Link to purport by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

Transcript of Bhakti-Shastri class on this verse by Chaitanya Charan

Krishna is Lord of all gods that is mentioned in next verse:

Bg 9.24

ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ
bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca
na tu mām abhijānanti
tattvenātaś cyavanti te

Word for word: 

aham — I; hi — surely; sarva — of all; yajñānām — sacrifices; bhoktā — the enjoyer; ca — and; prabhuḥ — the Lord; eva — also; ca — and; na — not; tu — but; mām — Me; abhijānanti — they know; tattvena — in reality;ataḥ — therefore; cyavanti — fall down; te — they.

Translation: 

I am the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices. Therefore, those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down.

 

ahaṁ hi sarva-yajñānāṁ

bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca

 Krishna is telling of all the Yajna I am the Prabhu, master and I am the enjoyer. 

na tu mām abhijānanti, those who do not understand this

tattvena — in reality; ataḥ — therefore; cyavanti — fall down; te — they.

So those who do not understand me properly in truth they will fall down.

So again the point of this verse is fall.

So 20 & 21 says that those who worship devatas will get punya and go to heaven through Karama Kanada but they will fall back when punya is over.

22 says those who worship Me I will protect them forever.

23 says that those who are worshiping other God are also worshiping Me but it is Avidhi purvakam, 

And what is the result of worshiping other gods? Krishna is telling general principle in this verse so actually He has told in 23 that those who are worshiping other gods are also worshiping Him but improperly and He has already told that the result of worshiping other gods and worshiping Him are not the same, and why it is not the same, that is because of ignorance. Because they do not know about Krishna’s transcendental position, if we do not know Krishna’s position if we do not love Krishna then we cannot return back to Krishna because that is not what we are seeking or desiring, we will get ultimately what we desire, of course what we deserve also but our desires are important so Krishna is telling a general principle that anyone who do not know His position will not get ultimate result, He will not intervene in their live because that is not what they want. So if we see emphasis in on Avidhi Purvakam in previous verse, why? Because Krishna is saying that is the reason they are not getting eternal result which is available for those who worship Him. So here Krishna is saying He is Bhokta and Prabhu.

Krishna has talked about same in another context in 5.29 Bhokta Ram Yajna Tapsam…

So Krishna is saying ignorance of His position and He is saying His position is not some generic all-pervading which is accommodating all devatas, no He is sayin “I”, I have to be understood as enjoyer and the master, those do not understand it will fall away. And Krishna is saying tattvenā as He has also used Tattva Tah in 4.9, in truth, we have to understand Krishna in truth then we can return back to Him.

Here SP quotes from 3.9 in BG, yajñārthāt karmaṇo ’nyatra…ultimately all work is for the sake of Yajna, otherwise loko ’yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ it will cause bondage similarly tattvenātaś cyavanti te, one will fall back. Falling back is already talked in 21 verse, what is falling back? That one may be elevated to heaven but from heaven one will fall back because of Punya getting exhausted. So the point may come up so actually what will happen to those who worship the devatas, Krishna is saying they will fall back, so what is the use of worshiping the devatas and what is the difference from worshiping Krishna, So Krishna will give a summary verse which is one of most quoted verse from Srila Prabhupada.

End of transcription.