Devotion Attachment & Letting Go Moksha & Liberation

Sanskrit

क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम्। अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते।।12.5।।

Transliteration

kleśho ’dhikataras teṣhām avyaktāsakta-chetasām avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate

Word by Word

kleśhaḥ tribulations
adhika-taraḥ full of
teṣhām of those
avyakta to the unmanifest
āsakta attached
chetasām whose minds
avyaktā the unmanifest
hi indeed
gatiḥ path
duḥkham exceeding difficulty
deha-vadbhiḥ for the embodied
avāpyate is reached
Simplified Perspective

Krishna teaches here a profound truth: those who fix their hearts on the formless, abstract Absolute—without the warmth of devotion, without a living relationship—walk a path shrouded in darkness. The unmanifest is real, yes, but for a body-bound soul, it remains distant, cold, unreachable.

Yet when you turn your love toward the Divine in any form—in Krishna himself, in the sacred names, in service—the infinite becomes intimate, and the impossible journey becomes grace. In your own life, this means: do not mistake intellectual understanding of the divine for the living experience of it; let your mind find a face, a heart, a presence to love.

Listen

Bhagavad Gita 12.5 — BG 12.5

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Sanskrit text from the Bhagavad Gita (public domain). Commentary © Mahakatha.

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