Commentary on the Srimad Bhagavad Gita- Discourse- 8.4. - Swami Krishnananda

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Tuesday,  May   11, 2021. 05:25. PM.
Chapter-8.The Fourth Chapter Begins: The Avataras of God-4.
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Whenever we feel some pain in the body, even in a finger or a toe, it means the whole body is sick, and immediately the healing forces start working. At once the centre of the universe acts, just as the centre of our personality acts when we start sneezing or we have a headache or a wound in the foot, etc. In order to illustrate the similarity of the cosmic structure and the human structure, the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavadgita tell us that the universe is one person. Just as we are one person, the whole universe is also one person. He is called Mahapurusha, Supreme Purusha, Purushottama. How many people are there in this world? There is only one person. Million-headed, million-eyed and million-eared is that single Purusha. And where are those million heads and million eyes? They are here. Your head and my head, your eyes and my eyes, your legs and my legs are actually His heads and His eyes, through which He is speaking and working. But the ego of the individual, which is a part thereof, asserts its individuality and cuts itself off from the healing forces that come from the cosmos.

God never breaks His promise. We may break our promises, but not God. Once God decides, it is decided forever. Like an eternally conscious invigilator, God-consciousness operates in this cosmos. God knows what we are speaking, what we are thinking, what we are feeling, what we are doing. Even the movement of a mouse in a corner of a house is known to that Centre of the cosmos. There is no such thing as private action in this universe. It has been beautifully said that we cannot touch a flower in the garden without disturbing the stars in heaven. Such is the organic connection. There seems to be a vast distance between the stars and the little flower in our garden, but the connection is such that the stars will know that a flower is being interfered with.

There is no such thing in this world as individual, private activity. In the same way, there is no such thing as individual activity in our body. Whether we see with the eyes or hear with the ears, speak with the tongue or walk with the feet, etc., it is not individual action taking place. It is one total action manifesting itself through the different limbs. Similarly, all this world activity, the great mystery of mankind—the coming and going of things, the destroying of empires and the rising of empires, and so on—all the drama that is being played in the form of this creation is a single action taking place. The whole world is doing only one thing; it does not do many things. In the same way, our physical personality does one thing in the form of seeing, hearing, touching, digesting, speaking, walking, etc. Though they appear as diverse functions, they are really not diverse functions; it is Mr. So-and-so acting.

God acts; and when God acts, dharma rules the world. Whenever dharma’s force moves in the wrong direction by an extreme step that is taken by individuals, a cloud of darkness hovers around the heads of mankind, and we become insecure. We do not know what will happen to us tomorrow. The thoughts of people are also supposed to determine the fate of everybody. If one man thinks, it is a very feeble thought; but if the whole of humanity thinks a single thought, it draws the attention of the centre of the cosmos—just as when the whole nation cries for something, the central government will open its eyes and take steps, while if one man cries, they may not bother much.

To be continued ...

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