The Lord makes a promise in the Gita, and a careful reader meets three questions in it. The promise is that for those who stay joined to him, he carries what they lack and keeps what they have (Gita 9.22). The first question: if he carries it, why must the devotee strive, when the verse just before speaks of firm effort (Gita 9.14)? The second: in chapter 2 Arjuna was told to be free of the worry of gaining and keeping (Gita 2.45); why does the Lord now take that worry on himself? The third: who are the "great souls", and is the promise only for them?
The answer, briefly, is this. The promise is for those who look to nothing else and stay joined to the Lord. He carries what effort cannot secure: getting what is lacking, and keeping what is had. The effort stays with the devotee. And the verse in chapter 2 and this promise are two ends of one release: the first asks the seeker to put the load down, the second says who picks it up.
Here we read the four verses one by one, join them to other parts of the Gita, and then take four hard questions in turn.
Where the four verses stand
Just before them the Lord describes people who take shelter in the bewildering, demonic nature. Their hopes, actions and knowledge are all in vain (Gita 9.12). The next verse begins with "but" and turns to the other side: those who shelter in the divine nature.
This picture of devotion sits in the middle of the part of chapter 9 where those who want pleasures are said to come and go (Gita 9.21); that passage is taken up in What We Worship, We Become. People who ask for pleasures get them and return. Right after them the Lord speaks of those who ask for nothing and simply stay joined. After these verses he goes on to describe himself as everything (Gita 9.16–19); we leave that for another place.
9.13: who the great souls are
भजन्त्यनन्यमनसो ज्ञात्वा भूतादिमव्ययम् ॥ ९.१३ ॥
bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam || 9.13 ||
But the great souls, O Arjuna, who take shelter in the divine nature, worship Me with a mind fixed on nothing else, knowing Me as the imperishable origin of all beings.
The Lord says that the great souls who take shelter in the divine nature worship him with a mind fixed on nothing else, knowing him as the imperishable origin of all beings (Gita 9.13).
Three points stand out. First, a great soul is identified by where he has taken shelter, not by rank or dress. Someone in the demonic nature may think himself great; the verse changes the test to a plain one: where does he live? Second, the divine nature has its marks described in chapter 16, and the list there begins with fearlessness (Gita 16.1).
The third point matters most: "knowing". Undivided devotion here does not come from a resolve; it comes from knowing. If you know that everything has come from one source and that this source never perishes, your mind has little reason to wander. Concentration in worship follows recognition. Chapter 7 calls such a great soul "very rare", the one who surrenders knowing that all is Vasudeva (Gita 7.19). Rarity is a reminder that this knowing is not easy; the verse here shows how a person who has it lives.
9.14: three parts of devotion, and being ever joined
नमस्यन्तश्च मां भक्त्या नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ॥ ९.१४ ॥
namasyantaśh cha māṁ bhaktyā nitya-yuktā upāsate || 9.14 ||
Always glorifying Me, striving with firm resolve, and bowing down to Me with devotion, these ever-steadfast devotees worship Me.
The Lord says that these devotees, always glorifying him, striving with firm resolve and bowing with devotion, worship him, ever joined to him (Gita 9.14).
Devotion appears here in three parts. Glorifying belongs to speech: saying aloud what is in the heart. Striving belongs to the will, and the word "firm" is attached to it: a vow that does not slacken. Bowing belongs to the body and the heart, where the head is lowered. Voice, will and bow together make up the whole person.
Beneath the three lies the condition on which the whole verse rests: being ever joined. This is not an hour of worship; it is a way of living. Striving, too, is part of the description of the devotee himself. Devotion here is not the opposite of effort; effort is one of its parts. This is the ground for the reply to the first hard question below.
The same demand returns as a call at the end of the chapter: fix your mind on me, be my devotee, worship me, bow to me (Gita 9.34). In chapter 12 it takes the form of work: those who offer all their actions to him and worship him (Gita 12.6–7). Glorifying, striving and bowing are joined there by the offering of work.
9.15: the others who worship through knowledge
एकत्वेन पृथक्त्वेन बहुधा विश्वतोमुखम् ॥ ९.१५ ॥
ekatvena pṛithaktvena bahudhā viśhvato-mukham || 9.15 ||
Others, offering the sacrifice of knowledge, worship Me as one, as distinct, and in many forms, as the universal Being who faces everywhere.
The Lord says that others, offering the sacrifice of knowledge, worship him: some as one, some as distinct, some in many forms, as the universal Being who faces everywhere (Gita 9.15).
The sacrifice of knowledge means making one's own understanding and thought the offering. Chapter 4 calls it better than sacrifice with material things (Gita 4.33). Worship done by knowing, not by offerings, is called worship here too.
Three ways of seeing are named. In one, the worshipper sees the Lord as one with himself. In another he sees him as distinct, a master. In the third he sees him in the many forms of the world. The commentators read these three in two ways. One stream takes them as three kinds of worshippers, each seeing the same Lord in his own way. The other takes them as three views held together by one person of knowledge. The second stream finds support in the knowledge of chapter 18 that sees one imperishable reality in all divided beings (Gita 18.20). The first finds support in the verse itself, which says "some… some…" and so seems to count different people.
Both agree on one thing: the verse does not insist on a single picture. Whatever is done in true knowledge is counted as worship of him. The verse ends on "facing everywhere", and that is where the next passage begins, with the Lord as everything (Gita 9.16–19).
9.22: the promise, its conditions, and the load that is carried
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥ ९.२२ ॥
teṣhāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣhemaṁ vahāmy aham || 9.22 ||
To those who worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on Me alone, and who are ever steadfast, I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.
The Lord says that to those who think of him with undivided devotion and worship him on every side, ever joined to him, he carries what they lack and preserves what they have (Gita 9.22). The old name for these two is yogakshema, and we use the plain words.
The conditions. Three conditions come with the promise. First, undivided devotion: no other support in the thought. Second, worship "on every side": not in one corner of life but in all of it. Third, being ever joined, which also marks the devotees of the earlier verse (Gita 9.14). None of these asks for a special birth, special knowledge or a special ritual. All three are about the direction of the mind.
Joined from both sides. "Ever joined" occurs twice: once in the description of the devotee (Gita 9.14) and once in the Lord's own promise about the same people (Gita 9.22). In the first place it is the devotee's constancy, in the second the Lord's care. The two go together.
What the load is. What is lacking is what a person does not yet have; what is had is what he already holds. Every person carries these two loads: how will what I need arrive, and will what I have be taken from me? "I carry" means that the Lord takes this load on himself. The devotee's heart is freed from worry, not from work.
Beyond pleasures. In the verses before, those who wanted pleasures received them and returned (Gita 9.21). Here the promise is for those who ask for nothing in particular. The one who asks receives a thing; the one who joins has the whole load taken up.
How far it reaches. The commentators fall into two streams on the extent of the promise. One applies it mainly to the journey of practice: what the devotee lacks, namely right understanding and steadiness, the Lord gives (Gita 10.10–11), and what he has gained, he keeps (Gita 9.31). The other counts the ordinary needs of life as well. The verse names neither. It says only "what is lacking" and "what is had".
Knowing and loving are not separate here
In these four verses knowledge and devotion walk together. In the first, devotion begins with knowing: the great souls worship the Lord because they know him as the origin of all and as imperishable (Gita 9.13). In the third, knowledge itself becomes worship (Gita 9.15). In the fourth, the one who is cared for is the one who thinks of him with an undivided heart (Gita 9.22). In chapter 7 too, the wise one is the one who is devoted to the One alone (Gita 7.17).
So the verses do not set two paths against each other. They show that in one and the same person knowing and loving go together. This also explains why the "others" of the sacrifice of knowledge (Gita 9.15) appear in this passage at all: they are the other side of the same picture, not people outside it.
The same teaching elsewhere in the Gita
| Verse | What it says | What it adds here |
|---|---|---|
| 2.45 | Rise above the three modes; be free from the worry of acquiring and preserving | The call to put the load down; 9.22 says who picks it up |
| 7.17 | The wise one, ever steadfast and devoted to the One, is best and dear | The same pair, undivided and ever joined |
| 8.14 | The Lord is easily attained by the one whose mind turns to nothing else | The fruit of an undivided mind: nearness |
| 8.22 | The Supreme Person is attained only by undivided devotion | Undivided devotion is the way to him |
| 10.10-11 | He gives wisdom to the steadfast and, dwelling in the heart, removes darkness | One form of "what is lacking": understanding |
| 12.6-7 | Those who offer all actions are soon lifted out by him | Offering actions is the devotee's part, lifting is the Lord's |
| 18.66 | Abandon all supports, take refuge in me alone, do not grieve | Refuge and the lifting of grief |
| 9.34 | Fix your mind on me, be my devotee, worship me, bow to me | The call that 9.14 describes |
One thing shows in this list. Wherever the Gita speaks of reaching the Lord, undivided devotion is there; and wherever undivided devotion is, something comes from the Lord's side: nearness, wisdom, deliverance, care.
Four promises, four different loads
The Lord gives the devotee more than one promise in the Gita, and each is aimed at a different load.
| Promise | The load | What the Lord does |
|---|---|---|
| 9.22 | The load of daily life: what is lacking and what is had | Carries it |
| 10.10-11 | The darkness of ignorance | Gives understanding and, dwelling in the heart, removes the darkness |
| 12.7 | The ocean of death and worldly existence | Soon lifts the devotee out |
| 18.66 | Sin and grief | Liberates, and asks the devotee not to grieve |
In the order of the chapters, the loads grow deeper: first the need and safekeeping of life, then ignorance, then the ocean of death, then sin and grief. The promise of chapter 9 is aimed at the plainest load, and it is where the trust begins that the devotee does not walk alone. So it would be wrong to read it only as a promise of comfort, and equally wrong to read it only as a promise of liberation. It is a promise that comes down into daily life, and the later promises deepen the same trust.
Hard questions and their answers
If the Lord carries it, why must the devotee strive?
Because the Lord does not take the place of effort; he takes up what lies beyond it. In this very description the devotee is one who strives with firm resolve (Gita 9.14), and the right to act remains his (Gita 2.47). What can be won by action is won by action. But the outcome is not in the hands of action, and keeping what is won is not within one person's power either. That share the Lord takes. Offering the work is the devotee's part (Gita 12.6–7).
Does the promise mean a devotee will never suffer or lose anything?
No. The verse promises getting and keeping, not comfort. The Gita does not lift Arjuna out of a hard hour of action; it steadies him in the middle of it. The highest word about the devotee is that he never perishes (Gita 9.31); not that he will never have to lose anything. Whichever of the two streams one follows, the centre of the verse is the same: the devotee does not carry the load alone.
Does dropping the worry clash with the Lord carrying it?
They are two ends of one load. There the seeker is asked to rise above the worry of gaining and keeping (Gita 2.45). Here we are told that one who has dropped the worry is not left empty-handed; the Lord takes care of him. One verse says "put it down", the other says "I lift it". If the Lord did not lift it, the call to put it down would be incomplete; if the devotee did not put it down, the promise would have nothing to act on.
Are the worshippers through knowledge below the devotees?
The verses make no such order. The worshippers through knowledge are called "others", and their worship is counted as worship of him (Gita 9.15). In chapter 7 the wise one who is devoted to the One alone is called best (Gita 7.17), so knowledge and devotion are not two camps there. The promise is tied not to the name of a path but to being undivided and ever joined, and the way to the Supreme Person is said to be undivided devotion (Gita 8.22).
Is the promise only for those already great souls?
No. A great soul is identified by his shelter and his undivided mind (Gita 9.13), not by a past record. The Gita says that even one of very bad conduct who worships with undivided devotion is to be regarded as righteous, for he has resolved rightly, and that he soon becomes righteous (Gita 9.30–31). The condition is the direction of the mind, and the history before the turn does not block it.
Questions the verses raise, answered from the Gita and the tradition
Three questions rise from this promise: how far the Lord's care reaches into everyday needs, whether the three ways of seeing in the sacrifice of knowledge belong to three people or to one, and when and in what form the care appears. The Gita answers all three.
How far does the Lord's care reach into everyday needs?
The Gita's answer is that it reaches as far as the load is beyond one's own power. The promise covers getting and keeping (Gita 9.22). The right to act stays with the devotee (Gita 2.47), so the daily work is his, while the outcome and the lasting of it are the Lord's. The Lord also says that with the mind on Him a person crosses every difficulty by His grace (Gita 18.58); chapter 10 shows the same care as the gift of understanding and the lamp of knowledge in the heart (Gita 10.10–11). The seeker has his own share in daily life too: moderation in food, conduct, work, sleep and waking (Gita 6.17). So the care is not a licence for idleness; it is a load divided.
The Mahabharata tradition shows this in the story of Draupadi. When every support had failed in the assembly, she called on the Lord, and the tradition says her honour was kept. It counts this as an example of the promise to carry what is lacking and keep what is held.
Do the three ways of seeing belong to three people or to one?
The Gita ranks none of them. Some worship the Lord as one, some as separate, some in many forms, and the Lord calls all three "worship of Me" (Gita 9.15). The knowledge that sees one imperishable being in all beings that appear separate is the bright kind of knowledge (Gita 18.20). So one seeker's way of seeing can pass through all three as he goes on.
Two streams of the tradition speak here. One takes the three ways to belong to three kinds of worshippers: the one who sees no difference, the one who sees difference, and the one who sees the universal form. The other takes them as the successive views of one seeker. Both agree that none of the three is lesser.
When does the care appear, and in what form?
The Gita names several forms. The Lord gives the devotee the yoga of understanding and lights the lamp of knowledge in his heart (Gita 10.10–11); the devotee finds lasting peace and does not perish (Gita 9.31); even a little of this practice saves from great fear (Gita 2.40). As for time, the answer is: as long as the joining lasts. For those whose minds are fixed on Him, He soon becomes their deliverer (Gita 12.6–7).
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.
Going deeper
The simple reading of this topic begins with an everyday worry, and the detailed reading takes the same verses in order, with an example and a practice. The whole sequence is in The Path of Devotion.