ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं
क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति ।
एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना
गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते ।। ९.२१ ।।

te taṁ bhuktvā svarga-lokaṁ viśālaṁ
kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti |
evaṁ trayī-dharmam-anuprapannā
gatāgataṁ kāma-kāmā labhante || 9.21 ||

Futility of religious rewards

The next statement Krishna makes has great practical relevance. It is first a support for the pious ritualists, who implicitly believe in and follow the Vedas and their prescriptions. But, subtly and forcefully, Krishna also points out how flimsy, short-ranged and self-defeating are such ritualistic flairs and pursuits.

After enjoying the vast svarga-loka, when the religious merit gets exhausted, they return to the perishable world. Thus, resorting to this dharma, those who are desirous of such objects (kama-kamah) continue to get this maze of life and death (gatagatam labhante).

Assuming that the acclaimed results of what they do and propose to win, will grace them, the question as to when these will actualize, becomes significant. It is only after death – after the performers of the rituals have shed their body. Even when they are given the reward, that reward will still be terminable. It will not last forever, says Krishna. As these ritualists gain the reward, so too they will lose it soon. Even if they get to the highest planetary regions (brahma-loka), they are bound to have an abysmal fall. Any result gained by human actions, using human organs in this world, is subject to limitation, decay, and termination. Any worldly creation will not have a long-standing or permanent outcome or benefit.

This analysis of Krishna here, as in the 2nd chapter (2.42- 44), while introducing the karma-yoga tenets, is highly significant and far-reaching. It should open the eyes of any dogmatic devotee or Vedic votary.

What is the ultimate benefit of all rituals and ceremonial life? Krishna says: The ritual-addicts will continue to be where they are – ever cycling in the maze of life and death repeatedly (gata-agatam). Not an iota of elevation takes place for them at all. One may call their pursuits, Vedic yagas and yajnas, great. What of it? They merely carry flowery promises, of taking the votaries somewhere high, but only to drop them from there, to be again suffering in the world as now.

Where is then any real promotion or elevation in their plight or state? The words ‘kshine punye’, meaning ‘when the merit of virtue declines and wears off’, must awaken vigorous introspection in anyone addicted to ceremonial life. Like food eaten, water drunk, even the virtue earned by man in the name of rituals, is subject to depletion. Its effect is bound to be over, after a period.

This means that no ritual or religious ceremony has a status, power or potential above that of the secular, worldly acts done by the human. Both are parallel. They equally operate within the field of cause and effect. The difference is but a sheer belief as is their reward or fruition merely imaginary.

However, Vedas and their ritualistic statements and injunctions have a significant traditional influence on the human minds. And so Krishna too, standing on the same Vedic pedestal, provides this critical evaluation about what they mean, what they are worth, and what should the sober view about them be.

These two verses thus exert a great influence on religious and spiritual minds. They provide a powerful insight to thinking minds. In the seekers, their effect is marvellous, in that they generate untold dispassion and discrimination to intensify their sadhana. Staunch seekers generally have a religious background. To outlive it authentically, and take to exclusive spiritual sadhana, they need the scriptural support and spiritual strength and inspiration, which Krishna provides through this beautiful and powerful analytical pronouncement. Seekers should read these verses and remember them, to face all onslaughts from any religious quarter.