Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 24

Chapter 9 – Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

अहं हि सर्वयज्ञानां भोक्ता च प्रभुरेव च ।
न तु मामभिजानन्ति तत्त्वेनातश्च्यवन्ति ते ॥

Transliteration

ahaṃ hi sarvayajñānāṃ bhoktā ca prabhureva ca .
na tu māmabhijānanti tattvenātaścyavanti te ॥

Meaning

For I alone am the enjoyer and the lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me in truth, and therefore they fall.

Word meanings

अहम् – I
हि – for, indeed
सर्वयज्ञानाम् – of all sacrifices
भोक्ता – enjoyer, recipient
च – and
प्रभुः – lord, master
एव – alone
च – and
न – not
तु – but
माम् – Me
अभिजानन्ति – they know
तत्त्वेन – in truth
अतः – therefore
च्यवन्ति – they fall
ते – they

Anvaya (word order)

अहं हि सर्वयज्ञानां भोक्ता च प्रभुः एव च (अस्मि); तु (ते) मां तत्त्वेन न अभिजानन्ति, अतः ते च्यवन्ति ।

Explanation

In the previous verse Krishna said that worshippers of other gods actually worship Him. Here He gives the reason: ‘I alone am the enjoyer and lord of all sacrifices.’ Bhokta is the one who receives the offering; prabhu is the master of the sacrifice who grants its fruit. The deities are channels; the final recipient and the giver of results is the Supreme.

An illustration: in a kingdom the people pay taxes to officials, but the revenue belongs to the king, and the officials serve the people by the king’s authority. In the same way the deities are the Lord’s officers. Worship offered to them reaches Him in the end, and they give their blessings through His power.

‘But they do not know Me in truth, and so they fall.’ Chyavanti means falling back down, from heaven and the like, when merit is exhausted. Shankara explains that those who sacrifice knowing the Lord to be its enjoyer attain the Lord through their sacrifice; those who do not, receive only the limited fruit and return.

Thus the difference lies not in the action but in knowledge and intention. The very same ritual, the very same worship, liberates when offered with the Lord as its aim, and keeps one bound when performed only for its fruit.

Context

Verse 23 said that worshippers of other gods also worship the Lord. This verse explains why, and why such worshippers fall back. In the next verse Krishna states the principle that each worshipper reaches what he worships.

Life lesson

The value of our actions depends on for whom and with what understanding we perform them. Offer every good deed to God; then the same deed becomes a means of freedom rather than bondage.

Key terms

Bhokta: enjoyer, recipient of the offering
Prabhu: lord, giver of the fruit of sacrifice
Tattvena: in truth, as it really is
Chyavana: falling back when merit is spent