Bhagavad Gita 18.58

mac-cittaḥ sarva-durgāṇi

mat-prasādāt tariṣyasi

atha cet tvam ahaṅkārān

na śroṣyasi vinaṅkṣyasi

 

“Focus on me, and all duality you will transcend,

By my grace, all your troubles will end.

But if ego keeps you deaf to my voice,

You will be lost, making the wrong choice.”

 

My dear Lord, my ego traps me in its web of suggestions and seductions. It makes me believe that I need to prove my worth by doing things on my own, without needing or seeking you. But the more I stay away from you, the more I become like a leaf fallen from the tree and swept away by the wind.

O all-encompassing Lord, please show me that harmony with you does not diminish my individuality, but enriches it—by placing my actions within your universally auspicious purpose. To gain that vision, let me appreciate three of your glorious features: your wisdom, your expertise, and your benevolence.

By your unfathomable wisdom, O omniscient Lord, you know what is best for me better than I do. Let me not be inflated by my ego’s conceptions about my knowledge.

By your unsurpassable expertise, O omnipotent Lord, you can arrange what is best for me better than I can. Let me not be misled by my ego’s beliefs about my capabilities.

By your unparalleled benevolence, O omnipresent Lord, you want what is best for me more than I do. Let me not be consumed by my ego’s ideas about my well-being.

O indwelling Lord, by thus appreciating your wisdom, your expertise, and your benevolence, may I stop listening to my ego and start listening to you, now and always.

***

18.58 If you become conscious of Me, you will pass over all the obstacles of conditioned life by My grace. If, however, you do not work in such consciousness but act through false ego, not hearing Me, you will be lost.