Bhagavad Gita 9.25
यान्ति देवव्रता देवान्पितॄन्यान्ति पितृव्रताः | भूतानि यान्ति भूतेज्या यान्ति मद्याजिनोऽपि माम् ||
yānti deva-vratā devān pitṝn yānti pitṛ-vratāḥ | bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti mad-yājino'pi mām ||
Translation
The worshippers of gods go to the gods. The worshippers of the fathers go to the fathers. The worshippers of spirits go to the spirits. My worshippers come to me.
Reflection
What have you been worshipping by your habits, not your words?
Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Nine
The principle of like for like. Worshippers of gods reach gods. Worshippers of the fathers reach the ancestors. Worshippers of spirits reach spirits. Worshippers of Krishna reach Krishna. The verse is austere. Each result is named in one phrase. There is no extra reasoning. The mechanism is the chapter's earlier teaching about the last thought put in cosmic terms. Whatever the worship has been habitually aimed at, that is where the worshipper arrives. The verse pairs with the earlier critique of the Vedic ritualist. Reaching the gods is real, but it is reaching the gods, not reaching the source. Krishna is naming the ceiling of each path so that the listener can choose his aim with open eyes.