Bg. 7.20 · Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Devanagari

कामैस्तैस्तैर्हृतज्ञाना: प्रपद्यन्तेऽन्यदेवता: । तं तं नियममास्थाय प्रकृत्या नियता: स्वया ॥ २० ॥

Verse text

kāmais tais tair hṛta-jṣānāḥ prapadyante ’nya-devatāḥ taṁ taṁ niyamam āsthāya prakṛtyā niyatāḥ svayā

Synonyms

kāmaiḥ — by desires ; taiḥ taiḥ — various ; hṛta — deprived of ; jṣānāḥ — knowledge ; prapadyante — surrender ; anya — to other ; devatāḥ — demigods ; tam tam — corresponding ; niyamam — regulations ; āsthāya — following ; prakṛtyā — by nature ; niyatāḥ — controlled ; svayā — by their own.

Translation

Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

20. Those who have become foolish because of their many desires worship various devatās, adopting various rules, under the control of their low natures.

Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

20. Those who have become foolish because of their many desires worship various devatās, adopting various rules under the control of their individual desire.

Purport

Those who are freed from all material contaminations surrender unto the Supreme Lord and engage in His devotional service. As long as the material contamination is not completely washed off, they are by nature nondevotees. But even those who have material desires and who resort to the Supreme Lord are not so much attracted by external nature; because of approaching the right goal, they soon become free from all material lust. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is recommended that whether one is a pure devotee and is free from all material desires, or is full of material desires, or desires liberation from material contamination, he should in all cases surrender to Vāsudeva and worship Him. As stated in the Bhāgavatam (2.3.10) : akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena yajeta puruṣaṁ param Less intelligent people who have lost their spiritual sense take shelter of demigods for immediate fulfillment of material desires. Generally, such people do not go to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, because they are in the lower modes of nature (ignorance and passion) and therefore worship various demigods. Following the rules and regulations of worship, they are satisfied. The worshipers of demigods are motivated by small desires and do not know how to reach the supreme goal, but a devotee of the Supreme Lord is not misguided. Because in Vedic literature there are recommendations for worshiping different gods for different purposes (e.g., a diseased man is recommended to worship the sun), those who are not devotees of the Lord think that for certain purposes demigods are better than the Supreme Lord. But a pure devotee knows that the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa is the master of all. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta ( Ādi 5.142) it is said, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya: only the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is master, and all others are servants. Therefore a pure devotee never goes to demigods for satisfaction of his material needs. He depends on the Supreme Lord. And the pure devotee is satisfied with whatever He gives.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

“It is understood from what you have said that the sakāma-bhaktas, because they worship You, the Lord, who responds to them, become somewhat successful. But what happens to those who have material desires and worship the devatās with the desire to remove their suffering or gain material pleasure?” Four verses answer this question. These people, having no intelligence (hṛta-jṣāna), think that the devatās like Sūrya will give immediate relief from afflictions like sickness, whereas Viṣṇu will not. They therefore surrender to the devatās. They are under the control of their natures (prakṛtyā niyatā svayā), which are corrupted, averse to surrender to Me.

Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)

It has just been stated that even those who worship Me with material desires become liberated by the power of devotion to Me. But those who worship devatās because of desire for immediate happiness continue to take birth. This is explained in four verses. With various desires, such as desire for relief from suffering, they become devoid of intelligence (hṛta jṣānāḥ), thinking that the sun god and others can quickly destroy sickness or other problems, but that Viṣṇu cannot. Hṛtajṣānāḥ means people who have lost all intelligence. They thus worship the devatās. They follow particular rules (tam tam niyamam) controlled by their individual impressions (prakṛtyā svayā). This means that their impressions are such that it makes them opposed to surrendering to Me.

Surrender Unto Me

This is a different category of persons: they are neither among those who don't surrender nor among those who do surrender to Krsna. They are called 'hrta‑jnanah', deprieved of knowledge (less intelligent). Krsna wants us do not be deprived of knowledge and surrender ‑ to Him.