Verse 12.12

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 12.12:

श्रेयो हि ज्ञानम् अभ्यासाज् ज्ञानाद् ध्यानं विशिष्यते ।
ध्यानात् कर्म-फल-त्यागस् त्यागाच् छान्तिर् अनन्तरम् ॥ १२ ॥

śreyo hi jñānam abhyāsāj jñānād dhyānaṃ viśiṣyate |
dhyānāt karma-phala-tyāgas tyāgāc chāntir anantaram || 12 ||

śreyaḥ–better; hi–because; jñānam–transcendental knowledge; abhyāsāt–than regulated practice; jñānāt–than knowledge; dhyānam–remembrance of Me; viśiṣyate–better; dhyānāt–than remembrance; karma-phala-tyāgaḥ–renunciation of the fruits of action is better; tyāgāt–such renunciation; śāntiḥ–cessation (of the search of the senses for any object other than Me); anantaram–after.

Better than sādhana, devotional service in practice, is the attainment of transcendental knowledge (jñāna), for such knowledge gives rise to meditation upon Me (dhyāna). This leads to incessant contemplation of Me performed in accordance with scriptural injunctions (manana). Through such remembrance, a person easily abandons all attachment to the fruits of his actions, such as the delights of heaven and liberation from repeated birth and death. After such renunciation, one achieves peace of mind.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

Now, while explaining the successive superiority of regulated practice (abhyāsa), contemplation (manana) and finally remembrance (smaraṇa), Śrī Bhagavān speaks this verse beginning with śreyaḥ. “Jñāna means to absorb your intelligence in Me, because such contemplation of Me is superior to regulated practice.” In the stage of regulated practice, meditation is achieved, but there are obstacles, so it requires great endeavour and is troublesome. But when one reaches the stage of contemplation (manana), meditation becomes easy.

Superior to jñāna, however, is meditation (dhyāna). If one asks why, the answer is that meditation leads to the renunciation of the desire to enjoy the fruits of actions, such as the pleasures of the heavenly planets and the attainment of liberation, which is the result of selflessly performed prescribed duty (niṣkāma-karma). Even if these results become available of their own accord, one neglects them. It has been observed that a person may not have achieved stability in meditation, and rati (bhāva) may not have awakened in his heart, but still he desires to give up liberation. However, those who have attained steadiness in meditation do not even have the desire to give up liberation, they disregard it naturally. Only bhakti of this type is called mokṣa-laghutā-kāriṇī–that which derides even mokṣa. It has been described in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.17), in the verse beginning with the four words kleśa-ghnī śubha-dā, “Devotional service destroys miseries and bestows auspiciousness.”

It is also said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.14.14):

na pārameṣṭhyaṃ na mahendra-dhiṣṇyaṃ na sārvabhaumaṃ na rasādhipatyam
na yoga-siddhīr apunar-bhavaṃ vā mayy arpitātmecchati mad vinānyat

Those who have surrendered their hearts to Me do not desire the positions of Brahmā or Indra, sovereignty over the whole Earth, the kingdom of the lower planets, mystic perfections such as aṇimā, or even the state of liberation. They desire nothing but Me.

Here, the phrase mayy arpitātmecchati means ‘to be steadfast in meditation upon Me’.

The word tyāgāt in the present Gītā verse means ‘a person becomes peaceful only when he is free from material desires. This means that besides being attracted to My form, qualities and so on, one’s senses become detached from all other sense objects’.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

Within these three types of bhakti–namely, remembrance (smaraṇa), contemplation (manana) and repeated practice (abhyāsa)–knowledge in the form of placing one’s intelligence in Śrī Bhagavān (manana) is superior to practice (abhyāsa).

Superior to knowledge in the form of contemplation (jñāna) is meditation (dhyāna), which is characterized by constant remembrance (smaraṇa). This is because in that knowledge, which is characterized by contemplation, meditation is only achieved with great endeavour and trouble. But when one attains perfection in contemplation, then it is easy to attain the stage of meditation in the form of constant remembrance. When one becomes perfect in meditation, his desires for the pleasures of liberation and the heavenly planets are dispelled, after which the mind becomes attached to the form, qualities, etc. of Bhagavān. In such a state, one becomes detached from all other sense objects, and thus one naturally attains peace. But if one has not attained perfection in meditation, then such a sādhaka, who is also unable to practise meditation, should engage in selflessly performing one’s prescribed duties and offering them to Bhagavān. This will gradually lead one to perform bhakti to Bhagavān with a peaceful mind.

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura quotes Kṛṣṇa as saying, “O Arjuna, sādhana-bhakti is the only means to attain unalloyed prema. This bhakti-yoga is of two types: (1) the activities of the internal sense, the mind that is fixed on Bhagavān; and (2) the activities of the external senses. The activities of the internal sense are of three types: remembrance (smaraṇa), contemplation (manana) and repeated practice (abhyāsa). But for less intelligent people, these three types of activities are very difficult to perform. The second type of bhakti, the actions of the external senses in the form of hearing and chanting, is easily performed by everyone. Therefore, manana, intelligence related to Me, is the best form of jñāna, and it is better than repeated practice (abhyāsa).

“Here, jñāna does not refer to jñāna-yoga. During the stage of constant practice, one performs meditation with endeavour, but when one achieves the result of that practice, which is contemplation, then meditation is easily performed. Meditation is superior to mere jñāna, because when it becomes stable, one becomes free from the desire to enjoy the pleasures of the heavenly planets or the happiness of liberation. When both of these desires are dispelled, one achieves peace in the form of detachment from all sense objects, but one does not become detached from My transcendental name, form, qualities, etc.”