Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12 Verse 3
भगवद् गीता अध्याय 12 श्लोक 3

ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते।
सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यं च कूटस्थमचलं ध्रुवम्।।12.3।।



हिंदी अनुवाद - स्वामी रामसुख दास जी ( भगवद् गीता 12.3)
।।12.3।।जो अपनी इन्द्रियोंको वशमें करके अचिन्त्य? सब जगह परिपूर्ण? अनिर्देश्य? कूटस्थ? अचल? ध्रुव? अक्षर और अव्यक्तकी उपासना करते हैं? वे प्राणिमात्रके हितमें रत और सब जगह समबुद्धिवाले मनुष्य मुझे ही प्राप्त होते हैं।


English Translation of Sanskrit Commentary By Sri Shankaracharya's
12.3 Ye, those; tu, however; who, pari-upasate, meditate in every way; aksaram, on the Immutable; anirdesyam, the Indefinable-being unmanifest, It is beyond the range of words and hence cannot be defined; avyaktam, the Unmanifest-It is not comprehensible thrugh any means of knowledge-.
Upasana, meditation, means approaching an object of meditation as presented by the scriptures, and making it an object of ones own thought and dwelling on it uniterruptedly for long by continuing the same current of thought with regard to it-like a line of pouring oil. This is what is called upasana.
The Lord states the characteristics of the Immutable [Here Ast. adds upasyasya, which is the object of meditation.-Tr.] : Sarvatragam, all-pervading, pervasive like space; and acintyam, incomprehensible-becuase of Its being unmanifest. For, whatever comes within the range of the organs can be thought of by the mind also. Being opposed to that, the Immutable is inconceivable. It is kutastham, changeless. Kuta means something apparently good, but evil inside. The word kuta (deceptive) is well known in the world in such phrases as, kuta-rupam, deceptive in appearance, kuta-saksyam, false evidence, etc. Thus, kuta is that which, as ignorance etc., is the seed of many births, full of evil within, referred to by such words as maya, the undifferentiated, etc., and well known from such texts as, One should know Maya to be Nature, but the Lord of Maya to be the supreme God (Sv. 4.10), The divine Maya of Mine is difficult to cross over (7.14), etc. That which exists on that kuta as its controller (or witness) is the kuta-stha. Or, kutastha may mean that which exists like a heap [That is, motionless.].
Hence it is acalam, immovable. Since It is immovable, therefore It is dhruvam, constant, i.e. eternal.


English Translation of Commentary  - Dr. S. Sankaranarayan
12.3 See Comment under 12.5


English Translation of Ramanuja's Sanskrit Commentary
12.3 - 12.5 The individual self meditated upon by those who follow the path of the Aksara (the Imperishable) is thus described:  It cannot be defined in terms indicated by expressions like gods and men etc., for It is different from the body; It is imperceptible through the senses such as eyes; It is omnipresent and unthinkable, for though It exists everywhere in bodies such as those of gods and others, It cannot be conceived in terms of those bodies, as It is an entity of an altogether different kind; It is common to all beings i.e., alike in all beings but different from the bodily forms distinguishing them; It is immovable as It does not move out of Its unie nature, being unmodifiable, and therefore eternal. Such aspirants are further described as those who, subduing their senses like the eye from their natural operations, look upon all beings of different forms as eal by virtue of their knowledge of the sameness of the nature of the selves as knowers in all. Therefore they are not given to take pleasure in the misfortune of others, as such feelings proceed from ones identification with ones own special bodily form.

Those who meditate on the Imperishable Principle (individual self) in this way, even they come to Me. It means that they also realise their essential self, which, in respect of freedom from Samsara, is like My own Self. So Sri Krsna will declare later on:  Partaking of My nature (14.2). Also the Sruti says:  Untainted, he attains supreme eality (Mun. U., 3.1.3).

Likewise He will declare the Supreme Brahman as being distinct from the freed self which is without modification and is denoted by the term Imperishable (Aksara), and is described as unchanging (Kutastha). The Highest Person is other than this Imperishable (15.16 - 17). But in the teaching in Aksara-vidya Now that higher science by which that Aksara is known (Mun. U., 1.5) the entity that is designated by the term Aksara is Supreme Brahman Himself; for He is the source of all beings, etc. Greater is the difficulty of those whose minds are attached to the unmanifest. The path of the unmanifest is a psychosis of the mind with the unmanifest as its object. It is accomplished with difficulty by embodied beings, who have misconceived the body as the self. For, embodied beings mistake the body for the self.

The superiority of those who adore the Supreme Being is now stated clearly:


Transliteration Bhagavad Gita 12.3Ye twaksharamanirdeshyamavyaktam paryupaasate;
Sarvatragamachintyam cha kootasthamachalam dhruvam.


Word Meanings Bhagavad Gita 12.3ye—who; tu—but; akṣharam—the imperishable; anirdeśhyam—the indefinable; avyaktam—the unmanifest; paryupāsate—worship; sarvatra-gam—the all-pervading; achintyam—the unthinkable; cha—and; kūṭa-stham—the unchanging; achalam—the immovable; dhruvam—the eternal; sanniyamya—restraining; indriya-grāmam—the senses; sarvatra—everywhere; sama-buddhayaḥ—even-minded; te—they; prāpnuvanti—attain; mām—Me; eva—also; sarva-bhūta-hite—in the welfare of all beings; ratāḥ—engaged