Yog of Knowledge and Action
Chapter 4, Verse 8
paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ
vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām
dharma saṁsthāpan-ārthāya
saṁbhavāmi yuge yuge
For the deliverance of the good, for the destruction of the evil-doers, for the enthroning of the right, I am born from age to age.
“The sādhūnāṁ, the ones who observe non-violence, and truth; the ones who have their thoughts on Me; the ones who perform sacrifice, charity, austerity; the ones who practice yoga; the ones who do good to others; the ones who are friends of God, devotees of God, to them I give full protection. I come to save them so that they don’t fall into illusion, so that they don’t delude themselves. I come to deliver them from wicked, evil-minded people, and demons. I come to purify and pacify them.” Here Krishna is calling everybody who is on the spiritual path sādhūnāṁ: they’re like the sadhus who long for the Divine. This longing for the Divine is the first step on the path to God-Realisation. He says, “If you have this longing for the Divine, I will send all kinds of help to deliver you, to support you. I will guide you on your spiritual path.”
“For the destruction of the evil-doers,” for the destruction of the evil qualities in good people, and “for the enthroning of the right, I am born from age to age.” Some people may say, “Oh my goodness! This is a terrible, punishing God.” No, He’s not punishing anyone. The ‘evil-doers’ are the evil qualities which are present in you as samskaras. Nonetheless, through many lives, you have also accumulated a lot of good merit. Due to your good merits, He comes in the form of the Guru, in the form of the Master, to destroy all these inner ‘evil-doers’, these wicked qualities, to remove them and free you. God is compassionate. He doesn’t punish anyone. He loves everyone equally. And due to that Love, He knows your soul, He knows where to put you. So, when the Lord manifests Himself in different aspects, to release one from one’s negativity, one has to learn how to surrender.
When one goes on the spiritual path, sometimes the Guru has to be strict with the disciples to destroy these ‘evil-doers’. The Guru wants the disciples to reach a certain level. They know that they have a certain mission, a certain goal, and a certain dharma to fulfil and to achieve; and if they are not doing it, the Master has to be strict. This strictness doesn’t mean that the Master doesn’t love the disciple. He does. It’s like when an abscess grows on the leg of a child. First the parents use the medicine to cure the child, but if it’s not getting cured, the parents will not hesitate to cut the limb of the child to save the child’s life. If it’s even necessary to cut off the leg of the child, they will do it. How difficult this would be! But the parents care for their children. In the same way, the Guru is sometimes strict so that all the ‘evil-doers’ will be destroyed, so that you can grow and rise spiritually.
“I am born from age to age.” Here Krishna says, yuge yuge. This means that throughout the yugas, He has manifested Himself many, many times – even more times than are mentioned in the shastras and the Vedas. In one yuga, the Lord can manifest Himself fully, several times, “for the deliverance of the good”. When Maha Vishnu Himself, Vishnu Tattva, manifested in the form of the Son of God, Jesus, He came to show that Love is the most important thing, and if one wants to enter into the Kingdom of God, if one wants to attain God Consciousness, one has to let go. That’s why when He called Peter, He says, “Come, Peter! Let go of the drama of your old life. Renounce that life! I will make you a fisher of men. I will teach you to enlighten people. I will make you a Light for others, so that when others see you, they will follow
your example.”
In the Chapter 3, Krishna says that everybody tries to copy an eminent person, like everybody tries to copy the hair styles of celebrities. When Messi kicks the ball, everybody is jumping and cheering. But when Messi is crying, nobody is crying.
Everybody is angry with him – because he is angry with himself. If he had the right knowledge, he would know that it is just a game. Like that, when the mind is upset, one doesn’t know that life is just a game. One doesn’t see. One doesn’t see that the Guru is doing everything for the benefit of the disciple’s progress – even if He has to sacrifice Himself, as did Christ. The Guru is always sacrificing Himself for the sake of His disciples and devotees.
Bhagavad Gita
