Shloka
देवान्भावयतानेन ते देवा भावयन्तु वः |
परस्परं भावयन्तः श्रेयः परमवाप्स्यथ ||३-११||Transliteration
devānbhāvayatānena te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ .
parasparaṃ bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ paramavāpsyatha ||3-11||Translations
Dr.S.Sankaranarayan
3.11. ‘With this you must gratify the devas and let the devas gratify you; [thus] gratifying one another, you shall attain the highest good.’
Shri Purohit Swami
3.11 Worship the Powers of Nature thereby, and let them nourish you in return; thus supporting each other, you shall attain your highest welfare.
Sri Abhinav Gupta
3.11 Devan etc. Devas : Those that have a tendency of playing i.e., the deities who preside over the organs and who dwell in the senses (or who are nothing but the sensitive faculty of the senses) and who are well-known in the Rahasyasastra. ‘You must gratify these deities by this action i.e., feed them compability with sense-objects. Then, being satisfied, let these deities gratify (cause) you to have emancipation suitable exclusively to the intrinsic nature of the Self. For, [then alone you attain] a capacity to remain in your own Self. Thus when the mutual gratification - you gratifying the [deities of the] senses, and they letting [you] be absorbed in the Self - in the uninterruped series of periods of being extrovert and of meditation, you shall soon undoubtedly attain the highest good i.e., the Supreme that is marked with the total disappearance of [all] mutual differences.’ This path of the said nature is to be followed not merely for emancipation, but also for gaining all super - human powers (or success siddhi). This [the Lord] says -
Sri Ramanuja
3.11 ‘By this,’ i.e., by this sacrifice, you propitiate the gods who form My body and have Me as their Self. For Sri Krsna will say later on: ‘For I am the only enjoyer and the only Lord of Sacrifices’ (9.24). Worshipped by sacrifices, may these gods, who have Me as their Self, nourish you with food, drink etc., which are reired also for their worship. Thus, supporting each other, may you attain the highest good called Moksa (release).
Sri Shankaracharya
3.11 ‘Bhavayata, you nourish; devan, the gods, Indra and others; anena, with this sarifice. Let te devah, those gods; bhavayantu, nourish; vah, you-make you contented with rainfall etc. Thus bhavayantah, nourishing; parasparam, one another; avapsyatha, you shall attain; the param, supreme; sreyah, Good, called Liberation, through the attainment of Knowledge;’ or, ‘you shall attain heaven-which is meant by param ‘sreyah.’ [The param sreyah (supreme Good) will either mean liberation or heaven in accordance with aspirant’s hankering for Liberation or enjoyment.] Moreover,
Swami Adidevananda
3.11 By this, please the gods, and the gods will support you. Thus nourishing one another, may you obtain the highest good.
Swami Gambirananda
3.11 ‘You nourish the gods with this. Let those gods nourish you. Nourishing one another, you shall attain the supreme Good.’
Swami Sivananda
3.11 With this do ye nourish the gods and may those gods nourish you; thus nourishing one another, ye shall attain to the highest good.
Commentaries
Swami Sivananda
3.11 देवान् the gods? भावयत nourish (ye)? अनेन with this? ते those? देवाः gods? भावयन्तु may nourish? वः you? परस्परम् one another? भावयन्तः nourishing? श्रेयः good? परम् the highest? अवाप्स्यथ shall attain.Commentary Deva literally means the shining one. By this sacrifice you nourish the gods such as Indra. The gods shall nourish you with rain? etc. the highest good is the attainment of the knowledge of the Self which frees one from the round of births and deaths. The highest good may mean the attainment of heaven also. The fruit depends upon the motive of the aspirant.