Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, Verse 15

ज्ञानयज्ञेन चाप्यन्ये यजन्तो मामुपासते । एकत्वेन पृथक्त्वेन बहुधा विश्वतोमुखम्

jñānayajñena cāpyanye yajanto māmupāsate | ekatvena pṛthaktvena bahudhā viśvatomukham

Translation

Worshipping by the wisdom-sacrifice, others adore Me, the All-faced, in various ways, as One, as different.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

jñānayajñena

of wisdom, with the sacrifice

ca

and

api

also

anye

others

yajantaḥ

sacrificing

mām

me

upāsate

worship

ekatvena

by the oneness

pṛthaktvena

by the manifoldness

bahudhā

by the many

viśvatomukham

on all sides, face, whose, him

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

Knowledge of the Lord is itself a sacrifice. Worshipping by this sacrifice of wisdom, others (the Brahma-niṣṭhas, those devoted to Brahman) adore Me, having abandoned all other forms of worship. And that knowledge varies thus: some worship with the knowledge of the real truth that 'One, verily, is the Para-Brahman.' Some worship with the knowledge that the Lord Viṣṇu Himself exists as different beings, as the sun, the moon and the like. Others worship Him — who exists in all forms — as the All-faced, thinking that the one Lord exists in all the different forms, with his face on all sides.