Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains: “He [the person described in the previous verse] not only be-
comes liberated but also achieves vimukti. He becomes exceptional (viśiṣṭa) among those who are liberated
and comes into My proximity in order to serve Me directly.”
Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhuṣaṇa explains: “The consequence of such devotion is described in the verse beginning
śubhā [text 28]. When you engage in the kind of devotional service characterized by offering all works to Me
under My order, then you become freed from the bondage of material activities. You not only become
mukta, liberated from material activities, but vimukta, and come to Me. You become exceptional among
those who are liberated and come near Me in order to serve Me directly.”
Devotees of the Lord are so special. Nārāyaṇa-parāù sarve na kutaścana bibhyati / svargāpavarga-narakeṣv
api tulyārtha-darśinaù: “Devotees solely engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Nārāyaṇa, never fear any condition of life. For them the heavenly planets, liberation and the hellish
planets are all the same, for such devotees are interested only in the service of the Lord.” (Bhāg. 6.17.28)
9.29: Kṛṣṇa is compared to rain. Trees absorb rainwater and then grow and produce fruits. Some trees pro-
duce bitter fruits, and others produce sweet ones. Does this mean the rain is partial? No. Similarly, regardless
of a living entity’s situation, Kṛṣṇa nourishes everyone equally. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains the
Lord’s mood, described in the first half of this verse, as the mood of the Supersoul, the Paramātmā: “Sending
forth and maintaining all kinds of beings among the demigods, humans, animals, nonmoving creatures and so
on, I, the Lord of all, am equal. I am just like a cloud pouring rain on all kinds of seeds. Among all these crea-
tures, none are My enemies, and none are especially dear to Me.”
The second half of this verse, however, confirms Kṛṣṇa’s partiality to His devotee in His feature as Bhagavān.
Earlier in this chapter, Kṛṣṇa described that although the material world rests on Him, He remains aloof from
it. Here, on the contrary, we find that Kṛṣṇa does not remain aloof from His devotees.
Kṛṣṇa vowed ye yathā māā prapadyante tāās tathaiva bhajāmy aham: “As all surrender to Me, I reward
them accordingly.” Here He confirms that He reciprocates even more personally with His devotees who love
Him. He is not like a kalpa-vṛkṣa tree, who responds equally to all requests. Rather, He is willing to become
the enemy of His devotee’s enemy. As Kṛṣṇa told Duryodhana, “Anyone who is envious of the Pāṇḥavas is
envious of Me and is My enemy.”
Text 9.31:
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments on verses 30-31 as follows:
One might ask, “But if someone is corrupted by such bad behavior, how can he be a sādhu?”
This is answered: “He should be considered as such and thought of as a sādhu.” “He should be considered” is
an injunctive statement. If this injunction is disobeyed, there will be unfavorable consequences. In other words, “The evi-
dence for the truth of this is that it is simply My command.”
Bhagavad Gita Notes
“Well,” someone might say, “one may be considered a sādhu partially, to the extend that he is worshiping You.
But to the extent that he is usurping other men’s wives and property, he is not to be considered a sādhu.”
This is answered by the word eva, only: “He should only be considered a sādhu, in all ways, completely.”
We should never view him as not a sādhu. His determination is completely fixed: “I may go to hell or obtain an
animal birth because of my unavoidable sinful reactions, but I will never give up my exclusive worship of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.” Such
determination is praiseworthy.
“But,” one might ask, “why do You accept the worship of such an irreligious person? Why do you consume the
food and drink offered by one whose heart is contaminated by lust, anger and other faults?”
In response, the Lord says, “He quickly becomes religious.” This is not expressed as “He is going to quickly be-
come” or “He will soon achieve peace.” Rather, the present tense is used: “he becomes” and “he attains.”
The Lord continues, “This means that immediately after he commits impiety, he remembers Me and feels re-
morse. He thus quickly becomes religious. He thinks, ‘Alas! Alas! There is no person more fallen than me. I defile the
reputation of the community of devotees. Damn me!’ Again and again feeling remorse like this, he achieves complete
peace and detachment.”
“Well,” one may say, “if he actually becomes religious, there can be no argument about such a person. But
what about a devotee whose behavior is wicked and who fails to give up his bad behavior throughout his whole life?
What can be said about him?”
Always affectionate to His devotees, the Lord responds to this doubt with complete confidence and with some
anger, in the words beginning kaunteya: “My devotee never perishes. Even when he dies, he never falls down.”
To encourage Arjuna, who is disturbed with sorrow and apprehension over the thought that hard-hearted quibblers who
indulge in false logic will not accept this, the Lord says, “O Kaunteya, go to the assembly of these disputants, and making
a loud sound with drums and cymbals, raise your arms fearlessly and declare My promise: ‘I, Kṛṣṇa, am the Supreme
Lord, and even if My devotee is wicked in his behavior, he will never perish. On the contrary, such a devotee is sure to
become successful.’ Their bad logic will be shattered by this confident declaration. They will certainly take shelter of you
as their guru.” Such is the interpretation given by Śrīdhara Svāmī in his commentary.
Someone may ask, “But why doesn’t the Personality of Godhead Himself make this promise? Why does he in-
stead deputize Arjuna to promise? In the same way as the Lord will later say, ‘Without a doubt you will come to Me. I
promise you this because you are very dear to Me,’ why doesn’t He now say, ‘Kaunteya, I promise that My devotee will
never perish’?”
Here is the answer. At that moment, the Lord was thinking, “I am very affectionate to My devotees and cannot
tolerate their being discredited at all. I will often even break My own promise and let Myself be discredited to protect My
devotee’s promise. For example, I will soon fight with Bhīṣma and discard My own promise in order to protect Bhīṣma’s
promise. Thus atheistic, logical quibblers will only laugh if I now offer My own promise, but they will have to acknowl-
edge Arjuna’s promise as if it were written in stone. Therefore I will have Arjuna make this promise.”
9.34: First, Kṛṣṇa tells us to always think of Him. It is not sufficient to work hard for Kṛṣṇa while our minds
wander. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa comments that here Kṛṣṇa says to Arjuna: “A so-called ‘devotee’ of a
king, the king’s servant, actually is thinking about his own wife and so on. His thoughts are not fixed upon the
king. Thus he is not actually the king’s devotee. You, however, in contrast with such a person, should be ab-
sorbed in thinking of Me and should be My devotee. Your mind should always be fixed, like an uninterrupted
flow of honey, on Me, the son of Vasudeva. You should think of Me as your own master and as the very
goal of your life.”
The Bhagavad-gītā is the essence of all Vedic literature. The middle six chapters are the essence of the Gītā,
and the Ninth and Tenth Chapters are the essence of the middle six chapters. Finally, the last verse of this
chapter, which is exactly in the middle of the Gītā, and which will be repeated practically verbatim at the end
of the Gītā, is the most confidential and essential śloka. It is the essence of the essence of the essence and
the most confidential of all knowledge: Become a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Bhagavad Gita Notes
One may question whether this verse beginning man-manā bhava mad-bhakto is actually the essence of the
Gītā. Noting that almost the same verse appears again as Bg. 18.65, one may think that Bg. 18.66, sarva-
dharmān parityajya , is actually the essence, not 18.65. Actually, both verses are the same in that, in both,
Kṛṣṇa offers the same instruction. Text 18.66 expresses Kṛṣṇa’s desire that Arjuna surrender, and text 18.65
explains the components of that surrender.
In Bg. 18.64, just before these essential verses, Kṛṣṇa states, sarva-guhyatamaā bhūyaù śrṇu me paramaā
vacaù: “I am speaking My supreme instruction, the most confidential knowledge of all.” Sarva-guhyatamaā
means “the most confidential of all.” Bhūyaù means “again.” Kṛṣṇa speaks the verse here in Chapter Nine and
again as text 18.65. Kṛṣṇa also clearly says that these verses, 18.65 and 18.66, are the most confidential
knowledge of all and are His supreme instruction. Srila Prabhupada has many times explained this same point.
In his purport to Bg. 18.65, he writes: “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. 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.”
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in his purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.24.32: “In Bhagavad-gītā Lord Kṛṣṇa advised
Arjuna many times to surrender unto Him, especially at the end of the Ninth Chapter—man-manā bhava
mad-bhakto: ‘If you want to be perfect, just always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer
your obeisances to Me. In this way you will understand Me, the Personality of Godhead, and ultimately you
will come back to Me, back to Godhead, back home.’”
In his purport to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.26.37, Śrīla Prabhupāda says:
The complete purpose of this material world will be fulfilled when we resume our spiritual identities and go back
home, back to Godhead. The very simple method for doing this is prescribed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaā śaraṇaā vraja. One should be neither pious nor impious. One should be a devotee
and surrender to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. This surrendering process is also very easy. Even a child can perform it. Man-
manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māā namaskuru. One must always simply think of Kṛṣṇa by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare
Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. One should become Kṛṣṇa’s devotee,
worship Him and offer obeisances to Him. Thus one should engage all the activities of his life in the service of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
In a lecture on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.15.51, Śrīla Prabhupāda said:
And the very simple thing is, ya idaā paramaā guhyaā mad- bhakteṣv abhidhāsyati: this confidential service,
preaching of Bhagavad-gītā—what is that? Bhagavad-gītā preaching—the essence is: sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaā
śaraṇaā vraja. Simply go and preach. This very thing. Kṛṣṇa says, man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māā namas-
kuru. This is Kṛṣṇa’s desire. Preach to the world: “Just be Kṛṣṇa conscious.” Man-manā. “Just become Kṛṣṇa’s devotee.”
Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī. “Just worship Kṛṣṇa.” Namaskuru. “Just offer your obeisances to Kṛṣṇa.” Four
words. Then you become a preacher. It is not a very difficult to become a preacher and to become a spiritual master.
How? Very simple thing. Go and speak what Kṛṣṇa says. That’s all. (Lecture, Los Angeles, December 28, 1973)