4.11 All paths are mine Krishna speaks
ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम्
मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāns tathaiva bhajāmyaham
mama vartmānuvartante manuṣhyāḥ pārtha sarvaśhaḥ
However people come to me, so I meet them. All paths are mine, son of Pritha.
Explanation
However people come to me, so I meet them.
One of the most quietly generous lines in the book — and then: all paths are mine.
It is the same concession as 7.21 and 9.23, given here without qualification. The approach is not corrected on arrival; it is answered in kind.
Going further
Word by word
- ye
- who
- yathā
- in whatever way
- mām
- unto me
- prapadyante
- surrender
- tān
- them
- tathā
- so
- eva
- certainly
- bhajāmi
- reciprocate
- aham
- I
- mama
- my
- vartma
- path
- anuvartante
- follow
- manuṣhyāḥ
- men
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- sarvaśhaḥ
- in all respects
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However people come to me, so I meet them. All paths are mine.
One of the most quietly generous lines in the book, and worth putting beside the harder verses. It does not say all paths are equal or that it makes no difference how you go. It says the meeting is shaped by the approach — which is a different and more interesting claim.