Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

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

So 12.6 and 7 makes it more clear what is Krishna’s preference in this case.

Bg 12.6-7

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi
mayi sannyasya mat-parāḥ
ananyenaiva yogena
māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate

teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā
mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt
bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha
mayy āveśita-cetasām

Synonyms: 

ye — those who; tu — but; sarvāṇi — all; karmāṇi — activities; mayi — unto Me; sannyasya — giving up; mat–parāḥ — being attached to Me; ananyena — without division; eva — certainly; yogena — by practice of such bhakti-yoga; mām — upon Me; dhyāyantaḥ — meditating; upāsate — worship; teṣām — of them; aham — I; samuddhartā — the deliverer; mṛtyu — of death; saṁsāra — in material existence; sāgarāt — from the ocean; bhavāmi — I become; na — not; cirāt — after a long time; pārtha — O son of Pṛthā; mayi — upon Me; āveśita — fixed; cetasām — of those whose minds.

Translation: 

But those who worship Me, giving up all their activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, having fixed their minds upon Me, O son of Pṛthā – for them I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.

 

sarvāṇi karmāṇi, all activities 

sarvāṇi karmāṇi, offering all your activities to Me

mat-parāḥ, making Me the ultimate goal

ananyenaiva yogena, without any destruction the mind steadily fixed on Me

māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate, they meditate on Me

teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā, for those people ahaṁ samuddhartā, I become their deliverer 

mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt, from this ocean of birth and death

bhavāmi, I become

na cirāt pārtha, not after long time

mayy āveśita-cetasām, those who fix their mind on Me

If we look at the similar verse 12.2 starts with mayy āveśya mano ye māṁ

12.7 ends with mayy āveśita-cetasām, 

So those who fix mind on Krishna 

ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi, those who offer all their works to Me, those who renounce their work for Me, those who make Me their ultimate goal, those who meditate on Me, those who worship Me, for them I become the deliverer.

So here Krishna is telling the difference between mediating on Him and meditating on impersonal.

Impersonal cannot be any reciprocation that is what the word also indicates. 

E.g. if a person is climbing through a rope and rope is tied to impersonal thing he has to put all effort in coming out of pulling himself up, but if the rope is in the hand of a person that person also helps he will also pull us and we can also try from our side, if we are not able to try from our side we are so weak but we have desire to come out that person can still help us by pulling us, that is the difference between impersonal and personal aspect. Like that Krishna says ahaṁ samuddhartā, I become swift deliverer and He is highlighting that this process is easier because I intervene personally in favor of my devotees. 

Sridhar Swami gives explanation here that Krishna personally gives spiritual knowledge which is required by devotees by this knowledge devotees become disentangled. That is Krishna’s mercy ahaṁ samuddhartā. And Viswanatha Charavarthi Pad has said that Krishna not only gives knowledge but He also intervenes in the life of a devotee. As He has mentioned in Yoga Khemem Vahamiham, Aham He is saying. 

SP Purport: It is explicitly stated here that the devotees are very fortunate to be delivered very soon from material existence by the Lord.

bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha, they will be delivered very soon.

 

SP Purport: It does not matter in what kind of work one engages, but that work should be done only for Kṛṣṇa. mayi sannyasya mat-parāḥ. 

So Arjuna might have a doubt about his war. We may have different kinds of works to do but whatever work we may have to do in devotional service just do it faithfully and fix mind on Krishna then one may be elevated,  ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi. This is not license for doing sinful activities. sarvāṇi karmāṇi refers to Varnashram duties, whatever duty we have to do for sva dharma we have to do it for Lord’s sake. 

SP Purport: the Lord Himself takes him. The devotee does not need to wait to become very experienced in order to transfer himself to the spiritual sky.

devotees need not have to wait as Lord will take care for him, bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha

In the Varāha Purāṇa this verse appears:

nayāmi paramaṁ sthānam
arcir-ādi-gatiṁ vinā
garuḍa-skandham āropya
yatheccham anivāritaḥ

nayāmi, I take

paramaṁ sthānam, to the supreme destination

arcir-ādi-gatiṁ vinā, 

arcir refers to different path by which soul is transferred dev-yan and pitri-yan.

So Krishna is saying arcir-ādi-gatiṁ vinā, they are not required for a devotee. Lord will personally take care of His devotees without all these people 

and how?

garuḍa-skandham āropya, situated on the shoulder  of Garuda 

yatheccham anivāritaḥ, yatheccha, what is the desire of the Lord to take back His devotees to the spiritual world

anivāritaḥ, without any distraction

This is the sweetness of the promise of the Lord He is assuring.

 

In the Nārāyaṇīya this is confirmed as follows:

yā vai sādhana-sampattiḥ
puruṣārtha-catuṣṭaye
tayā vinā tad āpnoti
naro nārāyaṇāśrayaḥ

Nārāyaṇīya  is a very important section from Mahabharat.

In Mahabharat a lot of wisdom is given which are at various level and everything is not at transcendental level. 

In this BG, Nārāyaṇīya and Vishnu Shahstranam are considered purely devotional. 

yā vai sādhana-sampattiḥ, 

puruṣārtha-catuṣṭaye, 

tayā vinā tad āpnoti, even if a transcendentalist progress through each of these puruṣārtha, normally by each sadhana one get sampattiḥ, Dharma, Artha, Kama etc. 

But that Nara who has taken nārāyaṇāśrayaḥ, shelter of Narayana will attain supreme destination. 

SP Purport: a devotee of the Lord can approach the supreme destination easily and happily, ref BG 8.14, 9.2 easily and happily. This is not talked in any other path. 

SP Purport: Let everyone take shelter of the supreme omnipotent Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest perfection of life.

End of transcription.