Sanskrit
त्रैविद्या मां सोमपाः पूतपापाः यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते । ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोकमश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान् ॥
traividyā māṃ somapāḥ pūtapāpā yajñair iṣṭvā svargatiṃ prārthayante te puṇyam āsādya surendralokam aśnanti divyān divi devabhogān
Translation
The knowers of the three, the Soma-drinkers, the purified from sin, worshipping Me with sacrifice, pray of Me the way to heaven; they, ascending to the holy world of the Ruler of the Shining Ones, eat in heaven the divine feasts of the Shining Ones.
Annie Besant · The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by Annie Besant (4th ed., 1922) — Wikisource · Public Domain
Explanation
The chapter turns from Krishna’s totality, just claimed in verses 16-19, to a pointed critique of Vedic ritualists — “knowers of the three [Vedas],” Soma-drinkers — who use that same totality instrumentally, worshipping Krishna without realizing it’s him, merely to purchase a stay in heaven. The critique isn’t of the Vedas themselves but of the transactional motive, which verse 21 shows is self-defeating on its own terms. The target is svar-gatiṃ prārthayante — “they petition for the road to heaven” — the transactional motive, not the rite. BG 9.21 shows the transaction pays out exactly as bargained: a metered stay.
Study deeper
Word by word
- traividyā māṃ somapāḥ pūtapāpāत्रैविद्या मां सोमपाः पूतपापा
- the knowers of the three Vedas, soma-drinkers, cleansed of sin (trai-vidyāḥ + mām + soma-pāḥ + pūta-pāpāḥ)
- yajñair iṣṭvā svargatiṃ prārthayanteयज्ञैः इष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते
- having worshipped by sacrifices, pray for the way to heaven (yajñaiḥ + iṣṭvā + svar-gatim + prārthayante)
- te puṇyam āsādya surendralokamते पुण्यं आसाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोकं
- they, reaching by merit the world of Indra (te + puṇyam + āsādya + sura-indra-lokam)
- aśnanti divyān divi devabhogānअश्नन्ति दिव्यान् दिवि देवभोगान्
- enjoy in heaven the divine pleasures of the gods (aśnanti + divyān + divi + deva-bhogān)
Commentary
Site Commentary
The Soma-drinkers aren’t accused of impiety; the sting is that their elaborate scholarship in the three Vedas gets them everything they asked for while missing entirely whom they were asking. Verse 21 will show the ritual worked exactly as specified — the tragedy here isn’t failure, it’s success at the wrong scope.
Original commentary written for this site · © Amit Singh — original commentary
Concepts
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Lessons
Personal
- When you're pursuing a goal through a method that reliably works, check that the goal itself is still the actual point — a method can deliver exactly what you asked for while missing what you actually needed.
Professional
- A process that reliably hits the metric you specified isn't automatically serving the outcome you wanted — audit whether success is happening at the wrong scope before declaring the work done.
Family & Social
- Giving someone precisely what they explicitly asked for can still miss what they actually needed — check the request against the underlying need before executing it to the letter.
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