Bhagavad Gita 9.20
त्रैविद्या मां सोमपाः पूतपापा यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते | ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोकमश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान् ||
trai-vidyā māṁ soma-pāḥ pūta-pāpā yajñair iṣṭvā svar-gatiṁ prārthayante | te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam aśnanti divyān divi deva-bhogān ||
Translation
The knowers of the three Vedas, drinkers of soma, purified of sin, worshipping me with sacrifices, pray for the way to heaven. They reach the meritorious world of Indra and enjoy the divine pleasures of the gods in heaven.
Reflection
What heaven are you working toward that you could exhaust?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Nine
The first of two long verses describing the Vedic ritualist. He knows the three Vedas, drinks the soma, becomes purified by his sacrifices, and aims at heaven. He reaches Indra's world and enjoys the divine pleasures there. Krishna does not mock this path. The verse is straightforward. The sacrifice is real, the merit is real, the heaven is real. What the verse withholds is a final endorsement, because the heaven that has been earned can also be exhausted. The fault is not in the discipline. It is in the aim. The aim was a temporary good, and the temporary good comes to a temporary end. The next verse will say what happens then.