Kankshantah Karmanam Siddhim

Not everyone seeks the ultimate. Many people want practical results — health, wealth, success — and they worship the devas to get them. Krishna does not criticize this. He simply observes: in the human world, action-born results come quickly through such worship. It is like going to a skilled local teacher for help with an exam. The help is real, the results are fast.

But there is a quiet distinction being drawn. Quick worldly results and ultimate liberation are two different destinations. Worship of the devas serves the first. The deeper knowledge Krishna is sharing serves the second. Both are valid; they simply aim at different things.

The previous shloka (4.11) said all paths follow Krishna's way. Here Krishna clarifies that different forms of worship yield different results. Deva-worship gives material success; knowledge of the divine leads to liberation.

The next shloka (4.13) shifts to the topic of the four varnas, created according to guna and karma.