To Arjuna, who desired to see in reality the unrestricted glory of the Lord Narayana—the Supreme Brahman who forms the final object of all who practise Bhakti Yoga—He, Narayana, revealed the same. For He, the Lord, is one whose resolves are always true, and who is an ocean of attributes like compassion, generosity, affability etc., which are limitless in excellence. It was also shown that knowledge, vision, and the attainment of the Lord can be had only by one-pointed and absolute devotion. Next in chapter 12 the following points will be explained:(l) Meditation on the Lord in the form of devotion; (2) the superiority of such meditation over that on the self, because of the speedy fulfilment of its own end; (3) the felicity of its performance; and (4) the means for meditating on the Lord. The Akshara path (i.e., meditation on the self) is for one who is incapable of meditation on the Lord and the requisites thereof. The superiority of meditation on the Lord is the result of the superiority of the object of meditation. Such superiority was indicated already in: ‘He who, with faith, worships Me, whose inmost self is fixed in Me, I consider him as the most integrated among all Yogins’ (6.47).

There are two types of spiritual aspirants who are contrasted thus: (1) On the one hand there are those devotees who adore You ‘thus’; namely, in the way taught in such text as ‘Whosoever works for Me’ (11.55), and who are desirous of being ever ‘integrated’ with You, namely, considering You as the supreme end. They adore You in utter devotion—You, the ocean of boundless attributes of limitless excellence like grace, affability, omniscience, true resolve etc., and endowed with all glory. (2) On the other hand there are those who meditate on the ‘Imperishable’, (Akshara) namely, the individual self in Its true nature, which is the same as the ‘Unmanifest’ (Avyakta), namely that whose nature cannot be grasped by organs such as the eye etc. The question posed is: Which of these two classes of devotees have greater knowledge of Yoga? Who would reach their respective goals sooner? Such is the meaning of the question. Shri Krishna clearly states later on, ‘O Arjuna, I become before long their redeemer from the fatal sea of recurring births and deaths’ (12.7), with reference to the speed with which the latter kind of devotees reach Him.