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Bhagavad-gītā As It Is · Text 9.22
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जना: पर्युपासते ।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥ २२ ॥
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ
ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham
But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form – to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.
Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.ioWhat this verse is saying, and where it sits in the story.
3 study points
Kṛṣṇa supplies what is lacking and preserves what is already there for those who always worship Him alone and meditate on His transcendental form.
Prabhupāda explains that Kṛṣṇa helps the devotee reach full Kṛṣṇa consciousness and protects him from falling back into miserable material life.
Practice remembering Kṛṣṇa through hearing, chanting, offering prayers, and serving Him.
Direct worship of Krishna achieves complete perfection by Krishna’s grace
Krishna says: “For those who worship Me with exclusive devotion”
“For them I carry what they lack”
“I preserve what they have”
a) A devotee is “Perfect in self-Realization” – It is because:
His only desire is to associate with Supreme Personality of Godhead
He always worships with ‘exclusive’ devotion
Unable to live without Krishna even for a moment
Such Krishna conscious activities are “All-auspicious” and “Full of spiritual potencies” b) ‘Yoga’ – Implies such a devotee undoubtedly approaches Lord without difficultly
Helps the devotee achieve Krishna consciousness by yoga c) ‘Ksema’ – Refers to “the merciful protection” of the Lord
When one becomes fully Krishna consciousness, the Lord protects him from falling down to miserable conditional life
Texts 9.21 & 9.22
Texts 20 — 21 explains : “How demigods obtain the necessities of life”
Texts 9.22 & 9.23
Because demigod worshipers are ultimately worshipping Krishna, do they achieve the same result as Krishna’s unalloyed devotees? In the next verse, Krishna does not approve the unnecessary worship of demigods.
Trust and shelter
Duratmas – Fools who think Krishna’s form is ordinary are defeated in their endeavours (9.11 – 9.12)
Mahatmas – Those who know that Krishna has a transcendental form take shelter of Him and worship Him (9.13 – 9.14)
Indirect worshippers – All who take shelter of a conception of Supreme and worship it, are ultimately worshipping Krishna, but they worship Him indirectly – These are of 3 types:
Ekatvena – the monist, the lowest, worships himself as one with the Supreme (9.11 – 9.12)
Visvato-mukham – a worshiper of the material, universal form is the best (9.16 – 9.19)
Prthakvena – a demigod worshiper, is situated higher than the ‘ekatvena’ (9.20 – 9.25)
Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.
The spiritual concepts this verse connects to.
Key ideas: yoga-kṣema, ananya.
Take one thing from this verse into your day.
Am I practicing devotion while constantly feeling that I alone must control everything?
Offer a current worry to Krishna without abandoning appropriate responsibilities.
Mahābhārata episodes and stories from the purports that shed light on this verse.
Keep going: verses that carry this teaching further.
Study notes are editorial summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport.