Monday, March 28, 2011

The Bhagavad Gita Interpreted - Part 9

Krishna said: 

—I will unveil My most hidden mystery. I will reveal the insight freeing you from evil. This insight is the royal road to the Most Pure. It is the lawful road. Once known, it is undeniable, easily achieved, and is never lost. But for those who turn aside from this road, they do not find Me and gain only death in rebirth to ignorance. 

—Unmanifested I am Myself the source of the worlds. All creatures come into being through Me. But they do not comprise Me. This is My mystery! How can they comprise Me when I transcend even the worlds of My creation? And how am I within them? They cannot contain Me or confine Me. They are as winds within a space, bounded and ephemeral. 

—Yet in the end that knows no end they return to Me. And at the beginning that knows no beginning, I bring them forth. Again and again I create them. This is My nature. Though I am unbound by them, transcendent and inconceivable to them, by My authority, never by theirs, do I bring them forth. 

—No action binds Me, Arjuna, and I am unmoved by the fruit of action. I transcend all action. My Nature brings forth all those who seek Me, and for them I set the worlds in motion. 

—The ignorant disregard Me, seeing Me manifested in a form like their own. They see nothing of My higher nature, the source of being and nonbeing. They wander on the paths of delusion, deprived of Me, deceived by their expectations, by their desires, by the limitations of their learning. They become servants of evil and arrogant blindness. 

—Those who are not deceived, who recognize My divinity, know that I am the source of being and nonbeing. Adoring Me above all others, they sing of My glory, the glory of the most glorious. They are bound only to Me and their sacrifices reach Me. 

—Steadfast and unwavering, they offer up their worldly knowledge in exchange for knowledge of Me. They see Me as One, as many, and in all things. 

—I am the rite and the ritual. I am the fire and the smoke to the heavens. I am the offering and the One for Whom the offering is made. I am the father and the mother of the worlds; I am the Ancient of Days, the One supporting the heavens and earth. I am the source of true knowledge, and the object of it. 

—I am the voice of the heavens and the sacred word. I am goal and master, home and refuge, friend and witness, creator and destroyer, beginning and end, the ever-shining light, the fountain of fathomless waters. Never born, I am life. Never dying, I am death. I am being and nonbeing. 

—Those who drink deeply quench their thirst for heaven. In celestial bliss they live awhile; but thirst at last returns and their joys must end and again they awake as mortal men. Even observant of scripture, if through scripture they attain their ends, they do not attain Mine and I am lost to them. 

—I am the eternal bliss of those who serve Me alone and above all others. Those who worship others, who perform rites improperly, still their sacrifices come to Me. For all offerings come to Me, even if those who make offerings are in error. Yet in the end, those who worship false gods, are bound to false gods. Those who worship ghosts, are bound to ghosts. Those who worship demons, are bound to demons. Yet those who sacrifice to Me, come to Me and are free from bondage. 

—With love, if one offers Me even the least of offerings, a leaf, a flower, a fruit, a sip of water, I accept his offering and his love. Whatever you give or receive or subdue, whatever offering you make, offer to Me and I will free you from bondage. Through renunciation you will come to Me. 

—In My eyes, all creatures are equal, neither despised nor favored. I am near to all. But those who love Me, offering love to Me alone and above all others, they will know I am within them and they are within Me. Whatever his crimes, the worst of men, if he loves Me alone and above all others, he becomes a saint, obeys the law, and is at peace. 

—None who serve Me are rejected, whatever their station, their gender, their caste. Even the least of men may find me; so how much more the best of men, Arjuna. Renounce the world of pain and pleasure, for these things pass in time. Embrace Me. Turn your thoughts, your love, your offerings and worship to Me and you will come to Me and you will have reached the Most High.

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