Do the ekatvena worshipers of Gita 9.15 refer to 9.11-12 or 12.3-6?
Hare Krishna question from Radhika Nagar Prabhu Whom does the ekatvena in the Gita 9.15 refer to does it refer to the impersonalists talked about in 9.13 and 14 9.11 and 12 or does it refer to those referred to the 12th chapter impersonalists whom Krishna talks about as they attend me but after a long trouble answer it's clearly stated over there in 9.15 some other people are there so this there are others who worship me by gyan and these are of three categories these three categories are there now if you look at these three categories Krishna is clearly talking about these are different from what he has talked about earlier and what he has talked about earlier is the two extremes one is first he talks about those who directly defy him, misunderstand him and bring him down to a material level and then he talks about the other extreme that is the pure devotees who are mahatmanastu mam partha and satatam kirtayantoma that 9.13 and 14 now when Prabhupada says this verse is a summary of the previous verses that is in the sense that once these two extremes are described the intermediate between those two are being described now clearly Krishna is introducing different categories of people who have not been talked about in the previous verses even if we were for argument sake say that the ekatven refers to the 9.11, 12 but still pruthaktven pruthaktven bhavda avishvatomukham they have obviously been not talked about before so when Prabhupada says it is a summary it is not in the sense that these have already been talked about but rather it is a summary in the sense that the broad extent, the scope of the possible attitudes has been talked about those who are completely devoted to Krishna and those who are completely defiant of Krishna and now in between are these three categories so the word anye clearly indicates that these are not 9.11, 12 now another way of understanding that they are different is that Krishna's tone in referring to 9.11 and 12 is clearly critical he is using the word mudha and then he is using the word mogha and then further uses rakshasimhasarimchaiva, he says they are foolish their hopes are futile and they are demoniac so Krishna is clearly using a strongly disapproving tone to refer to them whereas in 9.15 he is using a positive tone for all these people he is saying yajanto mamupasate that all these people worship me, how? By jnana yajena so clearly the ekatvena whom Krishna is talking about in such a positive tone that they are my worshippers they are clearly different from those whom we are talking about in 9.11 and 12 as those who actually whom he calls as mudhas and later on also if we, now this 9. these three categories ekatvena prathaktvena bahuda vishvatomukham so the the prathaktvena bahuda, the demigod worshippers they are talked thereafter from 9.20 to around 25, actually 26, 27 where Krishna contrasts demigod worship with devotional service, now the vishvatomukham, those who worship me in universal form, they are talked about in brief from 9.16 to 9. roughly 19, 20 19 and then after that the same theme comes back in a slightly different way but in a related way because of Arjuna's question about vibhuti in the 10th chapter and it also comes in the 11th chapter because universal form has been talked about so so we see that the vishvatomukham and the prathaktvena bahuda are talked about in the 9th and then the 9th, 10th, 11th chapter, so where are the ekathvena talked about, they are talked about in the 12th chapter, Krishna doesn't refer to impersonalists anywhere and certainly he doesn't refer to them in a positive tone and the references to the impersonalists in the 12th chapter both Arjuna's question and Krishna's answer are again in not the condemnatory tone that is there characterized in 9.11 and 12 Arjuna's question is asking that who are more intimately, who are better situated he says so there are two categories of people who are better situated in yoga who are better situated so he is not saying that those who are worshipping the they are they are so Krishna is definitely not referring to that category so Arjuna is not referring to that category and again Krishna's response also if we see Krishna is not referring to them at all in a negative tone when he says that so first he says that clearly those who are devoted to me they are most intimately united with me but then he says that those who are meditating on the they also come to me and then Krishna says that's 12.34 and then 12.5 he says it's a difficult process so Krishna is qualifying that process as difficult but he is not condemning those people nor is he condemning that process so from this tone we can understand that these impersonalists are not the impersonalists criticized in 9.11 and 12 so 9.11 and 12 from the context we understand it refers to Mayavadis who are condemned and these the Ekathvena of 9.15 and those who are referred to in 12 about Arjuna is asking in 12.1 and who are referred to in 12.3, 4 and 5 they are Brahmavadis so for them the progress is there but it is troublesome so if we look at the flow of the Gita the Ekathven refers to Brahmavadis who are elaborated on in the 12th chapter. Thank you. Hare Krishna.