Gita 10.02 – Appreciating the glory of the object of devotion enhances devotion

Bhagavad Gita 10.2 na me viduhu suraganaha prabhavam namaharsayaha ahamadir hi devanam maharsinam cha sarvasahaha so Krishna speaks over here na me viduhu I do not know suraganaha I do not know I am not known na me viduhu suraganaha all the suras prabhavam namaharsayaha prabhava is my origin namaharsayaha you know even the great souls the great sages maharashi maharashi why do they not know me is giving one kind of reasoning ahamadir hi devanam I am their source maharsinam cha sarvasahaha I am their beginning I am their source maharsinam of both the devatas and the maharashis so Krishna in the previous verse stated that he is going to speak paramam vajah the top most words Krishna is now those words are going to be about his ultimately about his devotion about bhakti to him but to establish the glory of bhakti Krishna also establishes the glory of the object of bhakti now if we recommend to someone you know take a job in that company say a person has got completed the final year or in the final year the campus selections are happening and then there are various options for talented students with good marks which company should they apply for so when recommending apply for this company or apply for that company then at that time the thing that we tell when you are saying that you want to take a job for that company we tell how big that company is and how big are the benefits that one may get by working for that company so the glory of the company is a natural and essential way of of recommending employment in the company so even a more personal level if a person is working in a company and that person has the capacity within that company to choose between 3-4 different teams then we may tell that this team leader is very good work with this team leader and if you glorify that team leader then naturally the younger candidate when they have choices like that the younger candidate may choose to work in that particular team under that particular team leader so a glorification of the object of service is a natural inspiration for the act of service so just as people may proudly say I work in Apple or I work in Microsoft or whatever I work in some big company like that so Krishna is here glorifying his own supreme position in order to inspire devotion to him not just inspire but to make to make devotion to him single minded as we will see later so the spiritual culture of which the Gita is essential part spiritual culture is essentially a culture of of respect of respectfulness now we see the citizens respect the kings and the kings respect the sages and the kings respect the devtas and there are various ways in which the kings even worship the devtas but even while worshipping like this the point that is always kept in mind is that we recognize that there is no ultimate no ultimate goal or rather no ultimate function destination to be attained by such worship separately Krishna has talked about how both in the 7th and the 9th chapters that worship of the devtas will lead only to temporary results it is said in the 7th chapter the 23rd verse and here also it is said he said in 9.21 so here the point that Krishna is making is fairly unambiguous and the point is that we can't break free from the bondage of existence just by worshipping devtas or by respecting the sages we need to be devoted to the supreme and to underscore the difference between the positions of the supreme and the positions of other respectable beings within the within the Vedic world view Krishna contrasts here in a very graphic way this is what to speak of both being equal they don't even know me because I am their source now I am their source means when a child is born the child may parents often may tell stories about their childhood about their growth about their their affectionate whatever adventures they may have had in their lives and by talking about all these things what do the parents do the parents ensure that their legacy is legacy is not just passed on but their antecedents are known to their children no matter how well informed the children may be about their parents and their ancestors still they were not there at those times so their knowledge is more informational it is not first hand knowledge so Krishna is telling that in a broadly or roughly similar sense Krishna states here that actually the devatas don't know him and even the rishis don't know him because they all come from him Krishna has indirectly pointed to this that he is the source of everything in various places for example 7.6 when he said that everything that exists comes from me that whatever exists in this world it all comes from Krishna all is a combination of these two natures and it all comes from Krishna he stated that earlier but while stating that it has been very clear that Krishna is the cause of all causes the absolute truth but still there might be some ambiguity or what about the other worshipable beings what is their position Krishna says here he resolves that there is no ambiguity on that count sometimes some people ascribe the doctrine of Hinothism to the Vedic teachings so Hinothism is the idea that there is one absolute truth who manifests in many forms and whichever form we may choose to worship we can worship in that form that is Hinothism and then Cat Hinothism is a more specified narrow focused conception of that same Hinothism that actually you can choose whichever form you want to worship and you can worship accordingly and Krishna states very clearly here that that is not correct he says that there are other Devatas and they are not at the same level as he is and they are not the cause of all causes he is he is their cause that he is the cause of the Devatas and he is the cause of the Maharishis also and not just Rishis even the Maharishis and the great sages they are not equal to him in position they are all subordinate to Krishna and it is Krishna who is the ultimate worshipable object this was demonstrated in the Rajasuya Yajna when the Devatas and the Maharishis were present and even in their presence it was Krishna who was chosen for the position or for the for worship as a supreme worshipable being for getting the honour of the Agra Puja and that which was demonstrated through action now Krishna is stressing through philosophical analysis and instruction in this.