Bhagavad Gita 9.21 (BG 9.21) | Rājavidyā-rājaguhya-yoga: Kingly knowledge, Kingly secret
ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं
क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति ।
एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना
गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ॥
English Transliteration
te taṃ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṃ viśālaṃ
kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṃ viśanti
evaṃ trayī-dharmam-anuprapannā
gatāgataṃ kāma-kāmā labhante – 9.21
Translation
After enjoying the vast heavenly abode, when the religious merit which took them there gets exhausted, they return to the fleeting human world. Thus, taking to the life envisaged in the three Vedas, those desirous of endless enjoyment, remain subjected to the cycle of life and death, going and coming.
BG 9.21: Chanting Audio
Chapter 9: Rājavidyā-rājaguhya-yoga: – Kingly Knowledge, Kingly Secret - Verse 21
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
BG 9.21: Commentary by Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Krishna showed the rewards for rituals, only to reveal how flimsy they are. The foolish and short-sighted alone will woo them. The rewards promised are all posthumous, about which none can be sure. This itself is sufficient to eschew them outright. Dwellers in the higher regions have to fall steeply. This is a cycle.
We are already here as part of this cyclic process. Of what greater use are rituals then – an echo of Mundakopanishad (1.2.7). It is like grinding the already ground! The discreet will never be deluded by it.
