Shloka
मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु |
मामेवैष्यसि सत्यं ते प्रतिजाने प्रियोऽसि मे ||१८-६५||Transliteration
manmanā bhava madbhakto madyājī māṃ namaskuru .
māmevaiṣyasi satyaṃ te pratijāne priyo.asi me ||18-65||Translations
Dr.S.Sankaranarayan
18.65. Be with your mind fixed in Me; be My devotee; offer oblation to Me and render salutation to Me; you shall come to Me alone. Really I promise you, (because) you are dear to Me.
Shri Purohit Swami
18.65 Dedicate thyself to Me, worship Me, sacrifice all for Me, prostrate thyself before Me, and to Me thou shalt surely come. Truly do I pledge thee; thou art My own beloved.
Sri Abhinav Gupta
18.64-65 Sarva - etc. Manmanah etc, By the portion ‘Be with your mind fixed in Me’ etc., it is determined that in the scriptures the importance completely lies only in dedicating [everything] to the Brahman; and it is declared that this present scripture (the Holy Bhagavatgita) is of use [only] in the case of one who cultivates [the attitude of] dedication to the Brahman. Also He says -
Sri Ramanuja
18.65 What is enjoined in Vedanta texts such as ‘I know the Great Person of the radiance of the sun, who is beyond this Prakrti. Knowing Him thus, one becomes here immortal; there is no path for immortality’ (Sve. U., 3.8); what is designated by words such as knowledge (Vedanta), meditation (Dhyana) and worship (Upasana); what is of the form of direct perception (Darsana) having the character of continuous succession of memory of a surpassingly loving nature to the worshipped - it is this that is enjoined herein by the words ‘Focus your mind on Me,’ ‘Be My devotee.’ It means, be one to whom I am incomparably dear. Since I am the object of superabundant love, meditate on Me, i.e., practise the succession of memory of unsurpassed love of Me. Such is the meaning. Be My worshipper (yaji). Here also the expression, ‘Be My devotee’ is applicable. Yajna is worship. Worship Me as one exceedingly dear to you. Worship (Aradhana) is complete subservience to the Lord. Prostrate before Me. Prostration means bowing down. The meaning is: Bow down humbly before Me with great love.
Renouncing thus all ego-centredness, you shall come to Me. I make this solemn promise to you. Do not take it as a mere flattery. For you are dear to Me. It has been already stated, ‘For I am inexpressibly dear to the man of knowledge and dear is he to Me’ (7.17). He in whom there is surpassing love for Me, I hold him also as surpassingly dear to Me. Conseently, not being able to bear separation from him, I myself will enable him to attain Me. It is this truth alone that has been solemnly declared to you in the expression that ‘you shall come to Me alone.’
Sri Shankaracharya
18.65 Bhava manmana, have your mind fixed on Me; be mad-bhaktah, My devotee; be a madyaji,sacrificer to Me, be engaged in sacrifices to Me; namaskuru, bow down; mam, to Me. Offer ever your salutations to Me alone. Continuing thus in them, by surrendering all ends, means and needs to Vasudeva only, esyasi, you will come; mam, to Me; eva, alone. (This) satyam, truth: do I pratijane, promise; te, to you, i.e. in this matter I make this true promise. For, asi, you are; priyah, dear; me, to Me. The idea conveyed by the passage is: Having thus understood that the Lord is true in His pormise, and knowing for certain that liberation is the unfailing result of devotion to the Lord, one should have dedication to God as his only supreme goal. Having summed up surrender to God as the highest secret of steadiness in Karma-yoga, there-after, with the idea that complete realization, which is the fruit of adherence to Karma-yoga and which has been enjoined in all the Upanisads, has to be spoken about, the Lord says:
Swami Adidevananda
18.65 Focus your mind on Me. Be My devotee. Be My worshipper. Prostrate before Me. You shall come to Me alone. I promise you, trully; for you are dear to Me.
Swami Gambirananda
18.65 Have your mind fixed on Me, be My devotee, be a sacrificer to Me and bow down to Me. (Thus) you will come to Me alone. (This) truth do I pormise to you. (For) you are dear to Me.
Swami Sivananda
18.65 Fix thy mind on Me, by devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me. Thou shalt come even to Me; truly do I promise unto thee, (for) thou art dear to Me.
Commentaries
Swami Sivananda
18.65 मन्मनाः with mind fixed on Me? भव be? मद्भक्तः devoted to Me? मद्याजी sacrifice to Me? माम् to Me? नमस्कुरु bow down? माम् to Me? एव even? एष्यसि (thou) shalt come? सत्यम् truth? ते to thee? प्रतिजाने (I) promise? प्रियः dear? असि (thou) art? मे of Me.Commentary Develop onepointedness of mind. Fix thy thought on Me. If the mind wanders bring it again and again to the centre or point or object of meditation? through constant practice. Offer all thy actions to Me. Let thy tongue utter My name. Let thy hands work for Me. Let thy feet move for Me. Let all thy actions be for Me. Give up hatred towards any living creature. Bow down to Me. Then thou wilt attain Me.The Lord gives Arjuna His definite word of promise or solemn declaration. Having received My grace thou wilt gain complete knowledge of Me and that in itself will indeed lead to thy absorption into My Being.O Arjuna? looking up to Me alone as thy aim and the sole refuge? thou shalt assuredly come to,Me.Have faith in the words of the Lord and make a solemn promise. Take the Lord as your sole refuge. You will attain final emancipation.The secret of devotion is to take the Lord as your sole refuge. In the next verse the Lord proceeds to speak of the gist of selfsurrender. (Cf.IX.34XII.8)