BG 9.23
“
“
Devanagari
येऽप्यन्यदेवताभक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विता: ।
तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम् ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
ye ’py anya-devatā-bhaktā
yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ
te ’pi mām eva kaunteya
yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam
Synonyms
ye
—
those who
;
api
—
also
;
anya
—
of other
;
devatā
—
gods
;
bhaktāḥ
—
devotees
;
yajante
—
worship
;
śraddhayā anvitāḥ
—
with faith
;
te
—
they
;
api
—
also
;
mām
—
Me
;
eva
—
only
;
kaunteya
—
O son of Kuntī
;
yajanti
—
they worship
;
avidhi-pūrvakam
—
in a wrong way.
Translation
Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
23. Those who are devoted to other gods and with faith worship them—they also worship Me, but by the wrong method, O son of Kuntī.
Translation (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
23. Those who are devoted to other gods and with faith worship them, worship Me by the wrong method, O son of Kuntī.
Purport
“Persons who are engaged in the worship of demigods are not very intelligent, although such worship is offered to Me indirectly,” Kṛṣṇa says. For example, when a man pours water on the leaves and branches of a tree without pouring water on the root, he does so without sufficient knowledge or without observing regulative principles. Similarly, the process of rendering service to different parts of the body is to supply food to the stomach. The demigods are, so to speak, different officers and directors in the government of the Supreme Lord. One has to follow the laws made by the government, not by the officers or directors. Similarly, everyone is to offer his worship to the Supreme Lord only. That will automatically satisfy the different officers and directors of the Lord. The officers and directors are engaged as representatives of the government, and to offer some bribe to the officers and directors is illegal. This is stated here as avidhi-pūrvakam. In other words, Kṛṣṇa does not approve the unnecessary worship of the demigods.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
“In verse 15, You have mentioned the three types of worship, and then to explain the third type of worship (viśvarūpa) You have recited verses to illustrate it (verse 16-19). Some others worship Indra and others as part of their practice in karma-yoga (verse 20). Though they predominantly worship other devatās, they are also Your devotees. Why do they not get liberation? Rather, You said, ‘They again take repeated birth and death’ (verse 21) and ‘Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary.’” BG 7.23
This verse answers. Yes, they do worship Me (te mam eva yajanti). However, they worship without any rules for attaining Me (avidhi-pūrvakam). Thus they return to this world.
Purport (Baladeva Vidyabhusana)
“But those who worship Indra and the devatās also are actually worshipping You. Why do they return to saṁsāra?”
Those who, being fully devoted to Indra and others alone, endowed with firm faith that the particular devatā will bestow benedictions (śraddhayānvitaḥ), worship those devatās with sacrifices. It is true that they are actually worshipping Me. But they worship without the proper rules. They worship without following the rules which will allow them to attain Me, which will then extinguish saṁsāra Therefore they return to this world.
Surrender Unto Me
What is their destination? They are supplied by Krsna, the fruits of their worship, but they are worshiping Krsna improperly. Krsna says,