चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जनाः सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन।
आर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षभ।।7.16।।
7.16 O Arjuna, foremost of the Bharata dynasty, four classes of people of virtuous deeds adore Me: the afflicted, the seeker of Knowledge, the seeker of wealth and the man of Knowledge.
7.16 Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, and they are the distressed, the seekr of knowledge, the seekr of wealth and the wise, O lord of the Bharatas.
7.16. Men of good action who worship Me always are of four types: the afflicted, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth and the man of wisdom, O best among the Bharatas !
7.16 चतुर्विधाः four kinds? भजन्ते worship? माम् Me? जनाः people? सुकृतिनः virtuous? अर्जुन O Arjuna? आर्तः the distressed? जिज्ञासुः the seeker of knowledge? अर्थार्थी the seeker of wealth? ज्ञानी the wise? च and? भरतर्षभ O lord of the Bharatas.Commentary The distressed is he who is suffering from a chronic and incurable disease? he whose life is in jeopardy on account of earthake? volcanic eruption? thunder? attack by a dacoit or enemy or tiger? etc. When Draupadi and Gajendra were in great distress they worshipped the Lord. These are the instances of Aarta Bhakti.Jijnasu is the enirer. He is dissatisfied with this world. There is a void in his life. He always feels that sensual pleasure is not the highest form of happiness and there is yet pure eternal bliss unmixed with grief and pain? which is to be found within. Janaka and Uddhava were devotees of this type.Seeker of wealth is he who craves for money? wife? children? position? name and fame. Sugriva? Vibhishana? Upamanyu and Dhruva were all devotees of this type.The wise are the men of knowledge who have attained to Selfillumination. Sukadeva was a JnaniBhakta.Kamsa? Sishupala and Ravana thought of the Lord constantly on account of fear and hatred (VairaBhakti). Hence they are also regarded as devotees.Be devoted to God? whatever be your motive. Devotion will purify the motive in due course.
7.16 Again, O Arjuna, foremost of the Bharata dynasty, caturvidhah, four classes; of janah, people; who are eminent among human beings and are pious in actions, and are sukrtinah, of virtuous deeds; bhajante, adore; mam, Me; artah, the afflicted-one who is overcome by sorrow, who is in distress, [One who, being in distress and seeking to be saved from it, takes refuge (in Me).] being over-whelmed by thieves, tigers, disease, etc.; jijnasuh, the seeker of Knowledge, who wants to know the reality of the Lord; artharthi, the seeker of wealth; and jnani, the man of Knowledge, [i.e. one who, already having intellectual knowledge, aspires for Liberation.] who knows the reality of Visnu.
7.16 See Comment under 7.19
7.16 Men of good deeds, i.e., those who have meritorious Karmas to their credit, and who resort to Me and worship Me alone - they too are divided into four types according to the degrees of their good deeds, each subseent type being better than the preceding, because of the greatness of their good deeds and gradation in respect of their knowledge. (i) The distressed is one who has lost his position in life and his wealth, and who wishes to regain them (ii) He who aspires for wealth is one who desires for wealth which he has not till then attained. Between them the difference is very little, as both of them seek wealth. (iii) He who seeks after knowledge is one who wishes to realise the real nature of the self (in Its pure state) as an entity different from the Prakrti. He is called one who seeks to secure knowledge, because knowledge alone is the essential nature of the self. (iv) And the man of knowledge is he who knows that, it is the essential nature of the self to find happiness only as the Sesa (subsidiary or liege) of the Lord, as taught in the text beginning with, But know that which is other than this (lower nature) to be the higher Prakrti (7.5). Without stopping with the knowledge of the self as different from the Prakrti, he desires to attain the Lord. He thinks that the Lord alone is the highest aim to reach.
“Then, who worships you?” Four types worship me. Those who follow the rules of varnasrama (sukrtinah), worship me. Among them some desire relief from affliction, from calamities like sickness; some desire knowledge of atma or desire knowledge of scriptures with grammar; and some desire enjoyment in this life and the next with land, elephants, horses, women, gold and other such things. These worship me. These three are sakama grhasthas. The fourth type, the jnani, a sannyasi with pure heart, is niskama. These four types, qualified for pradhani bhuta bhakti (in which bhakti is the principle component), have been enumerated. The first three have karma misra bhakti. The fourth has jnana misra bhakti. Later in the book, yoga misra bhakti will also be described in verse like sarva dvarani samyamya (BG 8.12). But kevala bhakti, unmixed with karma, was also described in the beginning of this chapter with the words mayyasakta manah partha (BG 7.1). Kevala bhakti will also be described in the eighth chapter with ananya cetah satatam (BG 8.14), in the ninth with mahatmanas tu mam partha (BG 9.13) and with ananyas cintayanto mam (BG 9.22). The Lord describes these two types of bhakti, pradhani bhuta and kevala bhakti, in the middle six chapters of the Gita. A third type of bhakti, guru bhuta bhakti (processes in which bhakti is subsidiary) is seen in the karmis, jnanis and yogis, who predominantly desire results for their actions (bhukti and mukti). Because of the lack of predominance of bhakti, and instead with a predominance of karma, jnana or yoga, it is not classed as bhakti. As things should be classed by predominance of quality, these are classed as karma, jnana and yoga, and the practitioners are not classed as bhaktas, but as karmis, jnanis or yogis. And the result of sakama karma is svarga, the result of niskama karma is jnana yoga, and the result of jnana and astanga yoga is nirvana moksa, impersonal liberation. The results of the two types of bhakti should also be stated. Among the types of pradhani bhuta bhakti, the first three are karma misra bhakti. They are sakama bhakti. The result of this bhakti is attainment of the respective desires (deliverance from suffering, attainment of scriptural knowledge, gain of material benefits). And after that, because the superior nature of their object of worship (the Lord), those devotees attain liberation in the form of salokya (attaining the same planet) with predominance of happiness and powers. And there is no fall down as in the case of exhausting enjoyment in svarga as a result of karma. It will be said, “Those who worship me come to me.” BG 9.25 The result of jnana misra bhakti, which is superior to the others, is santa rati (bhava), as in the case of Sanaka and others. Sometimes, because of exceptional mercy of the Lord and his devotee, the result of jnana misra bhakti is the supreme position of prema, as in the case of Sukadeva. If sakama bhakti (the first three types) becomes niskama, without desires, the result is jnana misra bhakti, and the result of that jnana misra bhakti is as stated above (santa rati). Sometimes, those who have jnana or karma misra bhakti attain prema in dasya and higher rasas on their own, because of influence of association with devotees in previous lives. However, that prema is predominated by a mood of reverence (aisvarya). The result of pure bhakti unmixed with jnana, karma or yoga, called ananya bhakti akincana bhakti or uttama bhakti, which has many types, is that one becomes an associate of the Lord with dasya, sakhya, vatsalya or madhurya prema. This is explained elaborately in the commentaries on the Bhagavatam. As it is a matter related to the topic at hand, the distinctions in Perfected bhakti have been briefly discussed.
Only those who are virtuous and righteous have the qualification for devotion to the Supreme Lord. There are four categories of such qualified beings according to differences in their virtue. Those who performed virtuous deeds in previous lives worship Lord Krishna and fall into four categories: 1) artto are those distressed such as persecuted by disease. If they performed virtuous activities in past lives then they will have the opportunity to worship Lord Krishna otherwise they will be limited to worshipping minor gods and formless illusionary gods. 2) atharthi are the seekers of wealth who desire to have full facility for enjoyment in this life and their next. If they performed virtuous deeds in their past lives then they too will have the opportunity to worship Lord Krishna. 3) jijnasuh are those who desire self realisation to end the cycle of birth and death. If they performed virtuous actions in their past lives they will also have the opportunity to worship Lord Krishna. 4) jnanis are those who have achieved atma tattva or realisation of the soul and know the Supreme Lord. If they have performed virtuous activities in their past lives then they will have the opportunity of advancing further and worshipping Lord Krishna. It should be understood that aspirants in all four categories will be forced to experience endless reincarnation until one finally evolves to attainment of devotion to Lord Krishna.
Only humans who are sukritino meaning righteous and virtuous surrender to the Supreme Lord Krishna becoming exclusively devoted to Him. Such humans are of four classes distinguished by their different grades of virtue. In the order they are given each succeeding class is more superior to the preceding one due to being more elevated and exalted making it more meritorious. The four are: artto are those impoverished and distressed after losing all wealth and power and desires to have the Supreme Lord recover it for them and re- instate it. atharthi are those who having never enjoyed power and fortune desire the Supreme Lord to give them the ability to acquire them. jijnasur are the seekers of self-realisation who are anxious to know the atma or soul in its state separate from matter for the benefit of escaping transmigration the cycle of birth and death and pray to the Supreme Lord for the benediction to discover this. jnani are the seekers of knowledge concerning the Supreme Lord who realise that the atma is essentially characterised by its being an eternal ingredient of the Supreme Lord residing within all embodied beings. Such a one considers the Supreme Lord as their goal of life and attainment of Him the fulfilment of all ambitions.
Only humans who are sukritino meaning righteous and virtuous surrender to the Supreme Lord Krishna becoming exclusively devoted to Him. Such humans are of four classes distinguished by their different grades of virtue. In the order they are given each succeeding class is more superior to the preceding one due to being more elevated and exalted making it more meritorious. The four are: artto are those impoverished and distressed after losing all wealth and power and desires to have the Supreme Lord recover it for them and re- instate it. atharthi are those who having never enjoyed power and fortune desire the Supreme Lord to give them the ability to acquire them. jijnasur are the seekers of self-realisation who are anxious to know the atma or soul in its state separate from matter for the benefit of escaping transmigration the cycle of birth and death and pray to the Supreme Lord for the benediction to discover this. jnani are the seekers of knowledge concerning the Supreme Lord who realise that the atma is essentially characterised by its being an eternal ingredient of the Supreme Lord residing within all embodied beings. Such a one considers the Supreme Lord as their goal of life and attainment of Him the fulfilment of all ambitions.
Chaturvidhaa bhajante maam janaah sukritino’rjuna; Aarto jijnaasurartharthee jnaanee cha bharatarshabha.
chatuḥ-vidhāḥ—four kinds; bhajante—worship; mām—me; janāḥ—people; su-kṛitinaḥ—those who are pious; arjuna—Arjun; ārtaḥ—the distressed; jijñāsuḥ—the seekers of knowledge; artha-arthī—the seekers of material gain; jñānī—those who are situated in knowledge; cha—and; bharata-ṛiṣhabha—The best amongst the Bharatas, Arjun
