Chapter 9, Verse 24
अहं हि सर्वयज्ञानां भोक्ता च प्रभुरेव च | न तु मामभिजानन्ति तत्त्वेनातश्च्यवन्ति ते ||९-२४||
ahaṃ hi sarvayajñānāṃ bhoktā ca prabhureva ca . na tu māmabhijānanti tattvenātaścyavanti te ||9-24||
Meaning
9.24 (For) I alone am the enjoyer and also the Lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me in essence (in reality), and hence they fall (return to this mortal world).
Word-by-Word Meaning
Explanation & Commentary
Krishna clarifies why incomplete worship yields incomplete fruit. He alone is the bhokta — the true enjoyer and receiver — of every sacrifice, and the prabhu, its Lord. Whatever is offered anywhere, to any deity, ultimately reaches him. The offering is never lost; it is simply misunderstood.
But because such worshippers 'do not know Me in essence' — they fail to recognise the one Reality their devotion truly addresses — they chyavanti, they fall, returning to the cycle of birth and death. The defect is not in their sincerity but in their realisation. This verse completes the thought of the previous one: faith reaches the Divine, but only true knowledge of the Divine frees us. Sincerity opens the door; understanding carries us through it. The Gita asks for both a devoted heart and an awakened vision.
💡 Key Takeaway
Sincere devotion reaches the Divine, but it is true knowledge of that Divine that finally sets us free.
Related Verses
श्रीभगवानुवाच | इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्ष्याम्यनसूयवे | ज्ञानं विज्ञानसहितं यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात् ||९-१||
śrībhagavānuvāca . idaṃ tu te guhyatamaṃ pravakṣyāmyanasūyave . jñānaṃ vijñānasahitaṃ yajjñātvā mokṣyase.aśubhāt ||9-1||
9.1 The Blessed Lord said I shall now declare to thee who does not cavil, the greatest secret, the knowledge combined with experience (Self-realisation). Having known this thou shalt be free evil.
राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम् | प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं सुसुखं कर्तुमव्ययम् ||९-२||
rājavidyā rājaguhyaṃ pavitramidamuttamam . pratyakṣāvagamaṃ dharmyaṃ susukhaṃ kartumavyayam ||9-2||
9.2 This is the kingl science, the kingly secret, the supreme purifier, realisable by direct intuitional knowledge, according to righteousness, very easy to perform and imperishable.
महात्मानस्तु मां पार्थ दैवीं प्रकृतिमाश्रिताः | भजन्त्यनन्यमनसो ज्ञात्वा भूतादिमव्ययम् ||९-१३||
mahātmānastu māṃ pārtha daivīṃ prakṛtimāśritāḥ . bhajantyananyamanaso jñātvā bhūtādimavyayam ||9-13||
9.13 But the great souls, O Arjuna, partaking of My divine nature, worship Me with a single mind (with the mind devoted to nothing else), knowing Me as the imperishable source of beings.