Bhagavad Gita 9.24
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 24 of 34
अहं हि सर्वयज्ञानां भोक्ता च प्रभुरेव च | न तु मामभिजानन्ति तत्त्वेनातश्च्यवन्ति ते ||२४||
ahaṃ hi sarva-yajñānāṃ bhoktā ca prabhur eva ca | na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenātas cyavanti te || 24 ||
I am the enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices — but they do not know Me in truth, and so they fall.
Word by word (3)
- ahaṃ hi sarva-yajñānāṃ bhoktā ca prabhuḥ eva ca
- — I am indeed the enjoyer and the Lord of all sacrifices · ahaṃ hi = I indeed (aham = I; hi = indeed, for, certainly — explanatory particle giving the reason: 'for I indeed...'). sarva-yajñānāṃ = of all sacrifices (sarva = all; yajña = sacrifice, worship — from √yaj = to worship; yajñānāṃ = genitive plural 'of all sacrifices'). bhoktā = the enjoyer, the receiver (bhoktṛ = one who enjoys, one who experiences — from √bhuj = to enjoy, to experience; bhoktā = nominative singular — the one who receives and enjoys the fruits of sacrifice). ca = and. prabhuḥ = the Lord, the master (prabhu = pre-eminent one, master, lord — from pra + √bhū = to be preeminent; prabhu = sovereign, the one who governs). eva ca = also indeed. V24's first half: the theological basis for V23's inclusivism — I am the bhoktā (enjoyer/receiver) AND prabhu (Lord/master) of ALL (sarva) sacrifices. Because I receive all sacrifices as the ultimate enjoyer (bhoktā), ALL sincere worship (V23's anya-devatā worship included) reaches Me. The 'I am the bhoktā' claim is rooted in V16's identification: I am the sacrifice itself (ahaṃ yajñaḥ). If I am the yajña, then I am naturally its bhoktā (the receiver of the offering).
- na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenā ataḥ cyavanti te
- — But they do not know Me in truth — therefore they fall · na tu = but not (na = not; tu = but, however — the contrast particle; whereas V23's inclusivism was affirmed, V24 now adds the qualifying consequence). mām = Me (objective). abhijānanti = they fully know (abhi + √jñā = to know fully, to recognize completely; abhijānanti = 'they know thoroughly' — abhi adds the quality of full/complete knowing; 'they do not fully know Me'). tattvenā = in truth, in reality (tattva = that-ness, truth, essence; in reality; tattvenā = 'by truth, by essence, in truth'). ataḥ = therefore, from this (atas = from this, therefore — consequential marker: because they do not know truly, therefore...). cyavanti = they fall, they slip down (√cyu = to fall from, to be dislodged, to slip — a technical term for falling from the merit-achieved state; cyavanti = third person plural — 'they fall, they slip away'). te = they. V24's second half: na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenā = they do not know Me in the full truth (as V16-V22 has revealed: I am the sacrifice, I am the cosmos, I am the carrying divine, I am the bhoktā of all worship). Because they don't know Me in this full truth (tattvenā), they fall (cyavanti). The fall (cyavanti) is the V21 pattern: kṣīṇe puṇye... viśanti (when merit exhausts, they enter the mortal world). The connection: not knowing Me in truth (V24) is the cause of the merit-exhaustion-and-fall (V21). Knowing Me in truth is what prevents the fall.
- bhoktā ca prabhuḥ — I am the enjoyer and Lord of all sacrifices: the theological ground of V23's pluralism
- — V24's bhoktā-prabhu pair identifies the divine as both the recipient and the sovereign of all sacrifice — grounding the claim that all sincere worship reaches the divine · bhoktā (enjoyer/recipient) + prabhu (lord/master) together define the divine's complete relationship to sacrifice: (1) bhoktā = the divine is the one who receives and experiences the fruits of all worship. This is profound: when a worshipper makes any offering (to any deity, in any tradition), the divine is bhoktā — the ultimate receiver. The deities who appear to receive various offerings are, in this framework, expressions of the divine's own bhoktā nature. (2) prabhu = the divine is the sovereign lord who governs all sacrifice — no sacrifice operates outside the divine's domain. Together: the divine both receives all sacrifice (bhoktā) and governs all sacrifice (prabhu). Therefore, all sincere sacrifice reaches the divine, regardless of the form or direction (V23's inclusivism is grounded in V24). The na tu mām abhijānanti (they do not know Me in truth) identifies the precise deficiency: not the sacrifice itself, not the sincerity, not even the direction (all of which are valid, V23) — but the knowing. The devotees who worship other deities are performing real worship that reaches the divine (V23) — but they don't know the bhoktā nature of the divine (V24). Therefore they are deluded about the full nature of what they are touching, and this incomplete knowledge leads to falling (cyavanti — the V21 pattern of merit-exhaustion-and-return). V22's ananya orientation produces V22's yoga-kṣema because the ananya-bhakta KNOWS the divine as bhoktā + prabhu (complete) and not just through a specific deity-form.
For I am the enjoyer and the lord of all sacrifices; but because they do not know Me in truth, they fall.
A modern analogy
You might receive royalties (benefits) from music streaming without knowing who owns the rights to the music — the royalties still flow to the rights-holder (the divine as bhoktā) whether or not you know who they are. This verse: I receive all worship (bhoktā) regardless of who the worshipper thinks they're directing it to. But: not knowing who the true bhoktā is (tattvenā abhijānanti) means you can't enter a direct relationship with them — you deal through intermediaries (the specific deities, the other gods of the previous verse) and don't get the most direct access. The undivided orientation — where the divine carries everything for the devoted — is knowing the true bhoktā directly and worshipping at the source.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's 'they fall' (cyavanti) does not mean they go to hell or are punished. It means the same as the earlier verse's kṣīṇe puṇye — the merit exhausts and they return to the cycle (gatāgata, the going-and-coming of the soma-drinkers who descend from heaven when their merit runs out). The fall is from the celestial state (heaven or the deity's realm) back to the mortal world, not a moral punishment. This verse is a structural statement about merit-cycles, not a judgment on the goodness or sincerity of those who don't know the divine in full truth.
Take with you
- This verse's tattvenā abhijānanti (knowing in truth) is a practice aspiration: the Gita's deepest invitation is knowing the divine 'in truth' (tattvenā) — not just knowing about the divine but knowing the divine as the preceding verses revealed: as the Vedic ritual and the sacrifice itself, the Father-Mother-OM, the complete ground of existence, the carrier who upholds what the devotee lacks, the bhoktā of all sacrifice. This knowing is the difference between religious activity that generates merit-cycles (the soma-drinkers who attain heaven and return) and devotion that generates liberation (the undivided worship the divine carries). The practice is not more ritual but more depth of knowing.
- This verse's cyavanti (they fall) is a compassionate statement: the Gita does not say those who fall are bad or wrong. The previous verse explicitly said their worship is genuine (śraddhayā anvitāḥ). This verse says: because the knowing is incomplete (tattvenā na abhijānanti), the result is incomplete (cyavanti = the fall). The Gita's compassion: this is a structural reality to understand and work with, not a judgment to fear.
- This verse and the next together teach the importance of the destination of one's devotion: this verse (they fall because of incomplete knowing) and the next (destination corresponds to devotion direction — worshippers of gods go to gods, but worshippers of the divine come to the divine) together teach: what you know about the divine + where you direct your devotion determines where your spiritual life leads. Not the quantity of worship but the quality (knowing + direction) shapes the destination.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
For I am the enjoyer and the Lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me in My real nature, and hence they fall. [4]
For I am the enjoyer and the lord of all sacrifices, but they know me not in reality, and therefore do they fall. [6]
My face gives to each his guerdon; / For I am all Their sacrifice and prayer; / Yea! I am the Oblation; I am Flame; / The due which all must pay. [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Even devotees of other gods who worship with faith — they too worship Me, though not by the ordained method, O Arjuna.
When Vedic merit is exhausted, soma-drinkers return from heaven to the mortal world, going and coming.
I am the Vedic ritual, sacrifice, ancestral offering, herb, mantra, oblation, fire, and the offering made.
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
Approach the teacher with prostration, inquiry, and service. The knowers of truth will instruct you in jñāna.
Those who know Me as Adhibhūta, Adhidaiva, and Adhiyajña — they know Me even at death, with unified minds.
Verse 24 of 34 · back to Chapter 9