Chapter 9 Verse 23

Chapter 9 Verse 23

Ye, api, anyadevtaH, bhaktaH, yajante, shraddhya, anvitaH,
Te, api, mam, ev, kauntey, yajanti, avidhipoorvakam ||23||

Translation: (Kauntey) Oh Arjun! (shraddhya) with faith (anvitaH) endowed with (api) even (ye) those (bhaktaH) devotees (anyadevtaH) other gods (yajante) worship (te) they (api) also (mam) me (ev) only (yajanti) worship, but their that worship (avidhipoorvakam) is contrary to the rule i.e. against the scriptures. (23)

Translation

Oh Arjun! Even the devotees who worship other gods with faith, they also worship me only, but that worship of theirs is contrary to the rule i.e. against the scriptures.

Important

Its evidence is given in Gita Adhyay 16 Shlok 23-24 that he who abandoning the injunctions of scriptures follow arbitrary (contrary to rule) way of worship, he neither attains ultimate peace, nor is his any task accomplished and nor does he attain supreme salvation i.e. is useless.


ये, अपि, अन्यदेवताः, भक्ताः, यजन्ते, श्रद्धया, अन्विताः,
ते, अपि, माम्, एव, कौन्तेय, यजन्ति, अविधिपूर्वकम्।।23।।

अनुवाद: (कौन्तेय) हे अर्जुन! (श्रद्धया) श्रद्धासे (अन्विताः) युक्त (अपि) भी (ये) जो (भक्ताः) भक्त (अन्यदेवताः) दूसरे देवताओंको (यजन्ते) पूजते हैं, (ते) वे (अपि) भी (माम्) मुझको (एव) ही (यजन्ति) पूजते हैं किंतु उनका वह पूजन (अविधिपूर्वकम्) अविधिपूर्वक अर्थात् शास्त्रा विरूद्ध है। (23)

विशेष:--इसी का प्रमाण गीता अध्याय 16 श्लोक 23-24 में कहा है कि जो शास्त्रा विधि को त्याग कर मनमाना (अविधिपूर्वक) आचरण (पूजा) करता है वह न तो परमशान्ति को प्राप्त होता है, उसका न कोई कार्य सिद्ध होता है तथा न ही उसकी परमगति ही होती है अर्थात् व्यर्थ है।