Mat-mana bhava — be Me-minded. Mat-bhakto — My devotee. Mat-yaji — My worshipper. Mam namaskuru — bow to Me. Mam eva eshyasi — to Me alone you will come. Satyam te pratijane — I promise you truly. Priyo asi me — you are dear to Me.
Krishna delivers four practical instructions, one promise, one love-declaration. The verse is the chapter's bhakti-summit: mind, devotion, worship, prostration — directed to Krishna alone — yields union with Krishna. The promise is Krishna's own, sealed by love.
Shankara reads fix your mind on Me — surrender the very faculty of intention to Vasudeva. Become My bhakta, My yajin; even your bowing let it be to Me alone, so every sadhana and every sadhya is given over to the Lord. Having lived thus, you will reach Me — this I promise truly; for you are dear to Me, and a satya-pratijna cannot be otherwise for one who is the truth itself. The chapter's most concentrated bhakti-formula is delivered.
Madhusudana reads let mind be fixed in Bhagavan Vasudeva with prema — not the cold knowing of an enemy like Kamsa who also 'thought of Krishna' through hatred. Be My bhakta through anuragena — affection. Devotion means the mind is made into Krishna-territory by love. Worship Me always; if materials are absent, bow to Me with body, speech, mind — this bowing encompasses the full surrender. The chapter's full bhakti-architecture is in this single verse.
Ramanuja reads become one whose mind is pervaded by Me — the unbroken stream of smriti-santana — loving memory — of the kind prescribed in the Upanishads as vedana, dhyana, upasana. Bhakti is not mere sentiment but the fullness of shesha-vritti — complete service-mode. Worship is the supreme expression of that bhava. The promise — mam eva eshyasi — is not flattery but the bhakta's eternal participation in Bhagavan's relational presence. The bhakti-frame's most decisive verse.
Madhva reads mat-mana bhava — let the jiva's mind be wholly fixed on Hari, the svatantra Lord. Mat-bhakto names bhakti as the jiva's ontological subordination to Hari, not mere sentiment. Mat-yaji — worship directed to Him alone, since paratantra existence finds proper expression only in Hari's service. Mam namaskuru — bowing as the jiva's recognition of structural dependence. The bheda-frame: real mind, real bhakti, real worship, real bow, real arrival at Hari with bheda preserved.
Vallabha reads O Partha, fix mind on Me alone — not alongside others, but exclusively. The 'eva' particle forbids any split of attention. Be My bhakta alone, My yajin alone: these three — mind, bhakti, worship — cover the full tri-kanda of sacred activity. I promise truly: you will reach Me, for you are My beloved. A beloved is never deceived; it would be beneath the Lord's nature to lie to His bhakta. Pushti-marga: the verse is the Lord's own grace-vow to the bhakta.
Shridhara reads direct your mind to Me, let Me be your bhakti, be fixed in worshipping Me, bow to Me — living thus, you will reach Me through mat-prasada-labdha-jnana — knowledge born of My grace — that My mercy kindles in you. Do not entertain doubt. You are My beloved, and so I make you a true promise — as things truly stand, so I declare: you will come to Me. The chapter's most quoted verse is the chapter's central bhakti-charter.