Bhagavad Gītā catuḥ-ślokī 2

Gītā catuḥ-ślokī 2

|| 10.9 ||

मच्चित्ता मद्गतप्राणा बोधयन्तः परस्परम्।
कथयन्तश्च मां नित्यं तुष्यन्ति च रमन्ति च॥

mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam |
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca ||

[te pūrva-ślokoktā budhāḥ]

·         mac-cittāḥ = Like man-manāḥ in 9.34, mayi cittaṁ yeṣāṁ te mac-cittāḥ.
·         mad-gata-prāṇāḥ = to me, gone, life. Again, this is a bahuvrīhi, so the compound is describing the devotees. māṁ gatāḥ prāptāś cakṣur-ādayaḥ prāṇā yeṣāṁ te | athavā, mad-gata-prāṇāḥ mad-gata-jīvanā ity etat.
·         bodhayantaḥ = “making understand, explaining, enlightening.” (Nom. pl. of present participle, masculine from √budh in the causative). avagamayantaḥ
·         parasparam = adv. indeclinable. “each other, mutually, reciprocally” anyo’nyam,
·         kathayantaḥ = “speaking” (Nom. pl. of present participle, masculine from √kath, kathayati)
·         tuṣyanti = get satisfaction, pleasure (from √tuṣ) paritoṣam upayānti ca
·         ramanti = love, enjoy loving union (from √ram, which is usually ātmanepada) ratiṁ ca prāpnuvanti priya-saṅgatyeva.

Thinking of me, their lives dedicated to me, enlightening one another, talking about me always, they are satisfied and joyful.

This is one of the most joyful verses in the Gita and perhaps more than anything else gives a foretaste of the blissful state of communion with God and the society of devotees.

Madhusudana has some nice insights on this verse.
mayi cittārpaṇaṁ tathā bāhya-karaṇārpaṇaṁ tathā jīvanārpaṇam evaṁ samānām anyonyaṁ mad-bodhanaṁ sva-nyūnebhyaś ca mad-upadeśanam ity evaṁ-rūpaṁ yan mad-bhajanaṁ tenaiva tuṣyanti ca | etāvataiva labdha-sarvārthā vayam alam anyena labdhavyenety evaṁ-pratyaya-rūpaṁ santoṣaṁ prāpnuvanti ca |
The first characteristic is surrendering the mind to God, the next is to offer up the functions of the outer senses and one's bodily existence itself, Then one goes on in the association of one's peers [out of a desire to understand me, i.e, the realities of the Supreme Truth, within the company of the learned one inquires about and discuss the revelations of the past along with logical reasoning], and finally to those who are less advanced one gives instructions about me. By this process of bhajan alone are they satisfied. Their supreme satisfaction takes the form, "By this achievement alone are we completely fulfilled, what need have we for other goals in life?"... Satisfaction means the destruction of desire, and for this reason Patanjali writes: santoṣād anuttamaḥ sukha-lābhaḥ (YS 2.42): "One attains unexcelled happiness from satisfaction."
Vishwanath also speaks with the insight of the Gaudiya sampradaya, seeing the best of the devotional processes, namely smaraṇa, śravaṇa and kīrtana being described here and moreover seeing rāgānugā bhakti being hinted at in the last line. But since I am in the process of mulling over the idea of compassion at the moment, I like it that Madhusudan has paraphrased the madhyama devotee ideals, including disinterest in the non-devotional or non-spiritual (upekṣā).

This verse is the most joyous in the Gita. Even verse 9.14, which also describes kīrtana and the joys of devotion, is not so exultant as here with the word ramanti. It is an indicator of the attainment of rasa, for when the mind is absorbed in single-pointed thought of Krishna, when one's life is surrendered totally to him. When in the association of devotees one can sing and glorify his name, form and pastimes, and when one finds those of open minded curiosity about the Absolute to whom one can speak of these things, then there is unparalleled joy in the life of the devotee. Rasa comes on the individual level through smaraṇa, and in devotional association through śravaṇa and kīrtana. There is no rasa without an audience, and when the audience is sophisticated in its devotional cultured and the speaker or performer imbued with loving insight, then rasa attains flood-like proportions.

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