On the other hand, there are people who are having disposition which is conducive to ātmā-jñānam.
mahātmānastu mām pārtha daivīm prakritik āśritāh |
bhajantyananyamanaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam ||9.13||
Pārtha (Arjuna)! Those of noble heart, on the other hand, who are given to a spiritual disposition, knowing Me as the imperishable cause of all beings and elements and being totally committed to Me, seek Me.
On the other hand one who has very different disposition from what were mentioned in previous verses, his/her disposition is given for spiritual growth - daivīm prakritik āśritāh, which is sattva-guna-pradhana. He/she is mahātmā - one who has big mind/heart. This person who has disposition characterised by self-control and compassion. ananyamanasah - one whose mind is undistracted, when one's goal of life is very clear, one can see the connection between one's action and his/her goal of life. This person seek Īśvara - mām jñātvā. What kind of Īśvara?
bhūtādim - the beginning of all beings, which is the very nature of all beings. avyayam - changeless, including all the modification from birth, exist, growth, turning point, decay and perish. Through a discrimination mind, he/she has lost interest in dharma-artha-kāma, and with this undistracted mind he seeks Īśvara alone. How does he seek?
satatam kīrtayanto mām yatantaśca drdhavratāh |
namasyantaśca mām bhaktyā nityayuktā upāsate ||9.14||
Those who are always appreciating Me and making the necessary efforts, whose commitment is firm and who remain surrendered to Me with devotion, who are always united to Me (with a prayerful heart), seek Me.
satatam kīrtayanto mām - always appreciate/praise Īśvara. How? By always studying the glories of him through śravanam, mananam and nididhyāsanam. Who are the people would do this? yatantah - one who makes necessary efforts. By just studying vedānta is not enough. One should have a mind which is not wavering from this pursue. It must started with resolution of the sense pursuits, means not acting upon one's fancies. Naturally this implies dama (mastery over the sense organs) at the physical level and śama (mastery over the mind) at the mental level. One must have a say over the senses and mind, not led away by them, then one can enjoy other values like ahimsā - non injury, dayā - compassion, etc. These all show the maturity of the person who is ready for ātmā-jñānam, and these values need effort to cultivate. Knowledge is easy, because it is as true as the subject matter (vastu-tantra), but the preparation for the mind where knowledge can take place is a life-long effort.
drdhavratāh - one whose commitment is firm. One committed only to moksa, doesn't waver by dharma-artha-kāma. What one seeks in life is very clear, whatever one's doing is inline with moksa pursuit alone. And one understands the fact that only ātmā-jñānam can free oneself. This is how firm their conviction and direction, unlike ignorance person who also wants to be free but his/her direction is wrong, therefore one lives a life full of dilemma, full of contradiction.
namasyantaśca mām bhaktyā - one who surrender to Īśvara with devotion. The whole pursuit is not possible without bhakti - devotion. From ārta - one who think of Īśvara only at the time of distress to jñāni - who is the culmination of bhakti, seeing oneself as no different from Īśvara, the recognition of Īśvara must be there otherwise equation is impossible, non-duality is impossible, then moksa pursuit is impossible. When devotion is there, one can't claim credit for any achievement because we recognised the limitation of everything in this transactional world. Therefore grace from Īśvara is needed, then we can get the grace from śāstra and guru. Last but not least grace from ātmā / oneself comes by all the virtues and commitment to see this oneness alone.
This prayerful attitude is born of understanding. If understanding is vague, the devotion is subject to waning. This devotion is for knowledge of Īśvara which is the knowledge of the one-self. So, Lord Krsna shows how a jñāni-bhakta exercise his/her devotion towards Īśvara.
jñānayajñena cāpyanye yajanto mām upāsate |
ekatvena prthaktvena bahudhā viśvatomukham ||9.15||
There are others too worshipping Me with the ritual of knowledge. In many ways they worship Me as the one who is many faceted, as one and as distinct.
jñānayajñena yajantah - one who is worshipping me through the ritual of knowledge. Knowledge alone is the ritual for this person, because he/she has outgrown all the rituals and only activities for him/her is worshipping Īśvara in the form of pursuit of ātmā-jñānam. This person is no other than a renunciate - sannyāsī.
mām upāsate viśvatomukham - they worship me in many faces / every aspect. upāsate - worship here through śravana, manana and nididhyāsana. Through brahma-jñānam, one understand the true nature of Īśvara as the very nature of all beings. They see all beings have their being in Īśvara alone, but Īśvara is distinct from them - ekatvena prthaktvena.
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