Summary:

9th chapter: verse 22

22nd verse: “People who meditate on God as not separate, who worship Him in all beings, who are always engaged in that divine pursuit, who engage in noble, unselfish deeds – for such people, I carry what they lack, and preserve what they already have.”

Lord Krishna makes a big promise in this verse. “If you do God’s work, God will work for you.” When we do good, noble deeds without selfish motives, then some of our problems are automatically solved. Sometimes we are not aware of this, and we think results are due to our own efforts.

Suppose a person is traveling on a train. If he moves around on the train, he cannot reach the destination faster. He will reach the destination when the train reaches its destination. He is better off sitting quietly and letting the train driver do the work. This example illustrates the self-surrender attitude of a devotee of the highest type. He is an instrument in the hands of God – the higher power works through him.

Devotees, who have not reached the highest level, need a combination of their own effort and God’s grace. They should reach a level of spiritual fitness to become graceworthy and recognize God’s grace as God’s grace, not an accident.

Those who pray to God for material prosperity. They are also worshipping the same divine Lord, but not in its most sublime sense. There are four levels of spiritual seekers: (1) Those who are in distress and seek God’s help (2) Those who pray for material comforts (3) Those who are inquisitive to know what lies beyond empirical comforts (4) Those who have realized the highest spiritual truth. All these seekers are noble-hearted, as they are directing their minds to God instead of undesirable channels.

Even though God answers prayers for material prosperity, he does not give what is harmful to the devotee. Along with granting desires, he grants higher wisdom to understand the harmful effects of material things and develop aversion towards them.

Sri Ramakrishna and Girish Chandra Ghosh’s story illustrates how a teacher determines what is the right spiritual dosage for the student. Girish had high integrity but was an alcoholic and not ready to do even a single prayer every day. Sri Ramakrishna asked him to give him his power of attorney. Thereafter, it became impossible for Girish to touch alcohol.

There are four stages of surrender. They are Sarupya, Samipya, Salokya and Sayujya. Sarupya means the worshipper assumes some similarity with the object of worship. Samipya means the devotee feels nearness to God. Salokya means that the devotee feels he is living on the same abode as the deity. Sayujya means merging in God – becoming one with Him.

As a devotee evolves spiritually, mysteriously he gets assistance. His questions are no more questions. His problems are no more problems. Every problem becomes a means for his spiritual evolution.

When a person, who has done spiritual practices in a previous life, deviates from that path, God will help put him back on the right path. In Vaishnava tradition, there is a verse, where God says: “The person whom I want to bless, I shall steal all his wealth, I shall ensure he is deserted by his friends and becomes isolated. If he still retains his faith, I shall elevate him to such a high position that he will be the envy of angels.”

In the 6th chapter of Gita, Arjuna asks: “Suppose a sincere devotee fails to attain perfection. What happens to such a person?” In answer to Arjuna’s questions, Lord Krishna says that such a person will be born again with spiritual inheritance. Nothing will be lost. The spiritual disciplines and samskaras from a previous life – constitute the momentum that moves such a seeker forward.

Unlike Ramana Maharshi, who looked at spiritual life from the highest level, Lord Krishna comes down to our level and teaches us spiritual life step by step. He does not teach Arjuna the highest philosophy in the beginning. Rather he asks him to be active first. Then he teaches him to do his duty with detachment.

There is a difference between detachment and surrender. Detachment is a tool we can use in everyday life, where we look upon success and failure from the same equanimity of mind. Surrender is the natural state of a devotee of the highest type. It can also be practiced in everyday life by offering every action and its results to God.