English
Meaning of the Shlok
In this sutra, Krishna has really outdone himself! Krishna is saying that the way worshippers bhaj with me, that is behave with me, ‘I’ too behave with them exactly the same way! Here, once again, don’t associate ‘I’ to mean Krishna himself. …If you look at it, at least in India Krishna is surely being treated well. Everyone is diligently worshipping him. And yet, who has become happy? No, Krishna’s ‘I’ means our own soul. And this is a truth that that is wholly present all around, but due to their ignorance, nobody is paying any attention to it. Don’t believe it? Just take a look at everyone’s life, including yours, and you will see that the more a person is going against his soul, he is commensurately straying away from his life also. And it is only because of this deviation that unhappiness, misery, insecurity, dependence, tension, frustration, etc. are increasing day by day. So, on the basis of this sutra, each person can determine for himself how he is treating his soul by taking accounts of the misery, unhappiness, insecurity and tension, etc. he’s experiencing in his life. And, after today, he cannot blame a Krishna, Buddha, Christ, religion, society or someone else for it, because every iota of this has been begotten only and only by his abuse of his soul.
Anyway, you must have understood this by now. Further Krishna is saying that it is because all human beings are following in my footsteps in every way. Here Krishna has articulated a really high level of calculation. In this one sentence there are many underlying meanings. Amongst them, the most profound is that he who accepts refuge completely in his soul, his life goes on taking a relative course of its own, wherein there is neither desire nor acts; neither there is deeds nor duties; neither does he have anything to gain or lose…in that, lost in joy, one simply has to go on performing the task for the greater good which presents itself. But he who doesn’t accept the refuge of his soul, meaning, abusing their soul, overcome by selfishness intelligently determine their own path, Krishna is saying that ultimately he too is proceeding towards the path which has deviated from his soul. That means, even their path is paved from the soul itself, but they are able to stray away only as long as their soul allows them. As soon as the soul leaves them, they die! Then there’s no journey, no straying. Hence, oh Arjuna, even if you have gone astray, consider that straying to be a boon from the soul and accept it. In the attempt of trying to intelligently seek out a new path, don’t further add to your straying. Agreed that going against the soul only has caused this dreadful, sorrowful deed to come your way, but you accept this too as a boon from your soul and enter the battlefield with full gusto. In trying to evade it don’t stray away even further, else by doing so you will land yourself in an even greater sorrow!
…And this is what even we need to learn. Firstly we shouldn’t abuse our soul and if we have done so and consequently have even gone astray, and because of that straying if hardships have also come our way, then even that we should accept as a boon of our soul and endure it with a smile. One shouldn’t give rise to more hardships and further straying. Because Krishna is clearly stating that ultimately, in every way, everybody is following my path only!
Deep Trivedi
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