15.11

Sanskrit

यतन्तो योगिनश्चैनं पश्यन्त्यात्मन्यवस्थितम् । यतन्तोऽप्यकृतात्मानो नैनं पश्यन्त्यचेतसः ॥

yatanto yoginaś cainaṃ paśyanty ātmany avasthitam yatanto 'py akṛtātmāno nainaṃ paśyanty acetasaḥ

Translation

Yogîs also, struggling, perceive Him, established in the Self; but though struggling, the unintelligent perceive Him not, their selves untrained.

Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain

Explanation

Even among those who make the effort, this verse draws a further distinction: striving yogis do perceive the self established within, but others who strive without having disciplined themselves (akṛtātmānaḥ) fail regardless of effort. It is a deliberately uncomfortable claim — that trying is not sufficient, only trying with a prepared instrument works — and it functions as a check against reading the chapter’s earlier tree-and-portion metaphors as promising automatic liberation once grasped intellectually.