devaanbhaavayataanena te devaa bhaavayantu vaha |
parasparam bhaavayantah shreyah paramavaapsyatha || 11 ||

You will make the deities prosper through this (yajna), and the deities will make you prosper. By mutually making each other prosperous, you will attain the highest good.

devaan : deities
bhaavayata : make them prosper
anena: through this
te devaah : those deities
bhaavayantu : prosper
vaha : you
parasparam : mutual
bhaavayantah : making them prosper
shreyah : good
param : highest
avaapsyatha : attain

In this shloka, Shri Krishna emphasizes that the definition yajna includes all beings, not just the one individual who is following this technique.

Modern management practices agree that when two parties negotiate, the best outcome is one where both parties benefit, rather than one gaining and one losing. This outcome is known as a “win-win” situation. Shri Krishna reinforces this very same principle. He urges us to act in a spirit of harmony and cooperation with others whenever we undertake any action.

An interesting word is used here : “devataa” or deity. What does it represent? It represents each and every factor that is responsible for our action. In a narrow sense, it represents other individuals who collectively represent the higher ideal that we are working for, e.g. members in our family, colleagues in our company, citizens in our nation and so on.

But in a broad sense, it includes all humans, animals, plants and all of nature that we share this earth with. It is a recognition that there is a higher ideal operating at all times when we perform even a trivial action like eating our lunch. Shri Krishna urges us to not forget this point.

In essence, if we serve a higher ideal, that higher ideal will serve us. This is the message.

Conversely, Shri Krishna reminds us to not treat any individual, plant or animal with disrespect, since they are collectively serving us in some way or another.