Read side by side, these verses seem to pull in two directions. The Lord says he makes steady the faith of anyone who wishes to worship a deity (Gita 7.21), and that what the worshipper gets is his own arrangement (Gita 7.22). In the next breath he calls that result perishable (Gita 7.23), and in the ninth chapter he says such worship is offered to him, but not by the proper method (Gita 9.23). Is this respect for the worshipper, or a quiet criticism?
The verses are measuring three different things. Faith is honoured. The one who gives the result is the Lord himself. And the size of the result follows the size of the understanding and of the ask. Nothing is condemned: the worshipper asked for something that lasts a while, and received it.
Here we read the verses of the seventh chapter (Gita 7.20–23) and of the ninth (Gita 9.20–21 and Gita 9.23–25) one by one. Then come four difficulties a careful reader raises, with direct replies, the two ways commentators explain the passage, the links to other chapters, and the questions the verses raise, answered from the Gita and the tradition. The previous topic, Four Kinds of Devotees, showed that the person who comes with a wish is still called good. This passage follows that wish: what happens when it turns towards a deity instead of towards the Lord.
Why these verses sit where they do
In the seventh chapter the Lord has just named four kinds of people who turn to him, and said that the wise one who sees "Vasudeva is everything" is very rare (Gita 7.19). The natural question is where the others go, the many who do not see this yet. Four verses answer.
The ninth chapter comes back to the theme from the side of ritual. Those who follow the three-Veda path ask for heaven, receive it, and return. The two chapters are two layers of one thought: first why people turn to deities and what they get, then where that road ends.
The four verses of the seventh chapter
Gita 7.20: why people turn to other deities
तं तं नियममास्थाय प्रकृत्या नियताः स्वया ॥ ७.२० ॥
taṁ taṁ niyamam āsthāya prakṛityā niyatāḥ svayā || 7.20 ||
Those whose wisdom has been carried away by various desires resort to other deities, following various rules of worship, guided by their own nature.
The Lord says that people whose clear sight has been carried away by various desires take up one rule or another and resort to other deities, guided by their own nature (Gita 7.20).
Two causes are named, one outside and one inside. The outside cause is desire: a child to be born, a job, recovery from illness. The inside cause is a person's own make-up. Each of us is drawn to a certain deity, a certain fast, a certain way of worship. So the choice of form depends both on what we want and on who we are.
The second point is about the phrase "carried away". The verse does not say that clear sight is destroyed. It says desire has covered it. A covered thing is still there; it just cannot be seen. The second chapter says the same from another side: for those carried off by flowery words about enjoyment and power, the resolute understanding does not take root (Gita 2.42–44).
The third point is that the verse takes "other deities" as real objects of worship. It does not call them false. It only says why a person turns to them: desire.
Gita 7.21-22: the Lord steadies faith and gives the result
तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां तामेव विदधाम्यहम् ॥ ७.२१ ॥
tasya tasyāchalāṁ śhraddhāṁ tām eva vidadhāmy aham || 7.21 ||
Whatever form a devotee wishes to worship with faith, I make that faith of his steady and unwavering.
लभते च ततः कामान्मयैव विहितान्हि तान् ॥ ७.२२ ॥
labhate cha tataḥ kāmān mayaiva vihitān hi tān || 7.22 ||
Endowed with that faith, he engages in the worship of that deity and obtains from it his desires, which are in truth granted by Me alone.
The Lord says that whatever form a devotee wishes to worship with faith, he makes that faith steady in that very form (Gita 7.21). Joined to that faith, the worshipper serves that deity and obtains from it the desires he seeks, which are in truth arranged by the Lord alone (Gita 7.22).
Three fine points. First, faith is steadied, not broken. The Lord does not come to argue the worshipper out of his devotion. That is a great respect: he treats faith as real enough to be worth strengthening.
Second, the words are "in that very form". The Lord does not pull one faith away and hand over another. A sincere devotion is made firm on its own ground.
Third, and most important, the source of the result is named. The worshipper thinks the deity gave it. The verse says the arrangement is the Lord's. The deity is the channel; the Lord is the source. This builds on what was said earlier. In the third chapter the Lord says that gods nourished by sacrifice will give the enjoyments you wish for (Gita 3.11–12). In the fourth he says that people who want success from action worship the gods, because results of action come quickly in the human world (Gita 4.12). Those verses say that the gods give. This one adds who stands behind the giving.
Gita 7.23: why the result is perishable
देवान्देवयजो यान्ति मद्भक्ता यान्ति मामपि ॥ ७.२३ ॥
devān deva-yajo yānti mad-bhaktā yānti mām api || 7.23 ||
But the fruit gained by those of small understanding is perishable. The worshippers of the deities go to the deities, but My devotees come to Me.
The Lord says that the fruit gained by those of small understanding is perishable. Worshippers of the deities go to the deities, but his devotees come to him (Gita 7.23).
"Small understanding" can sound like an insult. It is not. These are the very people the same chapter called good when it listed the one who comes with a wish among those who worship him (Gita 7.16). Both things stand together: the person is good, and the understanding is still small. The phrase measures how much is seen.
The second half of the verse is the more important one: you go to what you worship. The measure is not how bright the result looks but where it ends. Does what you received last?
The six verses of the ninth chapter
Gita 9.20-21: heaven is given, and then ends
ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोकमश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान् ॥ ९.२० ॥
te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam aśhnanti divyān divi deva-bhogān || 9.20 ||
The knowers of the three Vedas, who drink the soma and are purified of sin, worship Me through sacrifices and pray for the path to heaven. They reach the sacred world of Indra, the king of the gods, and enjoy the divine pleasures of the gods in heaven.
एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ॥ ९.२१ ॥
evaṁ trayī-dharmam anuprapannā gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante || 9.21 ||
Having enjoyed that vast heavenly world, they return to the mortal world when their merit is exhausted. Thus, those who follow the ritual path of the three Vedas and desire pleasures attain only coming and going.
The Lord says that those who follow the ritual path of the three Vedas, who drink the soma and are cleansed of sin, worship him through sacrifices and pray for heaven. They reach the world of Indra and enjoy the pleasures of the gods (Gita 9.20). But having enjoyed that vast heaven, when their merit is spent they return to the mortal world. So those who follow the ritual path and long for pleasures find only coming and going (Gita 9.21).
Three points. First, the verse says they worship him. Their sacrifices are, in some way, going to him, even though what they ask for is heaven.
Second, heaven is not made small. It is called vast, and its pleasures divine. Nothing is mocked. The trouble is not the quality of the reward but its length.
Third, the return is not a punishment. Merit is like a store; when it is used up, the enjoyment stops. The eighth chapter says the same at a higher level: all worlds up to the realm of Brahma are subject to return, but having reached the Lord there is no rebirth (Gita 8.16).
Gita 9.23: such worship reaches the Lord as well
तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम् ॥ ९.२३ ॥
te 'pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam || 9.23 ||
Even those devotees who worship other deities with faith, O son of Kunti, worship Me alone, though in a way that is not according to the proper method.
The Lord says that even devotees who worship other deities with faith worship him alone, though not by the proper method, that is, without the right understanding of the Supreme (Gita 9.23).
This is the widest sentence in the passage. It holds two things together. Faithful worship does not go to waste; it reaches him. And the lack is not in the faith but in the understanding: the worshipper does not know who is behind the one he worships. The verse does not call such people sinful or faithless. The next verse says what the lack is.
Gita 9.24: the missing knowledge is the whole defect
न तु मामभिजानन्ति तत्त्वेनातश्च्यवन्ति ते ॥ ९.२४ ॥
na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenātaśh chyavanti te || 9.24 ||
I alone am the enjoyer and the Lord of all sacrifices. But those who do not know Me in truth fall back.
The Lord says that he alone is the enjoyer and master of all sacrifices, but those who do not know him in truth fall back (Gita 9.24).
This verse gives the reason for the one before. Worship reaches him because he is the recipient of every sacrifice. Someone who does not know this worships in a mist about the direction, and the result stays as large as his knowledge. "Fall back" means the same as the return in the earlier verse: the end of what was sought. No penalty is named here either.
Gita 9.25: you reach what you worship
भूतानि यान्ति भूतेज्या यान्ति मद्याजिनोऽपि माम् ॥ ९.२५ ॥
bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti mad-yājino 'pi mām || 9.25 ||
Worshippers of the gods go to the gods, worshippers of the ancestors go to the ancestors, and worshippers of the spirits go to the spirits. But My worshippers come to Me.
The Lord says that worshippers of the gods go to the gods, worshippers of the ancestors to the ancestors, worshippers of spirits to spirits, and those who worship him come to him (Gita 9.25).
This is the rule of the whole passage, and the wider form of the earlier sentence that the gods' worshippers go to the gods and his devotees come to him. Here there are four destinations, and they are different. The Gita does not say that every road leads to the same place. It says that where you are devoted is where you arrive.
The passage at a glance
| Verses | About faith | About who gives | About how it ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.20 | Desire and nature turn the person | Next verse | Next verses |
| 7.21-22 | The Lord steadies it | The result is the Lord's arrangement | The wish is fulfilled |
| 7.23 | Small understanding | The deity is the channel | Perishable; the worshipper reaches the deity |
| 9.20-21 | A prayer for heaven | The result of merit | Return when merit is spent |
| 9.23-24 | Faithful, but without full knowledge | The Lord, enjoyer and master of every sacrifice | Falling back from the highest goal |
| 9.25 | Devotion of each kind | Whoever is worshipped | The destination matches the devotion |
Difficulties a careful reader raises
If the Lord grants every result, why is this worship called lesser?
The verses do not call the worship lesser. They call the result small, and its size follows the ask. The Lord gives what was asked for (Gita 7.22), and what was asked for is a pleasure that passes (Gita 7.23). The same holds for the enjoyments the gods give in the third chapter (Gita 3.12). A person who asks for something large receives something large. Here no vessel is small. The request is.
Does the Gita treat every form of worship as the same?
No. The Lord says such devotees worship him "though not by the proper method" (Gita 9.23), and the next verse names the lack: not knowing him in truth (Gita 9.24). Then four different destinations are listed (Gita 9.25). The Gita does not hold that all worship ends in one place.
It also does not say that such worship is false. Faith is respected and the result is real (Gita 7.21–22). And these verses speak only of people who worship deities with faith. They say nothing about any other tradition or religion.
Is "falling back" a punishment?
No penalty is mentioned. The ninth chapter gives the cause of the return: merit is exhausted (Gita 9.21). That is how a store of savings behaves when spent. In the eighth chapter the same return is said of every world up to the realm of Brahma (Gita 8.16), where no question of punishment arises. The return is the name for the end of what was sought.
Is "small understanding" an insult to the worshipper?
No. The same chapter calls the person who comes with a wish good (Gita 7.16), and the wise one who knows that all is Vasudeva is described as very rare (Gita 7.19). "Small understanding" measures the distance between where that person's understanding stands and where the Lord is. A small child understands the world little, and is not a worse child for it.
Why does the Lord not bring everyone straight to himself?
His way, throughout the Gita, is to answer people as they come to him (Gita 4.11). He does not snatch the faith away. But the invitation stays open to all: those who take refuge in him alone (Gita 18.66) come to him (Gita 7.23), and those who worship him with devotion are in him and he in them (Gita 9.29). He is equal to all beings. Nearness comes from the worshipper's turning.
How the commentators read it
On the main point the commentators agree: the fruit of worshipping a deity is limited, and the limit comes from missing knowledge, not from missing faith. They explain the reason in two ways.
One stream says that the Lord is the self within all, so worship offered to any deity finally goes to him. The worshipper does not know this, and so the fruit stays within the bounds of what he knows.
The other stream says that the deities are forms or limbs of the Lord, who dwells within them as their inner ruler, and so the true recipient of the worship is he. The one who does not know this relation does not receive the whole fruit.
Both streams are saying what the two verses say together (Gita 9.23, Gita 9.24), so no division is made here that the text does not make.
Links to the rest of the Gita
| Where | What it says | What it adds here |
|---|---|---|
| 3.11-12 | Gods nourished by sacrifice give the desired enjoyments | The gods give; 7.22 says who stands behind them |
| 4.11 | The Lord answers as people come to him | 7.21's steadying of faith is one form of this |
| 4.12 | Those who want success worship the gods; results come quickly | One reason people turn to the gods |
| 2.42-44 | Words of enjoyment and power carry the mind away | The covered sight of 7.20 |
| 8.16 | All worlds up to Brahma's realm are subject to return | The coming and going of 9.21, and the Lord as the way out |
| 9.29 | The Lord is equal to all; devotees are in him | Closeness comes from the worshipper's turning, not from favour |
| 7.19 | The wise one knows all is Vasudeva | The very understanding that 9.24 says is missing |
The seventeenth chapter carries the same thought to the person. A person is made of faith; whatever the faith, that is the person (Gita 17.3–4), and whom one worships shows one's nature. The sixteenth chapter warns that one who drops the guidance of the scriptures and acts on whim reaches neither perfection nor happiness (Gita 16.23–24). Here it is enough to see that both continue the thought of the seventh and ninth chapters: worship shapes the worshipper.
Questions the verses raise, answered from the Gita and the tradition
Four questions rise from these verses: what "the proper method" is, which forms are meant by "deities", whether falling back is a single return or a repeated one, and what the passage means for other beliefs. The Gita answers all four.
What is "the proper method"?
The verse gives its meaning: right understanding of the Supreme (Gita 9.23). The Gita develops it further on. The Lord is the enjoyer and master of all sacrifices (Gita 9.24), and to know that "the Lord is all" is the highest understanding (Gita 7.19). The method is to know Him, see Him and enter Him through undivided devotion (Gita 11.54), to offer to Him whatever one does (Gita 9.27), and to know Him in truth through devotion and so enter Him (Gita 18.55). So the method is not a list of rites but understanding and devotion.
Which forms are meant by "deities"?
The Gita sorts the forms by the nature of the faith itself: bright natures worship gods, passionate ones worship powers of the earth and demons, dark ones worship ghosts and spirits (Gita 17.3–4). It also names where each road ends: the devotees of the gods go to the gods, of the ancestors to the ancestors, of spirits to spirits, and the Lord's devotees come to Him (Gita 9.25). So the difference is made not by the name of a form but by the nature of the faith and its fruit.
The tradition sings the Vedic saying that what is, is one, and the wise call it by many names. In this view the deities are powers and forms of that one reality.
Is falling back a single return or a repeated one?
It repeats as long as desire and incomplete understanding remain. The Gita speaks of "coming and going" (Gita 9.21): enjoying heaven, returning when merit is spent, and acting again out of desire. All worlds up to the world of Brahma are worlds from which one returns, but no one who reaches the Lord is born again (Gita 8.16). So the cycle goes on until the person reaches Him.
What does the passage mean for other beliefs?
The Gita honours faith and says where each road leads. Whatever form one wishes to worship with faith, the Lord steadies that faith in that form (Gita 7.21); as people come to Him, so He responds (Gita 4.11); and those who worship other gods with faith worship Him alone (Gita 9.23). At the same time it calls toward the full understanding. Nothing in it makes any tradition lesser.
So no question these verses raise is left empty. The verses give the direction, the rest of the Gita develops it, and the tradition explains it through examples and streams.
The answer in a sentence
The Gita honours faith, names the Lord as the giver of every result, and ties the size of the result to the size of the ask and the understanding. So the question is not whether a form of worship is right or wrong. It is what we are asking for, and how long it will last. The rule is one: you reach what you worship (Gita 9.25).
A simpler reading starts from an everyday question, and the detailed reading goes through the verses in order. The full sequence is in The Path of Devotion.