Shloka 32
Dharma, Purity, and the Inner Purpose of the Vedas
Karma-kāṇḍa Reoriented to Bhakti
रज:सत्त्वतमोनिष्ठा रज:सत्त्वतमोजुष: । उपासत इन्द्रमुख्यान् देवादीन् न यथैव माम् ॥ ३२ ॥
rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-niṣṭhā rajaḥ-sattva-tamo-juṣaḥ upāsata indra-mukhyān devādīn na yathaiva mām
ရဇစ်၊ သတ္တဝ၊ တမစ် ဂုဏ်များတွင် တည်နေသူတို့သည် ထိုဂုဏ်များကို ထင်ရှားစေသော အိန္ဒြာတို့အပါအဝင် ဒေဝတားများနှင့် အခြားသတ္တိများကို ပူဇော်ကြသည်။ သို့သော် ငါ့ကို ယഥာဝిధိ မပူဇော်ကြ။
Although the demigods are part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, demigod worship fosters the false idea that the demigods exist apart from the Supreme Lord. Such worship is avidhi-pūrvakam, or an improper approach to the Absolute Truth. Śrīla Madhvācārya quotes from the Hari-vaṁśa that among those primarily in the mode of ignorance there are sometimes manifestations of passion and goodness. Ignorant persons possessing a tendency toward goodness may go to hell but are also allowed a little heavenly pleasure. Thus it can be seen that a man suffering in miserable financial or political conditions sometimes enjoys the company of a beautiful wife, though his general condition is hellish. Those in ignorance mixed slightly with passion simply go to hell, and those purely in the mode of ignorance glide down to the darkest region of hell. Those devoid of devotion to the Supreme Lord are in ignorance in these three categories. Sometimes persons situated in the mode of goodness accept the supremacy of the Supreme Lord but are more attracted to the demigods, believing that through Vedic rituals they can achieve the same standard of living as the demigods. This proud tendency is certainly an obstacle in the loving service of the Supreme Lord and ultimately causes falldown.
FAQs
This verse explains that people influenced by the material modes tend to worship Indra and other demigods, but such worship is not the same as worship of Bhagavān (Kṛṣṇa) in pure devotion.
In the Uddhava Gītā, Kṛṣṇa teaches Uddhava how the three gunas shape faith and worship, and He clarifies that devotion to Him is distinct from mode-based, result-oriented worship.
Examine whether your spirituality is driven mainly by fear or desire for results; then shift toward steady remembrance, service, and surrender to Kṛṣṇa, aiming for devotion that rises above rajas, sattva, and tamas.