Verse 9.31

Verse 9.31: “Speedily will he become a righteous soul and will (eventually) attain the Peace Eternal. O Son of Kunti, recognise full well that one devoted unto Me perishes not. (425)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

Do not be of the misbelief that My devotee becomes like Me at the appointed time in future: for how can one immersed in ambrosial waters suffer death? So long as the Sun has not risen, it is called night; even so all actions and life that are without devotion to Me must be reckoned sinful. Therefore, Oh Son of Pandu, My devotee is united with My Divine essence as soon as his mind reaches out to Me in intense faith and devotion. Like two lamps one kindling the other that cannot be marked off from the first, the devotee that worships Me with all his heart, is thereby inseparable from My eternal self. He then settles down in My Being, lustre and eternal Peace; indeed he lives in My life. How often, Oh Partha, should I repeat the same eternal truth? One eager to realize My divine life must not flinch from the path of devotion.

What is the use of high birth? Why boast of one’s family and breeding? And why brag of one’s learning? Why plume oneself on youthful charms? And wherefore trumpet the pride of wealth? All this is vain and comes to naught, for lack of passionate devotion to Me. Of what avail is the plenty of ears of com without grain? A beautiful city, if it is desolate, is no city. A dried up lake, or the meeting of two cripples in a jungle, or a tree laden with profusion of blossom but with no fruit—no value can be set on any of these. All the glory or pride of birth, caste and family is all vanity and meanness, when devotion to Me is not in the soul, such as a decent body beautiful but without life in it.

Cursed be the life without devotion to Me. Such life is nothing other than a stone-dead life. Just as the wise turn away from the shade of prickly pear, even so, real merit and worth (results of good action) shim the life without devotion. The bitter Nimb tree heavily laden with (bitter) fruit only becomes a rich and sumptuous festival to the crow; in the same way, even a rich life without devotion becomes the hot-bed of sin and vice. Like the richest of the dish that is served in an earthem pot, exposed to an open thorough-fare to become a feast to the dogs, the life of devotionless man is pitiable indeed, for he is a stranger to virtue and purity of heart, even in a dream, and his life is verily the bitterest cup of the miseries of mortal existence.

o a man of devotion and God’s love, the birth in a noble family is a trifle; he cares not if he belongs to the lowest caste, and with devotion and love of God, he would be glad to dwell even in the body of a beast. Remember how the elephant Gajendra, seized by a shark at the leg, devoutly prayed to Me for rescue, shuffled off his beastly life to realise the Divine being in Me.