Some verses from the Bhagavad GItA

Here are some verses I was thinking of from the Bhagavad GItA with regard to who is drawn to the true faith quickly, and how all-encompassing the vision of the GItA is:

In Ch IV on ज्ञान योग: (jnAna yoga) verse 11:

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहं ।

मम वर्त्मानुवर्तन्ते मनुष्या: पार्थ सर्वश: ॥

Whatsoever the manner in which they approach Me, in that very manner I resort to them; for, O Arjuna! on all sides, men tread paths leading to Me.

(indicating how all gods are essentially forms of the same Consciousness), and

verse 12:

कांक्षन्त: कर्मणां सिद्धिं यजन्त इह देवता: ।

क्षिप्रं हि मानुषे लोके सिद्धिर्भवति कर्मजा ॥

People in the world offer sacrifices to gods, desiring the success of their works. For, in this human world, quick is the success born of works.

 (describing how in the human world, success born of works comes quickly).

Also in verses 25-32, various forms of यज्ञ yajna (sacrifice) are described.

In Ch VII ज्ञान विज्ञान योग: (jnAna vijnAna yoga), verses 19-23 that describe how other faiths and paths come into being and where they lead those devoted to them. Verse 19 says:

बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते ।

वासुदेव: सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभ: ॥

At the end of many births, the man of knowledge directly reaches Me, realizing, "Vasudeva is all." Such a great soul is very rare indeed.

How are people led to other faiths? Verse 20 explains this:

कामैस्तैस्तैर्हृतज्ञाना: प्रपद्यन्तेऽन्यदेवता: ।

तं तं नियममास्थाय प्रकृत्या नियता: स्वया ॥

By a variety of cravings having lost their (true) knowledge, people resort to other deities; they adopt other disciplines, being constrained by their inborn nature.

यो यो यां यां तनुं भक्त: श्रद्धयाऽर्चितुमिच्छति ।

तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां तामेव विदधाम्यहं ॥

Whichever devotee seeks to worship whichever object of his devotion with faith, to each such devotee I give unswerving faith.

स तया श्रद्धया युक्तस्तस्याराधनामीहते ।

लभते च तत: कामान् मयैव विहिता हितान् ॥

Possessed of that faith, he desires the worship of that form. From that divinity he secures the objects of his desires; for, I Myself have ordained them.

And what comes to those of other faiths (that do not lead to Consciousness)

अन्तवत्तु फलां तेषां तद्भवत्यल्पमेधसाम् ।

देवान् देवयजो यान्ति मद्भक्ता यान्ति मामपि ॥

The fruit of karmas that accrues to those small-minded men must come to an end. The worshippers of gods proceed to the gods (of the senses in heaven); My devotees come to Me (from where there is no return).

In Ch IX, verses 20-21 and 23 (showing the catholicity of our सनातन धर्म sanAtana dharma that does not condemn other forms of worship, but realizes that all forms of God are merely different names for the same Consciousness);

येऽप्यन्यदेवताभक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विता: ।

तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकं ॥

And those who worship other deities with faith, they also worship only Me in truth, although in ways not approved by the Vedas.

This is the verse with the phrase अविधिपूर्वकं avidhipUrvakam (avidhi meaning not according to Vedic injunctions, and hence in ignorance, as Sri ShankarAcArya says in his commentary).

Also verses 24-26 of the same chapter are relevant. In verse 25 (yAnti etc), 

यान्ति देवव्रता देवान् पितृ़न् यान्ति पितृव्रता: ।

भूतानि यान्ति भूतेज्या यान्ति मद्याजिनोऽपि माम् ॥

Sri Krishna says, 'To gods repair their devotees; to the Manes go those devoted to the Manes (Manes is an interesting old Latin word for the ancestral spirits), etc. My worshippers come to Me.

It is all lovely, and I hope these bring joy to all sincere aspirants.

Invocation of sUrya

PRAYER TO THE SUN

Om sUryam sundaram lokanathamamritam vedantasAram shivam,

jnAnam brahmamayam sureshamamalam lokaikacittasvayam;

indrAdityanaradhipa suragurum trailokyacUDAmaNim,

brahmAviShNushivasvarUpahRdayam vande sadA bhAskaram."

I always worship sUrya (the Light of Consciousness who in the gross world is seen as the Sun), the beautiful Lord of the world, the immortal, the quintessence of the Vedanta, the auspicious, the absolute knowledge, of the very nature of Brahman, the Lord of the gods (sura means deva or gods of the senses), ever-pure (free of impurities), the one true Consciousness of the world (which is nothing but the mind), the Lord of Indra (the mind who is the Lord of the senses), the Adityas (sons of aditi who are associated with effulgence) and of men, the preceptor of the gods (of the senses), the crest jewel of the three worlds, the true nature of Brahama, Vishnu and Siva, the giver of light.