Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada
Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te
pratijāne priyo ’si me
Synonyms:
mat–manāḥ — thinking of Me; bhava — just become; mat–bhaktaḥ — My devotee; mat–yājī — My worshiper; mām — unto Me; namaskuru — offer your obeisances; mām — unto Me; eva — certainly; eṣyasi — you will come; satyam — truly; te — to you; pratijāne — I promise; priyaḥ — dear; asi — you are; me — to Me.
Translation:
Always think of Me, become My devotee, worship Me and offer your homage unto Me. Thus you will come to Me without fail. I promise you this because you are My very dear friend.
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto,
man-manā, always think about Me
bhava mad-bhakto, become My devotee
mad-yājī, worship Me
māṁ namaskuru, offer your obeisances to Me.
mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te, satyaṁ te, you will certainly come to Me
pratijāne priyo ’si me, this I declare because you are very dear to Me.
This verse is very important because it is describing Supreme Instruction and also Arjuna’s intimacy.
First 2 line of the verse are similar to 9.34
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
man-manā, fixed your mind on Me – that refers to mind
mad-bhakto, offer your heart to Me
mad-yājī, worship Me
māṁ namaskuru, offer obeisance by our body
so basically these four are meant to indicate that we offer our entire existence to Krishna.
The difference in these two verses are
In 9.34 it was
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam
ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ
mām evaiṣyasi, you will come back to Me, yuktvaivam, by engaging like this. ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ, if your heart and soul are engaged like this, if your atma is mat-parāyaṇaḥ, parayan towards Me, is devoted to Me then you will come back to Me,
But in 18.65 Krishna is telling something different, there in 9.34 the onus is on devotees Arujuna, you do like this then mām evaiṣyasi, you will come back to Me, how? Yuktvaivam, by being engaged in this way and Krishna further clarifies what is the engagement in this way is ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ by being completely devoted whole and soul to Me.
But here the emphasis is different, in any relationship it is important that both the parties offer something, so in 9.34 Krishna mentioned what devotees need to offer, ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ. Here in 18.65 Krishna is telling what I bring to the relationship, so what does He bring to the relationship, Krishna is telling mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te, satyaṁ te, I am speaking truth to you, mām evaiṣyasi, you will certainly come back to Me,
pratijāne priyo ’si me, priyo ’si me, you are very-very dear to Me and I am pratijāne, declaring this, pratijāne this is proclamation, public declaration or affirmation
in 9.31 also pratijāne is used,
kaunteya pratijānīhi
na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati
O Arjuna, declare to the world that my devotee will never perish so there Krishna has made declaration to the whole world but now here Krishna is making declaration to everyone. I declare to you Arjun, you are a devotee and this applies to everyone who is on path of devotion, all those who cultivate the aspiration of pure devotion,
So Arjuna you redirect your heart to Me and then I will ensure that you will come back to Me.
When there are declaration the promise is more serious and if someone goes out and declares publicly then it is most serious.
So now Arjuna is thinking you are telling me to do this but there are so many other things also that can be done and those are also dharmic. Which Krishna addresses in the next verse.
End of transcription.
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