A devotee is already righteous, so why does Krsna say that he becomes righteous in Gita 9.31?

From Anuj Agarwal

Hare Krishna.
Question from Anuj Agarwal Prabhu. A devotee is always righteous. So why does Krishna say in Gita 9.31 that the devotee becomes righteous? Answer.
The word righteous there can refer primarily to the righteous behavior from which the devotee has had a slip. So the devotee returns to righteousness from a temporary slip. Let’s look at the previous verse to understand this point.
Apichet suduracharo bhajate mam ananyabhag sadhure vasamantavya samyagyavasito hisaha. So apichet suduracharo, that even if somebody is doing sudurachara, terribly bad activities, bhajate mam ananyabhag, a person stays fixed in undistracted devotional service. bhajate mam, like that if one keeps worshipping, sadhure vasamantavya, such a person is a sadhu.
samyagyavasito hisaha, samyagyavasito, that such a person is well situated. And sadhure vasamantavya, such a person should be considered saintly. If somebody says that person is behaving wrongly, how can the person be saintly? Because the vyavasito hisaha.
So he is well situated. What is the well situated? Ananyabhag. Now here ananyabhag doesn’t necessarily refer to uninterrupted devotional service in terms of action.
It refers to unintended devotional service in terms of the object of devotion. In terms of the intent of devotion, not the content of one’s action. So that means the devotee doesn’t think, or the devotee seeker doesn’t think, Oh because I have done such sinful activity, now I have to do some atonement.
And now I have to give up Krishna bhakti and I have to do some karma kanda atonement. Or Krishna bhakti is not possible for me, therefore I will do some bhakti of some other devta. Or I will take up some other sadhana.
So here Krishna talks about, appreciates as saintly the continued determination of the devotee to continue devotional service. So that means we may fall down, but we don’t have to fall away. Fall down means to actually not be able to continue to devotional standards and to slip from those devotional standards, to have a fall that way.
But fall away means to give up the practice of bhakti. To think that oh I just cannot do this devotional service, let me just give it up. So here Krishna appreciates the intention and the steadiness in maintaining one’s devotion to Krishna and not thinking of alternative sadhanas or alternative sadhyas.
Not thinking of worshipping someone else or taking up some other process. And when Krishna says the next verse, शिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा शश्वच्छान्तिम् निगच्छति कौंतेय प्रति जाणिः नमे भक्ता प्रणश्यति As soon as the devotee will become righteous, शिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा धर्मात्मा Person will become righteous. शश्वच्छान्तिम् निगच्छति Such a person will attain lasting peace.
So this धर्मात्मा refers to the devotee’s return to dharmic conduct after the lapse which has been described as सुदुराचारो That means the devotee is practicing normal moral and spiritual standards But then there is a lapse, there is सुदुराचार But even after the सुदुराचार, the devotee doesn’t think that I have to give up भक्ति No, there is अनन्यभार The devotee decides that I will continue practicing भक्ति And by the renewed determination, by the continued determination to practice भक्ति The devotee becomes restored to the level of dharmic behavior In that sense, the devotee becomes धर्मात्मा So there is a lapse in action But there is sustenance in intention And because of that, there is a return to right action also So in that sense, the devotee becomes धर्मात्मा Now, Bhaktivinod Thakur gives an esoteric explanation of this verse as referring to the Gopis And he says that Shri Dharaswami, as the previous explanation that I have given was primarily based on Shri Dharaswami’s line of thought which is followed by many subsequent Acharyas also that अनन्यभार refers to not giving up Krishna as one’s object of worship and devotion Bhaktivinod Thakur raises the question which you have raised that actually, the devotees are not just धर्मात्मा Devotees are higher than धर्मात्मा Those who are अनन्यभार, भजिते माम अनन्यभार They are pure devotees And they are actually at the level of not धर्मात्मा but at the level of सर्वधर्मान् परित्ति जमानेकं शर्णम्रजे They are at the level of पराधर्मा, the topmost धर्मा So, here there are three levels The topmost level is the level of पराधर्मा The level of भजिते माम अनन्यभार Then there is the level of सुदुराचारो which is actually अधर्मा And then there is the level of धर्मात्मा which comes in the next verse So, it seems to be quite a messy thing if we just take it literally that how can devotees who are at the level of पराधर्मा fall to अधर्मा and after falling to अधर्मा why will they come to धर्मा and not to why will they come to अपराधर्मा as mentioned by धर्मात्मा and not return to पराधर्मा So, he says the way to resolve this is by understanding that this verse refers to the Gopis So, in public vision it appears as Actually the Gopis are भजिते मामनंयभार They are pure unalloyed devotees of Krishna But in common vision they are सुदुराचारो Because they left their husbands at night to participate in Krishna’s रासनिला And this is only external vision But actually साधुरेवसमन्तव्यः But they should be considered sadhus So, Krishna is saying don’t think that Gopis did anything wrong They are actually saintly And then he says the next verse applies Not to those devotees who are अनन्यभार But those who are मन्तव्यः Who consider them to be sadhus That means those who understand the Gopis to be saintly Just by understanding and speaking like this Declaring like this They will become धर्मात्मा That means by appreciating the glory of the Gopis One will rise in धर्म And one will become धर्मात्मा So this is Bhaktivinoda Thakur’s explanation of the verse And either way whether we take the esoteric explanation Where the इदम् in terms of इदम् meaning it refers to the Gopis Or whether we take the explanation following Sridhar Swami’s thought The important point is That when the devotee Even if there is an occasional wrongdoing Whether it is actual or apparent Essentially the devotee Either is actually continuing on the path of righteousness Or will soon return to the path of righteousness Thank you