Verse 11.55

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 11.55:

मत्-कर्म-कृन् मत्-परमो मद्-भक्तः सङ्ग-वर्जितः ।
निर्वैरः सर्व-भूतेषु यः स माम् एति पाण्डव ॥ ५५ ॥

mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ |
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava || 55 ||

mat-karma-kṛt–dedicates his work to Me; mat-paramaḥ–makes Me his ultimate shelter; mat-bhaktaḥ–practises devotional service to Me (by the various limbs of bhakti such as hearing and chanting My glories); saṅga-varjitaḥ–free from (materialistic) attachments; nirvairaḥ–without enmity; sarva-bhūteṣu–towards any living being; yaḥ–who; saḥ–he; mām–to Me; eti–comes; pāṇḍava–O son of Pāṇḍu.

O son of Pāṇḍu, he who exclusively dedicates his life to Me, considering Me alone to be his supreme goal, who engages in the various limbs of bhakti such as śravaṇa and kīrtana, who is devoid of mundane attachments, and who remains free from enmity towards any living being–he alone attains Me.

Commentary: Sārārtha-Varṣiṇī Ṭīkā

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

Now in this verse beginning with mat-karma-kṛt, Śrī Bhagavān explains the characteristics of His exclusive devotees (ananya-bhaktas) to conclude the discussion on bhakti which began in Chapter Seven. Saṅga-varjitaḥ means ‘devoid of attachment to the results and free from poor association’.

The import of Chapter Eleven is that Arjuna has become firmly convinced about the great opulence (mahā-aiśvarya) of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and that he will be victorious in battle.

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 Eleventh 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)

In this verse, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is explaining the limbs of bhakti that are to be followed by devotees who take shelter of exclusive devotion. “Those who become free from all mundane attachment and from envy towards all living entities, and who engage in My exclusive devotion by performing activities such as building temples for Me, cleaning them, offering service to Tulasī-devī, and hearing, chanting and remembering hari-kathā, they alone are My bhaktas.”

Similar statements are made in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.11.38–39):

mamārcā-sthāpane śraddhā svataḥ saṃhatya codyamaḥ
udyānopavanākrīḍa-pura-mandira-karmaṇi
sammārjanopalepābhyāṃ seka-maṇḍala-vartanaiḥ
gṛha-śuśrūṣaṇaṃ mahyaṃ dāsa-vad yad amāyayā

One should faithfully install My deity form in the temples. If one is unable to perform this work alone, he should make the endeavour with the help of others. He should make flower and fruit gardens, cities and temples for Me, as well as places to celebrate My pastime festivals. Like a faithful and devoted servant, he should render service in the temple without duplicity, clean it, wash it, sprinkle it with fragrant water and perform various services.

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa writes, “My devotees are those who are mat-paramaḥ, who consider only Me to be the supreme goal and who do not aspire for other goals, such as residence in the heavenly planets. They are engaged in tasting the nectar of the nine types of bhakti, such as the hearing and chanting of My name, form and so forth. Those who are saṅga-varjita, free from the attachment to the results of their actions and free from poor association, and those who are nirvaira, free from enmity to all living beings, see that their miseries are the result of their own previous activities and feel no enmity for those who are inimical towards them. Rather, they feel compassion for them. Only such persons attain Me in this form of Kṛṣṇa, not others.”

Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura writes in his Vidvat-rañjana com-mentary, “In this chapter, Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s form (rūpa) has been established as the supreme refuge and the ultimate worshipful reality, as compared to the universal form, His form as time and even His form as Lord Viṣṇu. Besides the eternal, all-attractive human form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, devotees have no attraction to the other manifestations of Bhagavān. This chapter concludes by affirming that the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa alone is the ocean of all nectarean mellows (akhila-rasāmṛta-sindhu) and the only abode of supreme sweetness (parama-mādhurya-bhāva).”

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