Bhagavad Gita Chapter 9, Verse 24 (BG 9.24) — Meaning, Translation & Commentary

# BG 9.24 I alone am the enjoyer and the Lord of all sacrifices. The Self manifests through various deities dwelling in different forms, and it is through Me that they possess their respective powers. Those devotees who invoke these deities with faith in rituals and sacrifices—I am the eternal, imperishable essence underlying all of them. Yet because they worship only the limited powers of these deities, they do not know Me in My true, infinite nature as the Self. Consequently, they return again to the cycle of worldly sorrow, delusion, and countless bondages. When this principle is applied to practical life, it becomes clear that in all fields of human endeavor where people labor, they do so only to attain some transient benefit or fruit. They do not strive for spiritual development through which they might recognize their own pure Self. Walking the slippery slope of desire, they descend to the level of brutal animality—a great stain upon human dignity and worth. Complete happiness and contentment, supreme peace and fulfillment, dwell in the innermost sanctuary of the heart—not in external gains, success, fame, or glory. Ignoring this eternal treasure within, the unwise, stung by the scorpions of craving, rush hither and thither, creating disorder and suffering not only for themselves but for all who walk their path. When generations of such deluded people encourage unbridled indulgence and live only for consumption, never pausing to evaluate their actions, then surely that generation's history is written upon the face of a shattered world in the blood of the dead and maimed—blood mingled with the tears of mothers bereft of sons and widows bereft of husbands. Inevitably, they return to the sorrows of mortal existence. How can we say that those devotees who worship improperly still attain any fruit? To this, the Lord responds—