Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya 241

Srimad Bhagavad Gita -Ramanujacharya

Chapter-7 Adhyātma Yogaḥ

teṣāṃ jñānī nitya-yukta eka bhaktir-viśiṣyate | priyo hi jñānino’tyartham ahaṃ sa ca mama priyaḥ || 17 || 17. Of these, the wise, being ever steadfast and devoted to the One only, is the foremost; for I am inexpressibly dear to the wise and he too is dear to Me. Commentary Of these four, ‘the wise’ is the foremost. Why? Because of being constantly attached to Krishna and being single-minded in devotion to Him alone. The wise person has only one goal, that is to attain Krishna, the focussed devotion being the unifying force. As for the others, they are mindful of Krishna only until the fulfilment of their desires. Their only goal is the attainment of their cherished objects, and devotion is seen as a means to that end. Hence the wise alone is the foremost. Here in the expression ‘athyartham’ (inexpressibly), the term ‘artha’ denotes that which cannot be adequately expressed. That is, even Krishna the omniscient and omnipotent, is unable to express the degree of love between Himself and the jñanin, since there is no such limit to this love — such is the meaning. As in the case of Prahlada, the foremost among the wise, it is said: — ‘But he, with thoughts firmly fixed on Krishna while being bitten by the great serpents, felt no pain from the wounds, being immersed in rapturous mindfulness of Him .