Gita 09.03 – Bhakti harmonizes the temporary with the eternal

Audio Link – https://www.thespiritualscientist.com/gita-09-03-bhakti-harmonizes-the-temporary-with-the-eternal/

aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā
dharmasyāsya paran-tapa
aprāpya māṁ nivartante
mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani
(BG 09.03)

Word-for-word
aśraddadhānāḥ — those who are faithless; puruṣāḥ — such persons; dharmasya — toward the process of religion; asya — this; param-tapa — O killer of the enemies; aprāpya — without obtaining; mām — Me; nivartante — come back; mṛtyu — of death; saṁsāra — in material existence; vartmani — on the path.

Translation
Those who are not faithful in this devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of enemies. Therefore they return to the path of birth and death in this material world.

Explanation
The word aśraddadhānāḥ refers to those who lack faith. Such persons, Krishna explains, do not have faith in this process of dharma—this path of spiritual practice He is describing. Because they lack faith, they cannot attain Him (aprāpya mām). As a result, they return (nivartante) to the cycle of material existence.
Krishna describes this cycle as mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani—the path of repeated birth and death.
This theme was strongly emphasized in Chapter Eight as well, where Krishna spoke of anāvṛtti (non-return) and punarāvṛtti (return). In 8.16 He said:
“ā-brahma-bhuvanāl lokāḥ punar āvartino ’rjuna” — From the highest planet down to the lowest, all realms within the material world are places of repeated birth and death.
But He adds: “mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate” — one who attains Him never takes birth again.
Here in 9.3, Krishna reiterates the same point. If we do not cultivate devotion and thus fail to attain Him, then we must return to this world of mortality.
Material existence is called mṛtyu-saṁsāra because, philosophically speaking, it is defined by death. No matter what we achieve here—fame, power, beauty, wealth—everything is ultimately cut short by death. Wise people recognize this unavoidable reality and seek a solution beyond temporary achievements.
Consider an example: a person who does not yet have a stable job may work on temporary contracts. They take up projects to earn a livelihood, knowing they cannot simply quit. But at the same time, they understand that this work is not permanent, so they continue searching for a stable, lasting position.
Similarly, while living in this world, we must carry out our responsibilities. Yet we should never forget that this material situation is temporary. Alongside our daily duties, we should work toward a permanent solution—freedom from the cycle of birth and death through devotion to Krishna.
A wise person, while working in a temporary job, does not neglect the effort to secure a permanent one. At one level, we may say that nothing in this world is truly permanent. Still, there are relative degrees of stability and durability.
For example, a short-term contract or freelance assignment lasting six months is helpful, but not very secure. A position lasting three years is better. A career that continues for thirty or forty years is even more stable. Thus, even within this world, we naturally recognize different levels of temporariness and permanence.
However, when it comes to realities beyond this lifetime, we often become forgetful or indifferent. The same people who wisely plan for long-term career stability often fail to think about their long-term spiritual future. Truly intelligent people prepare not just for the next few years, but for what lies beyond this life.
At the same time, trying to pursue two completely different long-term goals can split a person’s energy and create strain. For instance, imagine someone working full-time in software while simultaneously trying to prepare for a career as an IAS officer. Both paths demand intense and very different kinds of study and focus. Dividing one’s energy between them makes success in either much harder.
But if someone begins with a temporary role in a particular field and then develops deeper skills in that same line, they can gradually turn that temporary role into a stable career. In this case, their efforts are harmonized rather than divided, leading to steadier progress and less internal conflict.
Similarly, in life, if our daily activities are aligned with our ultimate spiritual goal rather than opposed to it, our energies become integrated instead of fragmented. That harmony leads to both material steadiness and spiritual growth.
Doing our temporary job responsibly while also preparing for a permanent position—these two efforts can go hand in hand. This is the beauty of bhakti: it harmonizes the material and the spiritual dimensions of life.
Materialistic people often become so absorbed in the “temporary job” of worldly enjoyment that they think only of immediate pleasures. Their focus is limited to the here and now, to whatever sense gratification is available.
On the other hand, some renunciates take the opposite extreme. They view everything material as inherently bad and think spiritual progress requires total rejection of the material world. For them, life becomes like trying to hold one job while simultaneously training for a completely different and unrelated career. It is exhausting and internally divided.
All of us currently have a material body. If liberation is understood only as the negation or rejection of matter, such a path becomes very difficult. We cannot live without material support, nor can we suddenly function on a purely spiritual platform. Our present awareness is still conditioned.
Bhakti offers a different approach. It is like performing well in a temporary position in a way that actually helps us qualify for a permanent one. Instead of seeing the world merely as “material” and therefore rejectable, a devotee sees the world as belonging to Krishna and therefore meant to be used in His service.
With this understanding, even while living in this world, we can move closer to Krishna. Material resources are not objects of exploitation or rejection; they are resources for service. A devotee is neither materially irresponsible nor artificially renounced. Rather, a devotee uses whatever comes in Krishna’s service.
To the extent that we can engage our situation, abilities, and resources in devotion, to that extent we make spiritual progress. Still, progress in bhakti is not measured by how many material things we use, but by how deeply our consciousness is connected to Krishna. We do not need to accumulate more and more possessions; we simply need to deepen our spirit of service with whatever we have.
Rather than trying to acquire more and more possessions, the devotee learns to use whatever is already available in Krishna’s service. When we serve with sincerity, Krishna may provide more resources—but the focus is never on accumulation; it is on dedicated engagement.
This requires an inclusive vision of God. God is not merely a distant being residing in a separate spiritual realm; He is also the Lord to whom this world belongs. To the extent that we understand this connection, we can serve Him even while living here.
Those who lack this vision tend to separate God from the world in their thinking. Some may believe God does not exist at all. Others may think He exists but is unrelated to worldly life. Still others may not have faith that devotion to Him can truly bring liberation. Such people see the world as independent of God and fail to recognize that He is intimately connected with everything—and especially with all living beings as His parts.
Without this sense of connection, a person naturally lives materialistically. And a materialistic way of life keeps one bound within material existence, unable to attain Krishna. As Krishna states, those who lack faith in this path of dharma cannot reach Him. Failing to attain Him, they return to the cycle of birth and death—mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani.
Indirectly, Krishna is teaching the opposite as well: by developing śraddhā, faith in Him, we can attain Him and thus go beyond the cycle of repeated birth and death.
He expresses this theme even more explicitly later, in Chapter Twelve (12.6–7):
“teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā
mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt
bhavāmi na cirāt pārtha
mayy āveśita-cetasām”
There Krishna promises that for those who fix their consciousness on Him with devotion, He Himself becomes the deliverer from the ocean of birth and death.