ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम् ॥ २९ ॥
samo’haṃ sarvabhūteṣu na me dveṣyo’sti na priyaḥ .
ye bhajanti tu māṃ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cāpyaham .. 29 ..
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I am like fire : just as fire does not ward off cold from those who are at a distance and wards it off from those who go near it, so I bestow My grace on My devotees, not on others. Those who worship Me, the Lord, with devotion are in Me, as a matter of course, but not owing to any attachment on My part. In them also I am, only as a matter of course, not in others. By this behaviour, I cannot (be said to) hate the latter.*
Those who are devoted to Me, performing the duties of their caste and order, become pure in mind, in virtue of that very devotion of unthinkable grandeur; and they are in Me, i.e., their minds are rendered fit for My presence. And, being in their presence as a matter of course, I ever do good to them. Just as the Sun’s light, though pervading everywhere, is reflected in a clean mirror, so also is the Supreme Lord present as a matter of course in those persons only from whose minds all dirt has been removed by devotion. It has been said in ix. 13 that those are devoted to the Lord, who partake of the nature of the devas.—(A).
Even the low-born attain salvation by Devotion
Now I shall tell you how excellent a thing devotion to Me is :