Bhagavad Gita 9.25
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 25 of 34
यान्ति देवव्रता देवान्पितॄन्यान्ति पितृव्रताः | भूतानि यान्ति भूतेज्या यान्ति मद्याजिनोऽपि माम् ||२५||
yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ | bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti mad-yājino'pi mām || 25 ||
Worshippers of gods go to gods; of ancestors, to ancestors; of spirits, to spirits — My worshippers come to Me.
Word by word (3)
- yānti deva-vratāḥ devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ
- — Those vowed to the gods go to the gods; those vowed to the ancestors go to the ancestors · yānti = they go, they attain (√yā = to go; third person plural present — 'they go, they attain'). deva-vratāḥ = those vowed to the gods (deva = celestial being, god; vrata = vow, observance — from √vṛ = to choose/commit; deva-vrata = 'those who have taken vows to/for the gods,' those whose primary religious commitment/direction is toward the celestial deities). devān = to/for the gods (accusative plural — the destination: 'they go to the gods,' they attain the realm/condition of the gods). pitṝn = to the ancestors (pitṛ = father, ancestor; pitṝn = accusative plural — 'to the ancestors,' the pitṛ-realm where the ancestors dwell). yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ = those vowed to ancestors go to ancestors (pitṛ-vrata = those whose religious commitments are directed toward the ancestors, those who perform śrāddha ceremonies for the ancestors). V25's first half: the principle of destination-corresponding-to-direction: (1) those oriented toward the celestial gods (deva-vrata) go to the gods; (2) those oriented toward the ancestors (pitṛ-vrata) go to the ancestors. The vrata (vow/commitment) determines the destination (yānti = go to). This is the Gita's most precise statement of the correspondence between devotional direction and spiritual destination.
- bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyāḥ yānti mad-yājinaḥ api mām
- — Those who worship spirits go to spirits — and those who worship Me go to Me · bhūtāni = spirits, beings (bhūta = being that has come into existence; in this context: spirits, lower beings, nature-spirits; bhūtāni = accusative plural — 'to spirits'). yānti = they go. bhūtejyāḥ = worshippers of spirits (bhūta = spirit; ijyā = sacrifice/worship — from √yaj; bhūta-ijyā = worship of spirits; bhūtejyāḥ = plural 'spirit-worshippers'). yānti = they go (parallel structure, repeated for rhythm). mad-yājinaḥ = those who sacrifice to Me, My worshippers (mat = My; yājin = sacrificer, worshipper — from √yaj; mad-yājin = 'My worshipper, one who sacrifices to Me'; api = also, even — emphatic). mām = Me (objective — they go to Me). V25's second half: two more correspondences: (3) bhūtejyāḥ (spirit-worshippers) go to bhūtāni (spirits); (4) mad-yājinaḥ api mām (My worshippers also come to Me). The api (also, even) on mad-yājino'pi mām is emphatic: 'even My worshippers — who would you expect? — they too, as a natural consequence, attain Me.' The four-part structure of V25: gods → deva-vrata; ancestors → pitṛ-vrata; spirits → bhūtejyā; Me → mad-yājin. The principle: the direction of devotional vow/commitment determines the spiritual destination. Therefore: if liberation (mām upetya, no rebirth) is the goal, direct the vow/commitment toward the divine as revealed in Ch.9 (mām = the divine of V16-V24). V22's ananya orientation is the V25 mad-yājin orientation at its highest intensity.
- yānti mad-yājino'pi mām — the direct statement of destination for My worshippers
- — V25's closing clause (yānti mad-yājinaḥ api mām) is the Gita's declaration that those who worship the divine as revealed in Ch.9 attain the divine — the conclusion of the pluralism arc (V23-V25) · yānti mad-yājino'pi mām is V25's culminating statement. The api (also, even) creates an emphatic rhetorical effect: after listing three categories (god-worshippers → gods, ancestor-worshippers → ancestors, spirit-worshippers → spirits), the verse adds 'and even MY worshippers — they naturally attain Me (mām).' The 'even' is not diminishing: it is the natural completion of the pattern. And the 'mām' (Me) here refers to the divine as fully revealed in Ch.9: the divine who IS the sacrifice (V16), the Father-Mother-OM (V17), the Goal-Witness-Carrier (V18-V22), the bhoktā of all sacrifice (V24). Reaching 'mām' (this divine) is mām upetya = reaching the divine directly = liberation (na punar janma, not returning to rebirth). V25 thus closes the V23-V24-V25 arc with its full implication: all paths reach the divine somehow (V23 = anya-devatā-bhaktāḥ reach mām too), but the direction of devotion determines how they reach the divine (V25 = direction → destination). The direct path (mad-yājin → mām) is V22's ananya orientation — the most direct, the most complete, the highest. V25's mad-yājino'pi mām (my worshippers also come to Me) is confirmed and elaborated in V26 (patraṃ puṣpaṃ phalaṃ toyam = any offering from a devoted heart is received) and V27 (yat karoṣi... tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam = whatever you do, offer it to Me).
Those devoted to the gods go to the gods; those devoted to the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship the spirits go to the spirits; and those who worship Me come to Me.
A modern analogy
Navigation: if you set your GPS to take you to downtown, you'll reach downtown (deva-vrata → devān). If you set it to take you to the outskirts, you'll reach the outskirts (pitṛ-vrata → pitṝn). An earlier teaching said the divine is present at all these destinations — and that the divine is the bhoktā, the receiver who accepts the offering at all these destinations. This verse adds: but only if you set your GPS to the Source itself (mad-yājin → mām) will you reach the Source. The other destinations are real and reachable — but they are not the Source. Undivided orientation toward the divine = the GPS set precisely to the Source.
What it does NOT mean
This verse does not say god-worshippers, ancestor-worshippers, and spirit-worshippers are wrong or that their worship is wasted. The teaching already established that they too worship the divine (te'pi mām eva — even they worship Me alone). This verse adds: their worship takes them to the specific destination corresponding to their devotional direction. The gods are real — devotees of other deities truly do reach those deities. The point: only My worshippers (mad-yājin) attain Me (mām, the source itself) — the final destination, liberation.
Take with you
- This verse's principle works as a self-assessment: what is my primary devotional direction? What vow or orientation does my spiritual life move toward at its deepest level? Gods (deva = external forms of the divine)? Ancestors (pitṛ = honoring the lineage)? Spirits/nature (bhūta = the natural world as sacred)? Or the divine ground itself (mām = the supreme the chapter has been describing)? The verse says: you will reach what you are oriented toward. The question is not 'which practice' but 'what direction does my deepest vow/orientation point?'
- This is a teaching on spiritual strategy: given the law that direction determines destination, the most efficient path to the supreme destination (mām upetya, liberation) is to orient the deepest vow toward the supreme directly. It is not 'wrong' to worship deities or honor ancestors — these are real and beneficial — but if the ultimate goal is liberation (the royal secret this chapter calls easy to practise and supremely purifying), then the direction must be toward Me, with undivided orientation.
- Take this verse together with the two that follow as the chapter's practical instruction sequence: first, direct your worship toward Me; then, even the smallest offering from a devoted heart — a leaf, a flower, a fruit, a drop of water — is received; finally, whatever you do, offer it to Me as mad-arpaṇam, an offering to the divine. These three verses are the most practical and accessible instruction in the chapter — applicable to anyone, regardless of their spiritual tradition or practice level.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Those who worship the gods go to the gods; those who worship the Manes (ancestors) go to the Manes; those who worship the Devas (elements/spirits) go to the Devas; those who worship Me come to Me. [4]
Those who worship the gods go to the gods; those who worship the manes go to them; those who worship the elemental beings go to them; those who worship me come to me. [6]
Yea! those who worship Me come unto Me, / And theirs is peace, and theirs is rest; / Who worship gods, go to the gods; / Who worship fathers, to the fathers goes. [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.
A leaf, a flower, a fruit, a drop of water — offered with devotion, I receive it: the striving heart's gift is enough.
Fire, Light, Day, waxing fortnight, six months of Northern sun — taking this path, Brahman-knowers reach Brahman.
Bow down, arrows scattered, warrior collapsed — this is where the Gita begins.
I am your student. My mind is bewildered about what is right. Teach me.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Verse 25 of 34 · back to Chapter 9