Bhagavad Gita 11.1

arjuna uvāca

mad-anugrahāya paramaṁ

guhyam adhyātma-saṁjñitam

yat tvayoktaṁ vacas tena

moho ’yaṁ vigato mama

 

The supreme truth, you have shown,

By your mercy, the secret is known;

Hearing your words, my doubts flee,

Darkness destroyed, now I see.

 

My dear Lord, Arjuna declares here that he is free from illusion. Yet this declaration does not mean that he no longer faces challenges from the force of illusion; later, when his son is killed, he breaks down in anguish and anger.

O supreme guide, help me harmonize Arjuna’s words and actions by revising my own conceptions about illusion and illumination. I often think of them as two distinct countries, and the journey from one to the other as a physical movement from a desert to an oasis. While this vision is correct, it is not complete, because illusion and illumination are both choices that I can make at every moment. This choices metaphor reminds me that, as a soul, I am your marginal energy, forever placed at the margin—between the waters of your glory and mercy, and the land of dryness and deprivation.

O infallible Lord, these two metaphors of countries and choices integrate when I appreciate that careful, correct choices change the inclination of the terrain. When I am spiritually unevolved, the terrain is highly inclined toward illusion—even a moment’s inattention can cause me to slip into illusion. The more I grow spiritually, the more the terrain becomes inclined toward illumination, so that my default choices gradually become wiser.

O all-attractive Lord, may the countries metaphor make me patient by seeing the big picture, and the choices metaphor make me enthusiastic by recognizing the power of small steps.

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11.01 Arjuna said: By my hearing the instructions You have kindly given me about these most confidential spiritual subjects, my illusion has now been dispelled.