Daily Readings from the Works of Swami Venkatesananda


Song of God (Bhagavad Gita) — Chapter VIII: 16

June 21, 2023

ā brahmabhuvanāl lokāḥ punarāvartino ’rjuna
mām upetya tu kaunteya punarjanma na vidyate (VIII-16)

VIII/16. All the worlds including the world of the creator are
subject to return (re- manifestation), O Arjuna; but he who
reaches me, O son of Kunti, has no rebirth.

Swamiji's Commentary

     Every moment, the past moment is dead; and each moment dies an instant after it is born. Death is co-existent with life. That is, there is birth, death and rebirth moment after moment. When one realizes this, life and discipline become effortless. To live in this spirit where there is death every moment, one had to see a great Master like my Gurudev Swami Sivananda.

     When death is brought into life, there is no attachment or craving. The ego, as the storehouse of experiences, is dropped and when this happens there is God. This is possible only by grace.

     Some extremely ignorant people ask: “What happens to me after I become one with God?” The fact that they are so seriously concerned about what happens to their individual personality is proof positive that God-realization is still far away from them. A seeker once wrote to our Master: “I have realized God; now, please tell me what to do.” What an absurd question! If he has realized and become one with God the omniscient, does he not know? Yet, the world is full of such wonderful people whom we have to answer. The simple answer is: “When you become one with God, his will and yours will be in perfect alignment.”

     A lump of salt coming into contact with the ocean becomes inseparably one with the ocean. It is not lost, but has attained to the incomparable dignity and glory of ocean- hood. Similarly, God-realization is no loss of personality; it is the expansion of that personality to cosmic dimensions. The sage of self-realization thus becomes God himself. When, as in the case of specially chosen masters, the personality is ‘returned’ to the world, it is no longer a limited, egoistic, imperfect personality, but a gift from God of a part of himself. That is why we regard the guru as God.

 

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