For Eternal Beginners
ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाऽहम् अमृतस्य अव्ययस्य च ।
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्य एकान्तिकस्य च ॥ २७ ॥
brahmaNo hi pratiSThA'ham amRtasya avyayasya ca |
zAzvatasya ca dharmasya sukhasya ekAntikasya ca || 27 ||
अहम् प्रतिष्ठा हि [aham pratiSThA hi] I am the basis ब्रह्मणः [brahmaNaH] of the Self, अमृतस्य [amRtasya] which is without death अव्ययस्य च [avyayasya ca] and decay. शाश्वतस्य धर्मस्य [zAzvatasya dharmasya] I am the basis of the ever-lasting practice of
devotion एकान्तिकस्य सुखस्य च [ekAntikasya sukhasya ca] and of complete joy.
The phrase ‘I am the basis’ is used here to mean that the Lord is ‘the cause of existence’.
The Lord says ‘I am the One served and experienced with unwavering devotion . I am the basis of the Self that has neither death nor decay. In the same way, I am the cause of unending devotion , as well as the constant, infinite, absolute joy of being free ‘.
This was described in 7-19: ‘Lord Krishna is everything’ - The Lord is the cause of joy achieved by the one who knows .
Though the ever-lasting practice of devotion is a ‘method’ to achieve the Lord, it is described before and after this Shloka as an achievement in itself.
It is both a ‘method’ and the ‘achievement’, due to the fact that devotion and the Lord always go together. This has been said before, starting in 7-14 - ‘These divine creations of Mine are pervaded by the three qualities . They are indeed impossible to cross over. The people who surrender exclusively to Me will cross over this material world’.
The Lord said that surrendering to Him is the only way to cross over material qualities . Before crossing over, we pursue goals of self-realization, wealth and the Lord Himself. Surrendering to Him is the way to achieve them as well.
Only by surrendering exclusively to the Lord can we cross-over material qualities and gain equivalence to Him.