The Gita draws a picture of the devotee, and the picture answers two questions at once. What does the devotee do for the Lord? And what does the Lord do for the devotee? Four verses in chapter 9 give both answers together.
The answer is that the great souls give their whole mind to the Lord and keep striving. In return he lifts from their lives the load that is not in their hands: the filling of what is lacking and the keeping of what is had (Gita 9.22). Devotion here is not giving in one direction. Something moves from both sides.
Here we read the verses in order. First, who the great souls are (Gita 9.13); then what they do (Gita 9.14); then the others who worship through knowledge (Gita 9.15); and last, the Lord's promise (Gita 9.22).
Why these verses come here
Just before them the Lord speaks of people who shelter in the bewildering, demonic nature. Their hopes, actions and knowledge are in vain (Gita 9.12). The next verse starts with "but" and turns to the other side.
The previous topic, What We Worship, We Become, showed that those who want pleasures receive them and then return (Gita 9.21). Here the subject is those who ask for nothing and simply stay joined. After these verses the Lord goes on to describe himself as everything (Gita 9.16–19); that belongs to another topic.
9.13: who the great souls are
भजन्त्यनन्यमनसो ज्ञात्वा भूतादिमव्ययम् ॥ ९.१३ ॥
bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam || 9.13 ||
But the great souls, O Arjuna, who take shelter in the divine nature, worship Me with a mind fixed on nothing else, knowing Me as the imperishable origin of all beings.
The Lord says that the great souls who take shelter in the divine nature worship him with an undivided mind, knowing him as the imperishable origin of all beings (Gita 9.13).
A great soul is known here by where he has taken shelter, not by any dress or office. The one in the demonic nature lives in confusion; the marks of the divine nature are listed in chapter 16.
One word in the verse deserves a pause: "knowing". The great souls know the Lord as the origin of all beings and as imperishable, and that is why their mind is undivided, going nowhere else. Someone who knows that all things have come from one source, and that this source does not perish, has fewer reasons to wander. The single-mindedness of devotion is born from knowing.
9.14: what they do
नमस्यन्तश्च मां भक्त्या नित्ययुक्ता उपासते ॥ ९.१४ ॥
namasyantaśh cha māṁ bhaktyā nitya-yuktā upāsate || 9.14 ||
Always glorifying Me, striving with firm resolve, and bowing down to Me with devotion, these ever-steadfast devotees worship Me.
The Lord says that these devotees are always glorifying him, striving with firm resolve and bowing with devotion, and so, ever joined to him, they worship him (Gita 9.14).
Their devotion is made of three acts. The first belongs to speech: glorifying, saying aloud the Lord's praise. The second belongs to the will: striving with firm resolve. The third belongs to the body and the heart: bowing in devotion. Voice, will and the lowered head together make up the whole person.
Under the three lies a condition: being ever joined. This is not one hour of worship; it is the habit of the whole day. And striving is part of the devotee's description. Devotion is not another name for idleness; it holds effort inside itself.
The same call comes in plainer words later in the chapter: fix your mind on me, be my devotee, worship me, bow to me (Gita 9.34).
9.15: the others who worship through knowledge
एकत्वेन पृथक्त्वेन बहुधा विश्वतोमुखम् ॥ ९.१५ ॥
ekatvena pṛithaktvena bahudhā viśhvato-mukham || 9.15 ||
Others, offering the sacrifice of knowledge, worship Me as one, as distinct, and in many forms, as the universal Being who faces everywhere.
The Lord says that others offer the sacrifice of knowledge and worship him: some as one, some as distinct, some in many forms, as the universal Being who faces everywhere (Gita 9.15).
The sacrifice of knowledge means that instead of material offerings, a person makes his own understanding and thought the offering. Three ways of seeing are named: the Lord as one with oneself, the Lord as distinct from oneself, a master, and the Lord in the many forms of the world.
The verse calls none of the three wrong or lesser. All three are worship, and all go towards him. This makes one thing clear: being undivided does not mean holding on to a single picture. It means the aim of the mind is one, even when the ways of seeing him differ.
9.22: the Lord's promise
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥ ९.२२ ॥
teṣhāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣhemaṁ vahāmy aham || 9.22 ||
To those who worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on Me alone, and who are ever steadfast, I carry what they lack and preserve what they have.
The Lord says that to those who think of him with undivided devotion and worship him on every side, ever joined to him, he carries what they lack and preserves what they have (Gita 9.22).
Two things are named, and the old word that holds them is yogakshema. The first is getting what you do not yet have. The second is keeping what you already have. Everyone carries these two loads: how will what I need come, and will what I have be taken away? The Lord says that for the undivided devotee he takes both on himself. "Carry" is what a person does with a load on his head: the load changes shoulders, but the road still has to be walked by the walker.
"Ever joined" is here again, as in the verse about the devotees (Gita 9.14). There it was the devotee's constancy; here it is the Lord's care. The joining runs both ways.
What the devotee gives and what the Lord does
| From the devotee | From the Lord |
|---|---|
| An undivided mind, with no other support (9.13) | He is the imperishable origin of all, which the devotee knows (9.13) |
| Voice, effort and a bow (9.14) | He is easy to reach for the undivided mind (8.14) |
| All actions offered to him (12.6) | The devotees are soon lifted out (12.7) |
| Being ever joined (9.22) | He carries what is lacking and preserves what is had (9.22) |
Why the Gita puts it this way
He is near to the undivided mind. In chapter 8 the Lord says he is easily attained by the one who remembers him daily with a mind turned to nothing else (Gita 8.14). The fruit of being joined is closeness, not distance.
He supports the devotee from within. In chapter 10 he says that to those who worship him with love, he gives the understanding by which they come to him. Dwelling in their hearts, he also destroys the darkness of ignorance (Gita 10.10–11). One form of "what is lacking" is exactly this: understanding.
The devotee is relieved of worry. In chapter 2 Arjuna was told to be free of the worry of gaining and keeping (Gita 2.45). That instruction is only complete when someone also says who will carry the worry. The promise in chapter 9 says it.
Refuge takes grief away. The last teaching of chapter 18 says to give up every other support, take refuge in the Lord alone, and not grieve (Gita 18.66). Here too, what refuge brings is a load removed.
Offering actions, being lifted. In chapter 12 the Lord says that he soon lifts those who offer all their actions to him and worship him (Gita 12.6–7). The devotee's share is offering the work; the Lord's share is lifting. The division is the same as in chapter 9.
What being ever joined looks like in an ordinary day
Being ever joined does not mean leaving the day behind and sitting still. In chapter 8 the Lord says he is easily reached by the one who remembers him constantly and daily (Gita 8.14); "daily" means in the middle of everyday life. In chapter 6 yoga becomes the remover of sorrow for the one who is moderate in food, recreation, work, sleep and waking (Gita 6.17).
So the joining includes rest. Looking after hunger, sleep and rest belongs to it and does not work against it. The three anchors of the day are the ones in the verse above: speech in the morning, effort through the day, a bow at night. The hours in between are work, meals and sleep, and being joined means that through all of them the direction of the mind does not change.
Four common misreadings
"Then I need not work." In this very description the devotee strives with firm resolve (Gita 9.14), and the right to action remains his (Gita 2.47). The Lord takes up the load that action cannot make certain.
"The Lord will give whatever I ask." The verse speaks of what is lacking and what is had, not of a list of wishes. Those who ask for pleasures get them and return (Gita 9.21); the promise here is for those who come with joining, not with a request.
"Undivided means refusing every other form." Worship in many forms is called worship of him in the same chapter (Gita 9.15). Undivided means the aim is one.
"Great souls are someone else; this is not for me." The verse describes the great soul by his shelter and his undivided mind (Gita 9.13). The door is open wide: even a person of very bad conduct who worships with undivided devotion is to be counted righteous (Gita 9.30–31).
What these verses say to worry, fear and loneliness
Worry. Two loads lie behind worry: how will what I need come, and how will what I have last. The Lord says that for the undivided devotee he carries both (Gita 9.22). Worry changes its work: from adding up accounts all night to striving in the day and handing over in the evening.
Fear. The list of marks of the divine nature begins with fearlessness (Gita 16.1), and the great souls live in that nature. Those who offer their actions to the Lord are soon lifted out by him (Gita 12.6–7). A sheltered person's first answer to fear is this: his own strength is no longer his only support.
Loneliness. In chapter 6 the Lord says that for the one who sees him everywhere, and everything in him, he is never lost, and that one is never lost to him (Gita 6.30). The joining runs both ways. The person who stays in it has someone with him at every hour, whether anyone is visible around him or not.
An example
Take Mohan Lal, who runs a small hardware shop. All day he serves customers, keeps the stock book and phones people who owe him money. One evening, going through the accounts, he sees a payment that has been stuck for months.
In the old days Mohan Lal would lie awake wondering when the money would come. Now he finishes the accounts and closes the shop. Then he stands for two minutes, says the Lord's name, bows his head and says to himself, "What was in my hands, I have done. What is not in my hands is in yours." The payment does not arrive the next week either. But he no longer stays awake over it.
In this example no payment was guaranteed. What changed was that Mohan Lal put down the part of the load that was beyond him.
A practice from these verses
- In the morning, praise the Lord in one sentence. This is the voice.
- Choose one small task for today, and finish it with firm resolve. This is the effort.
- At night, bow your head and hand over by name the one worry of the day that is beyond your power. This is the bow.
- What load did I carry today that was not mine to carry?
- When I speak to the Lord, is there joining in it, or only asking?
- If someone asked what I lean on, what would my honest answer be?
- Of voice, effort and bowing, which is the weakest in my devotion?
Questions readers ask
Why does "ever joined" appear in both verses?
Because the joining runs both ways. The first time it describes the devotee's constancy (Gita 9.14); the second time it is the condition for the Lord's care of those same devotees (Gita 9.22). The devotee's steadiness and the Lord's care come together.
Can I be undivided and still love one form of the Lord?
Yes. Undivided means that the aim of the mind is one; it does not require one form. The Gita itself counts worship as one, distinct or many as worship of him (Gita 9.15).
If the Lord carries the load, are saving and planning pointless?
No. The right to act stays with the devotee (Gita 2.47), and striving is a part of his devotion (Gita 9.14). The Lord carries what even planning and saving cannot make certain: the outcome, and its lasting.
How is this different from asking the Lord for things?
The one who asks receives the thing asked for, and then returns (Gita 9.21). Here the devotee asks for no particular thing; he joins himself, and the Lord takes the load of his life on himself. On one side there is a result; on the other there is care.
Who is a great soul, and can I be one?
A great soul is one who has taken shelter in the divine nature and whose mind is undivided (Gita 9.13). The mark is the direction of the mind and the life, not birth or dress. Even a person of very bad conduct who worships with undivided devotion is counted righteous (Gita 9.30–31), so the door is open to everyone.
The devotee gives the mind, the Lord takes the load
When a person gives his whole mind to the Lord and keeps striving, the life he lives is no longer a load carried alone. What is lacking and what is had both pass into the Lord's care, and the devotee's work is to keep the joining unbroken. The two verses of chapter 12 say this trust most plainly.
अनन्येनैव योगेन मां ध्यायन्त उपासते ॥ १२.६ ॥
ananyenaiva yogena māṁ dhyāyanta upāsate || 12.6 ||
But those who offer all their actions to Me, who regard Me as their supreme goal, and who worship Me while meditating on Me with undivided devotion... (the sentence is completed in the next verse). Krishna now describes the devotee's path: not abandoning work, but dedicating every action to the Lord and keeping the Lord as the one aim of life.
भवामि नचिरात्पार्थ मय्यावेशितचेतसाम् ॥ १२.७ ॥
bhavāmi na chirāt pārtha mayy āveśhita-chetasām || 12.7 ||
O Arjuna, for those whose minds are completely absorbed in Me, I become, before long, the saviour who lifts them out of the ocean of death and repeated worldly existence. This verse completes the sentence from the previous verse and gives a heartening assurance: the devotee does not have to cross the ocean alone, for the Lord Himself becomes the deliverer.
The simple reading of this topic begins with an everyday worry, and the deeper reading sets out the hard questions and the commentators' streams. The whole sequence is in The Path of Devotion.