Gita 18.64 Krishna’s tone rises from informational analysis to impassioned advocacy

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
together. Thank you Krishna Krishna Krishna is speaking the prelude to the conclusion of the Gita the next two verses are considered to be most important verses of the Gita SarvaGuhiyatam Ambhuyaha the most confidential knowledge again Arjuna, I speak those supreme words to you, that you are very dear to me, therefore for your benefit I speak this.
This verse is in striking contrast, we could say to the previous verse. In the previous verse, the mood is more of a detached analysis. In this mood, in this verse, the mood will shift to, that mood shift that of concerned, even impassioned advocacy.
The previous verse said that, Iti te jnanam akhyatam guhyat, guhyataram maya, Vimrishchaitada sheshena, Lathech siddha kuru. As I have spoken to you, knowledge more confidential than what I had spoken earlier. Now you can deliberate and do as you desire.
So certainly Krishna acknowledges the human free will, the human independence and urges us to choose wisely. But he’s not like a detached road guide, who tells this road goes here and that road goes there. Now you can choose whichever road you want and go to whichever destination you want.
He’s like a concerned parent who wants the lost child to take the road back home. So at one level, the parent tells, this road will take you there, this road will take you there. And then you can decide where you want to go.
So the parent does give education, but the parent will not stop with that. The parent will also tell what is the best. So, Sarva Guhyatmam Bhuyaha, Shrume Parmam Vachaha.
I’ll speak to you by supreme word and again, Krishna has said this that I’m going to speak the highest words. He has said this earlier also. Bhuya eva mahaabhaaho, Shrume Parmam Vachaha, Yatteham Priyamanaaya, Vakshyami Hitakamyaya.
This is 10.1 in the Bhagavad Gita. Again I speak to you, Shrume Parmam Vachaha, the supreme words. Yatteham Priyamanaaya, because I consider you very dear to me, Vakshyami Hitakamyaya, for your benefit I speak these words.
Similarly here, Krishna is saying that for your benefit of Arjuna, I’m speaking these words to you. And, Ishto sime dhudhamiti, you are very strongly loved by me. I’m very very affectionately disposed to you.
At one level, these verses apply specifically to Arjuna. We could say, the whole of the Gita is a conversation between two people and does whatever Krishna speaks, applies particularly to Arjuna. But it doesn’t apply only to him.
It also applies to each one of us. Because we all are parts of Krishna. And, just like Arjuna, of course Arjuna is an exalted devotee.
Arjuna is in a personal relationship with Krishna. But still the fact remains that, every one of us is a part of Krishna. And, although we cannot become exactly like Arjuna, we can also become dear to Krishna like Arjuna.
Maybe not to the same degree, but we can also have an intimate personal relationship with Krishna. So, the mood of this verse is that Krishna is telling Arjuna, specifically, Krishna is telling all of us generically. Ishto sime dhudhamiti, you are dearly loved by me.
Tato vakshami tehitam. Tato vakshami. Therefore, for your benefit, I will speak this.
Tehitam. Tehitam. For your benefit, I speak these words.
Thus, the whole idea is that Krishna is speaking to Arjuna that, now he is going to do passionate advocacy. Not just detached analysis. He is going to tell him the next words.
Just surrender to me. Just think of me. You will come to me.
There is no doubt about this. Education, to be most effective, must persuade the heart, persuade the head, and also persuade the heart. If education is directed only towards the heart, then it becomes sentimental.
If it is directed too much towards the head or only towards the head, it just becomes academic. So, a balanced education is that which appeals to both the head and the heart. Krishna is showing that here, when he is saying that, in the previous verse, he is appealing to the head in a clinically detached way, by saying that, oh Arjuna, I have given you the options.
Now, you can choose. But, Krishna now takes the knowledge one level higher, wherein he says, sarva guhiyatamam bhu yaha. Guhiyatama, guhiya, guhiyatara and guhiyatama.
That is, confidential, more confidential and most confidential. Shurma paramam vachaha, paramam vachaha, the supreme word. So, the idea is that, he is actually telling us to move onwards in our spiritual journey, because this is the most confidential knowledge.
This is higher than whatever other knowledge has been given. So, the knowledge of the Atma is confidential. Knowledge of the Paramatma, who controls the Atma and Prakriti, that is more confidential.
And knowledge of Bhagawan, who is not just the Upadrashtana Manta, the overseer and the permitter, but who is the reciprocator of love, who is the intensely impassioned Lord of love, and who eagerly wants us to enter into his confidential circle of love. That Lord is the one whom we all want to attain. That Lord is the one whose treasured association we all seek.
So, for us, as for anyone else, Krishna, for all of us, Krishna is bearing his heart here in an enduring declaration of love. Let’s see the superlatives in this verse. Sarva-guhiya tamam, most confidential.
Again, so something that is most confidential is usually not even told, what to speak of being told repeatedly. If it is being told, that means how important it is that it will be understood properly. That’s the reason why it is being told.
Sarva-guhiya tamam, guhiya haan, shuno mein paramam bachahan. Another indicator of confidentiality is paramam bachahan. Paramam bachahan is the topmost word.
And then beyond that, ishto sime, the superlatives are, we could say, three in the first two lines, and ishto sime dhrudhamiti, and thus, dhrudhamiti, you are dearly loved by me, and for your benefit, ato vakshyamite, for your benefit, I am speaking these words. Krishna is actually here, by opening his own heart, he is inviting Arjuna to open his heart and receive the message that is being given. What that most confidential message is,