General

Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna to declare to all that His devotee never perishes. Even if the devotee is sinful right till his death, he is not destroyed and at the time of death, he does not fall. If the smārtas do not consider such a person proper if he has not performed atonement rites, Kṛṣṇa with slight anger says that one should declare in the assembly of smārtas that His devotee, if he commits sinful acts out of negligence, will not be destroyed. Such a devotee will not become separated from Kṛṣṇa or attain misfortune. Remembrance of Kṛṣṇa is the most powerful atonement.

Why does Kṛṣṇa ask Arjuna to declare this instead of doing it Himself? Being affectionate to His devotee and not tolerating even a slight degradation of His devotee, Kṛṣṇa would under all circumstances uphold the declaration made by His devotee, whereas He could break His own promise and accept criticism. Just as, in breaking His own promise in fighting with Bhīṣma, He fulfilled Bhīṣma’s promise. Thus, hearing a declaration from His mouth, the materialistic disputers would laugh, but they would accept Arjuna’s declaration as written on stone. Therefore, Kṛṣṇa asks Arjuna to make the declaration.

This world is temporary and full of miseries, not habitable for any sane gentleman. This world is declared by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be temporary and full of miseries. By saying the world is temporary (anitya), Kṛṣṇa negates the idea that the world is false. This world is temporary, but there is another world, which is eternal. This world is miserable, but the other world is eternal and blissful.

The Lord urges Arjuna, a saintly king, to worship Him after giving up the desire to enjoy this impermanent world. Kṛṣṇa asks Arjuna to engage his mind in always thinking of the Lord, to become His devotee, offer obeisances to Him and worship Him. Absorbing the mind and body in Kṛṣṇa, one would certainly reach Him. The Lord teaches here pure bhakti. One should always think of Kṛṣṇa. It is not sufficient to work hard for Kṛṣṇa while our minds wander. The king’s servant is not a real devotee of the king because, besides being dedicated to the king, he is also dedicated to his wife and other things. One’s mind should always be fixed, like an uninterrupted flow of honey, on Kṛṣṇa, who has a complexion of blue lotus. One should be absorbed in worshipping the Lord’s form and offer respects to that form with intense prema.

Unscrupulous commentators divert the mind of the reader by saying that it is not to Kṛṣṇa, but to the unborn within Kṛṣṇa that one has to surrender. Such commentators do not know that there is no difference between Kṛṣṇa's mind and Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is not an ordinary human being; He is Absolute Truth. His body, His mind and He Himself are one and absolute. This is stated in the Kūrma Purāṇa. But because the commentators do not know this science of Kṛṣṇa, they hide Kṛṣṇa and divide His personality from His mind or from His body. Although this is sheer ignorance of the science of Kṛṣṇa, some men make profit out of misleading people.

9.3 – Not achieving Kṛṣṇa, the faithless return to the path of death
9.4 – Kṛṣṇa pervades the universe and all beings rest on Him but He does not rest upon them
9.5 – Kṛṣṇa supports all beings and not resting on beings He causes creation
9.6 – To understand Kṛṣṇa - all beings rest on me – sarvāṇ bhūtāni māt-sthānīty upadhāraya
9.7 – At the end of the universe, all beings enter Kṛṣṇa. He sends them back at the beginning of another cycle.
9.8 – By Kṛṣṇa’s will the cosmic order is created and annihilated
9.9 – Kṛṣṇa is not attached to these actions
9.10- Material nature works under Kṛṣṇa’s direction
9.11 – The foolish misunderstand Kṛṣṇa’s human form without knowing His supreme nature.
9.13 – Mind on Kṛṣṇa - bhajanty ananya-manaso – serving with their minds focused on none other
9.14 – How yoga is construed with bhakti - nitya-yuktā upāsate – always absorbed in yoga they worship me
9.15 – Some worship Kṛṣṇa with the sacrifice of knowledge
9.16 – Kṛṣṇa is the form of sacrifice – the ritual, the sacrifice, the oblation etc
9.17 – Kṛṣṇa is the father, mother, creator and grandfather of the universe.
9.17 – Kṛṣṇa is syllable om, and the three Vedas
9.18 – Taking refuge in Kṛṣṇa - nivāsaḥ śaraṇam suhṛt – I am the abode, the refuge and dear friend
9.19- Kṛṣṇa gives heat, sends forth rains
9.19 – Kṛṣṇa is immortality and also death
9.20 – Those who worship Him with sacrifice seeks passage to the celestial realm
9.22 – Meditating on Kṛṣṇa - ananyāś cintayanto mām – Meditating on none other than Me
9.23 – Those who worship other gods worship Kṛṣṇa alone but in a wrong way
9.24 – Kṛṣṇa is the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices
9.25 – Coming to Kṛṣṇa - mad-yājino api mām – those who sacrifice for me come to me
9.26 – Kṛṣṇa accepts the simplest offering given with devotion
9.27 – All activities can be dedicated to Kṛṣṇa as an offering
9.28 – Coming to Kṛṣṇa - vimukto mām upaiṣyasi – Liberated, you shall come to me
9.29 – Even though He is neutral, Kṛṣṇa is specially inclined towards His devotee
9.30 – Even the greatest sinner is considered saintly if He has no goal other than Kṛṣṇa
9.31 – One who offers love to Kṛṣṇa is never lost
9.32 – Taking refuge in Kṛṣṇa - mām hi pārtha vyapāśritya – those who take shelter of me
9.33 – One has to engage in loving service to Kṛṣṇa having come to this miserable world
9.34 – Mind on Kṛṣṇa - man-manā – be mindful of me
9.34 – Coming to Kṛṣṇa - mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam – being absorbed in me, you will come to me
9.34 – How yoga is construed with bhakti - mām evaiśyasi yuktvaivam – you will come to me having absorbed your self in yoga

It is very difficult to know Kṛṣṇa that even the devatās and the great ṛṣis do not know about His extraordinary powers, since He is the source of the devas and the ṛṣis. Kṛṣṇa can be known only by His mercy. We cannot know Kṛṣṇa by our own limited abilities, but only when He reveals Himself to us. One should not think that the demigods cannot understand Kṛṣṇa because of their absorption in material pleasure, since even the sages, who are detached from sense gratification, cannot also know Him. The dangerous Māyāvādīs, in the garb of rasika devotees, who impose their limitations on Kṛṣṇa, cannot know the independent nature of the Lord.

Viśvanātha Cakravarti explains prabhavam (na me viduḥ sura-gaṇāḥ prabhavaṁ na maharṣayaḥ) to mean Kṛṣṇa’s birth from Devakī, which the devas and ṛṣis cannot understand. The word prabhavam also means opulences – the extent of Kṛṣṇa’s unlimited dazzling forms, qualities and powers – which the devas such as Brahmā or the ṛṣis such as Sanaka cannot understand. This is because Kṛṣṇa is their origin, the first cause in all ways, the cause of their appearance and the bestower of their intelligence and other qualities. Kṛṣṇa existed eternally before everything else. The conception of God as some ruling power or as the impersonal Brahman can be reached by persons who are in the inferior energy of the Lord, but the Personality of Godhead cannot be conceived unless one is in the transcendental position. Because most men cannot understand Kṛṣṇa in His actual situation, out of His causeless mercy He descends to show favor to such speculators.