कथं विद्यामहं योगिंस्त्वां सदा परिचिन्तयन् | केषु केषु च भावेषु चिन्त्योऽसि भगवन्मया || १७ ||
kathaṁ vidyām ahaṁ yogiṁs tvāṁ sadā paricintayan keṣu keṣu ca bhāveṣu cintyo 'si bhagavan mayā
katham—how; vidyām—shall I know; aham—I; yogin—O supreme mystic; tvām—You; sadā—always; paricintayan—thinking; keṣu—in which; keṣu—in which; ca—also; bhāveṣu—modes of being; cintyaḥ—to be thought of; asi—You are; bhagavan—O Lord; mayā—by me.
“O supreme mystic, how shall I always contemplate You? In which forms and modes of being are You to be thought of by me?”
Arjuna's question is the question of every sincere practitioner: how do I make meditation continuous and not just a scheduled activity? The answer Krishna gives is that the entire world can become the object of meditation when you know where to look for the divine signature in it. Contemplation then becomes a way of seeing rather than a separate activity.
Many people struggle to maintain awareness of the sacred outside of formal meditation. Krishna's response to this verse offers the solution: learn to recognize divine excellence in the world around you, and meditation will naturally extend into daily life. The boundary between 'practice time' and 'ordinary time' gradually dissolves.