Bhagavad Gita 2.43
कामात्मानः स्वर्गपरा जन्मकर्मफलप्रदाम् । क्रियाविशेषबहुलां भोगैश्वर्यगतिं प्रति ॥
kāmātmānaḥ svarga-parā janma-karma-phala-pradām | kriyā-viśeṣa-bahulāṃ bhogaiśvarya-gatiṃ prati ||
Translation
Full of desires, intent on heaven, prescribing rituals that yield rebirth as the fruit of action, abundant in particular ceremonies, aimed at enjoyment and lordship.
Reflection
What practice in your life is shaped entirely around acquiring something?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Two
A continuation of 2.42. The picture sharpens: the religion of getting what you want, rendered as a structured ritual program with heaven as the prize. Bhoga. Enjoyment. Aiśvarya. Lordship. The verse is not against ritual; it is against ritual whose entire horizon is appetite. The same ceremonies done from a different frame would be welcomed by this same teaching elsewhere. The friction here is with the small frame in which the rituals are performed. Read this verse as Krishna naming a kind of practice he does not want Arjuna to take up while looking like he is taking up religion.