Bhagavad Gita 9.15
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 15 of 34
ज्ञानयज्ञेन चाप्यन्ये यजन्तो मामुपासते | एकत्वेन पृथक्त्वेन बहुधा विश्वतोमुखम् ||१५||
jñāna-yajñena cāpy anye yajanto mām upāsate | ekatvena pṛthaktvena bahudhā viśvato-mukham || 15 ||
Others worship Me as one, as distinct, as manifold — through the jñāna-yajña of knowing the All-form.
Word by word (3)
- jñāna-yajñena ca api anye yajantaḥ mām upāsate
- — Others also, worshipping through the jñāna-yajña, worship Me · jñāna-yajñena = through the sacrifice of knowledge (jñāna = knowledge; yajña = sacrifice, offering; jñāna-yajña = the sacrifice of knowledge — V4.33 called this 'sreṣṭha = superior to all material sacrifices'; the offering of knowledge as one's devotional practice). ca api = also (ca = and; api = also — connecting to V13-V14's bhakti practices: 'and also others'). anye = others (anye = other ones, different ones — signaling a third group distinct from V13-V14's devotional mahātmās). yajantaḥ = worshipping through sacrifice (present participle of √yaj = to sacrifice, to worship; yajantaḥ = 'those who sacrifice/worship'). māṃ = Me (accusative). upāsate = they worship (same verb as V14 — 'they worship by sitting near, by attending to'). V15 opens with a third category: others (anye) who also worship Krishna through the jñāna-yajña — the sacrifice/offering of knowledge. These are the contemplatives and philosophers who reach the divine through recognition and knowledge-offering rather than through devotional practice per se.
- ekatvena pṛthaktvena bahudhā viśvato-mukham
- — As one, as distinct, as manifold — facing everywhere (the All-form) · ekatvena = as one (eka = one; tva = suffix indicating quality; ekatva = oneness, unity; ekatvena = instrumental — 'through/as oneness'). pṛthaktvena = as distinct (pṛthak = separate, distinct; pṛthaktva = distinctness, separateness; pṛthaktvena = 'through/as distinctness'). bahudhā = as manifold, in many ways (bahudha = in many ways, manifoldly). viśvato-mukham = facing everywhere / the All-form (viśvatas = facing everywhere, from all sides; mukha = face; viśvato-mukha = 'the one with faces in all directions,' the universal form facing everywhere; this is the cosmic viśvarūpa form of Ch.11). V15's three modes of jñāna-yajña worship: (1) ekatvena — worshipping as the One (non-dual, monistic approach; seeing the divine as the single undivided reality: Advaita); (2) pṛthaktvena — worshipping as distinct (devotional theism, where the devotee and the divine are distinct; the bhakta's personal relationship with the personal God); (3) bahudhā viśvato-mukham — worshipping as manifold, the all-facing cosmic form (seeing the divine in all forms, cosmic vision). These three correspond roughly to the three major philosophical approaches: Advaita (oneness), Dvaita/Viśiṣṭādvaita (distinction), and the pan-cosmic vision (divine as the totality). V15's remarkable teaching: ALL THREE are valid approaches to worship Me (mām upāsate). The divine accepts worship in all three modes because the divine IS all three.
- jñāna-yajña — the sacrifice/offering of knowledge as a devotional form
- — V15's jñāna-yajña (sacrifice of knowledge) places contemplative inquiry and philosophical recognition within the category of worship — making all genuine seeking of truth a form of divine offering · Yajña in the Gita's expanded usage (V4.25-V4.33) covers a vast range: from external fire sacrifice (dravya-yajña) to control of the senses (indriya-saṃyama-yajña) to offering of prāṇa (prāṇāyāma yajña) to the jñāna-yajña (knowledge sacrifice) described as sreṣṭha (superior) in V4.33. V15's jñāna-yajñena picks up V4.33's teaching and applies it here: those who approach the divine through knowledge — through philosophical inquiry, contemplation, and recognition — are also worshipping. Their intellectual seeking, when genuinely oriented toward the divine ground, IS yajña (sacrifice) — they are offering their knowing to the divine. This makes the jñānī's (knower's) path a legitimate devotional path. The Gita does not oppose jñāna and bhakti — V13's mahātmā integrates both (jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam + bhajanti ananya-manasaḥ); V15 shows that even primarily knowledge-based practice reaches the same divine (mām upāsate). V15's three approaches (ekatvena/pṛthaktvena/bahudhā) show the jñāna-yajña's internal diversity: monistic contemplation, devotional theism, and cosmic vision are all legitimate jñāna-yajña approaches.
Others, worshipping with the sacrifice of knowledge, adore Me — as one, as distinct, as the manifold that faces in every direction.
A modern analogy
This verse's three modes of worshipping the All-form parallel the three major approaches to the ultimate in modern contemplative traditions: (1) non-dual awareness practices (ekatvena — the one consciousness approach of Advaita Vedānta, Dzogchen, etc.); (2) devotional theism (pṛthaktvena — the personal God of bhakti, Christian mysticism, Sufi devotion); (3) cosmic, pan-en-theistic vision (bahudhā viśvato-mukham — seeing the divine in all of nature, all forms, the cosmic whole). This verse says all three are worship of the same divine. This is the Gita's remarkable ecumenism.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's three approaches (one, distinct, manifold) are not three levels of spiritual advancement where 'oneness' is higher than 'devotion.' The Gita presents all three as equally valid modes of jñāna-yajña (the sacrifice of knowledge). The approach a person takes is determined by their temperament (svabhāva), their stage of understanding (jñāna), and their particular path (svadharma). None is definitively superior — each is 'mām upāsate' (worship of Me).
Take with you
- This verse's three modes as a self-knowledge tool: 'Which approach to the divine is most natural for me? Do I resonate most with (1) non-dual unity (ekatvena), (2) personal devotional relationship (pṛthaktvena), or (3) seeing the divine in all forms of nature and life (bahudhā viśvato-mukham)?' Identifying your natural approach lets you practice it with more commitment rather than straining against your temperament.
- This verse's jñāna-yajña (knowledge sacrifice) as a teaching that intellectual inquiry can be worship: for those whose path is primarily intellectual — philosophers, scientists, scholars — this verse is liberating: your genuine seeking of truth, when it is truly aimed at the ground of existence, IS worship of the divine. It removes the guilt of 'I should be doing more devotional practice' for the intellectually inclined.
- This verse as a tolerance-teaching: the three approaches (one, distinct, manifold) represent real and significant differences in how people understand and approach the divine. This verse says all three are valid — mām upāsate (all worship Me). This is the Gita's direct teaching against religious exclusivism: multiple genuine approaches reach the same reality.
Public-domain translations (2) compare all →
Others, too, sacrificing by the Yajna of knowledge (i.e., seeing the Self in all), worship Me the All-Formed, as one, as distinct, as manifold. [4]
Yea, and those too adore, Who, offering sacrifice of wakened hearts, Have sense of one pervading Spirit's stress, One Force in every place, though manifold! [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Knowledge-yajna surpasses all material sacrifice. Every action without exception culminates in knowledge.
There the son of Pandu saw the whole universe — in all its vast diversity — resting in one in God's body.
The mahātmās of divine nature worship Me with undivided mind, knowing Me as the immutable origin of all beings.
Tāmasic yajña: against ordinance, no food-sharing, no mantras, no dakṣiṇā, no śraddhā — declared tāmasic.
Whoever studies this sacred dialogue — by him I shall have been worshipped by jñāna-yajña; such is My conviction.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Verse 15 of 34 · back to Chapter 9