Text 34
tāṁs tān kāmān harir dadyād
yān yān kāmayate janaḥ
ārādhito yathaivaiṣa
tathā puṁsāṁ phalodayaḥ
tān tān — those; kāmān — desired objects; hariḥ — the Lord; dadyāt — will award; yān yān — whatsoever; kāmayate — desires; janaḥ — the person; ārādhitaḥ — being worshiped; yathā — as; eva — certainly; eṣaḥ — the Lord; tathā — similarly; puṁsām — of men; phala-udayaḥ — the result.
The performer of the sacrifices [under karma-kāṇḍa activities] achieves the fulfillment of the desire for which he worships the Lord.
In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says that He awards benedictions to the worshiper according to his desire. The Supreme Personality of Godhead gives all living entities conditioned within this material world full freedom to act in their own way. But to His devotee He says that instead of working in that way, it is better to surrender unto Him, for He will take charge of the devotee. That is the difference between a devotee and a fruitive actor. The fruitive actor enjoys only the fruits of his own activities, but a devotee, being under the guidance of the Supreme Lord, simply advances in devotional service to achieve the ultimate goal of life — to go back home, back to Godhead. The significant word in this verse is kāmān, which means “sense gratificatory desires.” A devotee is devoid of all kāmān. He is anyābhilāṣitā-śūnya: a devotee is always devoid of all desires for sense gratification. His only aim is to satisfy or gratify the senses of the Lord. That is the difference between a karmī and a devotee.