Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 9: The Royal Knowledge and Royal Secret
Bhagavad Gita 9.23
येऽप्यन्यदेवता भक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विताः ।
तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम् ॥
ye'pyanyadevatā bhaktā yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ | te'pi māmeva kaunteya yajantyavidhipūrvakam ||
Even those who are devoted to other gods and worship them with faith are worshipping me alone, Arjuna, though not in the proper way.
Modern context
Even those who worship other gods with faith are, without knowing it, worshipping the one. This is both generous and precise. It honours all sincere worship as reaching the same source. And it gently notes that such worship goes 'not in the proper way', meaning without knowing where it really leads. The faith is real; the understanding is partial. The verse leaves room for every tradition while still pointing to a deeper unity beneath them.