Bhagavagd Gita - Session 31- Track 3111

But now comes the higher Karma yoga, the Karma yoga which enters into the true devotion.

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate |
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yogakṣemaṁ vahāmy aham ||22|| (IX)

Those who are full of desires, they enjoy all these pleasures, which are described earlier, but others who think of Me alone, without distraction, teṣāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham, in their case whatever they need, I am responsible for it, they are never in want, they may live like sudama, but when the time comes even seven palaces can be built within a short time for him because teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham, whatever they need at any given time is fulfilled by Me.

Question: Yoga and kṣemaṁ-two words?

There are many meanings of these two words, and there are contradictions in it, but basically ‘whatever union they want, and whatever well being they want, that is being provided; kṣemaṁ, is actually ‘well being’ and ‘Yoga’ is any kind of union: whatever union they need, and whatever well being they need, whatever object they want, whatever well being they want, all that is provided by Me.

Question: Yoga does not mean here union with the Divine alone that means…

Anything, anything, what is need; you are already united with Me, the Divine, then whatever needed it is given to you.

Question: But you may not want anything.

You may not want it but whatever you need, even for work you may need something. If you are a warrior, Sri Krishna is in the battlefield, He needs a chariot, so a chariot will be given to Him, because for the work whatever is needed will be given to Him.

ye ’py anyadevatābhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ |

te ’pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhipūrvakam ||23|| (IX)

Even those others who are doing lower kind of Karma yoga and who are doing upāsanā at a lower level with all kinds of desires, even they basically all that worship comes to Me because I am behind everybody, but avidhi-pūrvakam, but only it is without any special method, avidhi-pūrvakam, it is haphazard, pell-mell, it is disorganised offerings, it is unintelligent offering, but even that offering comes to Me because I am behind everybody.

So that’s why, that is to say, what Sri Krishna says is in this chapter there is an exposition of Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga, and the lower forms and the higher forms and then the integration of all the three. So, in a very brief manner…that is why many who people read the 9 chapters they don’t see with striking emphasis the entire meaning of this chapter. But if you read with great intensity you find that Sri Krishna expounds in so many few verses lower forms of Karma Yoga and higher forms of Karma Yoga, higher form of Bhakti Yoga and lower form of Bhakti Yoga, lower form of Jnana Yoga and Higher form of Jnana Yoga, and then the integration of all the higher forms so that you get integral Yoga of Karma, integral Yoga of Jnana and integral Yoga of Bhakti and then the integral Yoga of Jnana, Karma and Bhakti, all these together in these few verses everything is given.

ahaṁ hi sarvayajñānāṁ bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca |
na tu mām abhijānanti tatvenātaś cyavanti te ||24|| (IX)

“I am Myself the enjoyer, or receiver of all the sacrifices, I am the Lord of all the sacrifices, but they do not know Me; they are doing lower kind of upāsanā, lower kind of Bhakti and lower kind of karma yoga, therefore na tu mām abhijānanti, although I receive all the offerings, they do not know that I am receiving them. Therefore they do not know Me na abhijānanti tatvena, therefore they do not know Me essentially, ataścyavanti te, therefore they come back again to the ordinary world, ordinary life again and again. Since they do not come to know Me essentially, therefore they come back to this world of misery. yānti devavratā devān, those who are attached to God, they go to God.

pitṛn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ, those who are worshippers of their forefathers, they go to the forefathers.

bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā, those who are worshipping ordinary bhūtā(s),creatures, they attain to them.

yānti madyājino’pi mām ||25|| (IX)

But those who worship Me, they indeed come to Me.

Now, in order to come to Me, the path of action involves ‘sacrifice’. But there is also simple path of devotion in which what is offered,

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, (IX, 26), even a leaf is enough; if you are really endowed with devotion, you don’t need to do very big sacrifice, patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ, a leaf, a flower, a fruit, a drop of water;

yo me bhaktyā prayacchati |, those who bring these little things with devotion,

tad ahaṁ bhaktyupahṛtaṁ aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ ||26|| (IX)

One who comes to Me with a great effort brings Me anything (even patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ), that I receive tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtaṁ aśnāmi, I kṣemaṁ enjoy it.