Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 1.22
॥
Devanāgarī
यावन्ति देवरूपाणि वदन्ति विभुधा जनाः । नमन्ति देवरूपेभ्य एवमादि न संशयः
Transliteration (IAST)
yāvanti devarūpāṇi vadanti vibhudhā janāḥ | namanti devarūpebhya evamādi na saṃśayaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यावन्ति देव-रूपाणिyāvanti deva-rūpāṇias many as the forms of gods
वदन्ति विबुधाः जनाःvadanti vibudhāḥ janāḥwise people speak of
नमन्ति देव-रूपेभ्यःnamanti deva-rūpebhyaḥthey bow to the forms of gods
एवम्-आदि न संशयःevam-ādi na saṃśayaḥand so on — there is no doubt
Translation
"As many as the forms of gods that wise people speak of — they bow to the forms of gods, and so on; there is no doubt."
Version
be459483a96e · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A summarizing line, closing the mapping: everything that is bowed to is He. It is worth examining how the Vaiṣṇava side accepts this position and where she places a qualification, for a qualification exists here and it matters. She fully accepts that every act of worship reaches Him: the Gītā says ye'py anya-devatā-bhaktāḥ... te'pi mām eva yajanti, "and those devoted to other deities — they too sacrifice to Me alone" (9.23).
But the qualification is set in the very same verse: avidhi-pūrvakam, "not according to rule." Of the distinction between an absorbing claim and a distinguishing one it was said when reading the Bhasma-jābāla (2.55); no need to repeat. Let us add what is worth saying about the phrase "everything is He" itself, for it is used for two opposite purposes.
The first purpose is conciliatory: since everything is He, there is nothing to dispute, and everyone is right in his own way. The second is absorbing: since everything is He, the worship of others is in fact ours too, only unskillful. The first is more honest in intent and weaker in substance: it cancels the subject of the dispute rather than resolving it. The second is stronger and less pleasant.
The Vaiṣṇava side holds to the second, but softens it by not rejecting the worshipers: it is said of them that they receive what is theirs — "those who go to the gods go to the gods, and My devotees come to Me" (Gītā 7.23, 9.25). That is, no one is called deceived; it is only said that everyone arrives where he was going.