Gita 7.16

Sadhak: "I'm troubled by my motivations. I started praying only when I was suffering. Is that a lesser form of spirituality?"

Guru: "Did you hear Krishna's word? 'Sukritinah'—those of virtuous deeds. He doesn't say 'those with pure motives' or 'those who seek nothing.' He says the distressed person who turns to the Divine has accumulated spiritual merit. Your suffering became a door."

Sadhak: "But surely the jnani who seeks nothing is superior to someone begging God for relief from pain?"

Guru: "Superior in attainment, perhaps. But not in spiritual validity. A child crying for its mother is not inferior to one who sits peacefully in her lap. The crying is appropriate to the stage. Your distress drove you to seek—without it, you might have remained spiritually asleep, convinced you needed nothing beyond the material."

Sadhak: "What about those who pray for wealth? That seems obviously materialistic."

Guru: "And yet Krishna includes them among the virtuous. Why? Because even in seeking wealth from God, you acknowledge a source beyond your own effort. You establish relationship with the Divine. That relationship will transform over time. The merchant who prays for profits may one day pray for wisdom."

Sadhak: "The 'jijnasu'—the curious seeker—that seems most noble to me. Pure philosophical inquiry without wanting anything."

Guru: "It is a refined motivation, certainly. But don't idealize it. The jijnasu often wants something too—the satisfaction of understanding, the pleasure of insight, the identity of being a 'seeker.' Pure curiosity still has a self seeking its fulfillment. The jnani alone has nothing to gain because nothing is missing."

Sadhak: "Can someone be in multiple categories? I feel like I'm all four at different times."

Guru: "Most seekers are. In your morning meditation, you might be the jijnasu, curious about consciousness. When illness strikes, you become the arta, desperate for relief. When facing financial difficulty, the artharthi appears. And in moments of clarity, the jnani peeks through, knowing all is One. The categories are not fixed identities but fluid movements of the seeking heart."

Sadhak: "Does this mean any motivation is acceptable? What about someone who prays for their enemy's destruction?"

Guru: "That would not be sukritinah—virtuous. The distressed person prays for relief, not harm. The wealth-seeker wants their own prosperity, not others' poverty. The four types are bound by dharma—righteous aspiration. Malicious prayer is a different category entirely, rooted in tamas, not approaching the Divine at all but projecting one's darkness onto a cosmic screen."

Sadhak: "How do I progress from being an arta or artharthi to being a jnani?"

Guru: "By continuing the relationship. Keep turning to the Divine—in joy and sorrow, success and failure. Over time, you will notice: the relief you sought becomes less important than the relationship itself. The wealth you prayed for loses its grip. What remains is the connection, the presence, the recognition that the seeker and sought were never truly separate."

Sadhak: "So even my 'impure' seeking is taking me somewhere?"

Guru: "It has already taken you somewhere. You are here, asking these questions. The distress that first drove you to prayer planted a seed. That seed is now a tree, seeking light. Trust the process. Krishna does not reject you for your motives—He receives all who come."