Sanskrit
सन्तुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः । मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मे भक्तः स मे प्रियः ॥
santuṣṭaḥ satataṃ yogī yatātmā dṛḍhaniścayaḥ mayy arpitamanobuddhir yo me bhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ
Translation
Ever content, harmonious, with the self-controlled, resolute, with mind and Reason dedicated to Me, he, My devotee, is dear to Me.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The refrain “sa me priyaḥ” — he is dear to Me — lands here for the first time and recurs, with minor variation, through verse 20. It functions as the structural spine of the chapter’s back half: rather than building an argument, each couplet adds another trait to a running definition of the devotee, closing on the same fixed point every time.