Bhagavad Gita 9.20
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 20 of 34
त्रैविद्या मां सोमपाः पूतपापा यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते | ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोकमश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान् ||२०||
trai-vidyā māṃ soma-pāḥ pūta-pāpā yajñair iṣṭvā svar-gatiṃ prārthayante | te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam aśnanti divyān divi deva-bhogān || 20 ||
Vedic ritualists drink soma, seek heaven — purified of sin, they attain Indra's realm and enjoy celestial pleasures.
Word by word (3)
- trai-vidyāḥ māṃ soma-pāḥ pūta-pāpāḥ yajñaiḥ iṣṭvā svar-gatiṃ prārthayante
- — The knowers of the three Vedas, drinking soma, purified of sin — worshipping Me through sacrifices, they pray for the path to heaven · trai-vidyāḥ = knowers of the three Vedas (trai = three; vidyā = knowledge; trai-vidyā = those who know the three Vedas — the Ṛgveda, Sāmaveda, and Yajurveda mentioned in V17; these are the traditional Vedic scholars and ritualists). māṃ = Me (they worship Me — even though they don't explicitly know it as Me, V16-V19 showed: I am the sacrifice and all its elements). soma-pāḥ = drinkers of soma (soma = the sacred ritual drink of the Vedic sacrifices, pressed from the soma plant, offered to the gods and drunk by the officiating priests; soma-pā = one who drinks soma; somas-pāḥ = nominative plural). pūta-pāpāḥ = purified of sin (pūta = purified — from √pū = to purify; pāpa = sin, evil; pūta-pāpa = one whose sins are purified; the soma drinking is understood to purify the participants). yajñaiḥ = through sacrifices (yajña = sacrifice; instrumental plural — 'through/by means of sacrifices'). iṣṭvā = having worshipped (gerund of √yaj = to worship; iṣṭvā = 'having worshipped'). svar-gatiṃ = the path to heaven (svar = heaven, the celestial realm; gati = path, destination; svargati = 'the path/destination of heaven'). prārthayante = they pray for (pra + √arth = to petition, to pray for; prārthayante = 'they pray for, they petition'). V20's first half: the three-Veda ritualists drink soma, become purified through sacrifice, and pray for heaven (svarga). They worship Krishna (māṃ — 'Me') through the sacrifices — but without knowing this, since V11's mūḍha quality is partially present even in ritual worshippers who lack V13-V14's ananya-manas.
- te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam aśnanti divyān divi deva-bhogān
- — Reaching the meritorious realm of Indra (surendra-loka), they enjoy celestial pleasures in heaven · te = they (those ritualists). puṇyam = meritorious (puṇya = merit, accumulated religious merit from good deeds and proper ritual; puṇyam = merit, the positive karmic accumulation). āsādya = having reached, having attained (ā + √sad = to sit down in; āsādya = gerund — 'having attained'). surendra-lokam = the realm of Indra, king of the gods (sura = god; indra = king; surendra = Indra, the king of the gods, the celestial realm's sovereign; loka = realm, world; surendra-loka = 'the world of Indra,' the highest celestial realm, the goal of Vedic ritual merit). aśnanti = they enjoy, they partake of (√aś = to eat, to enjoy; aśnanti = third person plural present — 'they eat/enjoy'). divyān = divine, celestial (divya = divine, heavenly — from div = sky/heaven). divi = in heaven (locative of div — 'in the sky, in heaven'). deva-bhogān = divine pleasures (deva = divine; bhoga = pleasure, enjoyment; deva-bhoga = the divine pleasures of the celestial realm). V20's second half completes the picture: the ritualists attain Indra's realm (surendra-loka) and enjoy the divine pleasures there. This is the peak of Vedic ritual attainment — heaven with its celestial pleasures (deva-bhoga). But V21 will immediately follow with the crucial limitation: kṣīṇe puṇye — 'when the merit is exhausted' — they return to the mortal world. The soma-drinking, the sacrifice, the purification, the merit, the heaven — all are real, all are the divine's own domain (V16-V19). But they are not liberation (mokṣa). They are the result of knowing the divine as ritual/Vedas (V16-V17) without the ananya-manas (undivided mind) of V13's mahātmā.
- svar-gatiṃ prārthayante — praying for heaven as the limitation of ritual-only orientation
- — V20's key philosophical insight: worshipping the divine through Vedic ritual and praying for heaven (rather than recognizing the divine as the totality of V16-V19) produces temporary fruit, not liberation · V20's critical phrase is svar-gatiṃ prārthayante: they PRAY FOR the path to heaven. They don't know (as V16-V19 has just revealed) that the divine IS the sacrifice, IS the mantra, IS the Vedas — they use the divine's own elements without the full recognition. Their orientation is: 'We do the ritual → we get the fruit (heaven).' This is the conditional, transactional approach to the divine. Contrast V13's mahātmā: jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam + ananya-manasaḥ bhajanti (knowing the imperishable origin + undivided worship). The mahātmā's worship is not transactional — it is a recognition and a loving response. V9.26-V9.27 will describe the ananya approach: whatever you do, offer it to Me — not to get heaven but as an act of loving recognition. The fruit of V20's ritual approach: puṇya (merit) → surendra-loka (Indra's heaven) → kṣīṇe puṇye (when merit exhausted) → return. The fruit of V13's mahātmā approach: mām upetya (reaching Me) → na punar janma (no rebirth). V20 is not a condemnation of Vedic ritual — it is a precise mapping of where it leads (heaven, not liberation) and why (because it lacks V13's ananya-recognition).
The knowers of the three Vedas, who drink the soma and are cleansed of sin, worship Me with sacrifices and pray for the way to heaven; reaching the holy realm of Indra, they enjoy the pleasures of the gods.
A modern analogy
A person who studies deeply for a prestigious degree, achieves it, and enjoys the career rewards — has done real work and earned real fruit. But if they never ask 'what is this degree ultimately for? What is the life it makes possible?' — they may find the rewards satisfying for a time but eventually exhausting (kṣīṇe puṇye). The soma-drinkers of this verse have real spiritual achievement and real celestial reward — but the same exhaustion-and-return applies. The question this verse implicitly asks: 'What is the ritual ultimately for? Who is it for? And is heaven the final answer?' The great-souled who worship the divine with undivided mind, knowing the divine as the imperishable source, have a different answer.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does not condemn the Vedic ritualists or declare their practice worthless. They DO worship the divine (māṃ iṣṭvā = having worshipped Me), they ARE purified (pūta-pāpāḥ), they DO attain real celestial rewards. The limitation is in the orientation (svar-gatiṃ prārthayante = praying for heaven as the goal) rather than the practice. The same practice, reoriented toward mām upetya (reaching Me) with the undivided mind of the great-souled, becomes liberation-generating.
Take with you
- This verse's svar-gatiṃ prārthayante (praying for heaven) is a self-assessment: what are you praying for — seeking through spiritual practice? If the goal is comfort, status, merit, pleasant after-life experiences — these are real and may be obtained (the celestial pleasures this verse names). But the next verse says they are temporary. The verse invites: what would practice look like if it were oriented not toward celestial pleasure but toward mām upetya (reaching the divine itself)?
- This verse's trai-vidyāḥ is a teaching on ritual and knowledge: the three-Veda knowers KNOW the ritual, perform it correctly, get purified. But the undivided mind of the great-souled is not primarily about knowing ritual — it is about recognizing the divine as the ground of existence (jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam, knowing the divine as the imperishable origin of all beings). The verse teaches: ritual knowledge without recognition produces merit (puṇya); recognition without ritual produces the divine itself. The best combines the divine's own praised practices — ever glorifying, striving with firm resolve, bowing in devotion, always steadfast — with the recognition of the divine as imperishable source.
- This verse is the historical teaching on the Vedic tradition's proper orientation: the Upaniṣads arose in part as a response to this verse's limitation — the ritual-for-heaven approach needed to be complemented by the jñāna-for-liberation approach. The Gita synthesizes: not ritual OR knowledge/bhakti, but ritual reoriented toward the divine ground itself. This verse is the teaching that motivated the Upaniṣadic revolution.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
The knowers of the three Vedas, worshipping Me by Yajna, drinking the Soma, and (thus) being purified from sin, pray for passage to heaven; reaching the holy world of the Lord of the Devas, they enjoy in heaven the divine pleasures of the gods. [4]
Those enlightened in the three Vedas, offering sacrifices to me and obtaining sanctification from drinking the soma juice, petition me for heaven; thus they attain the region of Indra, the prince of celestial beings, and there feast upon celestial food and are gratified with heavenly enjoyment. [6]
Yea! those who learn The threefold Veds, who drink the Soma-wine, Purge sins, pay sacrifice--from Me they earn Passage to Swarga; where the meats divine Of great gods feed them in high Indra's heaven. [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
The mahātmās of divine nature worship Me with undivided mind, knowing Me as the immutable origin of all beings.
When Vedic merit is exhausted, soma-drinkers return from heaven to the mortal world, going and coming.
Smoke, Night, dark fortnight, six months of the Southern sun — by this path the yogi attains the moon and returns.
Practising thus always, with a controlled mind — the yogi reaches the supreme peace of nirvāṇa, abiding in the Supreme.
Move through the world free from longing, free from 'mine,' free from ego — that is how peace is reached.
The fully self-realized person has no binding duty — their joy, satisfaction, and fullness come entirely from within.
Verse 20 of 34 · back to Chapter 9