ये तु धर्म्यामृतमिदं यथोक्तं पर्युपासते ।श्रद्दधाना मत्परमा भक्तास्तेऽतीव मे प्रियाः ॥
ye tu dharmyāmṛtamidaṃ yathoktaṃ paryupāsate |śraddadhānā matparamā bhaktāste'tīva me priyāḥ ||
But those who follow this nectar-like teaching, in keeping with dharma, just as it has been told, full of faith and holding me as their highest aim — those devotees are exceedingly dear to me.
Explanation
Krishna closes his description of the ideal devotee (bhakta) begun in the preceding verses. He calls the teaching "immortal nectar" (amṛta) because it leads to freedom from death and rebirth, and it is in line with dharma (dharmya), meaning right and sustaining conduct. Those who practice it with faith (śraddhā) and treat Krishna as their supreme goal are called exceedingly dear to him. Some commentators take "this teaching" as the whole list of qualities in 12.13–19, others as the devotional path of the whole chapter.