ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते।
श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रियाः।।12.20।।
12.20 But [Tu (but) is used to distinguish those who have attained the highest Goal from the aspirants.-Tr.] those devotees who accept Me as the supreme Goal, and with faith seek for this ambrosia [M.S.s reading is dharmamrtam-nectar in the form of virtue. Virtue is called nectar because it leads to Immortality, or because it is sweet like nectar.] which is indistinguishable from the virtues as stated above, they are very dear to Me.
12.20 They verily who follow this immortal Dharma (law or doctrine) as described above, endowed with faith, regarding Me as their supreme goal, they, the devotees, are exceedingly dear to Me.
12.20. Those, who resort, as instructed above, to this duty [conducive to] immortality, who have faith [in it] and have Me alone their goal - those devotees are exceedingly dear to Me.
12.20 ये who? तु indeed? धर्म्यामृतम् immortal Dharma (Law)? इदम् this? यथोक्तम् as declared (above)? पर्युपासते follow? श्रद्दधानाः endowed with faith? मत्परमाः regarding Me as their Supreme? भक्ताः devotees? ते they? अतीव exceedingly? मे to Me? प्रियाः dear.Commentary The Blessed Lord has in this verse given a description of His excellent devotee.Amrita Dharma Amrita is the lifegiving nectar. Dharma is righteousness or wisdom. Dharma is that which leads to immortality when practised. The real devotees regard Me as their final or supreme refuge.Above Beginning with verse 13.A great truth that should not go unnoticed is that the devotee? the man of wisdom and the Yogi have all the same fundamental characteristics.Priyo hi Jnaninotyartham (I am exceedingly dear to the wise man) (VII.12) has thus been explained at length and concluded here thus? Te ativa me priyah (they are exceedinlgy dear to Me).He who follows this immortal Dharma as described above becomes exceedingly dear to the Lord. Therefore? every aspirant who thirsts for salvation? and who longs to attain the Supreme Abode of the Lord should follow this immortal Dharma with zeal and intense faith.Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita? the science of the Eternal? the scripture of Yoga? the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna? ends the twelfth discourse entitledThe Yoga of Devotion.
12.20 Tu, but; ye bhaktah, those devotees of Mine, the monks who have resorted to the highest devotion consisting in the knowledge of the supreme Reality; mat-paramah, who accept Me as the supreme Goal, to whom I, as mentioned above, who am identical with the Immutable, am the highest (parama), unsurpassable Goal; and sraddadhanah, with faith; paryupasate, seek for, practise; idam, this; dharmyamrtam, ambrosia that is indistinguishable from the virtues-that which is indistinguishable from dharma (virtue) is dharmya, and this is called amrta (ambrosia) since it leads to Immortality-; yatha-uktam, as stated above in, He who is not hateful towards any creature, etc.; te, they; are ativa, very; priyah, dear; me, to Me. After having explained what was hinted in, For I am very much dear to the man of Knowledge৷৷.(7.17), that has been concluded here in, Those devotees are very dear to Me. Since by seeking for this ambrosia which is indistinguishable from the virtues as stated above one becomes very dear to Me, who am theLord Vishnu, the supreme God, therefore this nectar which is indistinguishable from the virtues has to be diligently sought for by one who is a seeker of Liberation, who wants to attain the coveted Abode of Visnu. This is the purport of the sentence. [Thus, after the consummation of meditation on the alified Brahman, one who aspires after the unalified Brahman, who has the alifications mentioned in, He who is not hateful towards any creature, etc., who is pre-eminently fit for this purpose, and who practises sravana etc. has the possibility of realizing the Truth from which his Liberation logically follows. Hence, the conclusion is that the meaning of the word tat (in the sentence tattvamasi) has to be sought for, since his has the power to arouse the comprehension of the meaning of that sentence, which is the means to Liberation.]
12.15-20 Yasmat etc. upto Me priyah. One who has no fixed thought : One who has no resolution, [in his mundane life] like This alone must be done by me. He, who enjoys, with contentment, both pleasure and pain as they come, and has his mind completely absorbed in Supreme Lord - that person happily (or easily) attains the Supreme Isolation (Emancipation)
12.20 But those who follow Bhakti Yoga - which is a nectar of virtuous duty, i.e., which is at once virtuous duty and nectar, and which even as a menas, is eal to its end in conferring bliss on those who follow is as stated above, i.e., in the manner taught in the stanza beginning with Those who, focusing their minds on Me (12.2) - such devotees are exceedingly dear to Me.
Summarizing the qualities fixed in various types of his devotees which he has just mentioned, the Lord now describes the result of hearing and considering these qualities by persons desirous of completely obtaining all those qualities. These qualities, which arise from sense control (santi, mentioned in verse 12), which in turn arises from bhakti, are not material qualities. Krishna is pleased by bhakti, not by good qualities. Such statements are innumerable in the scriptures. Tu here indicates differentiation. The various devotees previously mentioned were fixed in their individual natures with certain qualities. But those practitioners who desire all of the qualities of all the types of devotees are superior to those mentioned, who have attained some of the qualities. Therefore, the word atlva (surpassingly) is used. Such devotees, who take up all the qualities, are even dearer to me. The astonishing qualities of bhakti, which is supreme and blissful, which can be practiced by all, and is easy to perform, have been explained in this chapter. Though it has been shown that jnana is bitter like nima fruit and bhakti is sweet like grape juice, still, these two processes are taken up their respective followers who crave that particular taste.
Dharma or eternal righteousness is amrtam or nectarian, together with their derivatives are being now concluded. They are called nectarian because they lead to immortality. Those devotees of the Supreme Lord Krishna who follow and practice the spiritual principles of eternal righteousness with faith and determination while taking full refuge in Him as the ultimate goal of attainment are very dear to Lord Krishna. In conclusion the worship of the abstract, unmanifest, impersonal aspect of the Supreme Lord is extremely difficult to succeed and is only finally achieved after the greatest of efforts. A person blessed with spiritual intelligence should embark upon the easier and noble path of bhakti or exclusive loving devotion unto the Supreme Lord Krishna.
Collating all the previous recommendations Lord Krishna concludes this chapter. Dharma is eternal righteousness and is infused by the Supreme Lord Krishna and anything pertaining to Him is also dharma. Reflection upon Him is dharma, worship of Him is dharma, glorification of Him is dharma. Also study of the Vedic scriptures which originate from Him is dharma. Dharma is conducive to meditation upon the Supreme Lord which has the power to terminate samsara or the perpetual cycle of birth and death and therefore dharma is known to be immortal. The word sraddadhanah means endowed with faith. The root of sraddha or faith is srad which means being receptive. Those who are receptive to the revelations of the Vedic scriptures are sraddadhanah. Now begins the summation. Casting away all things undesirable which do not lead to bhakti or exclusive loving devotion to the Supreme Lord Krishna, such a devotee becomes very dear to Him. Collating and applying all of the recommendations given in these past seven verses His devotee becomes especially dear to Lord Krishna. Bhakti is completely independent and alone is considered the goal. Dharma is considered the means and primary path leading to bhakti.. That which is an instrument of bhakti is also a part of bhakti. Thus the means dharma guides one to the goal of bhakti. Thus the path of immortal bhakti can be approached by following dharma.
The path of dharma or eternal righteousness which is holy and that which is amritam is immortal is known as bhakti or exclusive loving devotion unto the Supreme Lord Krishna and is the means as well as the goal. This was briefly emphasised in verse two of this chapter with the nitya-yuktas upasate meaning engaged in constant devotional worship were yuktatamah or the most superior of all. Whosoever devotes themselves to this transcendental path of bhakti as enumerated in the previous seven verses is a true devotee of Lord Krishna and very dear to Him.
The path of dharma or eternal righteousness which is holy and that which is amritam is immortal is known as bhakti or exclusive loving devotion unto the Supreme Lord Krishna and is the means as well as the goal. This was briefly emphasised in verse two of this chapter with the nitya-yuktas upasate meaning engaged in constant devotional worship were yuktatamah or the most superior of all. Whosoever devotes themselves to this transcendental path of bhakti as enumerated in the previous seven verses is a true devotee of Lord Krishna and very dear to Him.
Ye tu dharmyaamritamidam yathoktam paryupaasate; Shraddhadhaanaah matparamaa bhaktaaste’teeva me priyaah.
ye—who; tu—indeed; dharma—of wisdom; amṛitam—nectar; idam—this; yathā—as; uktam—declared; paryupāsate—exclusive devotion; śhraddadhānāḥ—with faith; mat-paramāḥ—intent on Me as the supreme goal; bhaktāḥ—devotees; te—they; atīva—exceedingly; me—to Me; priyāḥ—dear
