Generosity of God in Gita
sadhaka
Generosity of God in the Gita
udara ye srstau sahita mamata paashnihata
ataste sainyaata janimarana duhkhesu satatam
vina swaartham kaamam svasakala jananaam hitakaro
bhavanekah krsna stri bhuvana yudaro varatamah
Arjuna having sacrificed prosperity (in the form of one aksauhini armed Narayani army consisting of 1,09,350 foot soldiers, 65,610 horses, 21,870 chariots and 21,870 elephants) accepted Lord Krsna with the result that he received both Lord Krsna as well as prosperity. The Lord accepted the petty job of the chariot driver for Arjuna in the Pandava army, seven aksauhini in number (1/21). How generous the Lord is Who inspite of being the Lord and sustainer of infinite creations manifests Himself in the human garb for devotees! (4/6).
Even the seeker of equanimity transcends the fruit of action performed with some interested motive as laid down in the Vedas (6/44). The yogi who is established in equanimity transcends all the rewards of meritorious deeds of the study of the Vedas, of sacrifices, of austerites and of charities (8/28). How generous the Lord is that He holds such a striver in high esteem whose mere aim is to attain equanimity!
In fact the distressed and the seeker of wealth are not generous. But it is God's special generosity that He considers every one, who is engaged in His devotion in any way, to be generous (7/18). Generally the worldly people pretend to be generous in order to win the respect of other persons and to make them their disciples. But the Lord is very generous because He stabilizes the faith of a devotee in the god whom he worships with reverence and also awards him the desired fruits for his worship ( 7/21 -22 ).
Whatever entity a man thinks of at the time of death when he leaves the body, that alone does be attain (8/6). It shows God's boundless generosity because a man can attain God if he thinks of Him at the time of death in the same way as sage Bharata became a deer because at the time of death he thought of the deer.
All the worlds including that of Brahma, the creator are subject to return and to follow the cycle of birth and death, but on attaining Him there is no return (rebirth 8/16). It also shows God's great generosity.
God provides gain to those who worship Him with exclusive devotion (9/22), whether the gain is mundane or spiritual. He personally attends to their needs and the needs of their family and also provides security to them. But there is one uncommon factor in his generosity that He provides gain and security of those materials which are for their welfare i.e. by which they do not get entangled in the mundane. For example He did not let sage Narada get married because it was not for his welfare. God provides gain to a person even if he does not desire it, if it does not conduce him to ruin. First Dhruva worshipped God with an interested motive. But by worship his desire to reap the fruit of his meritorious deed came to an end. Yet God offered him kingdom for thirty six thousand years and then the higher region known as Dhruva Loka. Thus He provides not only the spiritual gain but also mundane gain if it is for his good.
God accepts the pious offering of a devotee even if it is a fruit or a leaf or a flower or water (9/26 ). He even sells Himself for His devotee. How generous He is! All the people don't gain power, position and pelf equally, they gain them according to their talent and capacity etc. But by God's grace even the man of the most sinful conduct can worship Him, can regard Him as his own and can attain Him (9/30-31).
God bestows upon his devotees, who remain engrossed in His devotion and His divine sport, wisdom which is difficult to be gained even by the seekers of knowledge (10/11).
How generous He is! When Arjuna puts a question to Lord Krsna expecting a brief reply, He gives a detailed reply. Arjuna prays to Him to show him His Eternal Form (11/3), but the Lord shows him His Divine Form as well as terrific and very terrific imperishable Cosmic-Form. If Arjuna had not been afraid and bewildered on seeing His very terrific Form, the Lord woud have shown him several other Forms. How much generous He is!
Those who worship the Absolute, having known Him in truth by devotion enter into Him (18/55). But those who worship God with attributes with exclusive devotion see Him, know Him in reality and attain Him (11/54). The Lord delivers those devotees from the ocean of mortal world whose minds are fixed on Him (12/7). How much generous He is to His devotees!
The Imperishable Eternal State which is attained by leading a secluded life in meditation and trance etc. is suddenly attained by God's grace by performing all the mundane duties (18/51-56). God liberates the devotee who takes refuge in Him from all sins (18/66).
All this reveals God's great generosity. He who preaches the most profound gospel of the Gita among His devotees and propagates it among them, attains Him. There is none among men as dear to Him as he. If a devotee can't preach and propagate His gospel, but merely studies it, He is worshipped by wisdom-sacrifice. He who can't even study it, only hears it with reverence, with an uncarping spirit, attains Him after death (18/68-71). How can this generosity of the Lord be expressed in words?
Whether a man is a believer or a non-believer, whether he supports or refutes His existence, the articles created by Him support him and fulfil his needs. The earth supports him and he uses it as latrines and urinals and even may kick it, yet it never minds his imprudence. Water quenches his thirst, fire provides light, heat to him and digests four kinds of food. He breathes air and ether provides opportunity for his growth. How generous He Himself should be when even the objects created by Him are so generous!
A citizen has to pay for the water supplied by the Municipality but there is no tax (payment) for the water supply from rivers created by God. He has to pay for the electricity consumed, but he has not to make any payment for the light and heat of the moon, the sun and fire.
God has bestowed upon him this human body and other materials in such a generous manner that they appear to him to be his own. If he regards God's materials as his own, it is misuse of His generosity.
God does not hold the view that He should lead only a believer to salvation. But He wants every one to act according to His ordinance otherwise he will be ruined (3/32). If a person instead of having belief in Him, has belief in His ordinance, it will lead him to salvation. But if he has belief both in Him and in His ordinance, He will offer Himself to him. It means that belief in God conduces to devotion (love) while belief in His ordinance conduces to salvation. In fact disbelief in God or disbelief in His ordinance is thanklessness. The reason is that a person attains perfection by His grace only whatever spiritual discipline he may follow. All the objects and means such as the world belong to God, the soul belongs to God, the scriptures belongs to God, and the ordinance belongs to God etc. - in all of them, the relationship is only with God.
- From the book ‘Gita Darpan’ by Swami Ramsukhdasji