Verse 12.20
Speaker: Krishna
Sanskrit
ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते | श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रियाः ||२०||
Transliteration (IAST)
ye tu dharmyāmṛtam idaṁ yathoktaṁ paryupāsate | śraddadhānā mat-paramā bhaktās te 'tīva me priyāḥ ||20||
Word-by-Word Meanings
Translation
But those who follow this immortal dharma as declared here, endowed with faith, regarding Me as the supreme goal - such devotees are exceedingly dear to Me.
Commentary
The chapter concludes with the superlative 'atīva me priyāḥ' (exceedingly dear to Me), surpassing the earlier 'sa me priyaḥ.' Ramanuja notes that 'dharmyāmṛtam' (immortal dharma) refers to the entire teaching of devotion presented in this chapter. Shankaracharya sees this as Krishna's final seal: those who practice this teaching with faith attain the highest relationship with God.