Bg. 9.14

सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां यतन्तश्च दृढव्रताः ।
नमस्यन्तश्च मां भक्त्या नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ॥१४॥

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate

satatamplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigsatatam

always; constantly; continuously; satisfied; twenty-four hours a day.—always; kīrtayantaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigkīrtayantaḥ

chanting.—chanting; māmplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigmām

about Me; at me; attains me; from me; Me (Kṛṣṇa); Me (Lord Kṛṣṇa); me (the earth); Me (the Supreme Lord); me (Vasiṣṭha); me; Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; My direction; Myself; of myself; to Me; unto me; upon me.—Me; yatantaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyatantaḥ

although endeavoring; endeavoring. caplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigca

ca; all these; also; also other bodily forms; also that I have not been able to ask; and (the five gross material elements and the ten acting and knowledge-gathering senses); and; and also; and Devahūti; and for all; and the paraphernalia; as also; as much as; as well; as well as; but; certainly; either; however; indeed; only; or; over and above; respectively; the word ca; this word ca; thus; totally; unlimitedly; verily.—fully endeavoring also; dṛḍhaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigdrdha

firm; firmly; fixed; strong; the harder portion; tight; tightly; unflinching; very determined; very firm and convincing; very strong.-vratāḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigvratah

his vow; the vow; vow.—with determination; namasyantaḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bignamasyantaḥ

offering obeisances. caplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigca

ca; all these; also; also other bodily forms; also that I have not been able to ask; and (the five gross material elements and the ten acting and knowledge-gathering senses); and; and also; and Devahūti; and for all; and the paraphernalia; as also; as much as; as well; as well as; but; certainly; either; however; indeed; only; or; over and above; respectively; the word ca; this word ca; thus; totally; unlimitedly; verily.—offering obeisances; māmplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigmām

about Me; at me; attains me; from me; Me (Kṛṣṇa); Me (Lord Kṛṣṇa); me (the earth); Me (the Supreme Lord); me (Vasiṣṭha); me; Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; My direction; Myself; of myself; to Me; unto me; upon me.—unto Me; bhaktyāplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigbhaktyā

because of pure devotion; by a devotional attitude; by devotion; by devotional service (executed in nine different processes); by devotional service; by pure devotion; by pure devotional service; by rendering service in devotion; by the devotion; devotion; devotional service; in devotion; in devotional service; in full devotion; simply by devotional service; through devotion; whose devotional service; with a devotional attitude; with devotion; with devotion and faith; with devout attention; with faith and devotion; with great devotion; with great devotional love.—in devotion; nityaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bignitya

always; daiiy; daily; eternal; eternally; regular; regularly; regularly, without fail; who are always.-yuktāḥplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigyuktah

accompanied; actual yogī; all engaged; associated with; being absorbed; being engaged; being united; bestowed; combined; competent for self-realization; devoutly attached; dovetailed; endowed; endowed with; engaged; engaged in the divine consciousness; fixed; in touch with the Supreme; in trance; is in the transcendental position; one who is engaged in devotional service; such engagement; surrounded; through such agency; together; well situated in yoga; with; with great attention.—perpetually engaged; upāsateplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigupāsate

begin to worship; follow; worship; worship very gorgeously; worships.—worship. ¶

Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion. ¶

The mahātmā cannot be manufactured by rubber-stamping an ordinary man. His symptoms are described here: a mahātmā is always engaged in chanting the glories of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead. He has no other business. He is always engaged in the glorification of the Lord. In other words, he is not an impersonalist. When the question of glorification is there, one has to glorify the Supreme Lord, praising His holy name, His eternal form, His transcendental qualities and His uncommon pastimes. One has to glorify all these things; therefore a mahātmā is attached to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. ¶

One who is attached to the impersonal feature of the Supreme Lord, the brahmajyoti, is not described as mahātmā in the Bhagavad-gītā. He is described in a different way in the next verse. The mahātmā is always engaged in different activities of devotional service, as described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, hearing and chanting about Viṣṇu, not a demigod or human being. That is devotion: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ, smaraṇam, and remembering Him. Such a mahātmā has firm determination to achieve at the ultimate end the association of the Supreme Lord in any one of the five transcendental rasas. To achieve that success, he engages all activities-mental, bodily and vocal, everything-in the service of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. That is called full Kṛṣṇa consciousness. ¶

In devotional service there are certain activities which are called determined, such as fasting on certain days, like the eleventh day of the moon, Ekādaśī, and on the appearance day of the Lord, etc. All these rules and regulations are offered by the great ācāryas for those who are actually interested in getting admission into the association of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the transcendental world. The mahātmās, great souls, strictly observe all these rules and regulations, and therefore they are sure to achieve the desired result. ¶

As described in the second verse of this chapter, this devotional service is not only easy, but it can be performed in a happy mood. One does not need to undergo any severe penance and austerity. He can live this life in devotional service, guided by an expert spiritual master, and in any position, either as a householder or a sannyāsī, or a brahmacārī; in any position and anywhere in the world, he can perform this devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus become actually mahātmā, a great soul. ¶