Ramesh's shop has been doing badly for weeks. In these weeks he has started going to the temple every morning. A few months ago, when business was fine, he went two or three times a year. Now, standing outside the temple, he feels a small sting: "I only come because I need something. Is this devotion, or a show?"
If that question has ever crossed your mind, the Gita answers it directly. The Lord says that four kinds of people worship Him, and all four are good people. The one who calls out in trouble is among them. So Ramesh has nothing to be ashamed of. The Gita also says who stands closest to the Lord, and how anyone can move that way.
The Gita names four reasons
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ ॥ ७.१६ ॥
O Arjuna, four kinds of virtuous people worship Me: the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of worldly gain, and the wise.
The Lord says that four kinds of good people worship Him (Gita 7.16). We know each of them from daily life.
First, the one in distress. When illness comes, or a job is lost, or someone dear is gone, we look up. Second, the one who wants to know. His mind is full of questions and he looks for answers from the Lord. Third, the one who wants something: health, success, peace at home. Fourth, the wise, who has recognised the Lord and wants to be with Him.
Note that the same word, good people, is used for all four. The Lord shuts no one out. Whether a person brings sorrow, a question or a wish, anyone who turns to the Lord is good. In the next verse the Lord says that all of them are noble (Gita 7.18).
Who stands nearest
प्रियो हि ज्ञानिनोऽत्यर्थमहं स च मम प्रियः ॥ ७.१७ ॥
Among them, the wise one, ever steadfast and devoted to the One alone, is the best. I am exceedingly dear to the wise, and the wise one is dear to Me.
The Lord says that among these the wise devotee is the best. He is always joined to Me and his devotion is to the One alone. I am exceedingly dear to him, and he is exceedingly dear to Me (Gita 7.17).
"Wise" here does not mean a person who has read a great deal. It means one who has recognised the Lord, so he needs nothing else from Him. Sitting near the Lord is enough for him. In this undivided devotion the love runs both ways. The other three come to the Lord for something. There is nothing wrong in that, but it is not yet the kind of love in which being together is everything.
The Lord names this nearness in the strongest word He has: the wise one is My own Self (Gita 7.18). And finally He says that a great soul who knows that Vasudeva is everything is very rare (Gita 7.19).
What this does not say
It does not say that asking is wrong. The one who wants something is also called good.
It does not say that the Lord loves some people less. In chapter 9 the Lord says that He is equal to all beings, and yet those who worship with devotion are in Him and He is in them (Gita 9.29). Nearness is made by turning towards Him.
It does not say that you must become learned first and a devotee later. As devotion deepens, so does one's knowing of the Lord (Gita 18.55).
An example
Think of how a child comes to his mother. When he is hurt, he runs to her crying. Sometimes he comes with a question: why is the sky blue? Sometimes he comes to ask for something: a sweet. And sometimes, in the evening, he comes and just sits beside her without saying anything.
The mother takes him in with the same love all four times. But the evening when he only sits beside her holds the deepest closeness between them. The four devotees of the Gita are these four ways of coming, and the fourth is the child who sits quietly by her side.
A small practice for today
Whenever you turn to the Lord today, whether to ask for something or out of fear, add one line at the end with no request: "I am here." Just that. Do it for a week and notice how the mind feels after the line.
Questions readers ask
Is it wrong to remember God only in trouble?
No. The one in distress comes first in the Gita's list, and he too is called a good person (Gita 7.16). The Lord answers each person in the way he comes (Gita 4.11).
Is asking for things not devotion?
It is. Even the one who wants something is counted among the four who worship the Lord (Gita 7.16). The deepest love, though, is the one that wants nothing but the Lord (Gita 7.17), and one can grow towards it.
Does God love some devotees more than others?
The Lord is equal to all. A person is nearer as he turns more fully towards Him, and with the wise one the love runs both ways (Gita 9.29, Gita 7.17).
Do I need to be learned to be the wise devotee?
No. The verse gives marks: being always joined, and devotion to the One alone (Gita 7.17). Through devotion a person comes to know the Lord in truth (Gita 18.55).
Going deeper
To read the verses in order, see the detailed reading. For the harder questions and the streams of commentators, there is the deeper reading. The whole topic is here, and the order of the devotion topics is in The Path of Devotion.