Shloka

मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु |
मामेवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवमात्मानं मत्परायणः ||९-३४||

Transliteration

manmanā bhava madbhakto madyājī māṃ namaskuru .
māmevaiṣyasi yuktvaivamātmānaṃ matparāyaṇaḥ ||9-34||

Translations

Dr.S.Sankaranarayan

9.34. Have your mind fixed on Me; be My devotee; offer scrifice to Me; [and] pay homage to Me; thus fixing your self (internal organ) and having Me as your supreme goal, you shall certainly attain Me.

Shri Purohit Swami

9.34 Fix thy mind on Me, devote thyself to Me, sacrifice for Me, surrender to Me, make Me the object of thy aspirations, and thou shalt assuredly become one with Me, Who am thine own Self."

Sri Abhinav Gupta

9.32-34 Man hi etc; upto Matparayanah. Those who are of sinful birth : I.e., the animals, birds, reptiles etc. Women denotes the ignorant. Men of working class denotes those who find pleasure in different vocations, like agriculture etc. Men of the fourth caste : those who do not have any claim whatsoever for [performing] the Vedic rituals and whose livelihood depend on others. By taking refuge [solely] in Me, even these all attain Me alone. The deeds of the exceedingly compassionate Bhagavat, like the one granting liberation to a chief of the elephants are heard in thousands [in the Puranas]. Certainly it must be so, for those whose behaviour is just the opposite to that of these persons.

Some (commentators] declare : The present sentence [of the Lord] intends to glorify the twice-born and members of the ruling class, and it is not uttered with the intention of speaking of the attainment of liberation in the case of the women etc.

Indeed these persons [aim to] break into pieces the Graceous-to-all Power of the Bhagavat by foistering upon It, a limited applicability; likwise they do not tolerate the profoundly compassionate nature of the Absolute Lord; they contradict the [Lord’s own] statements ‘To Me none is hateful and none is dear (IX, 30)’, ‘Even a highly evil-doer etc. (IX, 31)’, and other similar statements, very clearly of the same import; with all effort they [strive to] bring in something indicative of duality even in the Absolute-being, Whose non-dual nature has been well established firmly by the diversity of the best reasonings; they are not mindful of other contradictions [that lurk in their theory] with the revealed literature; when simply estioned ‘How is this ?’ and ‘How is that ?’, these persons, having their internal organ totally possessed by the mighty devil of the caste [considerations], concealed within, and having their tongue, face and eyes all twisted by their sense of jealously, hypocrisy and shame-they prattle evil for the entire humanity; and thus they put upon themselves the status of being an object of ridicule. Therefore the above explanation [of ours] does good to all.

Sri Ramanuja

9.34 Focus your mind on Me; fix your mind on Me uninterruptedly like a continous stream of oil - on Me the Ruler of rulers, antagonistic to all that is evil, the sole abode of auspiciousness, omniscient, whose resolve is always true, the sole cause of the entire universe, the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Person; on Me, of long large eyes like a lotus petal; who has the complexion of a clear blue cloud; whose shining lustre is like that of a thousand suns simultaneously risen; on Me, the great ocean of the nectar of beauty; of four arms, noble and strong, and of brilliant yellow raiment; on Me, adorned with a pure crown, fish-shaped ear-rings, garlands, bracelet on the arms and bangles at the wrist; on Me, the ocean of infinite mercy, affability, beauty, sweetness, majesty, magnanimity and parental affection; on Me, the refuge of all without exception and without regard to their differences; on Me the Lord of all.

Sri Krsna again makes the same clear. Be My devotee. Be one whose mind is focussed on Me by contemplating on Me as exceedingly dear. Such is the meaning. He makes thie yet clearer. Be My worshipper, namely, become engaged in My worship, which you have begun to practise by your experience of Me as supremely dear and unlimited and unsurpassed. What is called worship is the conduct of one who realises that he is absolutely a subsidiary - (Sesa) of God. Worship consists also in offering all things of enjoyment such as waving of lights etc., all those things which come into bodily contact like garlands, sandal paste etc., and those meant for offering like food preparations and other edibles. The meaning is this: Let your mind be focussed on Me so as to be engaged in My worship, resulting from love which is unlimited and unsurpassed and which is born from the experience of Myself.

Again Sri Krsna expounds the same: Bow down to Me. Do not be satisfied only with services of one who is absolutely subsidiary to me. Do services which are incomparably dear and animated by an experience of Myself who is dear and unlimited and unsurpassed. Also bow down to Me in utter humility, regarding Me as the supreme goal, i.e., He who is the supreme abode and the supreme goal.

The meaning is that having resorted to Me, it is impossible for you to live without Me. Having disciplined the mind in this way and considering Me as the supreme goal, you will thus, through love which is unsurpassed and incomparable, obtain a mind which is fit for experiencing Me. You will then reach Me alone. Here the term Atman stands for the mind.

The import is that, holding Me as the sole support, possesing a mind of this kind, meditating on Me, experiencing Me, worshipping Me and bowing down to Me - you will reach Me alone. Thus, with such a turn of mind you carry on, for pleasing Me alone, your secular works for bodily sustenance and Vedic activities like obligatory and occasional rites, regarding them as actuated by Me and finding sole joy in absolute subservience to Me. You shall ever engage yourself in praising My names with love and in endeavouring to serve Me and bowing down to Me etc. You shall contemplate on the entire universe as being under My rule and being subsidiary (Sesa) to Me. Contemplating on the multitudes of My attributes, which are exceedingly dear to you, and practising every day this worship as described, you will reach Me alone.

Sri Shankaracharya

9.34 Manmana bhava, have your mind fixed on Me; [Here Ast. adds the word vasudeva.-Tr] and also be madbhakah, devoted to Me. Madyaji, sacrifice to Me, be engaged in sacrificing to Me. And namaskuru, bow down; only mam, to Me. Yuktva, by concentrating your mind; and mat-parayanah, by accepting Me as the supreme Goal; esyasi eva, you shall surely attain; mam, Me who am God. You shall attain Me evam atmanam, who am thus the Self: I indeed am the Self of all the beings, and am also the supreme Goal. You shall attain Me who am such. In this way, the word atmanam (Self) is to be connected with the preceding word mam (Me). This is the purport.

Swami Adidevananda

9.34 Focus your mind on Me, be My devotee, be my worshipper. Bow down to Me. Engaging your mind in this manner and regarding Me as the supreme goal, you will come to Me.

Swami Gambirananda

9.34 Having your mind fixed on Me, be devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, and bow down to Me. By concentrating your mind and accepting Me as the supreme Goal, you shall surely attain Me who am thus the Self.

Swami Sivananda

9.34 Fix thy mind on Me; by devoted to Me; sacrifice unto Me; bow down to Me; having thus united thy whole self to Me, taking Me as the supreme goal, thou shalt come unto Me.

Commentaries

Swami Sivananda

9.34 मन्मनाः with mind filled with Me? भव be thou? मद्भक्तः My devotee? मद्याजी sacrificing unto Me? माम्,unto Me? नमस्कुरु bow down? माम् to Me? एव alone? एष्यसि thou shalt come? युक्त्वा having united? एवम् thus? आत्मानम् the self? मत्परायणः taking Me as the Supreme Goal.Commentary Fill thy mind with Me. Fix your head? heart and hands on Me. Get your heart in tune with Me. Become a true worshipper. You will secure eternal bliss. Having known Me? you will cross beyond death.The whole being of man should be surrendered to the Lord without reservation. Then the whole life will undergo a wonderful transformation. You will have the vision of God everywhere. All sorrows and pains will vanish. Your mind will be one with the divine consciousness.Just as the potether becomes one with the universal ether when the limiting adjunct (pot) is broken? just as the Ganga and the Yamuna? leaving their names and forms become one with the ocean? so also the sage gets rid of Avidya and all sorts of limiting adjuncts through the direct realisation of the Self and becomes identical with Para Brahman.Yukta means steadied in thought? having thus fixed the mind on the Lord? knowing that I am the Self of all beings and the highest goal. (Cf.V.17VII.7?14XVIII.65)(This chapter is known by the name Adhyatma Yoga also.)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 ninth discourse entitledThe Yoga of the Kingly Science and the Kingly Secret.,