God has his door open for all of us
Sanjaya of the Mahabharata fame summarised at the end of the Bhagavad-Gita, “Where there is the Yogeshwara Shri Krishna and where there is the archer Arjuna, there will be opulence, victory, wealth and morality” (18.78). Don’t we want all these? I certainly do and much more.
Lord Krishna has offered a lot in the Gita. Sample these. In verse # 18.54, the Lord offers supreme devotion to Him to get started.
This will ensure supreme peace (18.62), which we all crave desperately; I do. Additionally, we can become ‘jeevan mukta’, that is, liberated while living in the present body (5.28). Liberation will follow at the end of the present life (18.62), if we stay focused. All troubles will come but go due to generous help from God (18.58).
We will experience eternal bliss (5.21). We will be appointed to a very special position as a God’s ‘nimitta’ (instrument), as Arjuna was (11.77), empowered to do big tasks. There will be nothing to fear (18.66); life will run smoothly (‘theek chalegi’).
How did Arjuna become so deserving? The very first step he took was to accept the position of a disciple of God (2.7). Additionally, he took shelter of Lord Krishna (2.7). In the same verse, he prayed for guidance. This culminated in Arjuna accepting what Lord Krishna had instructed him to do (18.33). Such devotion to the Lord had qualified him to receive the most confidential knowledge (9.1).
And Arjuna was wise enough to keep on enquiring, asking questions throughout the course of the Gita. Arjuna had good lineage. Most importantly, he was born with divine qualities (16.5). He was respectable (2.33). Arjuna was a follower of dharma - a necessary quality required to fight for it. Thus, he became very dear to Lord Krishna, who called him His friend.
This is a lot. Still, we don’t have to get discouraged; I am not. Therefore, I started on this divine path. Before I give a brief description of it, let me brief you about my status then. I was confused and depressed. I had lots of attachments, especially to my material body. I was ignoring my duty towards my own self - a soul. I was not realising the real position of the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent and really everything God (7.19).
Now good sense prevailed, and I cut a large photo of Lord Krishna from a calendar, got it framed, and hung it on the right side of my bed. The spiritual journey had started in the right earnest.
I began to pray for guidance and help. It was a humble, sincere and hopeful practice. I was prepared to learn and practise what I was learning. Intuitions began to come. Reformations followed. I began to get what I really needed; protection was being granted to what was valuable to me (9.22). To cut a long story short, now I feel liberated (5.28). I am hopeful of getting liberated in this life itself (18.62).
The writer is a spiritual teacher and columnist; Views presented are personal.
