God is prepared to accept all of us, regardless of our past
No one can love as much as God can; no one has that much capacity. Contrary to the impression that God is very distant, the reality is otherwise. “I am the origin and dissolution of the entire creation.” the Bhagavad-Geeta (7.6)
“This entire world is spread by Me by My unmanifest form.” (9.4) “I am the cause of coming into being of all. From Me everything gets activated.” (10.8) “I am present in the hearts of all. From Me only memory, knowledge and removal of delusion takes place.” God is the basis, “Under My superintendence, the material nature gives birth to the world along with moving and stationary things. And on account of this, the world cycle goes on.” (9.10)
God is not only the source and the basis, but He is very active as Lord Krishna informed Arjuna, “There is neither compulsion of any duty for Me in the three worlds, not there is anything remaining to be obtained by Me and nor there is anything worth getting for Me, still I am engaged in action only.” (3.22) “Having limbs on all sides; having eyes, head and mouth on all sides; having ears on all sides, God is situated in this world pervading all.” (13.13) He is unknown due to being subtle, and situated far away also, and nearby too, it is God only.” (13.5)
God is very keen about our welfare. He has asked us to: “Fix your mind in Me only; engage your intelligence in Me; thus hereafter you will remain in Me only; there is no doubt about this.” (12.8) “Develop My consciousness; become My devotee; make sacrifices for Me; and offer obeisance to Me. You will attain Me only. This I truly promise to you, because you are dear to Me.” (18.65) “In all respects take My shelter only. By My mercy you will achieve supreme peace and the eternal abode.” (18.62)
Dharma is very dear to Him, as was Arjuna. He wanted to make sure that Arjuna became victorious; He had to guide Him all the way. In order to make Arjuna serious about his task, Lord Krishna even showed him His Vishwaroop.
The Lord even gave Arjuna a very important role that of His instrument (‘nimitta’), because what all was to be done was only within God’s powers. Still, He wanted to give his dear Arjuna credit. (11.33) Arjuna is not the only beneficiary, God is prepared to accept all of us, no matter what our past has been; we just have to begin worshiping God with undivided devotion. (9.30) Not only will we achieve lasting peace but will also never perish, i.e. face ‘durgati’. Fears of all kinds will disappear from our psyche. How? Because we have started doing karma-yoga, as instructed by Him. (2.40)
All that I have stated about God’s unlimited love, Lord Krishna has said in the Geeta. He has spoken the word ‘priya’ (dear) five times and very dear once. In the verse #18.65, the Lord even went as far as to assure us of His intention by stating that He was truly promising all these. Lastly, God is even prepared to help in getting what one does not have and provide security of what one has (9.22), if someone becomes a regular practitioner of yoga. Can you imagine anyone loving like this? We will never get even close. So great is our Lord’s love.
(The author is a spiritual teacher)
