(Image Courtesy Mahanidhiswami)

Those Who Worship God’s Eternal Form Attain His Eternal Home And Remain There In His Service Forever After Death

अन्तवत्तु फलं तेषां तद्भवत्यल्पमेधसाम् |
देवान्देवयजो यान्ति मद्भक्ता यान्ति मामपि || 7.23||

antavat tu phalaṁ teṣhāṁ tad bhavatyalpa-medhasām
devān deva-yajo yānti mad-bhaktā yānti mām api|| 7.23||

Shloka Translation
BG – Ch. 7- Ver. 23:

However, the fruit reaped by these illiterate people is perishable. Those who worship celestial gods depart to their heavenly abodes, whereas My worshippers come to Me.

Explanation

We discovered two types of devotees: those who seek finite goals and those who seek the infinite. Shri Krishna had previously stated that pursuing limited aims was fine as long as devotees finally moved on to pursuing the infinite.
“One attains the object of one’s worship,” Shree Krishna continues in the previous verses, explaining the spiritual truth to Arjuna. When people who worship the devatas die, they go to the planets of the devatas they worship. Those who are loyal to me, on the other hand, come to my dwelling.” Now the issue arises: if attaining God is the ultimate goal, why does God maintain the faith of those who worship celestial gods?

The Bhagavad Gita is not intended for elementary school children or novices seeking to enter the celestial realms. However, there are devotees who are looking for a higher purpose.

Because the devats are perishable, so are the fruits they bestow on their followers. God, on the other hand, is eternal, and the results of his worship are as well. Those who worship God’s eternal form attain His eternal home and remain there in His service forever after death.

Verse & what we can learn

Why do most believers make contact with a deity, someone or something higher than themselves? It is to acquire or achieve a goal that will free them from their poverty. Assume they worship a deity and are successful in obtaining the object they desire. According to Shri Krishna, whatever object is acquired would die at some point. That thing will be time-bound or space-bound, in other terms. It will make the person happy for a short period of time before causing him to feel finite and hence miserable. The cycle of pursuing another finite objective will begin once more.

Shri Krishna calls devotees who do not comprehend the futility of continuously gaining finite things finite-minded. They will never be free of sorrow, but they will be able to keep it at bay for a while. They are deprived of the knowledge that reveals Ishvara’s true nature. That is why we should never cease inquiring into the reality of things and strive to find meaningful solutions to our problems outside of the material world.

Those who worship deities may eventually gain the deity’s favour, and he will shower them with his grace.” Despite being admirable, this result will be pointless because the deity is still a finite being. Only those who seek the infinite Ishvara will achieve infinitude, which will eliminate their sense of finitude or incompleteness once and for all.

To acquire knowledge and to implement that knowledge in life one needs to be mentally and physically active and healthy and for that daily meditation is a great tool.

There are various types of meditation like Buddhist meditation, heartfulness meditation, mindfulness meditation, meditation for stress, and each meditation benefits are countless. There are also numerous meditation techniques for beginners which help in practicing daily meditation so go ahead and start your journey towards a peaceful and balanced life.

In the Next verse, Shri Krishna tells Arjuna why most people do not seek infinitude.

Let’s learn to live with “The Gita” via Meditation Affinity…