Shloka
अहं हि सर्वयज्ञानां भोक्ता च प्रभुरेव च |
न तु मामभिजानन्ति तत्त्वेनातश्च्यवन्ति ते ||९-२४||Transliteration
ahaṃ hi sarvayajñānāṃ bhoktā ca prabhureva ca .
na tu māmabhijānanti tattvenātaścyavanti te ||9-24||Translations
Dr.S.Sankaranarayan
9.24. Because, I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they do not recognise Me correctly and hence they move away [from Me].
Shri Purohit Swami
9.24 I am the willing recipient of sacrifice, and I am its true Lord. But these do not know me in truth, and so they sink back.
Sri Abhinav Gupta
9.24 See Comment under 9.26
Sri Ramanuja
9.24 I am ’the only Lord’ - the meaning is that I alone am the bestower of rewards everywhere.
How wonderful is this, that though devoting themselves to the same kind of action, on account of the difference in intention some partake of a very small reward with the likelihood of fall, while some others partake of a reward in the form of attainment of the Supreme Person which is unalloyed, limitless, and incomparable!
Sri Krsna explains this:
Sri Shankaracharya
9.24 As the Self of the deities (of the sacrifices), aham, I; hi, indeed; am the bhokta, enjoyer; ca eva, as also; the prabhuh, Lord; [The Lord: ‘I being the indwelling Ruler of all.’] sarva-yajnanam, of all sacrifices enjoined by the Vedas and the Smrtis. A sacrifice is verily presided over by Me, for it has been said earlier, ‘I Myself am the entity (called Visnu) that exists in the sacrifice in this body’ (8.4). Tu, but; na abhi-jananti, they do not know; mam, Me as such; tattvena, in reality. And atah, therefore, by worshipping ignorantly; te, they; cyavanti, fall from the result of the sacrifice. [‘Although they perform sacrifices with great diligence, still just because they do not know Me real nature and do not offer the fruits of their sacrifices to Me, they proceed to the worlds of the respective deities through the Southern Path (beginning with smoke; see 8.25). Then, after the exhaustion of the results of those sacrifices and the falling of the respective bodies (assumed in those worlds) they return to the human world for rembodiment.’-M.S. (See also 9.20-1.)] The result of a sacrifice is inevitable even for those who worship ignorantly out of their devotion to other deities. How?
Swami Adidevananda
9.24 For, I am the only enjoyer and the only Lord of all sacrifices. They do not recognise Me in My true nature; hence they fall.
Swami Gambirananda
9.24 I indeed am the enjoyer as also the Lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me in reality. Therefore they fall.
Swami Sivananda
9.24 (For) I alone am the enjoyer and also the Lord of all sacrifices; but they do not know Me in essence (in reality), and hence they fall (return to this mortal world).
Commentaries
Swami Sivananda
9.24 अहम् I? हि verily? सर्वयज्ञानाम् of all sacrifices? भोक्ता enjoyer? च and? प्रभुः Lord? एव alone? च and? न not? तु but? माम् Me? अभिजानन्ति know? तत्त्वेन in essence (or in reality)? अतः hence? च्यवन्ति fall? ते they.Commentary They do not know that I? the Supreme Self? am the enjoyer of all sacrifices enjoined in the Vedas and the Smritis (the codes of right conduct) and the Lord of all sacrifices. As I am the inner Ruler of this world I am the Lord of all sacrifices (Vide chapter VIII. 4 – Adhiyajnohamevatra I am the presiding deity of the sacrifice). I am at the beginning and at the end of every sacrifice and yet these people worship other gods. Therefore they worship in ignorance. As they worhsip other gods without recognising Me? and as they have not consecrated their actions to Me? they return to this mortal world after their merits are exhausted from the plane to which they had attained as the result of their sacrifices.Those who are devoted to other gods and who worship Me in ignorance (Avidhipurvakam) also get the fruit of sacrifice. How (Cf.V.29XV.9)