Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9 Summary verse 26 34

 

verse 1-3 Knowledge
verse 4-10 Inconceivable Lord
verse 11-25 Who neglects Bhakti
Verse  26-34 Glories of Devotional Service

Life Lessons
One can attain liberation by simply serving the Lord
Everything is created maintained and sustained by Lord Krishna
Krishna supplies what devotee lacks, and preserve what they have.. 
Krishna assures reaching his supreme abode upon complete surrendering 
Krishna accepts any offering by devotee with love and affection
The lord is always impartial to everyone
The process of devotional service is always success

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9, Verse 11

अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम् |
परं भावमजानन्तो मम भूतमहेश्वरम् || 11||

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣhīṁ tanum āśhritam
paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśhvaram

avajānanti—disregard; mām—Me; mūḍhāḥ—dim-witted; mānuṣhīm—human; tanum—form; āśhritam—take on; param—divine; bhāvam—personality; ajānantaḥ—not knowing; mama—My; bhūta—all beings; mahā-īśhvaram—the Supreme Lord

avajananti mam mudha manushim tanum ashritam
param bhavam ajananto mama bhuta-maheshvaram

Translation

BG 9.11: When I descend in My personal form deluded persons are unable to recognize Me. They do not know the divinity of My personality, as the Supreme Lord of all beings.

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9, Verse 14

सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां यतन्तश्च दृढव्रता: |
नमस्यन्तश्च मां भक्त्या नित्ययुक्ता उपासते || 14||

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaśh cha dṛiḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaśh cha māṁ bhaktyā nitya-yuktā upāsate

satatam—always; kīrtayantaḥ—singing divine glories; mām—Me; yatantaḥ—striving; cha—and; dṛiḍha-vratāḥ—with great determination; namasyantaḥ—humbly bowing down; cha—and; mām—Me; bhaktyā—loving devotion; nitya-yuktāḥ—constantly united; upāsate—worship

satatam kirtayanto mam yatantash cha dridha-vratah
namasyantash cha mam bhaktya nitya-yukta upasate

Translation

BG 9.14: Always singing My divine glories, striving with great determination, and humbly bowing down before Me, they constantly worship Me in loving devotion.

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9, Verse 26

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति |
तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मन: || 26||

patraṁ puṣhpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ           yo me bhaktyā prayach-chhati
ta-da-haṁ bhaktyupah-ṛitam        aśhnāmi prayatāt-manaḥ

patram—a leaf; puṣhpam—a flower; phalam—a fruit; toyam—water; yaḥ—who; me—to Me; bhaktyā—with devotion; prayachchhati—offers; tat—that; aham—I; bhakti-upahṛitam—offered with devotion; aśhnāmi—partake; prayata-ātmanaḥ—one in pure consciousness

patram pushpam phalam toyam yo me bhaktya prayachchhati
tadaham bhaktyupahritam ashnami prayatatmanah

Translation

BG 9.26: If one offers to Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I delightfully partake of that item offered with love by My devotee in pure consciousness.

Commentary

Having established the benefits of worshipping the Supreme, Shree Krishna now explains how easy it is to do so.  In the worship of the devatās and the ancestors, there are many rules to propitiate them, which must be strictly followed.  But God accepts anything that is offered with a loving heart.  If you have only a fruit, offer it to God, and He will be pleased.  If there is no fruit available, offer Him a flower.  If it is not the season for flowers, offer God a mere leaf; even that will suffice, provided it is a gift of love.  If leaves are also scarce, make an offering of water, which is available everywhere, but ensure again that you do it with devotion.  The word bhaktyā has been used in both the first and second lines of the verse.  It is the bhakti of the devotee that is pleasing to God, and not the worth of the offering.

By making this wonderful statement, Shree Krishna reveals the merciful divine nature of God.  He is not concerned with the material value of our offering.  Rather, He values, above everything else, the love with which we make the offering.  Thus, the Hari Bhakti Vilas states:

tulasī-dala-mātreṇa jalasya chulukena cha

vikrīṇīte svam ātmānaṁ bhaktebhyo bhakta-vatsalaḥ   (11.261)

“If you offer God with sincere love, just a Tulsī leaf and as much water as you can hold in your palm, He will offer Himself to you in return because He is endeared by love.”  How wonderful it is that the Supreme Master of unlimited universes, whose glorious qualities and virtues are amazing beyond description, and by whose mere thought multitudes of universes come into existence and disappear again, accepts even the most humble offering of His devotee that is given with genuine love.  The word used here is prayatātmanaḥ, implying, “I accept the offerings of those whose hearts are pure.”

The Shreemad Bhagavatam contains exactly the same verse as the above verse of the Bhagavad Gita.  While eating dry rice at the house of His friend, Sudama, Shree Krishna said:

patraṁ puṣhpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayachchhati

tadahaṁ bhaktyupahṛitam aśhnāmi prayatātmanaḥ   (10.81.4)

“If one offers Me with devotion, a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or even water, I delightfully partake of that article offered with love by My devotee in pure consciousness.”

Whenever God descends upon the earth, He exhibits this quality in His divine Pastimes.  Before the Mahabharat war, when Shree Krishna went to Hastinapur to explore the possibility of fashioning an agreement between the Kauravas and Pandavas, the evil Duryodhan had proudly prepared for Him a meal with fifty-six different items.  However, Shree Krishna rejected his hospitality and instead went to the humble hut of Vidurani, who had been longing deeply for the opportunity to serve her beloved Lord.  Vidurani was overjoyed on receiving the Supreme Lord at her home.  All she had to offer was bananas, but her intellect so benumbed with loving sentiments that she did not even realize she was dropping the fruit and putting the banana peels in His mouth.  Nevertheless, seeing her devotion, Shree Krishna blissfully ate the peels, as if they were the most delicious food in the world. 

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 9, Verse 34

मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु |
मामेवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवमात्मानं मत्परायण: || 34||

man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru
mām evaiṣhyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ

mat-manāḥ—always think of Me; bhava—be; mat—My; bhaktaḥ—devotee; mat—My; yājī—worshipper; mām—to Me; namaskuru—offer obeisances; mām—to Me; eva—certainly; eṣhyasi—you will come; yuktvā—united with Me; evam—thus; ātmānam—your mind and body; mat-parāyaṇaḥ—having dedicated to Me

man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru
mam evaishyasi yuktvaivam atmanam mat-parayanah

Translation

BG 9.34: Always think of Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, and offer obeisance to Me. Having dedicated your mind and body to Me, you will certainly come to Me.

Commentary

Having stressed bhakti, the path of devotion, throughout this chapter, Shree Krishna now concludes it by entreating Arjun to become His devotee.  He asks Arjun to unite his consciousness with God in true Yog, by worshipping Him, engaging the mind in meditation upon His divine form, and offering obeisance in pure humility to Him. 

Namaskuru (the act of humble obeisance) effectively neutralizes vestiges of egotism that may arise in the performance of devotion.  Thus, free from pride, with the heart immersed in devotion, one should dedicate all one’s thoughts and actions to the Supreme.  Shree Krishna assures Arjun that such complete communion with Him through bhakti-yog will definitely result in the attainment of God-realization; of this, there should be no doubt.