Verse 9.34

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 9.34:

मन्-मना भव मद्-भक्तो मद्-याजी मां नमस्कुरु ।
माम् एवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवम् आत्मानं मत्-परायणः ॥ ३४ ॥

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṃ namaskuru |
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṃ mat-parāyaṇaḥ || 34 ||

mat-manāḥ–absorbed in thoughts of Me; bhava–be; mat-bhaktaḥ–My devotee; mad-yājī–as My worshipper; mām–before Me; namaskuru–bow down; mām–Me; eva–certainly; eṣyasi–you will attain; yuktvā–having engaged; evam–in this way; ātmānam–your body and mind;mat-parāyaṇaḥ–and devoted to Me.

Always absorb your mind in Me, become My devotee, dedicate yourself to worship of Me and offer obeisances to Me. In this way, with mind and body fully devoted to Me in My service, you will certainly achieve Me.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

(By Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura; the innermost intention of the commentary named ‘the shower of essential meanings’)

With the words man-manāḥ, Śrī Bhagavān is concluding this chapter by explaining the process of bhajana. Ātmānam means, ‘engage your mind and body in Me and perform bhajana of Me’. The mere contact of bhakti purifies everyone, whether they are qualified or not. This is described in this Ninth Chapter, which is entitled rāja-guhyaḥ.

Thus ends the bhāvānuvāda of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s
Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā (the commentary that gives pleasure
to the devotees and is accepted by all saintly persons)
on the Ninth Chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti

(By Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja; the explanation that illuminates the commentary named Sārārtha-varṣiṇī)

The supreme goal of every jīva is to attain pure love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The only means to achieve this purpose is to perform exclusive devotion, or ananyā-bhakti. Only pure living entities are qualified to perform bhajana of Śrī Bhagavān, the Supreme Absolute Truth (para-tattva). The svarūpa of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the highest object of worship for the pure jīvas. Unless one perfectly understands this siddhānta, or philosophical conclusion, one’s endeavour for the supreme goal cannot be executed perfectly.

Pure bhakti, which is completely free from jñāna, karma and yoga, has been explained in Chapters Seven and Eight. In the Ninth Chapter, the most supremely worshipable tattva has been described. In order to establish this tattva, it is necessary to describe the defects coming from the worship of demigods and goddesses, who may also appear to be the worshipable Reality. Therefore, the eternally perfect nature of the supremely pure and conscious svarūpa of Śrī Kṛṣṇa has been established scientifically. The jñānīs, yogīs and the performers of sacrifices worship only the impersonal brahma and also Paramātmā, which are partial manifestations of Bhagavān, who has an eternal form. A pure bhakta, however, does not worship these partial manifestations of the Absolute; he only worships the eternal form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

It is due to extreme ignorance that a person worships demigods and goddesses separately from the eternal form of Kṛṣṇa, because by doing so, he can only partially attain his destination. In the bhakti-yoga process, one should completely give up the worship of other demigods and goddesses, and with no ulterior motives and with staunch faith, one should maintain one’s body while engaging in the nine limbs of devotion, such as śravaṇa, kīrtana and smaraṇa of Śrī Kṛṣṇa only. Such ananya-bhaktas, or exclusive devotees, are superior to karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs, even if those ananya-bhaktas are badly behaved in the preliminary stage. Thus they are indeed saintly because in a matter of days they become fixed exclusively upon Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and their character becomes pure in all respects.

Only pure bhakti to Bhagavān will produce the above-mentioned fruit of prema. The śuddha-bhakta, or pure devotee, of Bhagavān is never destroyed, nor can he ever fall, because Bhagavān personally maintains and protects him. Therefore, those who are intelligent maintain their body simply to perform pure bhakti to Śrī Bhagavān.

Thus ends the Sārārtha-varṣiṇī Prakāśikā-vṛtti
by Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Gosvāmī Mahārāja,
on the Ninth Chapter of Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā.