Gita 07.23 – Accommodation is not recommendation

Audio Link: https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-07-23-accommodation-is-not-recommendation/

antavat tu phalaṁ teṣāṁ
tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām
devān deva-yajo yānti
mad-bhaktā yānti mām api (Bg 7.23)

Word-for-word:
anta-vat — perishable; tu — but; phalam — fruit; teṣām — their; tat — that; bhavati — becomes; alpa-medhasām — of those of small intelligence; devān — to the demigods; deva-yajaḥ — the worshipers of the demigods; yānti — go; mat — My; bhaktāḥ — devotees; yānti — go; mām — to Me; api — also.

Translation:
Men of small intelligence worship the demigods, and their fruits are limited and temporary. Those who worship the demigods go to the planets of the demigods, but My devotees ultimately reach My supreme planet.

Explanation:
antavat tu phalaṁ teṣām: But the results obtained by them (the worshippers of demigods) are temporary.
tad bhavaty alpa-medhasām: Those who pursue such results are of inadequate intelligence.
devān deva-yajo yānti: Worshippers of the demigods reach the demigods.
mad-bhaktā yānti mām api: Those who worship Me attain Me alone.

Here, Kṛṣṇa highlights the difference between His worship and the worship of the devatās (demigods). In verses 7.21 and 7.22, He explains that He is the one who facilitates the entire system of demigod worship. It is He who enables souls to progress toward Him gradually through these intermediaries. He gives the worshippers faith in the devatās, and He empowers the devatās to fulfill their desires. If He Himself has established this system, then why does He disapprove of it?

The answer is that accommodation is not the same as appreciation, and it is certainly not the same as recommendation, much less instruction. Accommodation means: since you want to do it, I will allow you to do it. Appreciation means: yes, you are doing it, and it is good. Recommendation means: this is what I advise you to do. Instruction means: this is what you should do.

The system of demigod worship is simply an accommodation for those whose knowledge has been destroyed by desires, as Kṛṣṇa stated earlier in 7.20 (kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ). Kṛṣṇa reiterates this point here in 7.23 by using the term “alpa-medhasām.” The expression “hṛta-jñānāḥ” conveys the same idea as ‘alpa-medhasā’: when knowledge is stolen away, intelligence becomes depleted.

Kṛṣṇa also uses the word antavat here, meaning that which is destined to end. He employs a very similar term earlier in 5.22: ye hi saṁsparśa-jā bhogā duḥkha-yonaya eva te ādy-antavantaḥ kaunteya na teṣu ramate budhaḥ. There, Kṛṣṇa explains that material pleasures have a beginning and an end, and therefore wise people do not find delight in them.

Here, two chapters later in 7.23, Kṛṣṇa again uses a similar word “antavat.” In 5.22, He says that those who do not delight in material pleasures are budhaḥ (intelligent), whereas here He says that those who delight in such pleasures are alpa-medhasā.

The essential difference between the two is this: self-gratification can sometimes be pursued through adharmic means, which leads to severe karmic consequences and deep bondage. In this case, however, those seeking to fulfill their kāma are not abandoning dharma; they remain within the precincts of dharma by worshipping the devatās. In that sense, they are not the duṣkṛtinaḥ whom Kṛṣṇa reproached in 7.15. They are certainly higher than the duṣkṛtinaḥ, yet they still sell themselves short by seeking the temporary instead of the eternal.

To the extent that we appreciate that we are meant to attain the eternal, to that extent we can avoid being caught and deluded by temptations that bind us to the temporary and trap us within it. The devatās themselves are temporary, their abodes are temporary, their benedictions are temporary, and their worshippers too are temporary.

Of course, the devatās and their worshippers are eternal souls, so in that sense they are not temporary. But if we consider the devatā role as a post, then any particular soul’s tenure in that position is temporary. After leaving that post, the soul may not necessarily rise to another exalted position; the soul may even descend to a lower species or to hellish conditions. Such fluctuation within material existence is inevitable.

Here, Kṛṣṇa uses the term “alpa-medhasā,” meaning inadequate intelligence. There is some intelligence present, because they understand the need to follow a certain level of dharma; that is why they worship the devatās and observe various rules. But they do not possess sufficient intelligence.

“Alpa-medhasā” can also be contrasted with “jñānavān,” which means enriched with knowledge. In contrast, “hṛta-jñānāḥ” refers to those who are bereft of knowledge, whereas “alpa-medhasā” refers to those whose knowledge is simply inadequate. Śrīla Prabhupāda would often use the expression “poor fund of knowledge.” Knowledge is like wealth. To the extent that our knowledge becomes contaminated by an obsession with material things, to that extent perceiving or pursuing the eternal becomes difficult.

In the eighth chapter, Kṛṣṇa explains that even the abode of Brahmā is temporary. In 8.16, He says, ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna—even if one reaches Brahmā’s abode, one must return from there. He then adds, mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate—but if one worships Him, one does not return to this world.

The point that worshipping Kṛṣṇa leads to an eternal result, whereas worshipping others does not, is implicit in this verse through the statement “antavat tu phalaṁ teṣām.”

When Kṛṣṇa says that the worshippers of the devatās go to the abodes of the devatās and those who worship Him come to His abode, one might think: this is fine—we can go wherever we want. However, not all places are the same, and not all destinations are equal.

A person may choose to go to a five-star hotel, a three-star hotel, a roadside food stall, or even a garbage heap to scavenge for food. We are free to choose where we go, but we are not free to choose the nature of the place we reach. Each destination has its own inherent nature, and if we go there, we must accept the conditions of that place.

Kṛṣṇa states here that if we worship Him, we will attain Him—and that attainment is eternal. He concludes this section on demigod worship by cautioning that such worship yields only temporary results. Therefore, a wise person should aim higher and worship Him instead. Those who worship Him are not alpa-medhasā; they are jñānavān.

The message of the Bhagavad-gītā enables all of us to understand Kṛṣṇa’s glory and to surrender to Him in pure devotion, or at least with the aspiration for pure devotion. In this way, we can become enlightened—become jñānavān. And when one becomes jñānavān by surrendering to Bhagavān, one becomes bhāgyavān, supremely fortunate.

Thank you.