Gita 09.24 – Education about reality is not discrimination against certain features of reality
But if one can follow the highest level, then that is the best. Thank you.
For all the yajnas, I am the enjoyer, Bhokta. Prabhu, I am the master. One who does not know me as thus, that person not knowing the truth falls away.
So, in the previous verse, it was 9.23, it was stated that यप्यन्यदेवता भक्ता यजन्तेश्रद्धयान्वितः तेत्पिमामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम् that those who worship the other gods, they are also worshipping Krishna but they are doing in an unauthorized way. So, what exactly is unauthorized? And prior to that, Krishna has said that those who worship the various devtas and do karma kanda and go to the heavens, they fall back. And then that was 9.21. And 9.22 was योगक्षेमं बहाम्यहं, those who worship Krishna, they are protected personally by Krishna.
So, why this difference in the destinations for those who worship the devtas and for those who worship Krishna? Is this some kind of partiality? No, there is some absolute truth and a non-understanding the position of truthfulness leads to certain results. Just as we can consider a diet, you know, if there is one company which sells natural healthy food and another company says artificial junk food. And then if a healthy doctor tells that, you know, you take the food from this company, you will stay healthy.
If you take the food from that company, you will fall sick. So, say why you are promoting that company and you are biased against this company? It could be that sometimes doctors get kickbacks from certain companies so that they can promote their products. But in this case, it may well be that that is the truth.
That is because certain foods are better for the body and certain foods are not so good for the body. So, pointing out this difference should not be seen as a discrimination, it is education. So, Krishna is telling us that there is a particular absolute truth.
And to the extent we harmonize ourselves with that truth, to that extent we live in the light of the truth. And to the extent we are disharmonized with that truth, to that extent we stay away from reality. We are shaded away from reality and are in darkness.
Just as different kinds of diets will have different consequences on us. Similarly, different kinds of, shall we say, of worships will have different consequences on our consciousness. And what is the reality here? That Krishna is the supreme person.
He is the ultimate beneficiary, the enjoyer, the master for all yajnas. The word yajna, its usage is significant here because this word has been used again and again starting from third chapter. And again, in the fourth chapter, it was used elaborately and this particular section analysis started with 9.15 when Krishna said, So, there are some people who use their knowledge to try to worship the absolute truth in various manifestations with proper or improper conceptions that Krishna has elaborated from 16 to 24 onwards.
Sometimes pointing out wrong conceptions, sometimes giving the correct understandings. So, here he is saying that he is the master of everything that exists, that he is the ultimate beneficiary of sacrifices. And those who don't know this, those who don't know his position, because of not knowing the truth, they fall.
There is a certain kind of a conception which brings out our transcendence. And there are other kinds of conceptions about the object of worship, about the absolute truth that don't bring out our transcendence. The pure spiritual consciousness of the soul is right now covered and for it to become manifested requires a certain level of purification.
And for us to get that level of purification, we need a certain level of understanding of what the absolute truth is so that we can become devoted to the right object. Important for us is the recognition that we cannot move onwards towards the same destination while having different conceptions. Because in the spiritual path, the progress towards the destination is not a physical progress, it is more of a conceptual evolution where it is our conception that changes.
So, if our conception itself is imprecise and the purification is not leading to precision of the conception, then the progress is not going to be as much as if we had the right conception or if we were moving towards the right conception. Thus, what we need is the understanding of Krishna's position of the absolute truth and the harmonization of our endeavors for purification with that understanding. Just as a person who walks off a 10-story building cannot say that, oh, it's a discrimination that I am falling off and the person who is standing there is not falling off.
Why is gravity discriminating like this? Gravity is not discriminating. It is you who have been undiscerning by walking off the terrace like that. So, those who shelter themselves in the absolute truth which is transcendental, they become elevated to transcendence.
But those who shelter themselves in something other than the absolute truth, they are no longer sheltered in transcendence. In fact, they have never attained transcendence only. And the capacity of other shelters to provide shelter is temporary.
And once that capacity is exhausted, then those who are sheltered in them fall away. Just as when somebody may worship devatas and get elevated to their abodes, but when the piety gets exhausted, the devatas cannot protect their worshippers from falling, they fall. Because of the way they chose to worship, they rise but they fall.
So, Krishna is stressing that point that because there is an absolute truth and not understanding and harmonizing with the absolute truth will have consequences. And one of the consequences is that one will fall. Now, fall does not mean fall to sinful activities.
Fall means not move towards the transcendental destination. And what destination one will get,.