Sanskrit
न च तस्मान्मनुष्येषु कश्चिन्मे प्रियकृत्तमः । भविता न च मे तस्मादन्यः प्रियतरो भुवि ॥ ६९ ॥
na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ bhavitā na ca me tasmād anyaḥ priyataro bhuvi
Translation
Nor is there any among men who performeth dearer service to Me than he, nor any other shall be more beloved by Me on earth than he.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
Hyperbole in service of emphasis: no one performs dearer service, no one will ever be more beloved, than the one who carries this teaching forward. The escalation across verses 67-71 is deliberate — restriction, then reward for transmission, now maximal praise — building toward the graded promise the next two verses complete. Priya-kṛt-tama — “doer of the dearest service.” The one who teaches the Gita to the receptive is named the most beloved of all — the strongest of the chapter’s escalating “dear to Me” statements.
Study deeper
Word by word
- na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścinन च तस्मान् मनुष्येषु कश्चिन्
- and none among men, than he (na + ca + tasmāt + manuṣyeṣu + kaścit)
- me priya-kṛttamaḥ bhavitāमे प्रिय-कृत्तमः भविता
- does dearer service to Me (me + priya-kṛt-tamaḥ + bhavitā)
- na ca me tasmādन च मे तस्माद्
- nor shall any be, than he (na + ca + me + tasmāt)
- anyaḥ priyataro bhuviअन्यः प्रियतरो भुवि
- dearer to Me on earth (anyaḥ + priya-taraḥ + bhuvi)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The claim covers two tenses in one breath — no one now, and no one ever hereafter — an oddly totalizing form for what is really praise of a category of action, not of one irreplaceable person. The hyperbole isn’t really about ranking individuals; it’s underscoring how much weight the text places on the single act of carrying the teaching forward, regardless of who does it.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Apply this verse
Lessons
Personal
- When you feel resentful that recognition for a good thing you built once went to someone else doing the same kind of thing now, remember that some acts — mentoring, teaching, carrying something forward — are valued for the category of what's done, not for being irreplaceably yours.
Professional
- When rewarding someone for evangelizing a practice well, remember the praise is really for the category of behavior — anyone who does it that well deserves the same recognition, not just the first person who happened to do it.
Family & Social
- When you praise a family member extravagantly for carrying forward a tradition or value, remember it's really the act itself you're honoring — anyone who took it up with the same care would deserve the same praise, not only them.
Ask yourself
A few ways to take this verse past reading. Ticks and the note stay in this browser.