तेषां ज्ञानी नित्ययुक्त एकभक्ितर्विशिष्यते।
प्रियो हि ज्ञानिनोऽत्यर्थमहं स च मम प्रियः।।7.17।।
7.17 Of them, the man of Knowledge, endowed with constant steadfastness and one-pointed devotion, excels. For I am very much dear to the man of Knowledge, and he too is dear to Me.
7.17 Of them the wise, ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excels (is the best); for I am exceedingly dear to the wise and he is dear to Me.
7.17. Of them, the man of wisdom, being always attached [to Me] with single-pointed devotion excels [others]. For, I am dear to the man of wisdom above all personal gains and he is dear to Me.
7.17 तेषाम् of them? ज्ञानी the wise? नित्ययुक्तः ever steadfast? एकभक्तिः whose devotion is to the One? विशिष्यते excels? प्रियः dear? हि verily? ज्ञानिनः of the wise? अत्यर्थम् exceedingly? अहम् I? सः he? च and? मम of Me? प्रियः dear.Commentary Ekabhaktih means unswerving? singleminded devotion to the Supreme Being.The JnaniBhakta is beyond all cults or creeds or formal religion or rules of society. As the wise man is constantly harmonised and as he is devoted to the One? he is regarded as superior to all the other devotees. As I am his very Self or Antaratma? I am extremely dear to him. Everybody loves his own Self most. The Self is very dear to everybody. The wise man is My very Self and he is ear to Me also. (Cf.II.49IX.29XII.14?17and19)
7.17 Tesam, of them, among the four; jnani, the man of Knowledge, the knower of Reality, is nitya-yuktah, endowed with constant steadfastness as a result of being a knower of Reality; and he also becomes eka-bhaktih, endowed with one-pointed devotion, because he finds no one else whom he can adore. Conseently, that person of one-pointed devotion visisyate, excels, becomes superior, i.e. he surpasses (the others). Hi, since; I, the Self, am priyah, dear; jnaninah, to the man of Knowledge; therefore aham, I; am atyartham, very much; priyah, dear to him. It is indeed a well known fact in the world that the Self is dear. The meaning, therefore, is that Vasudeva, being the Self of the man of Knowledge, is dear to him. And sah, he, the man of Knowledge, being the very Self of Me who am Vasudeva; is very much priyah, dear; mama, to Me. If that be so, then the other three-the afflicted and the others-are not dear to Vasudeva? This is not so! What then?
7.17 See Comment under 7.19
7.17 Of these four, the man of knowledge is the foremost. Why? Because of being ever with Me in Yoga and devoted to the One only. To the man of knowledge the attainment of Myself being the only end in view, he is ever with Me. As for the others, they contemplate on Me only until the fulfilment of their desires. But to the man of knowledge, there is single-minded devotion to Me only. Unlike him, the others, want only the objects of their desire and they are devoted to Me only as a means for gaining them. Hence he, the man of knowledge, alone is the foremost. Further I am very dear to the man of knowledge. Here the term artha in relation to the expression athyartham denotes what cannot be expressed adeately. That is, even I, the omniscient and omnipotent, is unable to express how much I am dear to the Jnanin, since there is no such limit as this much for this love. Such is the meaning. As in the case of Prahlada, the foremost among men of knowledge, it is said: But he with his thoughts firmly fixed on Krsna while being bitten by the great serpents, felt no pain from the wounds, being immersed in rapturous recollections of Him (V. P., 1.17.39). I reciprocate this love infinitely.
Among these four types who are qualified with bhakti, who is the best? Among them the jnanl is the best. He is absorbed in me constantly (nitya yukta). This means that because his consciousness has been brought under control by practice of jnana, he has full concentration in the mind. The other three types do not have this quality. “But does the jnani just worship you out of fear that his jnana will be ineffective without bhakti?” No, he has bhakti predominantly (eka bhaktih), not like other jnanis who have a predominance of jnana or he has great attachment to the process of bhakti alone, and is a jnani in name only. I, in the form of Syamasundara, am exceedingly (atyartham) dear to such a jnani. He cannot give me up either in the stage of sadhana or perfection. I also hold him very dear. This is according to the reasoning that in proportion of surrender to me, I respond to them.
Lord Krishna states that from the previous four classes the jnani or knower of the Supreme Lord is the best. This is because such a jnani is nitya yukta or eternally in communion and eka bhaktir or exclusively devoted to the Supreme Lord. Only a person endowed with spiritual intelligence and no other is it possible to be immersed in communion with the Supreme Lord with one-pointed devotion. This is because such an evolved being totally free from all ego conceptions and identifications of the physical body has no mental disturbances and physical disruptions to unbalance their equilibrium. Due to this the Supreme Lord is very dear to them and they are also very dear to the Supreme Lord. Thus for these reasons the jnani excels above the rest.
Devotion only to the Supreme Lord Krishna alone is considered to be exclusive devotion. This is confirmed in the Garuda Purana where it states: Devotion to the Supreme Lord only and nothing else is considered to be singular devotion.
Of the previous four classes the jnanis or the knowers of the Supreme Lord are distinctly distinguished as they are nitya-yukta or eternally connected and eka-bhaktir or exclusively devoted to the Supreme Lord Krishna by reason of His being their only goal. Others merely establish relationships with Him for selfish purposes in hope of gaining desired material objects. But from the knowers of the Supreme Lord emerge the lovers of the Supreme Lord, who regard Him as the most cherished objective of their existence and thus they are His elect. Tyartham means the most, even beyond description. This love for the Supreme Lord Krishna is so deep and overflowing that even for Him as the Supreme Lord who is omniscient and omnipotent it is difficult to fathom. Such love for Him has no limitations assigned to it as evidenced in the case of Prahlad, the pre-eminent among the jnanis who although was persecuted many times to die on the order of his demon; never was even slightly harmed, so much was his mind blissfully absorbed in devotion to the Supreme Lord, transported by the rapture induced by constant remembrance of Him. Such a devotee is blissfully loved by the Supreme Lord as well in reciprocation.
Of the previous four classes the jnanis or the knowers of the Supreme Lord are distinctly distinguished as they are nitya-yukta or eternally connected and eka-bhaktir or exclusively devoted to the Supreme Lord Krishna by reason of His being their only goal. Others merely establish relationships with Him for selfish purposes in hope of gaining desired material objects. But from the knowers of the Supreme Lord emerge the lovers of the Supreme Lord, who regard Him as the most cherished objective of their existence and thus they are His elect. Tyartham means the most, even beyond description. This love for the Supreme Lord Krishna is so deep and overflowing that even for Him as the Supreme Lord who is omniscient and omnipotent it is difficult to fathom. Such love for Him has no limitations assigned to it as evidenced in the case of Prahlad, the pre-eminent among the jnanis who although was persecuted many times to die on the order of his demon; never was even slightly harmed, so much was his mind blissfully absorbed in devotion to the Supreme Lord, transported by the rapture induced by constant remembrance of Him. Such a devotee is blissfully loved by the Supreme Lord as well in reciprocation.
Teshaam jnaanee nityayukta eka bhaktirvishishyate; Priyo hi jnaanino’tyarthamaham sa cha mama priyah.
teṣhām—amongst these; jñānī—those who are situated in knowledge; nitya-yuktaḥ—ever steadfast; eka—exclusively; bhaktiḥ—devotion; viśhiṣhyate—highest; priyaḥ—very dear; hi—certainly; jñāninaḥ—to the person in knowledge; atyartham—highly; aham—I; saḥ—he; cha—and; mama—to me; priyaḥ—dear
