Sanskrit
अथ चित्तं समाधातुं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् । अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय ॥
atha cittaṃ samādhātuṃ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiram abhyāsayogena tato mām icchāptuṃ dhanañjaya
Translation
And if thou art not able firmly to fix thy mind on Me, then by the yoga of practice seek to reach Me, O Dhananjaya.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
This opens the four-rung ladder that structures verses 9-11: abhyāsayoga (repeated practice) is offered the moment verse 8’s direct fixation proves too hard. Each subsequent verse will offer a further fallback for someone who can’t manage the one before it — a concession structure that’s unusually pragmatic for how directive the Gita is elsewhere.