Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 17, Verse 4

यजन्ते सात्त्विका देवान्यक्षरक्षांसि राजसाः । प्रेतान्भूतगणांश्चान्ये यजन्ते तामसा जनाः

yajante sāttvikā devānyakṣarakṣāṃsi rājasāḥ | pretānbhūtagaṇāṃścānye yajante tāmasā janāḥ

Translation

Sāttvic men worship the Gods; Rājasic, the Yakṣas and the Rākṣasas; the others — Tāmasic men — the Pretas and the hosts of Bhūtas.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

yajante

worship

sāttvikāḥ

the sāttvic

devān

the Gods

yakṣarakṣāṃsi

Yakshas, and, Rākshasas, and

rājasāḥ

the rājasic

pretān

ghosts

bhūtagaṇān

of elementals, the hosts

ca

and

anye

others

yajante

worship

tāmasāḥ

tāmasic

janāḥ

people

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Gods: such as the Vasus. Yakṣas: such as Kubera. Rākṣasas: such as Nairṛta. Pretas: those who, while they had been on earth as brāhmaṇas, etc., neglected their proper duties, and who, after death, attained Vāyu-dehas (aerial bodies). All these beings, when worshipped, answer the prayers of the devotees by granting their respective desires.