Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita: Scriptural Worship and the Supreme God Beyond the Gita Speaker

Introduction

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most revered scriptures of Hindu tradition. It is universally accepted as divine knowledge, imparted on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. However, despite its widespread reverence, the true intent of the Gita’s message has largely been misunderstood. Most contemporary interpretations focus only on devotion to the speaker of the Gita, while ignoring the deeper and decisive guidance given within the scripture itself regarding another, higher Supreme God. This article presents a scriptural analysis—based solely on the Bhagavad Gita—to explain who the true Supreme God is, what is the correct method of worship, and why worship that is contrary to scripture results only in perishable outcomes.

Scriptural Rule: Worship Must Be According to Scripture

The Gita clearly establishes that scripture alone is the authority in deciding what should and should not be practiced in worship.

Gita Chapter 16 Verse 23–24 states that one who abandons scriptural injunctions and follows self-invented practices attains neither happiness, nor success, nor liberation. Therefore, any form of worship not prescribed in the Gita is futile.

Human beings worship for three essential goals:

  1. Happiness in life
  2. Success and protection from crises
  3. Liberation (moksha)

The Gita declares that none of these can be achieved through non-scriptural worship.

Worship of Deities Gives Perishable Results

In Gita Chapter 7 Verses 12–15, the speaker explains that the three gunas—Rajgun (Brahma), Satgun (Vishnu), and Tamgun (Shiva)—bind souls through Maya. Those whose knowledge is taken away by these three gunas worship these deities for material desires. Such people are described as misguided and ignorant of the higher truth.

Further, Gita Chapter 7 Verses 20–23 clarifies that:

  • Worshippers of deities are inspired to worship according to their inherent nature
  • The power received by deity worshippers is granted only through the speaker of the Gita
  • The results obtained from deity worship are perishable

The conclusion is explicit:

Worshippers of deities attain the deities; worshippers of the Gita speaker attain the Gita speaker—but neither attain the eternal Supreme God.

The Gita Speaker Directs Arjuna to Another Supreme God

A crucial and often ignored revelation appears in Gita Chapter 18 Verse 62, where the Gita speaker commands Arjuna:

“Go in complete surrender to that Supreme God. By His grace alone, you will attain supreme peace and the eternal abode.”

This verse alone proves that the Gita speaker is not the Supreme God, because he instructs surrender to another higher entity.

Yet most modern scholars and Shankaracharyas claim that there is no God beyond Krishna or Vishnu. This claim directly contradicts the Gita.

Clarification of Tat Brahm and Param Akshar Brahm

In Gita Chapter 7 Verse 29, the speaker tells Arjuna that seekers of liberation strive to know Tat Brahm.

Arjuna then asks in Gita Chapter 8 Verse 1: What is Tat Brahm?

The answer is given in Gita Chapter 8 Verse 3:

Tat Brahm is Param Akshar Brahm.

After this:

  • In Gita Chapter 8 Verses 5 and 7, the speaker instructs devotion to himself
  • But in Gita Chapter 8 Verses 8–10, he instructs devotion to another Supreme God—Param Akshar Brahm, described as eternal, all-sustaining, and beyond decay

The speaker further clarifies:

  • One who worships me attains me
  • One who worships Param Akshar Brahm attains Him

He also states:

  • His own mantra is Om (one syllable)
  • The mantra of Param Akshar Brahm is Om Tat Sat (three sacred names)

Evidence That the Gita Speaker Is Mortal

Many religious teachers claim that the Gita speaker is eternal and unborn. However, the Gita itself disproves this.

  • Gita Chapter 4 Verse 5: “Both you and I have had many births.”
  • Gita Chapter 2 Verse 12: “It is not that you, I, or these kings did not exist before, nor will we cease to exist in the future.”

That which is subject to birth and death is perishable, not eternal. Therefore, the Gita speaker cannot be the Supreme God.

The Imperishable Supreme God Defined

The Gita repeatedly glorifies a Supreme God distinct from the speaker:

  • Gita Chapter 2 Verse 17: The Imperishable One pervades all and cannot be destroyed
  • Gita Chapter 18 Verse 46: From whom all beings originate and by whom the universe is pervaded
  • Gita Chapter 18 Verse 61: The Supreme God resides in the hearts of all beings and governs them by His power
  • Gita Chapter 15 Verses 16–17:
    • Two beings are perishable: Kshar Purush and Akshar Purush
    • The Uttam Purush (Supreme God) is distinct from both and is truly eternal

This Uttam Purush alone sustains all worlds and is the real Purushottam.

Misinterpretation of Gita Chapter 15 Verse 18

Some argue that the Gita speaker calls himself Purushottam in Verse 18. However, the speaker states that he is considered Purushottam only according to lokved—popular belief or folklore—not according to absolute truth.

The true Purushottam is already defined clearly in Gita Chapter 15 Verse 17 as someone other than the speaker.

Correct Worship According to the Gita

The Gita defines both duty (karyam) and forbidden practice (akaryam):

  • Gita Chapter 8 Verse 13: The speaker’s worship is limited to the chanting of Om
  • Gita Chapter 3 Verses 10–15: Yagya is prescribed, with the eternal God established as the object of worship

There are five types of yagya:

  1. Dharma yagya
  2. Dhyan yagya
  3. Havan yagya
  4. Pranam yagya
  5. Gyan yagya

The correct method of these is known only to a Tatvadarshi Saint.

Role of the Tatvadarshi Saint

Gita Chapter 4 Verses 32–34 explains that:

  • The Supreme God reveals true knowledge through spoken words
  • Liberation is possible only through this Tatvagyan
  • One must approach a Tatvadarshi Saint with humility, service, and honest inquiry

Among all sacrifices, Gyan Yagya—listening to true spiritual knowledge—is the highest.

Conclusion

The Bhagavad Gita unmistakably declares that:

  • Deity worship yields perishable results
  • The Gita speaker is not the Supreme God
  • There exists an eternal, imperishable Supreme God beyond Kshar and Akshar Purush
  • Surrender to that Supreme God alone grants supreme peace and the eternal abode

Failure to understand this distinction has led generations astray through blind faith. The Gita urges humanity to abandon assumptions, re-read the scripture with discernment, and follow only what is explicitly commanded.

True liberation is possible only through scriptural worship under the guidance of a Tatvadarshi Saint.

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