Always glorifying Me, striving,firm in vows, prostrating themselves before Me, they worship Me with devotion always steadfast.
In simple words
Krishna describes how devoted people live: "They are always celebrating the divine. They strive with great effort. They are firm in their commitments. They bow down with love. They worship with a devotion that never wavers."
Word-by-word meanings
सततम्alwaysकीर्तयन्तःglorifyingमाम्Meयतन्तःstrivingचandदृढव्रताःfirm in vowsनमस्यन्तःprostratingचandमाम्Meभक्त्याwith devotionनित्ययुक्ताःalways steadfastउपासतेworship
Contemporary scholarly and practical interpretations for modern seekers.
Swami Sivananda
9.14 सततम् always? कीर्तयन्तः glorifying? माम् Me? यतन्तः striving? च and? दृढव्रताः firm in vows? नमस्यन्तः prostrating? च and? माम् Me? भक्त्या with devotion? नित्ययुक्ताः always steadfast? उपासते worship.Commentary These great souls sing My glory. They do Japa (repetition) of Pranava (Om). They study and recite the Upanishads. They hear the Srutis (the Vedas) from their spiritual preceptor? reflect and meditate on the attributeless Absolute (Nirguna Brahman). They cultivate the Sattvic virtues such as patience? mercy? cosmic love? tolerance? forbearance? truthfulness? purity? etc. They control the senses and steady the mind. They are firm in their vows of nonviolence? truthfulness and purity in thought? word and deed. They worship Me with great faith and devotion as the inner Self hidden in their heart. As a neophyte cannot see God face to face? he will have to worship his Guru (spiritual preceptor) firt and regard him as God or Brahman Himself.
Swami Chinmayananda
This interpretation draws on a specific tradition and may not represent the view of any single school. For authoritative guidance within a specific tradition, seek a qualified teacher.
# BG 9.14 — Translation of Meaning
In the previous verse, while describing the great souls, the path of knowledge was indicated. Now here, two other principal paths for self-organization and self-development are revealed: unwavering devotion and selfless action performed with the spirit of sacrifice.
Those who continuously sing My glory—what is commonly called kirtan—often involves people chanting hymns in discordant voices accompanied by out-of-tune instruments. This is an extremely distorted form of kirtan. The true meaning of kirtan is far more sacred. In reality, to worship one's ideal God with reverent devotion and to sing of His glory and splendor is the silent activity of a mind that has developed and come to understand its ideal rightly, and has learned to celebrate their greatness. Many people remain engaged in questionable activities throughout the day, gather at some place in the evening to chant hymns loudly for a time, and then return to their fields of vice. Compared to the kirtan of such people, the social service of social workers and the love that overflows in the heart of a wise person for all living beings is a far superior and more effective celebration of God.
With firm resolve and earnest effort—these are simple, common, and rational truths that are ordinarily overlooked. As a result, seekers dig their own graves of spiritual failure. Most people believe that performing worship, fasting, and other rituals mechanically like an instrument on one day of the week fulfills their responsibility toward dharma. They consider this sufficient. Then the rest of the work belongs to their imaginary deities, who prepare the fruits of practice and place them before them so they may enjoy them. This irrational and blind faith has scarcely any connection with the science of self-elevation. In truth, dharma is the practical aspect of the knowledge of reality.
If someone wishes to step away from the false ideology and wrong valuations concerning present life and living, and advance on the path of self-elevation, then constant and vigilant effort is essential. The discord one experiences in life, and the discordant notes that life's circumstances strike upon the lyre of one's mind—all these arise from the disorder of the instruments of experience (the senses, mind, and intellect). To reorganize them requires unbroken vigilance, continuous effort, and steadfast dedication. Thus, while striving for self-liberation, temptations that inflame bodily desires approach the seeker and whisper to him, urging him to eat forbidden fruit. But in such moments of powerful temptation, he must make a firm resolve to abandon falsehood and walk steadily on the path of truth.
Pure love alone is true devotion. The unity of the lover with the beloved, or with the object of one's love, is the measure of love. Devotion to Me—the primordial cause of all beings and the imperishable Self—is the path through which the deluded soul can attain unity with its own true nature. This will be successfully accomplished only through dispassion toward non-self limitations. The practice of turning the mind away from the non-self is indicated here through the word "salutation to Me." The positive practice of Self-realization is this: the seeker, with concentrated mind, meditates upon the nature of the Self alone, and ultimately becomes established in the direct experience of one's own true nature. This positive aspect is described through the word "devotion." Self-realization through meditation on the Self, freed from false limitations, is attained only by those who are ever united with Me and worship Me. In the path of knowledge, there is neither offering of flowers nor anointing with sandalwood as in ritualistic worship. To maintain a vigilant awareness of Self-contemplation in the mind is the true worship of that Supreme Self who is the foundation of all the world and the very soul of all beings. This worship can unfold the buds of our ego-bound life and blossom them into the flowers of the divine person, and can spread the fragrance of their perfection everywhere.