A question · devotional in mood · a little context helps
“Devotion needs a form the mind can return to again and again.”
O Yogi, how shall I know You by constant contemplation? In what forms should You be contemplated, O Blessed One?
The verse in reading order — each Sanskrit word with its meaning beneath. Hover a word to focus on it.
Read literallyhow · may I know · I · O Yogi · You · always · contemplating fully · in which which · and · to be contemplated · You are · O Blessed One · by me
Arjuna asks Krishna how to keep remembering him and in what forms he should meditate on him.
Arjuna speaks this verse, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, in the chapter titled "Vibhuti Yoga" (The Yoga of Divine Glories).
Verse 17 sits in Chapter 10 of the Bhagavad Gita — Vibhuti Yoga, "The Yoga of Divine Glories". The chapter has 42 verses in total.
You meet someone who changed your life, then realise you keep forgetting what made them matter. The mind wants a concrete way to stay oriented toward what it reveres.
Did you like this verse?
It shifts devotion from vague feeling to specific remembrance through form, image, and attention.
What this verse means
Arjuna asks Krishna how to keep remembering him and in what forms he should meditate on him.
Context & commentary
On the battlefield, Arjuna has moved from fear to reverence. After asking Krishna to describe his divine manifestations, he now asks how to hold Krishna in constant contemplation and through which forms that remembrance should happen.
Why this verse still matters
You meet someone who changed your life, then realise you keep forgetting what made them matter. The mind wants a concrete way to stay oriented toward what it reveres.
“Love wants a way to remember. The heart asks for a thousand doors back to the beloved.”
Explore related themes: vibhuti (43 verses), arjuna prayer (14 verses), bhagavan (11 verses)