Devanagari
ध्यानेनात्मनि पश्यन्ति केचिदात्मानमात्मना ।
अन्ये सांख्येन योगेन कर्मयोगेन चापरे ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
dhyānenātmani paśyanti
kecid ātmānam ātmanā
anye sāṅkhyena yogena
karma-yogena cāpare
Synonyms
dhyānena
—
by meditation
;
ātmani
—
within the self
;
paśyanti
—
see
;
kecit
—
some
;
ātmānam
—
the Supersoul
;
ātmanā
—
by the mind
;
anye
—
others
;
sāṅkhyena
—
of philosophical discussion
;
yogena
—
by the yoga system
;
karma-yogena
—
by activities without fruitive desire
;
ca
—
also
;
apare
—
others.
Translation
Some perceive the Supersoul within themselves through meditation, others through the cultivation of knowledge, and still others through working without fruitive desires.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
25. Some see Paramātmā through meditation in bhakti-yoga. Others practice jṣāna-yoga or aṣṭāṅga-yoga, and others practice niṣkāma-karma-yoga.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
25. Some see paramātmā through meditation. Others see Him by jṣāna yoga, astāṅga yoga and niṣkāma karma yoga.
Purport
The Lord informs Arjuna that the conditioned souls can be divided into two classes as far as man’s search for self-realization is concerned. Those who are atheists, agnostics and skeptics are beyond the sense of spiritual understanding. But there are others, who are faithful in their understanding of spiritual life, and they are called introspective devotees, philosophers, and workers who have renounced fruitive results. Those who always try to establish the doctrine of monism are also counted among the atheists and agnostics. In other words, only the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead are best situated in spiritual understanding, because they understand that beyond this material nature are the spiritual world and the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is expanded as the Paramātmā, the Supersoul in everyone, the all-pervading Godhead. Of course there are those who try to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth by cultivation of knowledge, and they can be counted in the class of the faithful. The Sāṅkhya philosophers analyze this material world into twenty-four elements, and they place the individual soul as the twenty-fifth item. When they are able to understand the nature of the individual soul to be transcendental to the material elements, they are able to understand also that above the individual soul there is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the twenty-sixth element. Thus gradually they also come to the standard of devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Those who work without fruitive results are also perfect in their attitude. They are given a chance to advance to the platform of devotional service in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Here it is stated that there are some people who are pure in consciousness and who try to find out the Supersoul by meditation, and when they discover the Supersoul within themselves, they become transcendentally situated. Similarly, there are others who also try to understand the Supreme Soul by cultivation of knowledge, and there are others who cultivate the haṭha-yoga system and who try to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by childish activities.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Alternative methods are mentioned in two verses. Some devotees, by contemplation of the Lord (dhyānena) in the mind (atmani) without help from any other process, spontaneously (ātmanā), not by any other process except bhakti, see the Paramātmā. This is understood from a later verse: bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55), only by devotion am I known. Others (anye), jṣānīs, by distinguishing soul from body (sāṅkhyena), and others (apare), yogīs , by aṣṭāṅga-yoga (yogena), and others by niṣkāma-karma (karma-yogena), see Paramātmā. In this regard, jṣāna-yoga, aṣṭāṅga-yoga and niṣkāma-karma-yoga are successive causes of each other and not direct causes of seeing Paramātmā. That is because their nature is sattvic (and thus the result can only be sattvic) but the nature of Paramātmā is beyond the guṇas. Moreover, it is said by the Lord:
jṣānaṁ ca mayi sannyaset
A self-realized person who has cultivated scriptural knowledge up to the point of enlightenment and who is free from impersonal speculation, understanding the material universe to be simply illusion, should surrender unto Me both that knowledge and the means by which he achieved it. SB 11.19.1
bhakyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ
Only by practicing unalloyed devotional service with full faith in Me can one obtain Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. S 11.14.21
Thus, after giving up jṣāna, indicated in the first of the verses quoted, becoming free from jṣāna, one sees Paramātmā by bhakti alone, indicated in the second verse.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
For attaining the great Lord, various practices are described in two verses. Some people, with pure consciousness, directly see Me, the great Lord (ātmānam), situated in the mind (ātmani), by meditation with knowledge as a secondary element (dhyānena), without help form anything else (ātmanā). Others see Me by sāṅkhya, by knowledge with meditation as a secondary element. Others see Me by aṣṭāṅga yoga with knowledge as a secondary element. Others see Me by niṣkāma karma, with knowledge and meditation included in it. [Note: The point seems to be that all these methods need some jṣāna in order to reach the realization of paramātmā.]
Surrender Unto Me
The Supersoul is jneyam, is the object of knowledge, He is the Purusa. This verse shows three different ways to attain Him.
This was so much discussed in the first six chapters.
The idea is that through yoga or dhyana (meditation) or through jnana (the cultivation of knowledge) and working without fruitive result ,karma (niskama karma yoga), the only goal to be obtained is the Supersoul.