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The Steadfast Devotee and Divine Care

In Gita 9.13-15 and 9.22 the great souls worship the Lord with an undivided mind, and he carries what they lack and preserves what they have: the care the tradition calls yogakshema.

In brief

Great souls take shelter in the divine nature, know the Lord as the origin of all, and worship him with an undivided mind (9.13).
Their devotion is glorifying, striving with firm resolve and bowing, and being ever joined to him is the condition (9.14).
Those who worship through the sacrifice of knowledge also worship him, whether they see him as one, distinct or many (9.15).
He carries what these devotees lack and keeps what they have (9.22).

When a devotee keeps his mind from turning to anything else, who carries the load of his life? These verses of chapter 9 answer. First they say who the great souls are and what they do: they shelter in the divine nature, worship with an undivided mind, and glorify, strive and bow (Gita 9.13–15). Then comes the Lord's promise that for such devotees he himself carries yogakshema: he brings what is lacking and keeps what is had (Gita 9.22).

This topic comes after What We Worship, We Become on The Path of Devotion. There the subject was those who ask the Lord for results and return once they have them. Here it is those who ask for nothing and simply stay joined.

The topic can be read in three ways. A simple reading begins with an ordinary night of worry. A detailed reading takes the four verses in order. A deeper reading raises the hard questions, answers them, and sets out the commentators' streams.