FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Bhagavad-gītā 18.65

మన్మనా భవ మద్భ‍క్తో మద్యాజీ మాం నమస్కురు । మామేవైష్యసి సత్యం తే ప్రతిజానే ప్రియోఽసి మే ॥ ౬౫ ॥
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
[man-manaa bhava mad-bhakto]
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
[mad-yaajee maam namaskuru]
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
[maam evaishyasi satyam te]
pratijāne priyo ’si me
[pratijaane priyo ’si me]
Word-for-word
mat - manāḥ — thinking of Me bhava — just become mat - bhaktaḥ — My devotee mat - yājī — My worshiper mām — unto Me namaskuru — offer your obeisances mām — unto Me eva — certainly eṣyasi — you will come satyam — truly te — to you pratijāne — I promise priyaḥ — dear asi — you are me — to Me .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mat - manāḥ
thinking of Me
bhava
just become
mat - bhaktaḥ
My devotee
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mat - yājī
My worshiper
mām
unto Me
namaskuru
offer your obeisances
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
mām
unto Me
eva
certainly
eṣyasi
you will come
satyam
truly
te
to you
pratijāne priyo ’si me
pratijāne
I promise
priyaḥ
dear
asi
you are
me
to Me .
Important Words
  • mat - manāḥ — thinking of Me
    Compound. Mind absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. The first of the four-fold injunction. Without mat-manāḥ, the other three become hollow.
  • mat - bhaktaḥ — My devotee
    Compound. Not merely interested in Kṛṣṇa — *His* devotee. Identity rather than activity. Bhaktaḥ is what one *is*, not what one does on Sundays.
  • mat - yājī — My worshiper
    Compound. The third — formal worship. The verse names worship as a continuous discipline (yājī is one-who-worships, ongoing) rather than as occasional ritual.
  • namaskuru — offer your obeisances
    Imperative. The bodily act of bowing. The verse covers all three doors — mind (mat-manāḥ), self (mat-bhaktaḥ + mat-yājī), and body (namaskuru) — leaving no aperture unsanctified.
  • pratijāne — I promise
    First person — *I swear*. The Lord *swears* that the bhakta will come to Him. The Gauḍīya tradition treats this as one of the Lord's binding promises (and quotes it endlessly).
  • priyaḥ — dear
    The promise's *ground* — not contract, but love. The verse concludes by naming the reason for the oath: priyaḥ asi me — you are dear to Me. The deepest assurance in the Gītā rests on personal affection.
Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.
Purport

The most confidential part of knowledge is that one should become a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa and always think of Him and act for Him. One should not become an official meditator. Life should be so molded that one will always have the chance to think of Kṛṣṇa. One should always act in such a way that all his daily activities are in connection with Kṛṣṇa. He should arrange his life in such a way that throughout the twenty-four hours he cannot but think of Kṛṣṇa. And the Lord’s promise is that anyone who is in such pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness will certainly return to the abode of Kṛṣṇa, where he will be engaged in the association of Kṛṣṇa face to face. This most confidential part of knowledge is spoken to Arjuna because he is the dear friend of Kṛṣṇa. Everyone who follows the path of Arjuna can become a dear friend to Kṛṣṇa and obtain the same perfection as Arjuna. These words stress that one should concentrate his mind upon Kṛṣṇa – the very form with two hands carrying a flute, the bluish boy with a beautiful face and peacock feathers in His hair. There are descriptions of Kṛṣṇa found in the Brahma-saṁhitā and other literatures. One should fix his mind on this original form of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. One should not even divert his attention to other forms of the Lord. The Lord has multiforms as Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Rāma, Varāha, etc., but a devotee should concentrate his mind on the form that was present before Arjuna. Concentration of the mind on the form of Kṛṣṇa constitutes the most confidential part of knowledge, and this is disclosed to Arjuna because Arjuna is the most dear friend of Kṛṣṇa’s.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
65. Being My devotee, offer your mind to Me. Offer articles to Me in worship.. Offer respects to Me. I promise that you will come to Me without doubt, for you are most dear to Me.
Commentary

The phrase bhava mad-bhakto means “Being My devotee, think of Me.” The Lord says this to exclude the other possibilities. He does not mean, “Be a jṣānī or be a yogī and meditate on Me.” Or the phrase man-manā can mean: “Give your mind as a gift to Me, Śyāmasundara, with moon-like face, with shining locks of hair and beautiful eye brows, raining nectar in the form of glances of sweet mercy.” And then bhava mad-bhaktaḥ can mean, “And give all your senses such as the ears to Me. Perform worship of Me (bhava mad-bhaktaḥ) using all the senses with such services as hearing, chanting, seeing My mūrti, cleaning and anointing My temple, picking flowers, and offering Me garlands, ornaments, umbrella and cāmara.” And then the Lord says, “Give Me objects such as gandha, flowers, incense, lamp and naivedya. Be My worshipper. Perform My worship.” (mad-yājī). And then Lord says, “O, just give Me respects (māṁ namaskuru). Falling on the ground with the whole body, offer respects, by touching the body to the ground with eight limbs.” “Of these four—thinking of Me with the mind, serving Me with the senses, worshipping Me with items and offering respects to Me with the whole body—do all of them or any of them, and you will attain Me (mām eva eṣyasi). Make an offering of your mind, your senses, or items of worship unto Me, and I make an oath to you (te satyam): I will give Myself to you.” [Note: Kṛṣṇa said, “You will come to me.” Another way of saying this is “I will give Myself to you.”] The word satyam implies something of which there is no doubt. According to the Amara Kośa, satyam means an oath and truth. “Well, the people born in the land of Mathurā make such oaths in every sentence.” [Note: Here is a reference to Kṛṣṇa promising to return to Vraja.]

That is true. In that case, under oath (pratijāne) I declare, “You are dear to Me. No one cheats a person dear to himself.”

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Gauḍīya
Translation
65. Being My devotee offer your mind to Me. Offer articles to Me in worship me. Offer respects to Me. I promise that you will come to Me without doubt, for you are most dear to Me.
Commentary

Now the Lord gives the instruction. This has been explained before (BG 9.34). By concentrating your mind on Me, worshipping Me and offering respects to Me, you will attain only Me, Kṛṣṇa, with human form, the son of Devakī, most affectionate to you, with dark complexion, the color of the blue lotus—not the universal form with a thousand heads, nor the form of paramātmā, the size of a thumb, nor Nrsimha or Varāha. I will give Myself, your friend, to you. I make this oath to you (te satyam). The Nānārtha Varga says satyaṁ śapatha-tathyayoḥ: satyam means an oath or the truth. You should not have doubt about this. “But my doubt is not destroyed, because even when you made a vow, you did not return from Mathurā to Vraja.” “Therefore I have said this after making an admission (pratijāne): you are dear to Me. If the resident of Mathurā, having an affectionate mind, does not cheat the one He loves, what then to speak of one He loves the most? I have great affection for he who has great affection for Me. I cannot tolerate separation from him. I have already said this with words like priyo hi (BG 7.17). Therefore have faith in My words: you will certainly attain Me.”

Bhūrijana Dāsa Gauḍīya
Commentary

In the end of Chapter Nine, almost exactly the same verse is there: man‑mana bhava mad‑bhakto mad‑yaji mam namaskuru atmamam mat‑parayanah

mat‑manah‑‑always thinking of Me; bhava‑‑become; mat‑‑My; bhak tah‑‑devotee; mat‑‑My; yaji‑‑worshiper; mam‑‑unto Me; namaskuru‑‑offer obeisances; mam‑‑unto Me; eva‑‑completely; esyasi‑‑you will come; yuktva‑‑being absorbed; evam‑‑thus; atmanam‑‑your soul; mat‑parayanah‑‑devoted to Me.

TRANSLATION: "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me."(9.34) And that Chapter was entitled: "The most confidential knowle dge". And here is that 'most confidential knowledge' summarized by Krsna. These words stress that one should concentrate his mind upon Krsna‑‑the very form with two hands carrying a flute, the bluish boy with a beautiful face and peacock feathers in His hair. There are descriptions of Krsna found in the Brahma‑samhita and other literatures. One should fix his mind on this original form of Godhead, Krsna. One should not even divert his attention to other forms of the Lord. The Lord has multiforms as Visnu, Narayana, Rama, Varaha, etc., but a devotee should concentrate his mind on the form that was present before Arjuna. Concentration of the mind on the form of constitutes the most confidential part of knowledge, and th disclosed to Arjuna because Arjuna is the most dear frie Krsna's."

Study Notes — Gauranga Priya Dāsa
Gauranga Priya Dāsa Study
Bhakti-śāstrī Notes, ISKCON Chowpatty (2009)
Theme

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura and Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa offer similar comments. Śrīla

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura states:

“You will come to Me, achieve Me, so therefore offer your mind to Me. Or else offer your ears and

other senses. Or else offer incense, flowers and so on. I tell you truly that I will give you even My own self in

exchange. You have no reason to doubt this.”

The Amara-koṣa defines satyam as meaning “a vow” and “the true facts of a case.” Yet Arjuna may

reply, “But people born in Mathurā district always make vows. In every sentence they utter they use the

word satyam.”

Kṛṣṇa replies, “Then I say this. I make a solemn vow: ‘You are dear to me!’ And no one cheats

someone who is dear to him.”

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa states:

“As explained before, if you develop the qualities of always thinking of Me and so on, you will cer-

tainly come to Me, who am your beloved friend Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī. I have qualities such as being dark

blue like a blue lotus flower, and I appear in a human form. You will not go to some other form of Mine like

the thousand-headed Puruṣa, the thumb-sized Supersoul, Lord Nṛsiāha or Lord Varāha. This is my vow, that

in truth I will give you possession even of Myself, Your friend.”

Bhagavad Gita Notes

The Nānārtha-varga defines the word satyam as “a vow” and “the true facts of a case.” Yet Arjuna

replies, “But because You are from Mathurā, even Your having made a vow does not destroy my doubt.”

To this the Lord responds, “Then I say this: You are very dear to Me, and the affectionate people of

Mathurā do not deceive those who are dear to them, what to speak of deceiving one who is most dear. He

to whom I am very dear is also very dear to Me. I cannot tolerate the absence of such a person, as I have al-

ready said in the words beginning priyo hi and so on. Therefore you should trust My words: ‘You will indeed

achieve Me.’”

Classical Ācāryas
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya Classical
Translation
18.65 Bhava manmana, have your mind fixed on Me; be mad-bhaktah, My devotee; be a madyaji,sacrificer to Me, be engaged in sacrifices to Me; namaskuru, bow down; mam, to Me. Offer ever your salutations to Me alone. Continuing thus in them, by surrendering all ends, means and needs to Vasudeva only, esyasi, you will come; mam, to Me; eva, alone. (This) satyam, truth: do I pratijane, promise; te, to you, i.e. in this matter I make this true promise. For, asi, you are; priyah, dear; me, to Me. The idea conveyed by the passage is: Having thus understood that the Lord is true in His pormise, and knowing for certain that liberation is the unfailing result of devotion to the Lord, one should have dedication to God as his only supreme goal. Having summed up surrender to God as the highest secret of steadiness in Karma-yoga, there-after, with the idea that complete realization, which is the fruit of adherence to Karma-yoga and which has been enjoined in all the Upanisads, has to be spoken about, the Lord says:
Śrī Rāmānujācārya Classical
Translation
18.65 What is enjoined in Vedanta texts such as 'I know the Great Person of the radiance of the sun, who is beyond this Prakrti. Knowing Him thus, one becomes here immortal; there is no path for immortality' (Sve. U., 3.8); what is designated by words such as knowledge (Vedanta), meditation (Dhyana) and worship (Upasana); what is of the form of direct perception (Darsana) having the character of continuous succession of memory of a surpassingly loving nature to the worshipped - it is this that is enjoined herein by the words 'Focus your mind on Me,' 'Be My devotee.' It means, be one to whom I am incomparably dear. Since I am the object of superabundant love, meditate on Me, i.e., practise the succession of memory of unsurpassed love of Me. Such is the meaning. Be My worshipper (yaji). Here also the expression, 'Be My devotee' is applicable. Yajna is worship. Worship Me as one exceedingly dear to you. Worship (Aradhana) is complete subservience to the Lord. Prostrate before Me. Prostration means bowing down. The meaning is: Bow down humbly before Me with great love. Renouncing thus all ego-centredness, you shall come to Me. I make this solemn promise to you. Do not take it as a mere flattery. For you are dear to Me. It has been already stated, 'For I am inexpressibly dear to the man of knowledge and dear is he to Me' (7.17). He in whom there is surpassing love for Me, I hold him also as surpassingly dear to Me. Conseently, not being able to bear separation from him, I myself will enable him to attain Me. It is this truth alone that has been solemnly declared to you in the expression that 'you shall come to Me alone.'
Śrī Abhinavagupta Classical
Translation
18.64-65 Sarva - etc. Manmanah etc, By the portion 'Be with your mind fixed in Me' etc., it is determined that in the scriptures the importance completely lies only in dedicating [everything] to the Brahman; and it is declared that this present scripture (the Holy Bhagavatgita) is of use [only] in the case of one who cultivates [the attitude of] dedication to the Brahman. Also He says -
Swami Sivananda Classical
Translation
18.65 Fix thy mind on Me, by devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me. Thou shalt come even to Me; truly do I promise unto thee, (for) thou art dear to Me.
Commentary

18.65 मन्मनाः with mind fixed on Me? भव be? मद्भक्तः devoted to Me? मद्याजी sacrifice to Me? माम् to Me? नमस्कुरु bow down? माम् to Me? एव even? एष्यसि (thou) shalt come? सत्यम् truth? ते to thee? प्रतिजाने (I) promise? प्रियः dear? असि (thou) art? मे of Me.Commentary Develop onepointedness of mind. Fix thy thought on Me. If the mind wanders bring it again and again to the centre or point or object of meditation? through constant practice. Offer all thy actions to Me. Let thy tongue utter My name. Let thy hands work for Me. Let thy feet move for Me. Let all thy actions be for Me. Give up hatred towards any living creature. Bow down to Me. Then thou wilt attain Me.The Lord gives Arjuna His definite word of promise or solemn declaration. Having received My grace thou wilt gain complete knowledge of Me and that in itself will indeed lead to thy absorption into My Being.O Arjuna? looking up to Me alone as thy aim and the sole refuge? thou shalt assuredly come to,Me.Have faith in the words of the Lord and make a solemn promise. Take the Lord as your sole refuge. You will attain final emancipation.The secret of devotion is to take the Lord as your sole refuge. In the next verse the Lord proceeds to speak of the gist of selfsurrender. (Cf.IX.34XII.8)

Swami Gambhīrānanda Classical
Translation
18.65 Have your mind fixed on Me, be My devotee, be a sacrificer to Me and bow down to Me. (Thus) you will come to Me alone. (This) truth do I pormise to you. (For) you are dear to Me.
Shri Purohit Swami Classical
Translation
18.65 Dedicate thyself to Me, worship Me, sacrifice all for Me, prostrate thyself before Me, and to Me thou shalt surely come. Truly do I pledge thee; thou art My own beloved.
Related values & verses
Primary values
Prema (Divine Love)
Related values
Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)
Related verses
BG 9.34 BG 8.7 BG 12.8 SB 11.14.21 SB 11.29.9 SB 7.5.23 CC Madhya 22.124 CC Madhya 9.261 CC Antya 4.71 Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.3.17BRS 1.2.265
Stories
prahlada_devotion_middle
Concepts
Bhava
Study Q&A referencing this verse
Sciences essays referencing this verse
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me, offer obeisances unto Me — you shall come to Me without fail; this I promise, for you are My very dear friend.
Practical Applications
  • Adopt the fourfold instruction as life-shape.
  • Trust the without-fail promise.
  • Receive friendship from Kṛṣṇa as warm fact.
Reflection Questions
  • Which of the four is least practiced?
  • What does Kṛṣṇa's friendship feel like to me?
Analogy

Four steady candles in the heart's chapel — think of Me, become Mine, worship Me, bow to Me. Each candle lit, the room is illuminated; the Lord Himself walks through the open door. He has just sworn, on His friendship, that the door will not refuse.

Stories
Mīrābāī's daily life

Mīrābāī's entire existence in Mewar and later in Vraja was simply the living-out of this verse. Mat-manāḥ — every thought tilted toward Kṛṣṇa; mat-bhaktaḥ — explicitly His devotee through poison-cup and exile; mat-yājī — her bhajans were her sacrifice; mām namaskuru — she bowed at every Govindajī shrine she reached.

Her disappearance into the Dvārakā temple — absorbed, the tradition says, into the Lord's own form — is precisely mām eva eṣyasi satyam te pratijāne. The promise was kept.

Ambarīṣa Mahārāja's daily routine

Mahārāja Ambarīṣa's whole schedule in the Bhāgavatam — mind always on Govinda, words always His glories, body always in service, head always bowing — is verse 18.65 expanded into a daily liturgy. Each clause of the verse maps directly onto one of his daily disciplines.

The Bhāgavatam concludes that the cakra of Viṣṇu Himself protected him because he was the verse incarnate.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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