Gita 12.07 Bhakti-yoga complements human agency with divine agency

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.

Bhagavad Gita 12.7 teṣāṁ ahaṁ samuddharta vityu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt bhavāṁ na ciyāt pārtha mayy āveṣita-cetasāṁ teṣāṁ ahaṁ samuddharta For those people the teṣāṁ is a pronoun and who are the people? That has been described in the previous verse. Those who fix their consciousness on him ye tu sarvāṇi karmāṇi mayi sannyāsya mat-paraha ānanyenaiva yogena māṁ dhāyanta upāsate Those who renounce all their work for Krishna's sake Those who make him their goal Those who devote themselves to the practice of yoga to him Those who worship him Those who meditate on him Such people teṣāṁ ahaṁ samuddharta For such people I become the deliverer vṛttu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt I become the deliverer from the cycle of birth and death bhavāṁ na ciyāt Not after a long time, Pārtha, Arjuna Soon, that means mayy āveṣita-cetasāṁ Those who fix their consciousness on me The section here from 12.1 to 7 was about how one can fix one's consciousness of which path is better worshipping the personal absolute or worshipping the impersonal absolute and Krishna's answer is quite clear and the answer centers on recognizing that we, at our core are conscious beings conscious as conscious beings we require we have we desire and we act so emotion and action are natural to us and the path of impersonalism which actually rejects emotion and action is quite unnatural as Krishna indicates in 12.5 when he says kleshodiktarasteśāṁ avyaktāsatta-cetasāṁ avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ deha-vadhira-vāpyate it is duḥkhaṁ klesha it brings distress it brings unhappiness in contrast, Krishna is saying if you take to the path of personal devotion then what happens? then Krishna says that I will deliver you so whereas in the impersonal path we have to struggle and do something which is very difficult for us to do in the path of personal devotion it's said over here that ahaṁ samuddhārthā Krishna says I will be the deliverer in this path I will deliver them I deliver those devotees teśāṁ ahaṁ samuddhārthā prityu-saṁsāre-sāgarāt I will deliver them from the ocean of birth and death so this this Krishna's placing of agency on himself is very significant because earlier Krishna has placed the agency on others that means Krishna has actually placed the sense of agency on agency means doership who is to do so Krishna has said that actually Arjuna has to do this so when he says bhaja-svamāṁ in 9.33 for example he says anitya-masakham lokam imaṁ prapya bhaja-svamāṁ now that you have come to this material world devote yourself to me or later again when he has said that once having been manifested in this world once having been then he said man-manā-bhau mad-bhakto mad-yāji māṁ namaskuru māṁ evaiśyasi yukto evaṁ ātmā nāṁ mad-parāyena the sense of agency is Arjuna if you do this you will come to me the sense of the agency the stress of acting was placed much more on Arjuna if you do this, this, this then you will come to me now in this section Krishna also certainly we have to do certain things but Krishna is also stressing his agency it is you do this, this, this but then I will do this for you I will do a big thing I will deliver you which categorically version of Krishna's intervention is significant it is encouraging it is inspiring so the standard imagery associated with this text is of a person drowning in an ocean and swimming and struggling and then Krishna Vishnu coming on on the Garuda and ahaṁsa-buddhārtha lifting one outside lifting one from that ocean that imagery comes primarily from uttu-saṁsāra-sāgara like a sea or ocean so we are struggling in the ocean of birth and death and Krishna says I will deliver you from this ocean this means that Krishna is saying that I will take the sense of agency on myself that I will ensure that you do this I will ensure that this happens and that sense of agency which Krishna stresses ensures that actually it reminds us that we are not alone it reminds us that we are not have to struggle it is not that we are doing a lot and Krishna is doing nothing for us rather it assures us that Krishna will intervene Krishna will help Krishna will elevate Krishna will liberate us Krishna has talked about his role earlier also in the Bhagavad Gita for example in the Trishloki Bhagavad Gita two verses focus on his agency I will give you the intelligence that I will give the knowledge by which you can become elevated I will remove the darkness in your heart either way the focus was on that sense of agency but Krishna has stressed for Arjuna the the point of being devoted to a personal absolute Krishna has stressed to Arjuna the point of learning to love the absolute through the process of devotion and thereby getting the in reciprocation personal intervention of the absolute the process of bhakti is not only natural in terms of it channeling the natural functions of devotion of emotion and action for us but it is also it is also special because it because it attracts the intervention of Krishna and by his intervention things become much much easier for us so for example if somebody is swimming and they don't know how to swim if they have to swim in the water but they don't know how to swim it's very difficult but if they come to know they have to swim that becomes easier for them to stay afloat but if by swimming in a particular way if that signifies that stroke of action that kind of actions that can signify to rescue flights flying over it oh there is somebody over here and then that person comes and rescues then there is a further help over there so if somebody is drowning and they don't swim at all they will they will sink but if they swim in a way which does not attract anyone's attention then they have to struggle on their own but if they swim in a way that attracts someone's attention then then they can get the intervention of the rescue pilots also rescue flights rescue ships or rescue planes whatever so like that it is said over here that we have to struggle in this material world and if we struggle and endeavor with the process of bhakti then Krishna Krishna himself comes now this is not just simply a process of bhakti is not just a process of simply moving your hands and legs in a particular way it is more a matter of cultivating a disposition so it's internal but the point is that that when we are in an ocean we have to struggle to stay afloat but if we struggle in a way that attracts the rescuers then why not do that so every path of every spiritual path requires endeavor if we adopt the path that that not only enables us to endeavor in a natural way but enables us to endeavor in a special way that attracts the attention of someone higher then it's all the better and by doing this we all can move closer to Krishna and Krishna will intervene in our life and will enable us to attain him there is a cyclicity over here in this conclusion because 12.2 which is the answer to Arjuna's question 12.1 begins with mayy aveshya manoyemam mayy aveshya and 12.7 ends with mayy aveshita chetasam so fixing your consciousness on me with emotion with devotion aveshya that's the categorical answer by Krishna to Arjuna's question that choose the path of devotion which involves absorption in me and that is the way you will be most intimately united with me.