यो मामेवमसम्मूढो जानाति पुरुषोत्तमम् |
स सर्वविद्भजति मां सर्वभावेन भारत || 19||
yo mām evam asammūḍho jānāti puruṣhottamam
sa sarva-vid bhajati māṁ sarva-bhāvena bhārata
yaḥ—who; mām—Me; evam—thus; asammūḍhaḥ—without a doubt; jānāti—know; puruṣha-uttamam—the Supreme Divine Personality; saḥ—they; sarva-vit—those with complete knowledge; bhajati—worship; mām—Me; sarva-bhāvena—with one’s whole being; bhārata—Arjun, the son of Bharat
Translation:
He who, undeluded, knows Me thus as the Supreme Self— he knows all, Ο Bhārata, and he worships Me with all his heart.
Commentary:
One’s devotion to a person or thing is formed by his understanding of his true nature to some extent. The more he knows the excellence of a person, the more he loves him and the more he is devoted to him. Thus if a person knows the true nature of Paramatma, his devotion would be real and immovable. The Lord is Eternal, the essence of all bliss and blessedness. He is higher than the perishable body and the imprisoned Jiva. He is freedom and He is perfection. Such is the Supreme Purusha. It is declared here that he who knows the Lord as such, would worship Him with his whole being. If a man worships an Avatara or a saint only after knowing him as the real Purushottama, then only he will get the full benefit of such worship.
Asammudhah: He should be free from delusion. Ignorance is nothing else but the feeling of attachment to perishable things. Understanding of Atma as the only Eternal Reality is Knowledge.
Sah sarvavit: He who understands the Supreme Purusha is declared to be all-knowing. He is the knower of all. Brahmajnana alone is complete knowledge. Knowledge of all other things does not confer perfection of knowledge on man.
Knowledge of Paramatma brings with it knowledge of everything in the world. Paramatma being known, everything is known. All the sciences and arts, all the Sastras and the Vedas, are in Him. So to know Him is to know all. Such a man becomes all-knowing (‘sarvavit‘).
Sarvabhavena: As one realises the true nature of Paramatma, his faith in Him becomes strong and firm. Then he worships Him in every way, with all his heart and soul. When it is clearly seen that the objective world is every moment a vanishing dream, one naturally turns to the only reality, the Drik (seer) Atma. The whole-hearted and undivided worship of the Lord is emphasised here, and in many places too ( tameva saranam gaccha sarva bhavena bharata 18.62). The mind should not split into two channels – God and the world, because where the world rules, God is far away, and where God rules the heart, the world is far away. It would be utterly foolish to imagine that one can attain Atma, while every moment he is oppressed by the demands of the flesh and the desires of the mind. The seeker should have perfect mental non-attachment to the world and think of the Lord only. This fulness of devotion, the hundred percent concentration on the Lord, should be acquired by long practice and ceaseless effort.
Question: Who worships the Lord with the whole-heart?
Answer: He who is freed from delusion, and understands that the supreme Purusha is higher than the Kshara and Akshara Purushas, worships him with heart and soul.
Question: How should the Lord be worshipped?
Answer: With a full and undivided mind (Sarvabavena).