Bhagavad Gita 5.29

bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ

sarva-loka-maheśvaram

suhr̥daṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ

jñātvā māṁ śāntim ṛcchati

 

“For all offerings, know me to be the enjoyer.

For all worlds, I am the supreme controller.

For all beings, I am their best friend, loving & kind.

Knowing me thus, true peace you will find.”

 

My dear Lord, my search for pleasure is often the cause of my greatest trouble. You have made me, O Lord, so that I can find real pleasure only in relationship with you—through loving and serving you—not in isolation from you, let alone in defiance of you.

Help me to understand, O Lord, that whatever sacrifices I make in my various endeavours—let them be first and foremost for your pleasure. In your pleasure, O Lord, I will soon find my own deepest pleasure, just as watering you—the root—naturally nourishes the leaves of the tree. For you, O Lord, are the root, and I am but one leaf.

Help me, my Lord, to not resent this arrangement of things. What right do I have to claim enjoyment through things that are not mine? I have not created this world—you have. It belongs to you. It is only natural that if I want to be peaceful, I must follow your plan and purpose for the world.

You, my Lord, are my best friend—even though you do not need me as a friend. You are not a tyrant who exploits me for your own pleasure. You are my benefactor, who gives me far greater pleasure when I connect with you than anything I could attain on my own.

I beg you, my Lord, may this understanding of your position and disposition make me whole-hearted in my service to you.

***

05.29 A person in full consciousness of Me, knowing Me to be the ultimate beneficiary of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods, and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attains peace from the pangs of material miseries.