Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

bhajasva mām is elaborated in next verse of BG

Bg 9.34

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam
ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

Word for word: 

matmanāḥ — always thinking of Me; bhava — become; mat — My; bhaktaḥ — devotee; mat — My; yājī — worshiper; mām — unto Me; namaskuru — offer obeisances; mām — unto Me; eva — completely; eṣyasi — you will come; yuktvā — being absorbed; evam — thus; ātmānam — your soul; matparāyaṇaḥ — 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.

man-manā, think of Me

bhava mad-bhakto, become my devotee 

How does one become a devotee?

mad-yājī, worship Me

māṁ namaskuru, offer obeisances to Me

And if you do this

mām evaiṣyasi, you will come back to Me

How?

Yuktvaivam, Yuktva + aivam, by being engaged by being absorbed 

ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ, your heart and soul will be mat-parāyaṇaḥ, will be devoted to Me. 

man-manā => Different people can fix their mind on Krishna is different ways. But Krishna is saying think of Me in a way that bhava mad-bhakto, think of Me and then offer your heart to Me, so fixing your mind in a way that I can enter into your heart, bhava mad-bhakto, devote yourself to Me. So we may fix our mind on a thing without actually developing attraction towards that. That sort of thinking is cold clinical thinking. Krishna doesn’t want that kind of thinking. Krishna wants gentle transformational thinking. 

If we think of Krishna in an open hearted way then He will enter into our heart 

And then by thinking like this we can do activities that promote feeling of devotion. What is that? mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, worship Me, how to do bhajan is elaborated in c & d section of this verse. 

man-manā -> offer the subtle body, mind

bhava mad-bhakto -> Offer your heart to Me, emotions 

mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru -> physical level, obeisances, arati, 

mām evaiṣyasi -> You will come to Me guaranteed

How that will happen?  Yuktvaivam, you will be yuktva, you will be engaged, if you will offer, body mind and heart or soul to Krishna then you will be absorbed in Krishna, these are our three level of existence so Krishna is telling offer all these three levels to Me. 

ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ -> This way your atma will become fully devoted to Me. 

So this concluding verse is called by Acharyas as essence of essence of the essence of the essence. 

What does it means?

Among all Vedic literature Bhagavad Gita is called essence

Servo Upanishado Gao, 

Dugdha Gopal Nandanah

Parthat Vatsa Su Dhir Bhokta 

Dhugdham Gita Vridham Mahat.

So it is said that 

From all the upanishad Gita is like milk of the cow, where cow is the upanishads. So BG is the essence of Vedic literature. 

In the BG middle six chapters is the essence because they focus on Bhakti. Like we don’t call bread sandwich we call cheese sandwich or vegetable sandwich bread is understood in sandwich. 

And within those six chapter 9th chapter is called Raj Guhyam, most confidential knowledge

And within this last chapter is this verse which calls for devotion and guarantees Supreme Liberation then that is the essence.

Mayavadis wanted to merge to formless they can do but to impose their philosophy on BG is an offence particularly in Bhakti section. It is brutal violation to the mood and the message of BG. 

In previous chapters many places it is mentioned therefore practice Yoga but what yoga to practice is given in a very conclusive way that is Bhakti Yoga. 

Now Krishna in His ecstasy describes further about Himself and Bhakti in next chapter.

End of transcription.