Contents
Shri Sankara's Gita Bhashya
(Sri Sankaracharya's Commentary on the Gita)
CHAPTER -9
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24. I am indeed the Enjoyer and the Lord of all yajfias; but they do not know Me in reality; therefore, they slip. / am indeed the Enjoyer and the Lord of all yajñas, of the sacrifices enjoined by Śruti and Smrti, being the deity concerned (devatā) in every sacrifice.[1] Yajña indeed has Myself as its Lord, as stated already, "I Myself am the Adhiyajña here "[2]. But, they do not know Me in reality, truly as I am, in the manner stated. Therefore, having worshipped in the wrong way (in ignorance), they slip, fall from the fruit of the sacrifice[3]. Even to them, who, through their devotion to other gods, worship Me by the wrong method (i.e. in ignorance), the fruit of (their) sacrifice certainly accrues. How is that? |
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References and Context
- ↑ I am Myself the enjoyer of all yajftas as I am the Vasus, Adityas, lndra and other deities (to whom sacrifices are offered). And, I Myself am the Lord of sacrifices, in My natural form as the Antaryāmin (the Inner Controller). (A)
- ↑ VIII-4
- ↑ Those who do not know Me truly, i.e. as the Enjoyer and the Lord of all sacrifices, do not dedicate their actions to Me owing to that ignorance, and hence fall from the fruit of their action. (A) i.c. from the region to which they go as a result of their sacrifice, they return after the exhaustion of that result.
Though it is usually held that the fruit of a yajfia is the attainment of the world of the devatā worshipped, the Commentator, in line with the view of the Author of the Cita, considers that the real fruit is only citta-śuddhi (the purification of the mind), which qualifies the worshipper for the acquisition of jaana, conferring non-return to sariisdra; and this real fruit can be had only when the worshipper gives up the desire for the "usual fruit". This is made clear in what follows, where the fruit is referred to in its usual connotation.