Bhagavad Gita 9.23
येऽप्यन्यदेवता भक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः | तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम् ||
ye'py anya-devatā bhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ | te'pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam ||
Translation
Even those who, full of faith, are devoted to other gods and worship them, even they worship only me, O son of Kuntī, but not according to the proper rite.
Reflection
Which sincere worship of yours might be aimed at the wrong address?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Nine
A generous concession. Even those who worship other gods with faith are worshipping Him, though through a wrong procedure. The faith is recognized. The misdirection is also recognized. The verse refuses two opposite errors. It does not damn the worshipper of other gods as worshipping nothing. It does not endorse the worship as fully equivalent. Avidhi-purvakam, not according to the proper rite, is the qualification. The act reaches Him because all worship reaches Him, but it reaches Him through a longer and more confused route. The point is not to score religious traditions against each other. It is to name what happens at the receiving end when the address is sent under a mistaken name.