Chapter 9: Rājavidyā-rājaguhya-yoga – Kingly Knowledge, Kingly Secret: Verse 32
मां हि पार्थ व्यपाश्रित्य येऽपि स्यु: पापयोनय: ।
स्त्रियो वैश्यास्तथा शूद्रास्तेऽपि यान्ति परां गतिम् ॥
māṃ hi pārtha vyapāśritya
ye’pi syu: pāpa-yonaya:
striyo vaiśyās-tathā śūdrāste’pi
yānti parāṃ gatim – 9.32
By taking to the path of one-pointed devotion to Me (the Supreme), O Partha, even those of vicious wombs, women, vaiśyas and śūdras attain the Supreme.
Chapter 9: Rājavidyā-rājaguhya-yoga – Kingly Knowledge, Kingly Secret - Verse 32
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha
Krishna points with special emphasis how all-embracing the path of devotion to the Supreme is. Even those held as sinful have full place in the lap of the Supreme. By embracing the all-pure Supreme, all the sins are transformed into wholesome purity and blessedness, as firewood embraced by blazing fire turns into ash.
Those were the days when the trading, farming and working communities generally stayed away from religious and ritualistic pursuits, as their minds and hearts were overwhelmed with secular ambitions and tasks. Women busy with the household work were also distanced from religious ceremonies.
If those, keeping away from the path of piety, take to intense devotion to the Supreme, they all will succeed in attaining their goal. Everyone of them attains the Supreme, even while living in this world. The reward they win is unlike what Vedas promise to grace one with, after the body falls. It is instantaneous and experiential.
