Bhagavad Gita Verse 54, Chapter 11

bhaktyaa tvananyayaa shakya ahamevamvidhorjuna |
jnyaatum drishtum cha tattvena praveshtum cha parantapa || 54 ||
 
But, by single-pointed devotion, I am accessible, O Arjuna. In this manner, as my essence, I can be known, seen, and merged into, O scorcher of foes.
 
bhaktyaa : devotion
tu : but
ananyayaa : single-pointed
shakyaha : accessible
aham : I
evam : this
vidhihi : manner
arjuna : O Arjuna
jnyaatum : known
drishtum : seen
cha : and
tattvena : essence
praveshtum : merged
cha : and
parantapa : O scorcher of foes
 
So finally, Shri Krishna reveals the means by which we can access Ishvara’s cosmic form. It cannot be through any action such as rituals, study of the Vedas and so on since all of these methods are in the realm of space and time. “Ananya bhakti”, or single-pointed devotion is the only means to access Ishvara. We have come across the term “ananya” in prior chapters. It means that in which there is no “anya”, no other. We should not be devoted to Ishvara so that we can get something else. The devotion should be for obtaining Ishvara and nothing else.
 
We see this principle in our daily life as well. You have two friends, one who always comes to you when he needs something from you, not otherwise. Another friend comes to you just to know how you are doing, without any ulterior motive or hidden agenda. We would always prefer to deal with the second friend, and say to him "my house is your house, don't behave like a stranger, take what you want". Similarly, when we ask something materialistic from Ishvara, we treat him as different from us. Ishvara does not like this. When we want only Ishvara, we do not treat him as different from us. This is the crux of single-pointed devotion.
 
In the second half of the shloka, Shri Krishna outlines the process of attaining Ishvara. First, we have to know what Ishvara is, discarding all our prior notions. We have to know him as “tattvena”, in his essence, as pervading the entire world, not as someone hiding up in the sky somewhere. When we gain this knowledge and reflect upon it constantly, we begin to see Ishvara in everything, and everything as Ishvara. But the last step, of not seeing Ishvara from the outside, but of totally merging into Ishvara, can only happen through single-pointed devotion. Arjuna came to know Ishvara through Shri Krishna’s teaching, and he also saw Ishvara’s cosmic form. But he did not fully merge into it, he was standing out of it.
 
In this manner, Shri Krishna slowly brings up the topic of the next chapter, which is the yoga of bhakti or devotion. He summarizes this chapter in the next and last shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 24, Chapter 9

aham hi sarvayajnyaanaam bhoktaa cha prabhureva cha |
na tu maamabhijaananti tattvenaatashchyavanti te || 24 ||
 
For I am the recipient and also the lord of all sacrificial rituals, but they do not know me in essence. That is why they fall.
 
aham : I
hi : for
sarvayajnyaanaam : all sacrificial rituals
bhoktaa : recipient
cha : and
prabhuhu : lord
eva : also
cha : and
na : not
tu : but
maam : me
abhijaananti : know
tattvena : in essence
ataha : that is why
chyavanti : fall
te : they
 
Earlier, Shri Krishna asserted that most people worship finite deities with the expectation of finite rewards, but ultimately, all their prayers reach the infinite Ishvara. This type of worship in itself is ok, but the result obtained through this worship can only be finite. Shri Krishna says that the reason most devotees commit this error because they do not recognize Ishvara in essence, they do not comprehend the real nature of Ishvara.
 
Imagine that people from a remote village visit a city. They may mistake a minister’s office for the nation’s government. They may mistake a computer for the Internet. They may mistake a power outlet for the electric grid. Just like such people will commit grave errors unless they understand the presence of the larger in the small, we also will commit errors in our worship unless we understand the real infinite nature of Ishvara.
 
So therefore, when we act in this world, we should always bear in mind that the recipient of any action is Ishvara. When we feed someone, care for someone, help someone in need, we should know that ultimately we are feeding, caring for and helping Ishvara. This will reduce our sense of ego or I-ness.
 
Furthermore, emotions such as pride, greed and jealousy are caused because we think we own something, or we covet something that others own. If we know that the ultimate owner of everything is Ishvara, it reduces our sense of attachment and "mine-ness". Ego and attachment are great obstacles in the path of liberation, and this knowledge cuts them down.
 
What is the fate of such faulty worship? This is taken up next.