Anyone Can Reach Me🔗

9.29 I dislike no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all.

Whoever is devoted to Me is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.

9.30 Even if the most sinful person engages himself in devotional service,

He is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated.

9.31 He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace.

O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.

9.32 O son of Pritha, anyone who takes shelter in Me,

Women, traders, workers or even sinners can approach the supreme destination.

9.33 How much easier then it is for the learned, the righteous, the devotees and saintly kings

Who in this temporary miserable world engage in loving service unto Me.

9.34 Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, and bow down to Me.

Thus, uniting yourself with Me by setting Me as the supreme goal and the sole refuge, you shall certainly come to Me.

An enlightened master wants nothing from this world. After realizing the supreme knowledge, he is beyond material pursuits, what can he want from anybody? He is here out of his compassion to awaken mankind into this reality.

As long as a devotee does not understand that there can be no vested interest in what a master says or does, he continuously creates doubts and suffering for

Secret of Secrets

himself. Until he understands that a master gives because that is his nature, that he overflows with that knowledge and is compassionate to share that knowledge with anyone, the devotee will always think twice before following the master.

Please understand that a true master is never envious of anybody. He knows that the entire universe is His, so where is the need to envy somebody else? See, when does envy come in? It enters us when we think that somebody else has something we do not have and something that we want.

There is nothing wrong with desiring something because we need it. Problems start when we want something because somebody else has it or wants it. See, each one of us is born with a certain set of desires and we bring with us the energy to fulfill them also.

Ramana Maharshi says beautifully, 'The universe has enough to satisfy each man's needs; however it does not have enough to satisfy a single man's wants.' Our needs become wants when we look at others and accumulate their desires into our own list.

I always say, 'The temperature in our home suddenly goes up when our neighbor gets an air-conditioner!'

If you notice in life, most of our actions are governed by comparing our lives with others. Buddha says, 'Nothing exists but in relationship.' See, all adjectives of good, bad, tall, thin, ugly, beautiful, come when you compare with others, right? Imagine you are alone on an island and there are no other human beings. You are by yourself. Would these adjectives make sense or have relevance to you?

Something is good because something else is bad in comparison to that. So, our lives are run by constant comparison with those around us. Naturally, when someone has something that we like and which we do not have, emotions like envy and jealousy are bound to come. They have to.

When we have a clear view about what we really want, then we will spend all our energies in fulfilling those needs, without worrying about what others want or think.

In this verse, Krishna says that he does not dislike anybody. He also says that He is not partial to anyone. Normally, in our lives we are partial to those who are helpful to us. From childhood, we are taught to love those who are potentially useful in our lives. We make friends based on what we get back in return.

Everything has been reduced to a business transaction. If someone is nice to us, we are nice to them. If someone says something that hurts us, they become our enemies. We are vulnerable to the outside world, to what others say and do. We place people on different pedestals depending on how they behave with us.

As long as we are beggars, we differentiate a rich man from a poor man. A beggar is constantly seeking, begging. So he looks up to somebody who has what he is begging for. A beggar is on the road begging money; we are in temples begging God for something or the other. There is no real difference! We constantly ask for something. When we beg, a person who gives what we are begging for goes on our good list. A person who does not is blacklisted. This is what we do all the time, with or without our knowledge.

An enlightened master wants nothing. He gives constantly. So this is an entirely different ball game. He radiates love because that is his true nature. He does not care who receives it; he simply gives. A river flows happily from one region to the other all the way from the hills to the ocean. It meets various kinds of stones and grass along the way. All kinds of people bathe in it; even buffaloes bathe in it. Does the river differentiate?

Does the river say, 'No, I will give water only to such and such a person?' No! A river flows continuously, happily without bothering about who comes in contact with it. The same is the case with an enlightened master.

It is possible for everyone to live this way. If we understand that the universe showers on us all that we need, we do not need to beg for anything from anybody. We will constantly utter words of love and emit loving energy around us irrespective of who is with us. We become a source of positive energy wherever we go. It is giving without asking.

Now Krishna says, 'If one is engaged in devotional service, then even if he commits the most abominable actions, he is considered saintly. He quickly becomes eternal and attains eternal consciousness. O Kaunteya, son of Kunti, declare it boldly, that My devotee never perishes.' He goes on to say that His devotee never perishes.

He says, 'Not only I am declaring to you, you declare to the whole world, My devotee never perishes.'

He says in the verse:

kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvacchāntiṁ nigacchati kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati

'He who quickly becomes righteous and understands this truth, enters into eternal bliss, eternal consciousness, O son of Kunti, Kaunteya; declare it boldly, pratijānīhi means 'declare it boldly', that my devotee never perishes.'

Understand again and again that Existence is intelligence. Please be very clear, you will never perish, you will never die because you will be in Existence somewhere in some form. This body may move; however you will be there forever.

When we understand the whole cosmos is intelligence, the whole cosmic energy is intelligence, our whole life will be blessed with what we want. Whatever we lack will be supplied and whatever we have will be preserved.

And I tell you a practical thing. Decide, 'From today I will live in a blissful mood, in a blissful way, in utterly relaxed consciousness.' I promise you will attract Lakshmi (goddess of wealth). You will attract wealth. You will create much more than a goldsmith.

When we really, intensely understand this truth – the whole universe is energy, the whole Existence is energy – please be very clear, yoga and kṣema (success) happen in our life.

Let me tell you from my personal experience. I can quote so many great devotees' lives, where the Divine came down and served them, where the Divine took care of them. When Mirabai was poisoned, Sri Krishna came and protected her. So many millions of stories I can narrate!

But let me tell you about my own life. Since I left home when I was seventeen I have lived without touching money. With one water pot, with this two-piece robe, walking the length and breadth of Bharat, living under trees, begging and eating, I have lived. I tell you, whether you want it or not, accept it or not, believe it or not, the Divine always protects. This is the solid truth.

When we understand this truth, not only in this world, wherever we go, we are protected. We relax into the consciousness that Existence continuously protects us, takes care of us.

When we think that the Whole is our enemy, we will be continuously antagonizing it. When we understand that the Whole is our friend, we will relax and enjoy the whole of Existence.

Making our life into hell or heaven is dependent upon the understanding this single verse, understanding Existence and trusting it.

The whole chapter reveals this single secret, that is, the cosmic energy, the whole universe is intelligence, It responds to our thoughts, and again and again, It answers our dreams, our thoughts and our very consciousness.

Again and again Krishna talks about the correct understanding of rituals and sacrifices made in front of God. So many people go to the temple and make different kinds of sacrifices. We should first understand the deeper meaning of these sacrifices.

We see numerous people going to the temple. They take one hundred and one coconuts and break them in front of the deity. In the Tirupati temple of Lord Venkateshwara, people offer their hair as a sacrifice. We should understand the meaning of this hair sacrifice. If we offer hair and pray and come back home, nothing is going to happen.

When we offer something, when we sacrifice something, it represents the surrender of our ego. When we sacrifice our hair in Tirupati, we surrender our ego to Lord Venkateshwara. When we break a coconut, the shell of the ego is broken into pieces.

However what generally happens? When we do some sacrifice, we proudly tell people that we did this and we did that. Nowadays if we come back from Tirupati with a bald, shaved head people say, 'Oh he went to Tirupati and his devotion is so much that he tonsured his head.' When people say this, our ego gets boosted. When we do such sacrifices, we think we did something great. All the sacrifices that we make are only to boost our ego.

So many people donate large amounts of money to temples. They donate chairs, curtains in the sanctum sanctorum, lamps and lots of things. Whatever they donate have their names painted on it! The curtains in the sanctum sanctorum have their names stitched on them. So many temples have marble slabs with the donor's name and their donation amount engraved on them. What is the point of giving if all we look for is advertising ourselves?

If a sacrifice is made with complete gratitude and surrender, it is fine. When it is made out of ego, there is no use. When it is made out of greed, it is useless. They think if their name is engraved on the temple walls, they will go to heaven.

I take a group of people to the Himalayas every year. We meet priests in the temples there who say, 'If you offer a cow to Shiva, you will go to heaven.' For that offering, the priest charges lots of money. When we go the next year, we see the same cow being offered again! Understand how many times the same cow is offered to Shiva and how much money this person makes out of it.

Sacrificing in temples has become a business today. It is a two-way business. People who act out of ego make a business deal with God, 'I will donate so much money for the temple; leave one spot for me in heaven.' That is the way sacrifice is done in temples. Another class of people sits outside the temple and makes money from sacrifices. They say that they will make sure that the donor will be given a red carpet welcome at the gates of heaven if he or she makes a donation.

One more thing, every temple has numerous gods and demigods. People make sacrifices to a particular demigod. It is okay to do some sacrifice to that particular demigod; however we should understand that it is not just one demigod that we are praying to. We should understand the energy behind that demigod that pervades everything. We should understand that everything has the same existential energy. Once we get this understanding correct, whatever sacrifice we make, to whichever demigod we make the sacrifice, we know that we are sacrificing to the ultimate energy.

People ask me, 'Are sacrifices wrong? Is worship and sacrifice for a particular deity wrong?' No, it is not wrong; however we should understand that we are not worshipping or sacrificing to that one particular deity. We must go beyond that. When we make a sacrifice from our being, we merge with the Existential energy. We do not see a difference between one deity and the other. Every deity will then appear the same.

We will see that everything is Krishna or Rama or Jesus or Buddha. This is what Krishna says here. He is the only enjoyer of all sacrifices. When we understand His transcendental nature in everything around us, any small thing that we give from our whole being to even a rock becomes a sacrifice. That rock need not be carved into a statue of Krishna or Shiva. We need not name it because we see the energy behind that rock.

These two verses must be carefully understood. If not, they can be conveniently used as a justification to do whatever one wants. See, Krishna does not give a license to do whatever we want here.

If we are classifying an action as good, bad, saintly or sinful based on guidelines laid down by society or someone else, then be very clear we operate at the conscience level. No action is good or bad in itself. The entire situation should be considered. The act may remain the same; however, the situation might have completely changed.

A small story:

There was a snake that lived in a village. It bit the villagers even if they didn't disturb it. Nobody dared to go close to it. The entire area where it used to stay was feared. Nobody entered that area.

One day a monk passed by that village and saw that the villagers did not approach that area. On enquiring, he understood the situation. He asked the snake, 'Why do you bite everyone? What do you gain from being so violent? Everyone fears you!'

On listening to the monk's words, the snake promised he would mend his ways from that day onwards.

Days passed by. Slowly, there was a change in the scene in the village. The snake stopped bothering everyone. It lay quietly in one place. People started to test it by poking it with a stick to confirm that the snake had really softened up. The snake never reacted.

They now started torturing the snake. Kids from the nearby village threw stones at it. They ill-treated the snake and played with it. The snake quietly allowed all of this without uttering a word.

Soon, the snake was reduced to almost a pulp and lost all life and vigor.

After a few months, the monk once again passed by that village. He was shocked to see the condition of the snake. He enquired what happened and the snake told him all that had happened.

The monk asked, 'I told you only not to bite; did I tell you not to hiss?'

You see, this is what happens when we operate from our conscience. Because somebody said something, if we apply it blindly without considering the present situation. We invite trouble for ourselves. In this case, the monk's advice was taken literally and the snake ended up suffering.

There is a deeper layer of operation called consciousness. Please understand that conscience is different from consciousness. In consciousness, we become spontaneous. When consciousness flowers, we know what needs to be done and what is right at that point in time. When this happens, whatever is done is for the good of everyone. Even if an action seems to violate the norms of society, it is always for the good. It may not be evident to society; however a person operating from consciousness can never do anything against the benefit of humanity. Krishna killing demons may appear like the act of a criminal. Yet He established truthfulness and justice by doing it.

In fact, Jesus said the same thing: one who is in Christ consciousness, whatever he does will be fine. He will be protected. Jesus was talking about consciousness; however society interpreted it at the conscience level. That is why the Church came up with the system of confession. People interpreted it as a license to do whatever they wanted, since confession would make them free.

Please understand that when devotion matures, consciousness flowers. Devotion may seem different from knowledge when it is not ripe. Krishna says that His devotee never perishes. Devotion is not simply offering worship daily to Krishna's photo, lighting camphor, lamps and offering garlands. When one is a true devotee of Krishna, he becomes Krishna. He experiences Krishna consciousness. The ultimate consciousness is where no good, bad, evil or virtue exists.

Devotion, knowledge and wisdom appear to be different when they are not ripe. When they mature, they become the same. One experiences true wisdom at the peak of devotion or peak of knowledge.

Let me tell you about Triveni Sangam, what is called Prayag in Bharat. It is a confluence of three sacred rivers – Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, near the city of Allahabad. While the former two are visible, the third flows underground and becomes visible only at the point of merging. Ganga is the river of Lord Shiva and stands for knowledge or jñāna. All Shiva temples are on the banks of river Ganga. Yamuna is the river of Lord Krishna and stands for devotion or bhakti. All Krishna temples are on the banks of river Yamuna. When Ganga and Yamuna merge, when knowledge and devotion merge, Saraswati (or wisdom) automatically happens! Unless this merging happens, we cannot see or experience wisdom. That is why Saraswati remains hidden until the point of merging!

The last two verses can be misunderstood if misinterpreted. Krishna says, 'Anyone can reach Me through devotion, whether they are women, traders or workers, or even sinners.' He makes a point that there is no pre-qualification. Even in the age of Krishna, there was a distinction between various trades as well as between men and women. Krishna is pragmatic in acknowledging this fact and is not trying to justify the distinction.

Someone asked Ramana Maharshi whether he was qualified to enter a spiritual path. Ramana asked him, 'Are you still breathing?' Taken aback the man said, 'Yes.' Ramana said that was qualification enough; if he was alive, he was qualified.

Krishna's message is the same. All one needs is devotion to attain Krishna consciousness. Nothing else is needed.

In the vedic system, the caste system was a scientific practice to enable each one's potential to radiate. The varṇa or caste system practiced by Hindus from time immemorial had its roots in the gurukul education. Actually varṇa meant vocation, which was determined by the master for each child. It was not based upon birth as birthright, rather it was based upon aptitude.

When a child was admitted into the gurukul, the master saw what his natural tendencies were. If he had brāhmaṇa tendencies, he was initiated into Veda Vidya (studying scriptures). If his personality was that of a kṣatriya (warrior), he was trained in martial arts. If he showed vaiśya tendencies (business skills), he received merchant training. If he seemed to possess śūdra qualities (like labourers), he was initiated into service. All four roles had equal value and earned equal respect.

Unfortunately, over time this practice became a birthright. The son of a warrior was assumed to be a warrior, irrespective of his capabilities, aptitude or inclination. So, the four varṇa or castes, brāhmaṇa, the priest and teacher, kṣatriya, the ruler and warrior, vaiśya, the trader and businessman, and śūdra, the worker, became rigid social structures based upon birthright.

This corruption of such a scientific practice has led to many social inequalities and injustices. The son of a brāhmaṇa has no right to call himself a brāhmaṇa, unless he has the aptitude and then the learning to be a teacher and a priest. In our ashram, many young men and women from different castes and religious groups are being trained in spiritual and religious rituals, which had been considered the prerogative of the brāhmaṇa caste. We now have brahmacāri priests, men and women, who are of faiths other than Hindu. In no way are these young priests inferior to any brāhmaṇa.

The point Krishna makes here is that irrespective of caste, a person who has faith and devotion to Him can attain Him. Even if a person does not lead the life of a brāhmaṇa, he can reach and experience the ultimate consciousness. A person may follow any profession; however, if his inner space is cleansed, he can attain and experience Krishna consciousness.

Now, a brāhmaṇa is exposed to the scriptures and is trained to attain the knowledge of the ultimate Truth. He is exposed to the atmosphere that is conducive for meditation and other spiritual practices in the ashram. How much easier it is for a brāhmaṇa! See, if Krishna is so accessible for anybody, then imagine how much more accessible He is for a person constantly engaged in His thoughts!

All practices, like meditation and rituals, cleanse the inner space. When this space is cleansed, transformation automatically happens. It is a shame if a person claims to practice meditation for many years, yet there is no transformation inside. Many times people tell me, 'Swamiji, I have been meditating for twenty five years.' They tell me this proudly. I tell them, 'What a shame, if even after twenty five years of meditation, this remains your state!'

In the last verse of this chapter Krishna says, 'Engage your mind, always thinking of Me.'

Please understand that the whole universe, the whole cosmos is intelligence and it responds to our thoughts, it responds to our consciousness, to our very being.

Let me narrate an incident from my life:

Some time after enlightenment, I was sitting in a forest in Tamil Nadu. There was a big snake lying just next to me. I had my eyes open but was resting in the universal consciousness, in a meditative mood. Several hours must have passed before I came out of my meditative state and the first thought that came to my mind was, 'Oh, it is a snake.' As long as I was in the meditative state, I did not think of the snake. You will be surprised that as soon as the thought of the snake came to my mind, the snake began to realize that I was a man! It looked up, put down its hood and moved away. The fear in me triggered the fear in the snake.

The entire universe responds to each and every thought that we have. It is pure intelligence. So we must be careful about what we think. We are careful when we talk to others. We literally decorate our words and make sure nobody is hurt. However when it comes to ourselves, we treat our inside worse than a garbage can. A continuous stream of random thoughts, worries, fantasy, etc. goes on all the time. It is like a continuous television going on inside and we have misplaced the remote control to stop it!

See, our inner space reflects the outer incidents. The entire universe responds beautifully to each and every thought. That is why it is so important to keep our inner space cleansed. The thought patterns that happen inside can be cleansed and kept positive. When the thought patterns are positive, only positive incidents are attracted.

See, it is like this. If we are constantly worried and fear that we will fall ill, we attract incidents that make us fall ill again and again. Similarly, if we are constantly happy and blissful, we attract blissful events and happy people in our lives. When Krishna says, 'Engage your mind in always thinking of Me', He speaks about cleansing the inner space. When our mind is engaged in thinking of the Divine, we become divine. The moment we understand this, we relax into eternal bliss.

The moment we relax into eternal bliss, the Divine takes care of us. Whatever we lack is brought to us and whatever we have is preserved for us. Naturally, we will experience and enjoy both the inner space and the outer space. This is the ultimate secret that Krishna reveals to Arjuna.

Let us pray to the Parabrahma Krishna, the Divine consciousness, the cosmic intelligence to make us understand this secret and experience the outer space and the inner space with eternal bliss, nityānanda. Thank you!