Gita 03.11 – We live not just in a universe but in a universal government
devān bhāvayatānena
te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ
parasparaṁ bhāvayantaḥ
śreyaḥ param avāpsyatha (Bg 3.11)
Word-for-word:
devān — demigods; bhāvayatā — having pleased; anena — by this sacrifice; te — those; devāḥ — demigods; bhāvayantu — will please; vaḥ — you; parasparam — mutually; bhāvayantaḥ — pleasing one another; śreyaḥ — benediction; param — the supreme; avāpsyatha — you will achieve.
Translation:
The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you, and thus, by cooperation between men and demigods, prosperity will reign for all.
Explanation:
Here, Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna about the system of cosmic cooperation that characterizes existence. Arjuna is informed about how yajña should be performed, and then Kṛṣṇa explains what yajña accomplishes.
devān bhāvayatānena: Satisfy the demigods by the performance of this sacrifice.
te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ: The demigods, in return, will satisfy you.
parasparaṁ bhāvayantaḥ: By mutually supporting one another,
śreyaḥ param avāpsyatha: you will attain the highest benediction.
What exactly is the message being conveyed here? That we please the devatās, and the devatās please us. Essentially, Gītā wisdom helps us understand that what we have in existence is not a universe, but a universal government—and this universal government takes care of all things.
If we look at the universe, we realize several things—one of them being that many delicate and intricate balances are required for its sustenance. For example, physics has revealed that the balance between the nuclear strong force and the nuclear weak force, the forces governing attraction between electrons and protons, and the repulsion between similarly charged particles such as protons—all these forces are finely tuned.
The various forces that act within an atom are intricately and delicately related. If these relationships were not so precisely balanced—if they had been even slightly different—then life as we know it would not have been possible. In fact, as far as we can understand from observable factors, the existence of any form of life at all might not have been possible.
The important point to recognize here is that while we are living on this earth, we are meant to satisfy the devatās (devān bhāvayatānena). How do we satisfy the devatās?
Consider the example of how we receive certain supplies in a city—we get water, and for that, we are expected to pay taxes. This is a system of mutual cooperation—the government provides the water, and we receive a bill in return. Similarly, the universal utilities—air, water, heat, light—are also being provided. We often take these for granted, assuming they simply exist in nature or in the universe without recognizing their source or cost.
However, as long as we take such things for granted, it means we can also take it for granted that our intelligence has not yet matured. It’s like a child who has no experience of earning. When the child asks for something, the parents provide it. Over time, the child becomes habituated to receiving things without understanding the effort behind them.
Only when the child grows up—even if not fully mature—does some realization begin to dawn: things don’t come automatically or freely. The parents have to work, make arrangements, and only then can those things be provided.
Similarly, as long as our consciousness remains in a childish state, we tend to think that things happen automatically—the air is simply there, blowing through the sky; the sun is just hanging above, giving heat and light; rivers just happen to flow; the ocean is just there. We observe that clouds take water from the ocean and deposit it on land, which then flows back in the form of rivers—yet we assume that all these complex arrangements for the provision of our universal utilities are just happening on their own.
Often, people attribute such phenomena to “chance”—a favorite word for those who wish to avoid acknowledging God or any higher agency. But in truth, we must understand that without God’s background arrangement, we would have nothing. This background arrangement is essential for the functioning of the universe and the availability of its utilities.
Just because we don’t receive a bill for air, sunlight, or rainfall doesn’t mean they have come about by chance. They are part of a grand plan—crafted by someone who is supremely intelligent, so subtle that His hand cannot be perceived with our gross senses, but whose presence can certainly be inferred with our intelligence.
Science may describe various laws and mechanisms that govern how things function and interact in this world, but the very existence of laws assumes that there is order. Where does that order come from? That is a question for which science has no definitive answer.
For instance, Newton did not discover gravity merely because he saw a fruit falling. He already had a worldview that assumed things don’t happen by chance. If an apple has fallen, there must be a reason for it—a consistent principle or underlying order in nature. He was driven to discover that order.
The key point to recognize is that even science operates on the assumption that there is order. Spirituality accepts this same foundational assumption, but it takes it a step further. It not only acknowledges that there is order but also asks—where does this order come from? In that way, spirituality continues the inquiry that science begins.
Science today may not have expanded to the level where it can perceive higher beings who are subtle, but the principle remains: whenever we observe order in nature—whenever we see that the necessities for life are provided in a remarkably precise way—we can recognize that there must be the hand of some higher intelligence behind it.
Acknowledging that the universe functions as a universal government helps us avoid unwittingly violating its laws. By doing so, we protect ourselves from becoming unnecessarily culpable and facing the consequences or punishment that may result from such violations.
Here, Kṛṣṇa is speaking about the positive aspect of harmonizing with the universal government, which allows us to receive the full facilities it offers. This harmonization involves recognizing that the gifts we receive from nature come from higher beings, and it is our duty to satisfy them by performing appropriate sacrifices.
Of course, in today’s times, many of the yajñas are not practical, nor are they possible without the required brahminical expertise. However, the important thing is that even if we cannot satisfy the specific deities, we can satisfy the Supreme Being through the performance of chanting and by practicing devotional service for His pleasure. In this way, we fulfill the purpose of all yajñas.
But ultimately, the purpose of a yajña is not just to perform a specific ritual, but to harmonize with the universal government and express that harmony through our actions. This is what we express when we chant the holy names and pray, “Kṛṣṇa, please engage me in Your service.”
Thank you.
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