Short answer
No, not as the way to God (﷾). The Gita keeps the Vedic sacrifices to the gods as a duty. But it ranks their worship below devotion to one Lord. Krishna says that people whose knowledge has been taken away by desires turn to other gods. He grants that they are really worshipping him, but "irregularly". Their reward is perishable: those who worship the gods go to the gods. They do not know him truly, so they fall. The devotion he praises most is given to him alone, "towards none besides me". Three great Vedanta teachers, Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva, all say that the worship of other gods falls short and its fruit does not last. Krishna even says the good things sought from the gods are really given by him. The Qur'an draws the plain conclusion: worship the Giver alone, and ask Him directly.
Full explanation
Chapters 7 and 9 teach one lesson
The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata, the great Hindu epic. In it Krishna, whom Hindus hold to be the Supreme Lord, speaks to the warrior Arjuna. The two passages most often quoted on this question do not contradict each other. The second explains the first. In chapter 7, people whose knowledge desires have taken away approach other divinities (anya-devatah). Krishna makes their faith steady, and they receive what they ask, though it is really given by him. But their fruit is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and his worshippers go to him. K. T. Telang, a Hindu scholar and judge who translated the Gita in 1882, adds that the divinities are not eternal. So the fruit is short-lived. In chapter 9, devotees of other divinities do worship Krishna, but irregularly (avidhi-purvakam, not according to the rule). Telang gives the reason: in form they worship other divinities. They do not know him truly, so they fall. Telang explains this as a return to the mortal world. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods. Read together, the chapters rank this worship below the worship of the One.
“Those who are deprived of knowledge by various desires approach other divinities, observing various regulations, and controlled by their own natures. Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he desires, (though they are) really given by me. But the fruit thus (obtained) by them, who have little judgment, is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me.”
“And the divinities are not eternal, so the fruit obtained is ephemeral.”
“Even those, O son of Kuntî! who being devotees of other divinities worship with faith, worship me only, (but) irregularly. For I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they know me not truly, therefore do they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods; those who make vows to the manes go to the manes; those who worship the Bhûtas go to the Bhûtas; and those likewise who worship me go to me.”
“Because in form they worship other divinities.”
“I. e. return to the mortal world.”
The worship the Gita praises
The Gita puts devotion to one alone above all worship done for a reward. Those who follow the rites of the three Vedas (the Hindu scriptures of ritual and prayer) because they want things, reach heaven. But when their merit runs out, they return to the world of death: going and coming. Krishna promises more to those who worship him thinking of him "and on no one else" (ananyah). He gives them new gifts, and keeps safe what they have gained. In chapter 12 he makes a promise to those who worship him "with a devotion towards none besides me" (ananyena yogena). He will rescue them from the ocean of this world of death. Near its end, the Gita asks Arjuna to take Krishna as his only refuge. Krishna also recalls the Creator's command to please the gods with sacrifice, and he says good people worship the gods. But he asks that such sacrifice be done without attachment, and later that every sacrifice be offered to him. His words on the three kinds of faith answer a question about people who worship while ignoring the scripture's rules. The worship the Gita ranks highest is the worship of one alone.
“Those who know the three (branches of) knowledge, who drink the Soma juice, whose sins are washed away, offer sacrifices and pray to me for a passage into heaven; and reaching the holy world of the lord of gods, they enjoy in the celestial regions the celestial pleasures of the gods. And having enjoyed that great heavenly world, they enter the mortal world when (their) merit is exhausted. Thus those who wish for objects of desire, and resort to the ordinances of the three (Vedas), obtain (as the fruit) going and coming. To those men who worship me, meditating on me and on no one else, and who are constantly devoted, I give new gifts and preserve what is acquired by them.”
“As to those, however, O son of Prithâ! who, dedicating all their actions to me, and (holding) me as their highest (goal), worship me, meditating on me with a devotion towards none besides me, and whose minds are fixed on me, I, without delay, come forward as their deliverer from the ocean of this world of death.”
“Forsaking all duties, come to me as (your) sole refuge. I will release you from all sins. Be not grieved.”
“This world is fettered by all action other than action for the purpose of the sacrifice. Therefore, O son of Kuntî! do you, casting off attachment, perform action for that purpose. The Creator, having in olden times created men together with the sacrifice, said: 'Propagate with this. May it be the giver to you of the things you desire. Please the gods with this, and may those gods please you. Pleasing each other, you will attain the highest good. For pleased with the sacrifices, the gods will give you the enjoyments you desire. And he who enjoys himself without giving them what they have given, is, indeed, a thief.'”
“Whatever you do, O son of Kuntî! whatever you eat, whatever sacrifice you make, whatever you give, whatever penance you perform, do that as offered to me.”
“What is the state of those, O Krishna! who worship with faith, (but) abandoning scripture ordinances—goodness, passion, or darkness?”
“Those of the quality of goodness worship the gods; those of the quality of passion the Yakshas and Rakshases; and the others, the people of the quality of darkness, worship departed (spirits) and the multitudes of Bhûtas.”
How Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva read these verses
The Gita belongs to the smriti, the remembered tradition, as part of the Mahabharata. Yet the Vedanta tradition counts it among its three core texts. The teachers of its three best-known schools each wrote a commentary on it. They disagree on the most basic questions, even whether the soul is God. But on the worship these verses describe they agree. Shankara, a teacher of about the 8th century and the teacher of the Advaita school, says the effort is the same either way. He says people do not worship the Lord alone, because of their ignorance, and so they gain very small results. He calls this the Lord's regret. Ramanuja, a teacher of about the 11th and 12th centuries and the teacher of the Vishishtadvaita school, grants that the gods form the Lord's body. But those who worship them without knowing that the Lord is the real object receive a limited reward and fall. When the gods' own happy state ends, their worshippers fall with them. Madhva was a teacher of about the 13th century and the teacher of the Dvaita school. He takes the forms of 7.21 to be Brahma and the other gods. He cites a text that their devotees reach an end. A 14th-century survey of his system cites a text that those who seek to win the favour of the divinities are not set free. A later follower explains the fall: these worshippers do not see that the gods are only the Lord's attendants.
“Though there is the same amount of exertion (in the two kinds of worship), people do not resort to Me so that they may attain infinite results. Alas! it is very miserable.—Thus does the Lord express His regret.”
“My worshippers, i.e., Vishnu's votaries, come to Myself. Notwithstanding the equality of trouble, people do not worship Me alone, because of their ignorance. Wherefore they attain very small results.”
“Those also, who are worshippers of Indra and other lesser divinities—being followers of the Tri-Veda lines,—and who perform sacrifices directed to Indra etc., are in reality directing them to Myself. For, for reasons stated previously, all (Indra etc)., form My body, of which I am the Soul. And every term, Indra etc., finds its ultimate significance in referring to Myself. They however perform sacrifices, ignorant of this form, or law.”
“Hence, the votaries of the Traividya (or the Karma-Kāṇḍa of the Vedas) do not understand that rituals are but worship-services of Paramapurusha Himself having Indra etc., as His body, and that Paramapurusha Himself is the real Object of that worship. Hence they are entitled to limited recompense, and possess the character to fall (from the place or state, gained).”
“The blessed state of Indra etc., is indeed restricted, and lasts, besides, for a time only. The worshippers achieve but that blessed state as is on a par with that of Indra etc., but when Indra and other deities reach the end of their happy state, they fall; with them do their worshippers necessarily also fall.”
Madhva explains the "form" that any worshipper may choose to worship in 7.21 as the form of Brahma and the other gods. He supports this with a line he cites from the Naradiya. For the devotees of Brahma and the others there is an end, it says, and for the Lord's own devotees there is none. His commentator Jayatirtha adds that these forms cannot be the Lord's own forms, such as Rama or Krishna. The reason he gives is that 7.23 says the fruit of these worshippers comes to an end.
“And emancipation is not won without the grace of Vishṇu, according to the text of the Náráyaṇa Upanishad: Through whose grace is the highest state, through whose essence he is liberated from transmigration, while inferior men propitiating the divinities are not emancipated; the supreme object of discernment to those who desire to be liberated from this snare of works.”
Explaining the Gita by Madhva's commentaries, Subba Rau says that the sacrifices of these worshippers ought to be meant for the Lord alone. They mean them for the other gods instead, and offer them to him only formally at the close. So their worship is not what scripture requires. They do not truly know him, because they do not understand that Brahma and the other gods are no more than his attendants. That is why they fall. He then states the view that the other gods are worth worshipping. Their limited fruit comes easily, it says, while the Lord's worship is too hard for the weak. He says that Krishna refutes it in 9.26: the Lord accepts even a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion.
What many Hindus say: every worship reaches the One
Many Hindus read the Gita as welcoming every worshipper. Krishna says that he serves people in the way in which they approach him, and that in every way people follow in his path. At Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk of the 19th century, quoted this promise in his own words. He gave it as the teaching that every path leads in the end to the Lord who speaks in the Gita. Krishna also says that devotees of other gods who worship with faith are worshipping him. Telang explains that all worship, to whomever it is addressed, is worship of Krishna. Ramanuja adds that Indra and the other gods form the Lord's body. Indra is a chief god of the Vedas. So the sacrifices offered to them are in reality offered to him. The Gita also keeps the Vedic sacrifice, the offerings of the old Vedic rites. The Creator, it says, gave it to mankind: please the gods with it, and they will please you. Krishna calls himself Indra among the gods. And the Gita counts the worship of the gods as the way of people in whom goodness (sattva) prevails. Hindus also point to chapter 12. There Krishna counts as most devoted those who worship him with minds fixed on him. He says the unperceived goal is hard for embodied beings to reach. On this reading, the worship of the gods is a real, if lower, way to God (﷾), and the Gita never forbids it. The chapters above answer this: the Gita does not forbid the worship, but it ranks it lower and says its reward passes away.
“I serve men in the way in which they approach me. In every way, O son of Prithâ! men follow in my path.”
“The present Convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita. "Whosoever comes to me, through whatsoever form I reach him, they are all struggling through paths that in the end always lead to me."”
“Even those, O son of Kuntî! who being devotees of other divinities worship with faith, worship me only, (but) irregularly. For I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they know me not truly, therefore do they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods; those who make vows to the manes go to the manes; those who worship the Bhûtas go to the Bhûtas; and those likewise who worship me go to me.”
“The original words used here occur before in a different sense (see p. 55). Here the meaning is that to whomsoever directly addressed, all worship is worship of me (see p. 84). In the whole passage, Krishna says that the Deity is not chargeable with partiality on account of the variety of human qualities and states.”
“Those also, who are worshippers of Indra and other lesser divinities—being followers of the Tri-Veda lines,—and who perform sacrifices directed to Indra etc., are in reality directing them to Myself. For, for reasons stated previously, all (Indra etc)., form My body, of which I am the Soul. And every term, Indra etc., finds its ultimate significance in referring to Myself. They however perform sacrifices, ignorant of this form, or law.”
“This world is fettered by all action other than action for the purpose of the sacrifice. Therefore, O son of Kuntî! do you, casting off attachment, perform action for that purpose. The Creator, having in olden times created men together with the sacrifice, said: 'Propagate with this. May it be the giver to you of the things you desire. Please the gods with this, and may those gods please you. Pleasing each other, you will attain the highest good. For pleased with the sacrifices, the gods will give you the enjoyments you desire. And he who enjoys himself without giving them what they have given, is, indeed, a thief.'”
“I am Vishnu among the Âdityas, the beaming sun among the shining (bodies); I am Marîki among the Maruts, and the moon among the lunar mansions. Among the Vedas, I am the Sâma-veda. I am Indra among the gods. And I am mind among the senses. I am consciousness in (living) beings.”
“Those of the quality of goodness worship the gods; those of the quality of passion the Yakshas and Rakshases; and the others, the people of the quality of darkness, worship departed (spirits) and the multitudes of Bhûtas.”
“Those who being constantly devoted, and possessed of the highest faith, worship me with a mind fixed on me, are deemed by me to be the most devoted. But those, who, restraining the (whole) group of the senses, and with a mind at all times equable, meditate on the indescribable, indestructible, unperceived (principle) which is all-pervading, unthinkable, indifferent, immovable, and constant, they, intent on the good of all beings, necessarily attain to me. For those whose minds are attached to the unperceived, the trouble is much greater. Because the unperceived goal is obtained by embodied (beings) with difficulty.”
Ask the Giver directly
Krishna says that the good things people seek from the gods are really given by him. The Gita praises those who worship him alone, yet it still steadies the faith of those who go through other gods. The Qur'an goes the whole way: if the Giver is One, ask Him directly. In every prayer, Muslims tell God (﷾) that Him alone they worship, and Him alone they ask for help. The Qur'an answers the same hope, that worship given to lesser beings will reach God (﷾). People who took other protectors besides God (﷾) said they served them only to be brought nearer to Him. Its reply is that sincere devotion is due to God (﷾) alone. The places of worship are for Him, so no one may be called on along with Him. No go-between is needed for Him to hear. God (﷾) says that He is close, and that He answers the prayer of everyone who calls on Him.
“Those who are deprived of knowledge by various desires approach other divinities, observing various regulations, and controlled by their own natures. Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he desires, (though they are) really given by me. But the fruit thus (obtained) by them, who have little judgment, is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me.”
“Those who know the three (branches of) knowledge, who drink the Soma juice, whose sins are washed away, offer sacrifices and pray to me for a passage into heaven; and reaching the holy world of the lord of gods, they enjoy in the celestial regions the celestial pleasures of the gods. And having enjoyed that great heavenly world, they enter the mortal world when (their) merit is exhausted. Thus those who wish for objects of desire, and resort to the ordinances of the three (Vedas), obtain (as the fruit) going and coming. To those men who worship me, meditating on me and on no one else, and who are constantly devoted, I give new gifts and preserve what is acquired by them.”
“Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.”
“Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for protectors other than Allah (say): "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah." Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful.”
“"And the places of worship are for Allah (alone): So invoke not any one along with Allah;”
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”
“And your Lord says: "Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer): but those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find themselves in Hell - in humiliation!"”
Servants are not to be worshipped
Ramanuja calls the gods the Lord's body, and Madhva's school calls them his servants. Hindu teachers themselves say these gods do not last. Telang notes that the gods are not eternal. Ramanuja says their happy state lasts only for a time, and then they fall. The Qur'an says that those people call on besides God (﷾) create nothing and are themselves created. The very beings people call on are themselves seeking a way to their Lord, hoping for His mercy and fearing His punishment. Even the angels are honoured servants who act only at His command. And no prophet would tell people to take angels as lords. Abraham looked at the star, the moon and the sun. He turned away from everything that sets, to the One who created the heavens and the earth. The Qur'an tells people not to bow to the sun and the moon. They should bow to the One who created them, if it is Him they want to serve.
“And the divinities are not eternal, so the fruit obtained is ephemeral.”
“The blessed state of Indra etc., is indeed restricted, and lasts, besides, for a time only. The worshippers achieve but that blessed state as is on a par with that of Indra etc., but when Indra and other deities reach the end of their happy state, they fall; with them do their worshippers necessarily also fall.”
Explaining the Gita by Madhva's commentaries, Subba Rau says that the sacrifices of these worshippers ought to be meant for the Lord alone. They mean them for the other gods instead, and offer them to him only formally at the close. So their worship is not what scripture requires. They do not truly know him, because they do not understand that Brahma and the other gods are no more than his attendants. That is why they fall. He then states the view that the other gods are worth worshipping. Their limited fruit comes easily, it says, while the Lord's worship is too hard for the weak. He says that Krishna refutes it in 9.26: the Lord accepts even a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion.
“Those whom they invoke besides Allah create nothing and are themselves created.”
“Say: "Call on those - besides Him - whom ye fancy: they have neither the power to remove your troubles from you nor to change them." Those whom they call upon do desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord, - even those who are nearest: they hope for His Mercy and fear His Wrath: for the Wrath of thy Lord is something to take heed of.”
“And they say: "(Allah) Most Gracious has begotten offspring." Glory to Him! they are (but) servants raised to honour. They speak not before He speaks, and they act (in all things) by His Command. He knows what is before them, and what is behind them, and they offer no intercession except for those who are acceptable, and they stand in awe and reverence of His (Glory).”
“Nor would he instruct you to take angels and prophets for Lords and patrons. What! would he bid you to unbelief after ye have bowed your will (To Allah in Islam)?”
“When the night covered him over, He saw a star: He said: "This is my Lord." But when it set, He said: "I love not those that set." When he saw the moon rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord." But when the moon set, He said: "unless my Lord guide me, I shall surely be among those who go astray." When he saw the sun rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord; this is the greatest (of all)." But when the sun set, he said: "O my people! I am indeed free from your (guilt) of giving partners to Allah. "For me, I have set my face, firmly and truly, towards Him Who created the heavens and the earth, and never shall I give partners to Allah."”
“Among His Signs are the Night and the Day, and the Sun and the Moon. Do not prostrate to the sun and the moon, but prostrate to Allah, Who created them, if it is Him ye wish to serve.”
The unseen God (﷾), near to all who call on Him
Chapter 12 says the unperceived goal is hard for embodied beings to reach. The principle it means is indescribable and unthinkable. Telang renders another word used of it, kutastha, as "indifferent": passively looking on at what happens on earth. The God (﷾) of the Qur'an is unseen, but He does not merely look on. No vision can grasp Him and nothing whatever is like Him, yet He is nearer to each person than his jugular vein. He tells people to call on Him, and promises to answer. So Muslims worship Him with no image, as a Lord who hears and answers. Hundreds of millions of them pray to Him five times a day.
“Those who being constantly devoted, and possessed of the highest faith, worship me with a mind fixed on me, are deemed by me to be the most devoted. But those, who, restraining the (whole) group of the senses, and with a mind at all times equable, meditate on the indescribable, indestructible, unperceived (principle) which is all-pervading, unthinkable, indifferent, immovable, and constant, they, intent on the good of all beings, necessarily attain to me. For those whose minds are attached to the unperceived, the trouble is much greater. Because the unperceived goal is obtained by embodied (beings) with difficulty.”
“Passively looking on what occurs on earth; immovable=changeless; constant=eternal.”
“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.”
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
“It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein.”
“And your Lord says: "Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer): but those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find themselves in Hell - in humiliation!"”
The replies, answered
Bhagavad Gita 9:23-25 — chapter 9, verses 23-25
“Even those, O son of Kuntî! who being devotees of other divinities worship with faith, worship me only, (but) irregularly. For I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they know me not truly, therefore do they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods; those who make vows to the manes go to the manes; those who worship the Bhûtas go to the Bhûtas; and those likewise who worship me go to me.”
Cited for
Krishna says that devotees of other gods who worship with faith are worshipping him. So worship offered to any god reaches the Supreme, and the Gita approves it.
The response
The same sentence says they worship him irregularly (avidhi-purvakam, not according to the rule), and Telang gives the reason: in form they worship other divinities. The next verse says they do not know him truly, "therefore do they fall", which Telang explains as a return to the mortal world. Then: those who make vows to the gods go to the gods, and those who worship Krishna go to him. Chapter 7 says their fruit is perishable, and Telang explains why: the divinities are not eternal. So the passage grants that this worship is really worship of the Supreme, yet calls it irregular and says it ends lower.
Where it lands — 9.23-24 call the worship of other gods irregular worship of the Supreme, and say its worshippers fall. That ranks it below the worship of the One; it does not approve it.
Bhagavad Gita 7:20-23 — chapter 7, verses 20-23
“Those who are deprived of knowledge by various desires approach other divinities, observing various regulations, and controlled by their own natures. Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he desires, (though they are) really given by me. But the fruit thus (obtained) by them, who have little judgment, is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me.”
Cited for
Krishna himself makes the faith of those who worship other gods steady, and grants what they ask. The Gita never forbids this worship, and what God supports He does not condemn.
The response
The same passage says who these worshippers are: people whose knowledge desires have taken away, whose fruit is perishable. Shankara says that here the Lord expresses his regret: the effort is the same, yet people do not turn to him for an endless reward. Making a person steady in the worship he has chosen is not approving it. And Krishna says the gifts they seek are really given by him, so the Gita itself points past the gods to the Giver.
Where it lands — The Gita steadies the faith of people led by desire, but it calls their reward perishable, and in Shankara's reading the Lord regrets their choice. That is not approval.
Bhagavad Gita 4:11 — chapter 4, verse 11
“I serve men in the way in which they approach me. In every way, O son of Prithâ! men follow in my path.”
Cited for
Krishna says he serves people in the way in which they approach him, and that in every way people follow his path. Vivekananda gave it as a promise that every path leads to the Lord in the end. So every form of worship is a valid path.
The response
Telang, the Hindu judge who translated the verse, explains it: "I give to each worshipper what is proper for him." That is a return fitting each way, not one destination for all. The very next verse names one such way: people worship the divinities because success from their action comes quickly in this world. Chapter 7 names its end: those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and his worshippers go to him. In chapter 9, those who make vows to the gods go to the gods. By the Gita's own words the ways end in different places.
Where it lands — 4.11 promises every worshipper a fitting return. The Gita itself says that the worship of the gods ends with the gods.
Bhagavad Gita 3:9-12 — chapter 3, verses 9-12
“This world is fettered by all action other than action for the purpose of the sacrifice. Therefore, O son of Kuntî! do you, casting off attachment, perform action for that purpose. The Creator, having in olden times created men together with the sacrifice, said: 'Propagate with this. May it be the giver to you of the things you desire. Please the gods with this, and may those gods please you. Pleasing each other, you will attain the highest good. For pleased with the sacrifices, the gods will give you the enjoyments you desire. And he who enjoys himself without giving them what they have given, is, indeed, a thief.'”
Cited for
The Gita does more than tolerate the gods. Krishna says the Creator gave mankind the sacrifice: please the gods with it, and they will please you. Whoever enjoys their gifts without offering to them "is, indeed, a thief". Chapter 17 says that people in whom goodness prevails worship the gods. So the Gita approves their worship.
The response
Chapter 3 does keep the Vedic sacrifice as a duty. Chapter 17 ranks the worship of the gods above that of Yakshas and Rakshases (two kinds of spirit) and of departed spirits. But the gifts the gods give for sacrifice are "the enjoyments you desire". Chapter 9 says where sacrifice for desired things leads: to heaven, and back to the mortal world when the merit is spent. The passage itself begins by asking for action done for the sake of the sacrifice, "casting off attachment". Shankara says the sacrifice meant there is "Îsvara, the Supreme Lord". Later Krishna asks that every sacrifice be offered to him. As for goodness, the Gita says all three qualities of nature bind the soul, goodness among them. The one who worships Krishna "with an unswerving devotion" passes beyond them. The Qur'an takes the last step. It is God who sends down the rain and brings forth fruits for people's sustenance, so set up no rivals to Him.
Where it lands — The Gita keeps the sacrifice to the gods as a duty, but the enjoyments the gods give for it pass away. Its highest way is devotion to one alone, and the Qur'an asks for that alone.
Bhagavad Gita 4:12 — chapter 4, verse 12
“Desiring the success of actions, men in this world worship the divinities, for in this world of mortals, the success produced by action is soon obtained.”
Cited for
The worship of the gods suits people who want results in this world. Each person worships at his own level (adhikara, his readiness for a stage), and in time he rises to the Supreme. The Gita itself says that pleasing the gods with sacrifice leads to "the highest good". Shankara explains this as the knowledge of Brahman, reached in due course, and Ramanuja as liberation (moksha). The Gita meets people where they are.
The response
The Gita describes the worship of the gods for their rewards as a circle, not a step up. Those who follow the rites of the three Vedas for their desires reach heaven, then return when their merit is spent: "going and coming". Ramanuja counts the worshippers of Indra and the rest among them. The liberation he finds in chapter 3 is for worship of the gods as the body of the Lord, who is their soul. Those who miss this, he says, receive a limited reward and fall with the gods. Shankara allows that the sacrifice can lead to the knowledge of Brahman "in due course", or else to heaven. But in the Gita, the one who reaches Krishna "at the end of many lives" is the man of knowledge. His worship "is (addressed) to one (Being) only". Krishna says he cannot be seen as Arjuna saw him by the Vedas, penance, gifts or sacrifice, but by devotion to him exclusively. The Gita does not keep that worship for the few. Even a very ill-conducted man who worships Krishna, "not worshipping any one else", must be deemed good. So where the Gita speaks of rising, the way leads past the gods to the One. The Qur'an opens the same door to all: God (﷾) is near and answers whoever calls on Him.
Where it lands — By the Gita's own account, the worship of the gods for their rewards goes round, not up. Where it speaks of rising, the one who rises worships one Being only.
Ramanuja, commentary on Bhagavad Gita 9:23 — A. Govindacharya's translation, 1898, p. 305
“Those also, who are worshippers of Indra and other lesser divinities—being followers of the Tri-Veda lines,—and who perform sacrifices directed to Indra etc., are in reality directing them to Myself. For, for reasons stated previously, all (Indra etc)., form My body, of which I am the Soul. And every term, Indra etc., finds its ultimate significance in referring to Myself. They however perform sacrifices, ignorant of this form, or law.”
Cited for
Ramanuja teaches that Indra and the other gods form the Lord's body, and that every name of a god finally refers to him. So the rites offered to the gods are in reality offered to the Lord. Done with that knowledge, the worship of the gods is the worship of God.
The response
Ramanuja does teach this. He says the Lord's own worshippers perform the very same acts of worship, knowing them to be his worship, and reach him. But he says the Vedic ritualists who worship Indra and the rest do not know it. They receive "limited recompense" and "possess the character to fall". When the gods' own happy state ends, their worshippers fall with them. So even for Ramanuja, what brings a person to God (﷾) is worship that knows the Lord as "the real Object of that worship". The Qur'an asks for that worship, and He hears every caller Himself. Sincere devotion is due to God (﷾) alone, and He says He is near and answers whoever calls on Him. If the Lord is the real object, He can be worshipped directly.
Where it lands — Ramanuja counts worship of the gods done without knowing the Lord as its real object as limited and falling. The Qur'an asks that the real Object be worshipped with no go-between.
Swami Vivekananda, Paper on Hinduism, World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 19 September 1893
“At the very outset, I may tell you that there is no polytheism in India. In every temple, if one stands by and listens, one will find the worshippers applying all the attributes of God, including omnipresence, to the images.”
Cited for
Hindus do not worship many gods. As Vivekananda told the Parliament of Religions in 1893, there is no polytheism in India. In every temple the worshippers give all the attributes of God to the image before them. In the Gita, Krishna says he is Indra among the gods. He is also the sun among the shining bodies and the moon among the lunar mansions. Shankara says some worship the Lord Vishnu as existing in the sun, the moon and the like. He even answers "Just so, indeed" to the point that the other gods are the Lord himself, and their devotees worship him. So to worship Indra is to worship Krishna in one of his forms.
The response
The Gita does call Indra, the sun and the moon Krishna's manifestations, and Shankara does say "Just so". Chapter 10 sums them up: whatever is powerful, glorious or splendid comes from portions of his energy. But neither makes the worship of the gods equal to the worship of the Lord. The same chapter says the wise worship Krishna himself, "believing that I am the origin of all". Shankara says that people do not worship the Lord alone "because of their ignorance", and so they "attain very small results". Those he describes as seeing Vishnu in the sun and the moon adore the Lord "having abandoned all other forms of worship". And chapter 7 still says that those who worship the divinities go to the divinities. So whatever the gods are, worship that stops at them ends with them. The Qur'an also calls the sun and the moon signs of God (﷾). It tells people to prostrate not to them but to God (﷾) who created them.
Where it lands — Even if the gods are manifestations of the One, the Gita gives their worship a lower end. The Qur'an calls the sun and the moon His signs, and gives all worship to Him.
S. Subba Rau, commentary on Bhagavad Gita 9:23-26 — according to Madhva's Bhashyas, 1906, pp. 206-207
Explaining the Gita by Madhva's commentaries, Subba Rau says that the sacrifices of these worshippers ought to be meant for the Lord alone. They mean them for the other gods instead, and offer them to him only formally at the close. So their worship is not what scripture requires. They do not truly know him, because they do not understand that Brahma and the other gods are no more than his attendants. That is why they fall. He then states the view that the other gods are worth worshipping. Their limited fruit comes easily, it says, while the Lord's worship is too hard for the weak. He says that Krishna refutes it in 9.26: the Lord accepts even a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water offered with devotion.
Cited for
Madhva taught that Vishnu alone is supreme and that Brahma and the other gods are his servants. Worship that is finally offered to Vishnu reaches him. The Gita faults only those who forget that the gods are his servants, not those who honour them as such.
The response
Madhva's school agrees that the gods are servants, and it counts worship that ends with them as falling short. Explaining 9.23 by his commentaries, Subba Rau says the sacrifices ought to be meant for the Lord alone. Meaning them for the gods, and offering them to the Lord only formally at the close, is what makes the worship irregular. Madhva himself takes the forms of 7.21 to be Brahma and the other gods, and cites a text that their devotees reach an end. A survey of his system cites a text that those who seek to win the favour of the divinities are not set free. The Qur'an says the same of the beings people call on besides God (﷾): they are themselves seeking a way to their Lord. Even the angels, honoured servants, intercede only for those He approves. A servant is honoured by being called a servant, not by being worshipped.
Where it lands — Madhva's school makes the gods Vishnu's servants and says their worship falls short. Servants of God (﷾) are not to be worshipped beside Him.
Bhagavad Gita 12:2-5 — chapter 12, verses 2-5
“Those who being constantly devoted, and possessed of the highest faith, worship me with a mind fixed on me, are deemed by me to be the most devoted. But those, who, restraining the (whole) group of the senses, and with a mind at all times equable, meditate on the indescribable, indestructible, unperceived (principle) which is all-pervading, unthinkable, indifferent, immovable, and constant, they, intent on the good of all beings, necessarily attain to me. For those whose minds are attached to the unperceived, the trouble is much greater. Because the unperceived goal is obtained by embodied (beings) with difficulty.”
Cited for
Krishna says the unperceived goal is reached by embodied beings only with difficulty. He counts as most devoted those who worship him with minds fixed on him. People need a form of God to worship; worship of the One without any form is for the few.
The response
Chapter 12 compares two kinds of worshippers of the Supreme: devotees of the personal Lord, and those who meditate on an indescribable, unperceived principle. That principle is called unthinkable, and Telang renders another word used of it, kutastha, as "indifferent": passively looking on at what happens on earth. Even of these Krishna says they "necessarily attain to me"; their way is only harder. The chapter says nothing in favour of other gods: the devotion it praises is "towards none besides me". The God (﷾) of the Qur'an is unseen, yet He does not merely look on: He hears and answers whoever calls on Him. So worship without any form is not only for the few. Hundreds of millions of Muslims pray five times a day to the unseen One, with no image.
Where it lands — 12.5 concerns meditation on an impersonal principle, not the worship of many gods. The devotion the chapter praises is given to one alone.
Bhagavad Gita 18:46-47 — chapter 18, verses 46-47
“Worshipping, by (the performance of) his own duty, him from whom all things proceed, and by whom all this is permeated, a man obtains perfection. One's duty, though defective, is better than another's duty well performed. Performing the duty prescribed by nature, one does not incur sin.”
Cited for
The Gita's message is duty: do your own work, and do not be attached to its fruit. "One's duty, though defective, is better than another's duty well performed." It is not a book about which god to worship, and it shuts no one out.
The response
The Gita's teaching on duty ends in the worship of one Lord. A man reaches perfection, it says, by worshipping through his own duty "him from whom all things proceed". Krishna tells Arjuna to offer him whatever he does, eats, sacrifices, gives or undergoes as penance: "do that as offered to me". He says that even a very ill-conducted man who worships him, "not worshipping any one else", must be deemed good. Telang explains what that man has resolved: "that the supreme Being alone should be reverenced". The Gita's welcome is to every person who turns to the One, not to every worship. And near its end the Gita asks Arjuna to take Krishna as his sole refuge. A Muslim can say the same of his own duties. The Qur'an tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to say that his prayer, sacrifice, life and death are all for God (﷾), who has no partner.
Where it lands — In the Gita, duty is offered to one Lord, and the one who worships no other is praised. The Qur'an asks the same of every believer.
Bhagavad Gita 18:66 — chapter 18, verse 66
“Forsaking all duties, come to me as (your) sole refuge. I will release you from all sins. Be not grieved.”
Cited for
When the Gita says "none besides me" and "sole refuge", Krishna means himself. The one Lord of the Gita is Krishna, God come as a man. So the Gita's exclusive devotion is devotion to Krishna, and Hindus who worship Krishna are obeying it.
The response
In the Gita, Krishna does speak as the Supreme Lord, and its great commentators read him so. Grant it for this question. Then the Gita's highest devotion is given to one Lord alone. The worship of many gods is still ranked below it, which is this page's point. Whether the one God became a man, born as Krishna, is a separate question. The page on whether God became a man as Rama or Krishna answers it. The Qur'an's answer to it is that God (﷾) begets not, nor is He begotten, and there is none like Him.
Where it lands — Whoever the "me" of the Gita is, it asks for devotion to one alone, as the Qur'an does. The Qur'an adds that this One is not born: He begets not, nor is He begotten.
Qur'an 33:56 — Surat al-Ahzab (The Clans), verse 56
“Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect.”
Cited for
Muslims honour the angels and the prophets too. They send blessings on Muhammad (ﷺ) in their prayers and hope for his intercession. Hindus honour the gods in the same way, as the Lord's servants. The difference is only in the name.
The response
Muslims honour the angels and the prophets, but they worship none of them. The Qur'an says no prophet would tell people to take angels and prophets for lords. In every prayer Muslims say to God (﷾): "Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek." Blessings on the Prophet (ﷺ) are a prayer to God (﷾) for him: he is the one prayed for, not the one prayed to. He told his followers not to over-praise him as the Christians over-praised the son of Mary. He was only a servant, he said, to be called the servant of Allah (﷾) and His messenger. No one can intercede with God (﷾) except as He permits, and the angels intercede only for those He approves. What the Gita describes for the gods is worship: sacrifices, vows and offerings made for what the worshipper desires. Islam gives such worship to God (﷾) alone. The page on whether Muslims worship Muhammad (ﷺ) says more.
Where it lands — Islam honours God's (﷾) servants without worshipping them. The worship the Gita offers the gods, Islam gives to God (﷾) alone.
Perspectives
All worship reaches the One (the inclusive reading)
Krishna accepts every sincere worshipper and serves each in the way he approaches. Worship offered to any god reaches the Supreme, whether the gods are taken as his forms or, with Ramanuja, as his body. The Creator himself gave mankind the sacrifice to the gods. Krishna steadies each worshipper's faith and grants what each asks. Each person worships at his own level. The Gita ranks the ways, but it forbids none, and for most people the unperceived God is too hard to worship without a form.
Swami Vivekananda; K. T. Telang's notes; Ramanuja's teaching that the gods are the Lord's body
Krishna says he answers people in the way they come to him. And in every way, people follow his path.
Rebuttal
Telang explains the verse as a return fitting each way, not one destination for all. The next verse names the end of one such way: quick success in this world. Chapter 7 says those who worship the divinities go to the divinities.
Krishna says those devoted to other gods who worship with faith are really worshipping him. Telang explains that all worship, whoever it is addressed to, is worship of Krishna.
Rebuttal
The same sentence says they worship him irregularly, not according to the rule. The next verse says they do not know him truly, so they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods.
Krishna steadies the faith of whoever wishes to worship another form of deity, and grants what that worshipper asks.
Rebuttal
The same passage says these are people whose knowledge desires have taken away, and whose fruit is perishable. Shankara hears the Lord expressing regret. Making a person steady in his chosen worship is not approving it.
The Creator gave mankind sacrifice. He said: please the gods with it, and they will please you, and you will reach the highest good.
Rebuttal
Grant that the Gita keeps the sacrifice as a duty. But sacrifice for desired things leads to heaven and back to the mortal world. Krishna later asks that every sacrifice be offered to him.
Krishna says he is Indra among the gods, and that everything glorious comes from a part of his power. So the gods are his forms.
Rebuttal
Grant it. The same chapter says the wise worship Krishna himself, believing that he is the origin of all. Chapter 7 still says those who worship the divinities go to the divinities.
The Gita counts the worship of the gods as the way of people in whom goodness (sattva) prevails.
Rebuttal
Chapter 17 ranks the worship of the gods above that of lower spirits. But the Gita says all three qualities of nature, goodness among them, bind the soul. The one who worships Krishna with unswerving devotion passes beyond them.
Ramanuja teaches that Indra and the other gods make up the Lord's body. So the sacrifices offered to them are really offered to the Lord.
Rebuttal
Grant it. Ramanuja adds that those who worship the gods without knowing the Lord as the real object receive a limited reward and fall. If the Lord is the real object, He can be worshipped directly.
Krishna counts as most devoted those who worship him with minds fixed on him. He says the unperceived goal is reached by embodied beings only with difficulty.
Rebuttal
Chapter 12 compares two kinds of worshippers of the Supreme. It says nothing in favour of other gods. The devotion it praises is "towards none besides me".
Every sincere worship reaches the Lord in the end, whatever form it addresses.
Rebuttal
That is a modern reading. The Gita's own words are that those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and that the Lord's worshippers go to him.
Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva
The worship of other gods is misdirected worship of the Supreme. It is done in ignorance of who the Lord is and what the gods are. It earns a small and passing reward, and its worshippers fall back with the gods they served. The Lord's own devotees, who worship him alone, reach him.
The Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita schools of Vedanta
Shankara says that though the effort is the same, people do not turn to the Lord for an endless reward. He calls this the Lord's regret.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that worship done only for a passing reward falls short. It goes further: it calls every person to ask the Giver directly.
Shankara says people do not worship the Lord alone because of their ignorance, and so gain very small results.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that worship which does not turn to the Lord alone is a loss. It goes further: sincere devotion is due to God (﷾) alone.
Ramanuja says the sacrifices offered to Indra and the other gods are in reality directed to the Lord. But those who offer them do not know it.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that those who worship without knowing whom they are really worshipping lose out. And it goes further. If the Lord is the One really being worshipped, He can be worshipped directly, because He hears everyone who calls on Him Himself.
Ramanuja says such worshippers get only a limited reward, and then fall. And when the gods' own happy state ends, their worshippers fall with them.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that this worship ends in a fall. It goes further: those called on besides God (﷾) create nothing and are themselves created.
Madhva takes the forms of 7.21 to be Brahma and the other gods. He cites a text that their devotees reach an end, while the Lord's devotees have none.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that worship which ends with anyone below the Lord falls short. It goes further: whatever people call on besides God (﷾) is at most "servants like unto you", or "nothing but names which ye have devised". Servants are not to be worshipped beside Him.
A survey of Madhva's teaching quotes a text about the gods. Those who try to win the favour of the gods, it says, are not set free.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that seeking the favour of lesser powers does not set a person free. It goes further: God (﷾) is close and answers whoever calls on Him.
A follower of Madhva explains why these worshippers fall. They do not see that Brahma and the other gods are only the Lord's servants.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that worship must not stop at any servant. It goes further: whatever is called on besides God (﷾) is no more than a servant, or only a name people have devised. Even His honoured servants, the angels, take no worship. A servant is honoured by being called a servant, not by being worshipped.
The Islamic perspective
Worship belongs to God (﷾) alone, because He alone creates and gives. The gods these verses speak of, Indra and the others, do not last, by the Hindu teachers' own account. The Gita ranks their worship below devotion to the One. The Qur'an forbids it, and asks every person to turn directly to the One, who is near and answers.
The Gita says people go to other gods because their desires have taken away their knowledge. It calls their worship improper and its fruit short-lived. And it says their worshippers fall.
The Qur'an directs all worship and every request for help to God (﷾) alone.
The Qur'an rejects serving other beings as a way to be brought nearer to God (﷾). It says sincere devotion belongs to God (﷾) alone.
The Qur'an says those people call on besides God (﷾) create nothing and are themselves created. The beings people call on are themselves seeking a way to their Lord.
God (﷾) is near and answers whoever calls on Him, with no go-between.
No vision can grasp God (﷾) and nothing is like Him, so He is worshipped without any image.