Are the demigod worshipers in Gita 9.15 different from normal karma kandis because the Gita refers to them as jnanis?

From Radhika Nagara P

Hare krishna question from radhika nagar prabhu do the demigod worshippers referred to in geeta 9.15 differ from the karma kandis because krishna refers to them as jnanis and do they attain the same destination as normal demigod worshippers answer yes they are definitely different because krishna states clearly that they are as you said they are jnanis and that they are worshipping him so you know often we use the term mayavadi as well as the word jnani in a very blanket sense that means anybody with the impersonal conception we often call it mayavadi but within mayavadis there are brahmavadis also so similarly anybody who worships demigods we use a blanket term demigod worshipper but there are demigod worshippers who can also have different conceptions now just offhand now there can be demigod worshippers who think that that the demigod they are worshipping is supreme there can be other demigod worshippers who think that there are many different devtas none of whom is supreme and i am worshipping this particular devta because i like this devta and the devta will give me whatever i want so this is a polytheistic idea there are many supreme many many powerful gods then there can also be the idea that all these demigods are conceptualizations or representations of some other reality so this is called often as henotheism henotheism is the idea that there is one impersonal spirit and then all the devtas are representations of that and then beyond that there can be the understanding that demigods are ways of approaching krishna so here the conception is not that the demigods are independent lords demigods are subordinate to krishna but people may think that oh we cannot approach that that vishnu is very exalted we cannot approach him so we will worship somebody else now no this sort of people may be very less but it’s possible and then of course there are devotees also who may be worship the devtas understanding the devtas as great devotees whose blessings they can get so we see chaitanya mahaprabhu going to shiva temple and composing shiva ashtakam in place of lord shiva in praise of lord shiva and we see even lord ram worships shiva at many places rameshwar is there so there can be many conceptions and those demigod worshipers along with their different conceptions will have different relatively different destinations so i’ll repeat those who consider the demigod to be supreme those who consider there are many different gods and i like this god and i really don’t know i don’t care about who is supreme i like this god he will provide me whatever i want so i’ll worship him such people may also worship different gods at different times and there are that there’s where they think that there is one god who is one impersonal light and there are representations of this one god then there can be the idea that demigods are means whom we should worship first before we can attain the end of worshiping krishna and there are others who understand that krishna is the worshipable object but demigods are also worshipable exalted devotees and therefore we can worship them and we see this in the mahabharata you know um arjuna worships shiva he performs austerity and he chants totra’s glorifying shiva and from that he gets the pashupatastra similarly he actually pleases the other devatas also and gets blessings for them from them but it’s clear from over on the overall tenor of the mahabharata that arjuna is a vaishnava so it’s not that all demigod worship is same okay it’s a it may be a blanket term but we have to look at the individual conceptions so now here this is not just a normal demigod worship it’s very clear because krishna says they are worshiping me and they also have jnana they are worshiping with jnana so normally this is the some kind of this is in the vedic parlance is often referred to as pratikopas now so the various devatas are considered to be pratikas representatives of some higher reality and that higher reality is often considered to be unknown now many of these demigod worshippers assume that that higher reality is impersonal and these are just temporary forms which can be ascribed to that higher reality but that may or may not be the conception but the important point is they understand that we are not worshiping these specific devatas but we are worshiping that transcendental reality whatever it is and these devatas so that’s why it is prathaktvena bahudha that there are bahudha many and then they are differentiated into many as it is said but they are worshiping me and krishna also emphasizes this point that they are worshiping me in 9.20 when he says the tri-vidya-mama-soma-bhuta-papa-yagyai-rishtva-svarga-tim-prarthayante te punyama-sadya-surendra-lokam-ashnanti-devyan-devi-deva-bhogan so there krishna says that they are they are worshiping because they think that they are worshiping me tri-vidya-mama-soma-bhuta-papa-yagyai-rishtva-svarga-tim-prarthayante they are worshiping me but their conception is what they surendra-lokam bhuta-papa-yagyai-rishtva-svarga-tim-prarthayante they are worshiping me but their goal is not me their conception of the worshipable object is not very clear whom am i worshiping okay there may be some higher reality of which these are representatives but their goal is clear they do not want to attain that higher reality they want svarga and because they want svarga prarthayante svarga-tim-prarthayante and then what happens they will get that te punyama-sadya-surendra-lokam and they will attain surendra-loka ashnanti-devyan-devi-deva-bhogan and they will enjoy enormously over there so this much is quite clear now beyond this if krishna says that because they do not have a clear understanding of the absolute truth and because what they desire is temporary so he says next verse okay they will get the heavenly lights but then it will end and they will fall back again they will fall back again to this world that’s tetam-bhuktva-sarga-lokam-vishalam shire-punya-martya-lokam-vishanti now the acharya has described that here the question comes up that krishna is saying they also worship me, they also worship you then when they worship you why do they fall? and that question becomes all the more emphatic because krishna says in the next verse that those who worship me, they come to me he says in 9.22 that ananya-shintayanto mam yejana-paripasate tesha-mityabhi-yuktanam yogakshema-vahamyaham so he doesn’t explicitly say that they come to me but he says that those who worship me without any distraction without any conceptualization like this ananya-shintayanto mam so he says I protect what they have and I provide what they lack the contrast is that they will not fall back they lose, the demigod worshippers lose and then the next two verses are very important, 23rd and 24th so why do they fall back? here yogakshema-vahamyaham is happening but there why it doesn’t happen? ahami-sarva-yajnana-bhoktache-prabhurevache vittu-mama-bhijananti tattvena-tasca-vantite so because they do not know my supreme position they aham-hi-sarva-yajnanam I certainly am the bhokta of all of them so what happens is here the demigod the pratikopasakas they are not very clear about who is the ultimate enjoyer, they are not very clear about what the ultimate reality is their primary goal is okay there is some reality beyond, they have that knowledge they are not simple polytheists who think okay there are many gods and maybe they are fighting or I don’t care they understand there is some higher reality and in that sense they have jnana and the jnana also indicates that they have some sort of impersonal conception now Shankaracharya also talked about panchopasana so that is something similar to this now what happens, the problem with it is Vishwanath Chaturthi Thakur explains also in his Bhagavatam commentaries that they are intending to worship Krishna so their worship goes to Krishna but they don’t go to Krishna because that is not their desire he explains that famous verse akashatritam toya mithasagaram gacchati sarvadeva namaskaram keshavam pratigacchati so he says that the namaskar will go to the achyuta just as the toya akashatritam toya, the water drop will go to the ocean but because the worshipper doesn’t have a clear understanding of the transcendental personality of the supreme lord that will not go the worshipper will not go to the supreme destination and that is also clear so they are worshipping me but how are they worshipping avidhipurvakam what is the vidhi? they do not know the scriptural conclusion that i am the enjoyer of everything, i am the ultimate bhokta, i am the ultimate prabhu and because of the lack of this understanding they do not get the eternal destination, so whatever concept they have of devata because they have made that as their worshipable deity they will attain that and that is also yanti devata devan pitran yanti pitravata so in terms of destination these demigod worshippers more or less get the same destination as other demigod worshippers but because there is some connection with krishna there is some credit in that and because of their connection with krishna there is a greater likelihood of their future progress so the mam factor is not mentioned by krishna at all when he talks about the karma kandis in 2.42 43 44 when he talks about yam imam pushpitam vacham so they are just thinking that only swarga is the goal and there is nothing else, here also swarga is the goal but they are also understanding that krishna is the ultimate object of worship so in terms of concept their understanding is slightly different but because so their worship will go to krishna as krishnpad explains through the river and ocean example drop and ocean example but they themselves will not go to krishna for that it will take time for them and eventually when their conceptual concepts became clear about krishna and they understand krishna is the highest reality then they will attain krishna thank you