Bg. 8.14 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG 8.14

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Devanagari

अनन्यचेता: सततं यो मां स्मरति नित्यश: । तस्याहं सुलभ: पार्थ नित्ययुक्तस्य योगिन: ॥ १४ ॥

Verse text

ananya-cetāḥ satataṁ yo māṁ smarati nityaśaḥ tasyāhaṁ su-labhaḥ pārtha nitya-yuktasya yoginaḥ

Synonyms

ananya-cetāḥ — without deviation of the mind ; satatam — always ; yaḥ — anyone who ; mām — Me (Kṛṣṇa) ; smarati — remembers ; nityaśaḥ — regularly ; tasya — to him ; aham — I am ; su-labhaḥ — very easy to achieve ; pārtha — O son of Pṛthā ; nitya — regularly ; yuktasya — engaged ; yoginaḥ — for the devotee.

Translation

For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

14. The devotee who remembers Me daily, at all times, without deviation to other processes, persons or goals, and who desires association with Me, easily attains Me.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

14. The devotee who remembers Me daily, at all times, without deviation to other processes or goals, who desires association with Me in one of the primary relationships, easily attains Me.

Purport

This verse especially describes the final destination attained by the unalloyed devotees who serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead in bhakti-yoga. Previous verses have mentioned four different kinds of devotees – the distressed, the inquisitive, those who seek material gain, and the speculative philosophers. Different processes of liberation have also been described: karma-yoga, jṣāna-yoga and haṭha-yoga. The principles of these yoga systems have some bhakti added, but this verse particularly mentions pure bhakti-yoga, without any mixture of jṣāna, karma or haṭha. As indicated by the word ananya-cetāḥ, in pure bhakti-yoga the devotee desires nothing but Kṛṣṇa. A pure devotee does not desire promotion to heavenly planets, nor does he seek oneness with the brahma-jyotir or salvation or liberation from material entanglement. A pure devotee does not desire anything. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta the pure devotee is called niṣkāma, which means he has no desire for self-interest. Perfect peace belongs to him alone, not to them who strive for personal gain. Whereas a jṣāna-yogī, karma-yogī or haṭha-yogī has his own selfish interests, a perfect devotee has no desire other than to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord says that for anyone who is unflinchingly devoted to Him, He is easy to attain. A pure devotee always engages in devotional service to Kṛṣṇa in one of His various personal features. Kṛṣṇa has various plenary expansions and incarnations, such as Rāma and Nṛsiṁha, and a devotee can choose to fix his mind in loving service to any of these transcendental forms of the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee meets with none of the problems that plague the practitioners of other yogas. Bhakti-yoga is very simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin simply by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. The Lord is merciful to all, but as we have already explained, He is especially inclined toward those who always serve Him without deviation. The Lord helps such devotees in various ways. As stated in the Vedas ( Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23), yam evaiṣa vṛṇute tena labhyas/ tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanuṁ svām: one who is fully surrendered and engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord can understand the Supreme Lord as He is. And as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (10.10) , dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ tam: the Lord gives such a devotee sufficient intelligence so that ultimately the devotee can attain Him in His spiritual kingdom. The special qualification of the pure devotee is that he is always thinking of Kṛṣṇa without deviation and without considering the time or place. There should be no impediments. He should be able to carry out his service anywhere and at any time. Some say that the devotee should remain in holy places like Vṛndāvana or some holy town where the Lord lived, but a pure devotee can live anywhere and create the atmosphere of Vṛndāvana by his devotional service. It was Śrī Advaita who told Lord Caitanya, “Wherever You are, O Lord – there is Vṛndāvana.” As indicated by the words satatam and nityaśaḥ, which mean “always,” “regularly,” or “every day,” a pure devotee constantly remembers Kṛṣṇa and meditates upon Him. These are qualifications of the pure devotee, for whom the Lord is most easily attainable. Bhakti-yoga is the system that the Gītā recommends above all others. Generally, the bhakti-yogīs are engaged in five different ways: (1) śānta-bhakta, engaged in devotional service in neutrality; (2) dāsya-bhakta, engaged in devotional service as servant; (3) sakhya-bhakta, engaged as friend; (4) vātsalya-bhakta, engaged as parent; and (5) mādhurya-bhakta, engaged as conjugal lover of the Supreme Lord. In any of these ways, the pure devotee is always constantly engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Supreme Lord and cannot forget the Supreme Lord, and so for him the Lord is easily attained. A pure devotee cannot forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly the Supreme Lord cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment. This is the great blessing of the Kṛṣṇa conscious process of chanting the mahā-mantra – Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Having spoken of pradhānī bhūtā bhakti, bhakti mixed with karma, mentioned in ārto jijṣāsur arthārthī (BG 7.16), and with desire for liberation in jarā-maraṇa-mokṣāya (BG 7.29), and also bhakti mixed with yoga in this chapter (verse 9-13), now the Lord speaks of kevalā bhakti, the best bhakti, devoid of any material tinge. The mind of that devotee is free from performing other processes such as karma-yoga or jṣāna-yoga, [Note: The jṣāna-miśra-bhakta, referred to as the jṣānī in the enumeration of the four types does not have a desire for material results nor for liberation. Therefore he has not been mentioned in the previous sentence. However, the jṣāna-miśra-bhakta retains some elements of the jṣāna process while practicing bhakti and is thus distinguished from the kevala-bhakta who performs only bhakti.] free from worship of other persons or devatās, and free from other goals, such as attainment of Svarga or mokṣa. Thus he is called ananya-cetāḥ, with mind not thinking anything else except the Lord. He remembers Me every day, (nityaśaḥ), constantly (satatam), not depending upon appropriate time, place, person, or purity. I can be easily attained (sulabhaḥ) by that person, by that bhakti. It is not mixed with the difficulties encountered in practicing yoga, jṣāna or other processes. He constantly desires association with Me (nity-yuktasya). This grammatical form expresses desire in the future as well as the past. Yoginaḥ here refers to the person doing bhakti-yoga. Or it can mean a person who has a relationship (yoga) with the Lord, in dāsya, sākhya or other relationships.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

Having taught the process of bhakti mixed with yoga for those desiring liberation alone, the Lord now teaches pure bhakti, which was previously mentioned as eka bhakti in relation to the jṣāni with knowledge of the Lord who desired only the Lord. [Note: Baladeva seems to consider the jṣānī, and even the other three types of sakāma devotees as pariniṣtḥita, since they worship only the Lord through direct methods such as hearing and chanting about the Lord, whereas the saniṣṭha performs varṇāśrama activities and offers them to the Lord. However the jṇānī is the best of those and is equivalent to the ananya devotee mentioned in this verse. Viśvanātha however distinguishes the jṣānī among the four types from the ananya bhakta. The ananya bhakta is superior to all the four types. The nirapekṣa devotee does the same activities of bhakti as the parniṣthita devotee, but unlike the pariniṣṭḥita devotee, does not perform varnāśrama actions at all. The pariniṣṭhita devotee performs varnāśrama to set an example for others.] (BG 7.17) The person whose consciousness is in Me alone (ananya cetāḥ), not in any other method such karma or aṣṭāṅga yoga and not with any other goal such as svarga loka or liberation; who desires only Me; who through such processes of japa and deity worship, continually (satatam), every day (nityaśaḥ), without regard for time, place or purity, remembers Me, the Supreme Lord, who drinks the breast milk of Yaśodā, who appear in this world in many forms such as Nrsiṁha and Rāma, the only dear object—such a person easily attains Me, who am aware of his affection for Me. He attains Me easily, not encountering the difficulties in karma, aṣṭāṅga yoga or other processes. Tasya, in the genitive case, does not indicate that such a person is the agent or doer (tasya aham sulabhah: I am attained by that person) because of the forbiddance of genitive case being used to express an agent for certain words according to the rule na lokāvyaya.(Pāṇini 2.3.69) The implication of the genitive case in this verse is that though he attains Me, I am the cause or doer of his attainment (he is not the agent): I cannot tolerate separation from him, and thus I will show Myself to him. I am easy to attain for him, because I destroy the obstacles, and I perfect his sādhana. Śruti confirms this: yam evaiṣa vṛnute tena labhyas tasyaiṣa ātmā vivṛṇute tanūṁ svām The Lord is attained by that person alone whom the Lord chooses. He reveals His own form to that person. Mundaka Upaniṣad 3.2.3. Kṛṣṇa himself will say: dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te I give the devotee the means by which he attains Me. BG 10.10 What type of person is this? He always desires future union with Me (nitya yuktasya). This is understood from the sūtra āśaṁsāyāṁ bhūtavac ca: desire for a future event can be expressed using the past tense. (Pāṇini 3.3.132) He is a person related to Me (yoga) in dāsya, sakhya or other rasas (yoginaḥ). [Note: This is distinct from the yoga miśra bhakta described in the previous verse, who attains sālokya.]

Surrender Unto Me

Srila Prabhupada says in his Purport: " This verse especially describes the final destination attained by the unalloyed devotees who serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead in bhakti‑ yoga. Previous verses have mentioned four different kinds of devotees‑‑the distressed, the inquisitive, those who seek material gain, and the speculative philosophers. Different processes of liberation have also been described: karma‑yoga, jnana‑yoga and hatha‑yoga. The principles of these yoga systems have some bhakti added, but this verse particularly mentions pure bhakti‑yoga, without any mixture of jnana, karma or hatha. As indicated by the word ananya‑cetah, in pure bhakti‑yoga the devotee desires nothing but Krsna. A pure devotee doe desire promotion to heavenly planets, nor does he seek on with the brahmajyoti or salvation or liberation from material entanglement. A pure devotee does not desire anything. I Caitanya‑caritamrta the pure devotee is called niskama, which means he has no desire for self‑ interest. Perfect peace belongs to him alone, not to them who strive for personal gain. Whereas a jnana‑yogi, karma‑yogi or hatha‑yogi has his own selfish interests, a perfect devotee has no desire other than to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord says for anyone who is unflinchingly devoted to Him, He is ea attain." The devotee has no desires and because of that he is the only one who is peaceful. We think, in our illusion, that if we satisfy our desires we will be peaceful. But that is not the fact ‑ they are actually the cause of our misery and we shoul very eagerly weed them out. We view them as the cause of our pleasure but they are actually the cause of our misery. Only when we desire to serve Krsna, then we will attain real peace. Desireless means to have only desire to please Krsna. 'Ananya bhakti'. 'Ananya', without anything added, without deviation. 'Satatam', continuously, without breaking. 'Nitya', eternally, without deviation. 'Su‑labhah', this is the definition of pure devotional service: "Krsna is easy to obtain." One may then ask: "What is the result of always remember Krsna?" ‑ Because we don't come back to this material world. [ 2 . The result: Those pure souls do not return again to this temporary, miserable world of repeated birth and death. (15‑16) ]