Bhagavad-gītā 12.5
Read once with your eyes. Read again aloud.
क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम्। अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दुःखं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते।।12.5।।
kleśho ’dhikataras teṣhām avyaktāsakta-chetasām avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate
Greater is their trouble whose minds are set on the Unmanifested; for the goal of the Unmanifested is very hard for the embodied to reach.
English rendering by Swami Swarupananda. Public domain first edition, 1909.
Build the sentence from its parts
Read across once, then cover the meanings and recover them from the Sanskrit forms.
| Sanskrit form | Meaning here |
|---|---|
| kleśhaḥ | tribulations |
| adhika-taraḥ | full of |
| teṣhām | of those |
| avyakta | to the unmanifest |
| āsakta | attached |
| chetasām | whose minds |
| avyaktā | the unmanifest |
| hi | indeed |
| gatiḥ | path |
| duḥkham | exceeding difficulty |
| deha-vadbhiḥ | for the embodied |
| avāpyate | is reached |
Read the Sanskrit as a connected thought built from kleśhaḥ (tribulations), avyaktā (the unmanifest), and avāpyate (is reached). Ask what changes between the first and last term, and how that movement contributes to loving devotion and the qualities of a devotee. State the connection in your own words, then check it against Bhagavad-gita 12.5.
Original school explanation. Written independently from the Sanskrit word map. It is not a quotation, translation, or summary of a named modern commentary. Chapter lens: Compare approaches to worship and study the concrete qualities of a devotee across the chapter’s compact sequence.
Five careful reading routes
The cards below are reading references, not claims about what an acharya says in this verse. Modern wording stays inside authorized editions. Classical commentary will appear only after an independent translation has passed scholarly and rights review.
Meaning map
Follow the thought
- 1
Greater is their trouble whose minds are set on the Unmanifested
- 2
for the goal of the Unmanifested is very hard for the embodied to reach
- 3
kleśhaḥ: tribulations
Look, link, cover, teach
Look
Picture the path of devotion.
Link
Use the line starts: kleśho ’dhikataras / avyaktā hi.
Cover
Hide the verse and rebuild one line at a time.
Teach
Explain the flow to another person without looking.
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A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Bhagavad-gita As It IsFor Bhagavad-gita 12.5, consult the authorized BBT edition. No purport, translation, or author-attributed summary is reproduced here.
Find the authorized editionBhaktivinoda Thakura
Rasika-ranjanaA verified independent rendering for Bhagavad-gita 12.5 has not yet passed scholarly and rights review. Modern translations are not copied here.
Independent rendering pending reviewBaladeva Vidyabhushana
Gita-bhushana-bhashyaThe original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 12.5 must be verified before publication.
Independent translation pending reviewVishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura
Sarartha-varshini-tikaThe original work is classical. A newly commissioned or independently prepared translation for Bhagavad-gita 12.5 must be verified before publication.
Independent translation pending reviewOther Gaudiya acharyas
Authorized Gaudiya editionsFor Bhagavad-gita 12.5, later teachers remain a further-reading route. Their wording and distinctive teaching structures require permission or a separate rights review.
Use an authorized edition