Chapter 7Verse 21 of 30

Bhagavad Gita 7.21

यो यो यां यां तनुं भक्तः श्रद्धयार्चितुमिच्छति | तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां तामेव विदधाम्यहम् ||

yo yo yāṁ yāṁ tanuṁ bhaktaḥ śraddhayārcitum icchati | tasya tasyācalāṁ śraddhāṁ tām eva vidadhāmy aham ||

Translation

Whichever form any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I make his faith firm and unshaken.

The verse is generous. Whichever form a worshipper wants to worship with faith, Krishna makes his faith in that form firm. He does not knock the small altar over. He stabilizes it. The Christian who turns to Christ, the Muslim to Allah, the householder to the family deity, Krishna says the steadiness of their faith comes from Him. This is the chapter's quiet hand at the back of all worship. The forms multiply. The faith that keeps them alive is one. The verse should be slowed down. Many readers miss its sweep. He is not asking everyone to drop their form. He is saying the form is held by Him.

Reflection

A form of devotion not your own, can you feel the same steadiness sitting behind it?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Seven

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