06.14 – Krishna is not just the object of meditation but also its objective

Object of meditation refers to the thing that we meditate on. Objective of meditation refers to the thing that we want to get by meditating. For students, the course material may be the object of their meditation, but marks and salaries are usually the objective of that meditation.

Some people argue that the notion of a personal God is just an object of meditation for less evolved people who can’t meditate on the impersonal absolute which, they claim, is the ultimate objective of meditation.

The Bhagavad-gita thoroughly debunks such arguments. It declares repeatedly  (07.07, 10.08 and 15.19, for example) that the personal absolute, Krishna, is the highest reality. This proclamation is consistent with the Gita’s enthronement (11.53-54) of bhakti-yoga as the best among all paths. In bhakti-yoga, Krishna is both the object and the objective of meditation.

In other paths, is Krishna a mere object of meditation?

Let’s consider the Gita’s sixth chapter that deals with ashtanga-yoga. While delineating the initial stages of the process, the Gita (06.14) urges yogis to fix their mind on Krishna.

Might this refer to Krishna as a temporary dispensable tool for meditation?

Some yogis may think so, but that’s not the Gita’s verdict. The last verse of the same chapter (06.47) declares those who meditate on Krishna within their hearts to be the topmost yogis. Those who treat him as a tool and not goal of meditation are lower, not higher, than them.

When we get rid of the misconception that there’s some reality higher than Krishna, we become free to offer him our full being – head and heart. This enables us to relish the supremely sweet glories of Krishna – an experience so relishable that, as the Gita (10.18) indicates, we no longer desire anything else.

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06.14 – With an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear, completely free from sex life, one should meditate upon Me within the heart and make Me the ultimate goal of life.