Gita 9.31 – For devotees connected with Krishna, the happily ever after is guaranteed

Thank you. Bhagavad Gita 9.31 Shri Prambhavati Dharmatma Shashvachantim Nigachyati Kaunteya Pratijani Hiname Bhakta Pranashyati Shri Prambhavati Soon happens.

Dharmatma. Becomes. Soon such a person becomes Dharmatma.

A pious person, a religious person. A person who follows Dharma. In fact, a person whose essence is Dharma.

Dharmatma. Shashvachantim Nigachyati Shashvach is shashvat. Permanent.

Shantim. The person attains lasting peace. Nigachyati.

Kaunteya Pratijani Son of Kunti, declare. Pratijani. Hiname Bhakta Pranashyati That my devotee will never perish.

It's the second half of this verse. Kaunteya Pratijani Hiname Bhakta Pranashyati This is a very important promise that devotee is seeks mediate, take shelter when faced with various problems in life. So in the previous verse's context, Krishna is talking about how he protects those devoted to him.

The previous verse stated that Even if one be the most sinful, even if one commits a very sinful activity, still if one stays devoted to Krishna, then one moves onwards steadily in one's devotion. Although there is an interruption in the devotion because of the misdeed, still that interruption doesn't become a termination because devotion knows no termination. Devotion knows only endless direction.

Because we as living beings cannot live without, cannot not live because we are eternal and we are conscious. So we look for an object to follow. So all that happens even when we fall to some sinful activity, we temporarily give that particular object which we are indulging in more importance than Krishna.

That is the essence of the misdirection of the soul. And for this misdirection to be countered, the process of Bhakti Yoga itself offers adequate impetus for redirection. Because once one has got a higher taste, even if one goes for the lower taste, one cannot get pleasure in the lower taste.

And in exasperation and frustration and misery, one will give up the lower taste and again turn towards Krishna. And having experienced the futility of the mind's fantasy, one will become now more determined in the practice of Bhakti. And thus, one will be able to overcome the conditioning.

kṣipram bhavati dharmātmā sūṅkṣipra One becomes virtuous because sometimes we may be possessed by some temporary insanity either because of some very highly provocative circumstances externally or because of some conditioning suddenly popping up from within. When such a thing happens, when we get misdirected thus, at that time, it's vital that we not let the fall down become a fall away. When we fall down, we can always rise again and move onwards.

Krishna doesn't reject us. When we fall away, we lose hope and give up the process of Bhakti. Krishna is pointing not to those devotees who give up the process of Bhakti, but to those devotees who are unable to follow the standards because of some lapse.

Now, that lapse will not only be ended, but the tendency to lapse will also be ended as one becomes purified. As Krishna indicates, kṣipram bhavati dharmātmā which a person becomes pious. śaśvachāntiṁ niga-cchati that śāntiṁ niga-cchati one becomes peaceful.

So temptation and the fall thereof all these cause great agitation to the mind. And in fact, if one is peaceful, then one is not likely to get tempted. Krishna has talked about this relationship between peace and temptation in 2.70 when he said āpūryamānaṁ chalopatiṣṭhaṁ samūdra-māpah praviśanti adhvat tadvat kāmāyaṁ praviśanti sarve śaśānti-māpnoti na kāma-kāmi He stated that śaśānti-māpnoti when one is peaceful when does one become peaceful? When the desires coming in do not cause agitation just as rivers flowing into the ocean don't cause the ocean to get agitated.

So here it is said that once one becomes dharmātmā that means one is fixed in the practice of piety and spirituality and at that time desires can no longer trouble a person. And viśva-cchānti-niga-cchati one will attain lasting peace. Bhagavad Gita is spoken on a battlefield where Arjuna has to fight a war which is the opposite of peace.

Arjuna has expressed reluctance to fight the war and Krishna has said Arjuna, indicating to here something which will indicate more clearly and explicitly in 18.63 that tam eva śaraṇaṁ gaccha sarva-bhāvena bhārata tad prasādāt parāṁśyānti sthānaṁ prāpsati śāśvatam parāṁśyānti and then śāśvata-sthāna so śāśvata-śānti and those two same two words śāśvata and śānti are used there also so Krishna tells Arjuna that don't think that you can have peace in this world simply by abstaining from war actually one can get peace only by transcending material existence and the best process for transcending material existence at least transcending material consciousness is the practice of bhakti to the extent we become purified to that extent we will become peaceful and thus we will move onwards so now the last part kaunteya pati jānihi na me bhaktaḥ pranaśyati Arjuna declared that my devotee will never perish this verse is cherished by devotees as an unequivocal guarantee of Krishna's protection and when we face difficulty, adversity at that time remembering na me bhaktaḥ pranaśyati my devotee will never perish this can give us confidence and strength yes even if externally problems or internally temptations and desires and doubts start overwhelming us if we just persevere in our devotional practices over a period of time we will start seeing that those troubles will be temporary they will come and they will go but Krishna and our connection with Krishna will stay forever with us and they will elevate us and ultimately liberate us so for the soul and Krishna a happily ever after is guaranteed sometimes there are some movies or some novels which are tragedies there if we expect some novel to be a romance novel with a happily ever after and suddenly it turns out to be a tragedy where both the lovers commit suicide or something like that no, we are shocked but if we know in advance that this is a novel with a happily ever after then even if there is tribulation even if there seem to be insurmountable obstacles and although that is gripping we want to keep reading to find out how will this be resolved but eventually it is resolved and we see that oh yes, they have their happily ever after of course this is within the this novels which are written they are stories which are spun from the imagination of the authors but in the real world Krishna is ultimately in control so for the devotee in Krishna by Krishna's supreme arrangement the happily ever after is guaranteed so if we stop reading the novel when say the hero is being beaten or when the heroine is being abducted then we do not get to the happy ending so if we lose faith and we give up the practice of bhakti because of whatever adversity then we we deprive ourselves of the happy ending actually the life of bhakti stretches over multiple lifetimes and even if there is death still that is not a termination Krishna will be there with us in our heart in whichever next body we go and from there onwards he will guide us to ultimately attain him thus in the sense of our sublime eternal sublime eternal destiny we will never perish even if within some scenes in our multi-life drama if we have some difficulties some adversity by meditating on this assurance of Krishna knowing that life is going to have a happy ending and we are devoted to Krishna we can continue on coping with life, dealing with life and persevering in our devotion Thank you.