BG 7.16
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Devanagari
चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जना: सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन ।
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ
janāḥ su-kṛtino ’rjuna
ārto jijṣāsur arthārthī
jṣānī ca bharatarṣabha
Synonyms
catuḥ-vidhāḥ
—
four kinds of
;
bhajante
—
render services
;
mām
—
unto Me
;
janāḥ
—
persons
;
su-kṛtinaḥ
—
those who are pious
;
arjuna
—
O Arjuna
;
ārtaḥ
—
the distressed
;
jijṣāsuḥ
—
the inquisitive
;
artha-arthī
—
one who desires material gain
;
jṣānī
—
one who knows things as they are
;
ca
—
also
;
bharata-ṛṣabha
—
O great one amongst the descendants of Bharata.
Translation
O best among the Bhāratas, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me – the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
16. Four types of religious persons worship Me, O Arjuna: the sufferer, the inquirer, the enjoyer and the jṣānī.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
16. Four types of religious persons worship Me, O Arjuna: the sufferer, the inquirer, the enjoyer and the jṣānī.
Purport
Unlike the miscreants, these are adherents of the regulative principles of the scriptures, and they are called su-kṛtinaḥ, or those who obey the rules and regulations of scriptures, the moral and social laws, and are, more or less, devoted to the Supreme Lord. Out of these there are four classes of men – those who are sometimes distressed, those who are in need of money, those who are sometimes inquisitive, and those who are sometimes searching after knowledge of the Absolute Truth. These persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service under different conditions. These are not pure devotees, because they have some aspiration to fulfill in exchange for devotional service. Pure devotional service is without aspiration and without desire for material profit. The Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.11) defines pure devotion thus:
anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jṣāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu- śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā
“One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.”
When these four kinds of persons come to the Supreme Lord for devotional service and are completely purified by the association of a pure devotee, they also become pure devotees. As far as the miscreants are concerned, for them devotional service is very difficult because their lives are selfish, irregular and without spiritual goals. But even some of them, by chance, when they come in contact with a pure devotee, also become pure devotees.
Those who are always busy with fruitive activities come to the Lord in material distress and at that time associate with pure devotees and become, in their distress, devotees of the Lord. Those who are simply frustrated also come sometimes to associate with the pure devotees and become inquisitive to know about God. Similarly, when the dry philosophers are frustrated in every field of knowledge, they sometimes want to learn of God, and they come to the Supreme Lord to render devotional service and thus transcend knowledge of the impersonal Brahman and the localized Paramātmā and come to the personal conception of Godhead by the grace of the Supreme Lord or His pure devotee. On the whole, when the distressed, the inquisitive, the seekers of knowledge, and those who are in need of money are free from all material desires, and when they fully understand that material remuneration has nothing to do with spiritual improvement, they become pure devotees. As long as such a purified stage is not attained, devotees in transcendental service to the Lord are tainted with fruitive activities, the search for mundane knowledge, etc. So one has to transcend all this before one can come to the stage of pure devotional service.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
“Then, who worships You?”
Four types worship Me. Those who follow the rules of varṇāśrama (sukṛtinaḥ), worship Me. Among them some desire relief from affliction, from calamities like sickness; some desire knowledge of ātmā or desire knowledge of scriptures with grammar; and some desire enjoyment in this life and the next with land, elephants, horses, women, gold and other such things. These persons worship Me. These three are sakāma gṛhasthas. The fourth type, the jṣānī, a sannyāsī with pure heart who worships Me with devotion, is niṣkāma, without material desire. [Note: In this definition the jṣānī does not have a desire for liberation. The devotee desiring liberation is mentioned at the end of the chapter as a sakāma-bhakta.]
These four types of devotees, qualified for pradhānī bhūtā bhakti (in which bhakti is the principle component), have been enumerated. The first three types of persons have karma-miśra-bhakti. The fourth type has jṣāna-miśra-bhakti. Later in the book, yoga-miśra-bhakti will also be described in verse like sarva dvārāni saṁyamya (BG 8.12).
But kevalā bhakti, unmixed with karma or jṣāna, was also described in the beginning of this chapter with the words mayyāsakta manaḥ pārtha (BG 7.1). Kevalā bhakti will also be described in the eighth chapter with ananya cetāḥ satatam (BG 8.14), in the ninth with mahātmānas tu mām pārtha (BG 9.13) and with ananyāś cintayanto mām (BG 9.22). The Lord describes these two types of bhakti, pradhānī bhūtā and kevalā bhakti, in the middle six chapters of the Gītā.
A third type of bhakti, guṇī bhūtā bhakti (processes in which bhakti is a secondary element) is seen in the karmīs, jṣānīs and yogīs, who predominantly desire results for their actions (bhukti and mukti). Because of the lack of predominance of bhakti, and instead a predominance of karma, jṣāna or yoga, this guṇī bhūtā bhakti it is not classed as bhakti. As things should be classed by predominance of quality, these processes are classed as karma, jṣāna and yoga, and the practitioners are not classed as bhaktas, but as karmīs, jṣānīs or yogīs.
The result of sakāma-karma is Svarga, the result of niṣkāma-karma is jṣāna-yoga, and the result of jṣāna and aṣṭāṅga-yoga is nirvāṇa mokṣa, impersonal liberation. The results of the two types of pradhānī bhūtā bhakti are described as follows. Among the types of pradhānī bhūtā bhakti, the first three are karma-miśra-bhakti, or sakāma-bhakti. The result of this bhakti is attainment of the respective desires (deliverance from suffering, attainment of scriptural knowledge with materialistic method, gain of material benefits). And after that, because the superior nature of their object of worship (the Lord), those devotees attain liberation in the form of sālokya (attaining the same planet) with predominance of happiness and powers (sukha and aiśvarya). And there is no fall down as in the case of exhausting enjoyment in Svarga as a result of karma. It will be said, “Those who worship Me come to Me.” (BG 9.25)
The result of jṣāna-miśra-bhakti, which is superior to the other three types, is śānta rati (bhāva), as in the case of Sanaka and others. Sometimes, because of exceptional mercy of the Lord and His devotee, the result of jṣāna-miśra-bhakti is the supreme position of prema, as in the case of Śukadeva.
If sakāma-bhakti (the first three types) becomes niṣkāma, without desires, the result is jṣāna-miśra-bhakti, and the result of that jṣāna-miśra-bhakti is as stated above (śānta-rati). Sometimes, those who have jṣāna-miśra-bhakti or karma-miśra-bhakti attain prema in dāsya and higher rasas on their own (with no apparent association of devotees in this life), because of influence of association with devotees in previous lives. However, that prema is predominated by a mood of reverence (aiśvarya).
The result of pure bhakti unmixed with jṣāna, karma or yoga, called ananyā bhakti akiṣcanā bhakti or uttamā bhakti, which has many types, is that one becomes an associate of the Lord with dāsya, sākhya, and other rasas. This is explained elaborately in the commentaries on the Bhāgavatam. As it is a matter related to the topic at hand, the distinctions in perfected bhakti have been briefly discussed. [Note: Though the topic is sādhana, the results of sādhya, prema, are also described here to illustrate the difference in the sādhanas.]
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
“Then who surrenders to You?”
Those who are actually learned (sukṛtinaḥ), who engage in their designated activities according to varṇāśrama, and have love for Me alone, worship Me. [Note: It would appear that these four types are all classed as pariniṣṭhita devotees. They worship the Lord alone, and also do prescribed duties but without much attachment. Even if they have material desires, they still only worship the Lord and no one else.] They are of four types. Some are afflicted by disaster (arthaḥ), such as pain from enemies. They desire to eliminate that suffering. Gajendra is an example of this type. Others desire knowledge of the nature of ātmā distinct from the body (jijṣāsuḥ). Śaunaka is an example of this type. Ohers desire wealth such as kingdom (arthārthī). Dhruva is an example of this type. The jṣānī already knows his self as ātmā, the part (śeṣa), and Me as paramātmā, the shelter of the part (śeṣī). Śuka is an example of this type. Of these, the first three are called sakāmaḥ, having desires. The jṣānī however is niṣkāma, without desire. The inquisitive type is placed between the sufferer and the desirer of wealth in the sequence in the verse because of hope of the future presence of inquisitiveness in those two types.
Surrender Unto Me
These four: (1) Artah, the distressed (ex. Gajendra);
(2) Artha‑arthi, the desirous of wealth
(ex. Druhva Maharaja)
(3) Jijnasuh, the curious (ex. Saunaka Rsi)
(4) Jnani, the one in search of knowledge
(ex. Sukadeva Goswami, the Four Kumaras)
Jijnasur, the curious, in this text, is mentioned in the middle of the 'artah' and the 'artha‑arthi', because these two must come to the platform of 'jijnasur' curiosity to actually make advancement towards surrender. They have to become curious about Krsna consciousness.
The 'jijnasur' is inquisitive about the soul, about self‑ realization. He is interested in 'nyaya" or logic, or 'vyakarana' or sanskrit grammar. This is all in the category of 'jijnasur'.
The 'artha‑arthi' the wants pleasure in this world or in the next. He is a sakama devotee. Actually, all the first three are sakama devotees because they have desires. The 'jnani' is a niskama devotee because he has no material desires. He desires knowledge of Krsna, then he surrenders to Krsna.
The next text answers the question: Out of these four who is the best?