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Even the Worst Offender
At the end of chapter 9 the Lord says a person of very bad conduct who worships wholly is to be regarded as righteous. Gita 9.30-34: what it means, where it stops, and three readings.
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In brief
- A person of very bad conduct who worships with undivided devotion is to be regarded as righteous, because he has resolved rightly (9.30).
- He quickly becomes righteous and reaches lasting peace; the Lord's devotee never perishes (9.31).
- Birth, sex or station is no obstacle on this way (9.32-33).
- The chapter closes with a call: fix your mind on Me, be My devotee, worship, bow (9.34).
If you have done a great deal of wrong, is it too late to turn to the Lord? The last verses of chapter 9 answer this. The Lord says that even a person of very bad conduct, if he worships Him with his whole mind, is to be regarded as righteous, because he has resolved rightly. He quickly becomes righteous and reaches lasting peace.
This is not a licence: the change of conduct goes with it, and no birth or station is an obstacle. The chapter ends with a call to fix the mind on the Lord and bow to Him.
This topic is the eighth stop on The Path of Devotion. Just before it, A Leaf, a Flower, a Fruit, Water speaks of the offering, and the order of devotion follows after it. There are three ways to read it. A simple reading starts from one person's situation, a detailed reading takes the five verses in order, and a deeper reading goes into the words, the hard questions and the commentators' streams.
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Same topic, three depths. Pick the one that fits you today; you can switch any time.
Key shlokas
Concepts
Common misreadings
- If you are a devotee, bad conduct does not matter
Part of these learning paths
- The Path of Devotion (Step 8 of 13)