ये तु धर्मामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते ।
श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रियाः ॥
ye tu dharmāmṛtam idaṁ yathoktaṁ paryupāsate |
śraddadhānā mat-paramā bhaktās te’tīva me priyāḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhagavad-gītā: 12.20)
“But those bhaktas who take shelter in this dharma—[this] nectar—as [thus] described [by me], being endowed with faith (śraddhā) and devoted to me, are exceedingly dear to me.”
Commentary
uktaṁ dharma-jātaṁ saphalam upasaṁharati—ye tv iti | yathoktam ukta-prakāram | dharma evāmṛtam | amṛtatva-sādhanatvāt | dharmyāmṛtam iti kecit paṭhanti | ye tad upāsate’nutiṣṭhanti śraddhāṁ kurvantaḥ | mat-parāś ca santaḥ | mad-bhaktās te’tīva me priyā iti |
(Subodhinī-ṭikā)
“He [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] summarizes the aforementioned category of characteristics [i.e., the characteristics of a bhakti-yogī devoted to him] along with the fruit [thereof]: ye tu … [i.e., he states this verse]. ‘As described’ (yathoktam) means of the aforementioned type. [Dharmāmṛtam means] The dharma [of bhaki-yoga] is [equated with] nectar because of [its] being a means of attaining immortality. Some read [the text as] dharmyāmṛtam [instead of dharmāmṛtam]. Those bhaktas of mine who take shelter in, that is, practice, this [dharma], having faith (śraddhā), and being devoted to me—are exceedingly dear to me.”
uktān bahu-vidha-sva-bhakta-niṣṭhān dharmān upasaṁharan kārtsnyenaital-lipsūnāṁ tac-chravaṇa-paṭhana-vicāraṇādi-phalam āha—ye tv iti | ete bhakty-uttha-śānty-uttha-dharmā na prākṛtā guṇāḥ ‘bhaktyā tuṣyati kṛṣṇo na guṇaiḥ’ ity ukta-koṭitaḥ | tu bhinnopakrame ukta-lakṣaṇā bhaktā ekaika-susvabhāva-niṣṭhāḥ | ete tu tat-tat-sarva-sal-lakṣaṇepsavaḥ sādhakā api tebhyaḥ siddhebhyo’pi śreṣṭhāḥ | ataevāteti padam |
(Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā)
“Summarizing the aforementioned characteristics situated in various types of his own bhaktas, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] describes the result of hearing, studying, deliberating, and so forth in regard to these [characteristics] on the part of those desirous of [attaining] them in full: ye tu … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. These are characteristics arising from the peace (śānti) [i.e., from the withdrawal of the senses from all objects except the forms, qualities, and so forth of Śrī Bhagavān as a result of the disappearance of desire for objects of the senses, as was explained in BG 12.12] arising from bhakti are not mundane qualities as per the crores of statements [to the effect that], ‘Kṛṣṇa is pleased by bhakti and not by [mundane] qualities.’ ‘But’ (tu) is in the sense of the beginning of a distinction [i.e., a separate subject]: the bhaktas of the aforestated characteristics [in BG 12.14–19] are possessed of an excellent disposition of one type or another, but (tu) those sādhakas who are desirous of all of these respective [aforementioned] excellent characteristics are better than even those accomplished [bhaktas, i.e., than those bhaktas who have attained only one characteristic among the aforementioned]. Therefore, the word ‘exceedingly’ (atīva) [is used to describe these sādhakas desirous of all these characteristics, meaning, they are even more dear to me].”
ukta-bhakti-yogam upasaṁharan tasmin niṣṭhā-phalam āha—ye tv iti | ye bhaktā yathoktaṁ ‘mayy āveśya mano ye mām’ ity ādibhir yathā-gatam idaṁ dharmāmṛtaṁ paryupāsate prāpyaṁ mām iva prāpakaṁ tat samāśrayanti | śraddadhānā bhakti-śraddhālavo mat-paramā man-niratās te mamātīva priyā bhavanti |
(Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā)
“Summarizing the aforementioned practice (yoga) of bhakti, he [i.e., Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa] describes the result of fixity therein: ye tu … [i.e., he speaks BG 12.20]. This dharma, [this] nectar, as presented by [the statements beginning with BG 12.2], ‘Absorbing the mind in me, they who worship me, being ever intent [upon me] and endowed with higher faith (śraddhā), are considered the foremost yogīs by me’—those bhaktas who take shelter in this, that is, who fully take shelter in this means of attainment just as [they do] in me, the object to be attained, being endowed with faith (śraddhā), that is, endowed with faith in bhakti, and devoted to me, that is, fully intent upon me, are exceedingly dear to me.”