Bg. 9.31 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

BG 9.31

“ 100+

Devanagari

क्षिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा शश्वच्छान्तिं निगच्छति । कौन्तेय प्रतिजानीहि न मे भक्त: प्रणश्यति ॥ ३१ ॥

Verse text

kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati

Synonyms

kṣipram — very soon ; bhavati — becomes ; dharma-ātmā — righteous ; śaśvat-śāntim — lasting peace ; nigacchati — attains ; kaunteya — O son of Kuntī ; pratijānīhi — declare ; na — never ; me — My ; bhaktaḥ — devotee ; praṇaśyati — perishes.

Translation

He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O son of Kuntī, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

31. Very quickly he becomes a righteous person, and becomes completely devoid of contamination. O son of Kuntī, you declare that My devotee never perishes.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

31. Very quickly he becomes a righteous person, and becomes completely devoid of contamination. O son of Kuntī, you declare that My devotee never perishes.

Purport

This should not be misunderstood. In the Seventh Chapter the Lord says that one who is engaged in mischievous activities cannot become a devotee of the Lord. One who is not a devotee of the Lord has no good qualifications whatsoever. The question remains, then, How can a person engaged in abominable activities – either by accident or by intention – be a pure devotee? This question may justly be raised. The miscreants, as stated in the Seventh Chapter, who never come to the devotional service of the Lord, have no good qualifications, as is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Generally, a devotee who is engaged in the nine kinds of devotional activities is engaged in the process of cleansing all material contamination from the heart. He puts the Supreme Personality of Godhead within his heart, and all sinful contaminations are naturally washed away. Continuous thinking of the Supreme Lord makes him pure by nature. According to the Vedas, there is a certain regulation that if one falls down from his exalted position he has to undergo certain ritualistic processes to purify himself. But here there is no such condition, because the purifying process is already there in the heart of the devotee, due to his remembering the Supreme Personality of Godhead constantly. Therefore, the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare should be continued without stoppage. This will protect a devotee from all accidental falldowns. He will thus remain perpetually free from all material contaminations.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

“How can You accept the worship of such a sinful person? How can you eat the food and drink offered by a heart contaminated with lust and anger?” “Very quickly he becomes righteous.” The present is used and not the future to express the fact that having committed sin, by remembering the Lord, he becomes repentant, and thus very quickly becomes righteous. “O how unfortunate I am! There is no one as low as I, bringing bad name to the devotees.” Repeatedly (śaśvat), he feels completely (ni for nitarām) disgust (śāntim) for those actions. Or, the use of the present tense can indicate that in the future he will develop righteousness fully, but even right now it exists in a subtle form. After taking medicine, though the destructive effects of fever or poison remains for some time, it is not considered seriously. Thus, with the entrance of bhakti in his mind, the sinful actions are not taken seriously. And the traces of sin such as lust and anger should be considered insignificant, like the biting of a toothless snake. Thus he attains (nigacchati) complete cessation of lust and anger (śāntim) permanently (śaśvat). In nigacchati, ni stands for nitarām, completely. This means that even during the stage of having tendency to commit sin, he has a pure heart. “If he eventually becomes righteous there would be no argument. However, if a devotee is sinful right up till his death, what is his position?” The Lord, affectionate to His devotees, then speaks loudly with a little anger. “O son of Kuntī, My devotee is not destroyed. At the time of death, he does not fall.” “But arguers with harsh tongues will not respect this.” Kṛṣṇa then encourages the worried, lamenting Arjuna. “O Kaunteya, going to the squabbling assembly, with a tumultuous sound of drums, throwing your hands in the air, you should fearless declare this.” “Declare what?” “Declare that My devotee, the devotee of the Supreme Lord, though committing sin, does not perish, but rather reaches success. Arguments defeated, pride deflated, they should undoubtedly respect you as a guru.” This is Śrīdhara Svāmī’s explanation. But why does the Lord order Arjuna to declare this, when He could do it himself? As He will say later, mām evaiṣyasi satyaṁ te pratijāne priyo’si me: I declare to you that you will truly come to Me. You are very dear to Me.” (BG 18.65) In the same way, why does He not now say, “I declare, Kaunteya, that My devotee does not perish.”? The reason is explained here. The Lord considered as follows. Being affectionate to My devotee and not tolerating even a slight degradation of My devotee, I will under all circumstances uphold the declaration made by My devotee, whereas I can break My own promise and accept criticism of Myself—just as, in breaking My own promise in fighting with Bhīṣma, I fulfilled Bhīṣma’s promise. Thus, hearing a declaration from My mouth, the materialistic disputers will laugh, but they will accept Arjuna’s declaration as if written on stone. Therefore, I will have Arjuna make the declaration. And thus, one should not accept the statements of the falsely intelligent persons, who, after hearing about ananyā bhakti even of the greatest sinner, think that this declaration made by the pure devotee cannot apply in cases where attachment to wife and children, sinful acts, lamentation, illusion, lust, anger and other despicable qualities manifest.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

“It is said: nāvirato duścaritān nāśānto nāsamāhitaḥ nāśanto manaso vāpi pṛajṣānenainam āpnuyāt He who has not given up evil deeds, who is not peaceful or in control of his senses or mind cannot attain the Lord even through knowledge. Kaṭha Upaniṣad 2.24 How then can You consider them proper, if the scriptures say that such sinful persons are averse to You?” “That statement concerns persons whose very nature is sinful. But one who exclusively worships Me is purified of his incidental sinful acts by Me, the Lord of all beings, who am most purifying, because I hold that devotee in My mind. He then very quickly becomes steady in proper conduct (dharmātmā). Continually repenting his previous acts (śaśvat), he attains (nigacchati) complete cessation (śantim) of all those sinful acts which are obstacles to remembering Me.” “The smārtas will not consider such a person proper if he has not performed atonement rites.” Controlled by attraction to His devotee, the Lord then replies with slight anger. “O son of Kuntī! Going to that assembly of smartas, declare, “My exclusive devotee, if he commits sinful acts out of negligence, is not destroyed. He does not become separated from Me and attain misfortune. Rather, purified by Me, who am most purifying, he shines with qualification to attain Me. The smṛtis say: sva-pāda-mūlam bhajataḥ priyasya tyaktānya-bhāvasya hariḥ pareśaḥ vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathaṣcid dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ One who has thus given up all other engagements and has taken full shelter at the lotus feet of Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is very dear to the Lord. Indeed, if such a surrendered soul accidentally commits some sinful activity, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated within everyone’s heart, immediately takes away the reaction to such sin. SB 11.5.42 What was said was in relation to smarta atonement, which is meant for those following smarta rules, those other than My exclusive devotees. But remembrance of Me is effective as atonement for My devotees.” The Lord addresses Arjuna as son of Kuntī to indicate that this claim should be announced by a person of noble family, rather than of bad family.

Surrender Unto Me

Because Krsna is sometimes known to be breaking His promises, He asked His devotee to declare that boldly, because Krsna always keeps the word of His devotee. Viswanatha C. Thakura says in this connection: "Such an irreligious man who is rendering service, how do You accept his service? His heart is polluted by lust, greed, anger and his offerings are polluted by such things..." Krsna answers: "Very quickly he becomes 'dharmatma', righteous, and I accept him. (Krsna has not used the future tense. He didn't say: He very quickly will become 'dharmatma'.) Very quickly he becomes 'dharmatma' because he laments remembering Krsna again and again. Because of lamentation, his heart burns. He thinks: "Alas, alas, there is no other devotee like me. I am a 'black spot' for devotees!" Again and again he curses himself. 'Sasvat' means again and again. 'Santim', he becomes purified due to comdemning himself. Or, one can take it in this way: "Such a person even 'duracari', with improper or low activities, possesses righteousness within him in a subtle form. He is taking the medicine of devotion, and although the fever remains he doesn't fear, he knows that the fever, the improper activities, will go away by the power of the medicine or devotional service. The improper activities of such a devotee are like snakes with their fangs removed. And he obtains eternal peace (sasvat‑santim), for his lust, greed, etc, will go away to never return. Arjuna says: "I understand he becomes 'dharmatma', there is no dispute, but if he remains 'duracari', does abominable activities during his life, should we still consider him a sadhu?" Krsna become angry, His eyes become enlarged, He says:"Kaunteya‑pratijanihi", My devotee never perishes! Even if he dies he does not go down." When Krsna said like this, Arjuna put his hand on his head and said in a great worry: "Many people will not agree." And he became morose. "How can I help them to understand this fact?" Krsna says: "Take mrdangas, take karatalas, take drums and bang everything loudly and go to where they are speaking like this and raise both hands on the ai take a vow, take a oath in My name and say like this: "The devotee of the Lord even if improperly behaving, will never perish!" And when you speak like this, all the people will fall at your feet and say:" Maharaja you are my guru!" But why is Krsna Himself not taking this oath? He Himself in the 18th Chapter will take a vow. Why doesn't He take it here? The Lord before speaking thought for a moment: "I like My devotees very much, and I can't tolerate problems put upon them. I always protect My devotees and in this battlefield I have to break My own word when Arjuna will be fighting with Bhisma. People will say: 'O He has spoken so many words, but He broke them.' But they know that Arjuna's words are 'like lines on a stone'. Krsna therefore thought: 'Arjuna, not Me, should make this vow!' Some people say 'duracar' means 'not improper behaviour, but just attachment to wife and family', but such interpretations shouldn't be accepted. This is why the devotee should surrender to Krsna, because Krsna is so kind and merciful to His devotees in so many ways. Because He is a personal guide and He personally takes interest in His devotee. Not only Krsna tells Arjuna to declare it boldly that His devotees will never perish even if they are lax, but also He says: [3. By thinking of Krsna, offering Him obeisances, and becoming absorbed in Him, one, regardless his position, will go back to Godhead. (32‑34) ]