Bhagavad Gita 15.20

iti guhyatamaṁ śāstram

idam uktaṁ mayānagha

etad buddhvā buddhimān syāt

kṛta-kṛtyaś ca bhārata

 

This most secret truth I share,

O sinless one, receive with care;

Knowing this, one becomes wise,

And fulfills life’s highest prize.

 

My dear Lord, the world constantly pushes me to do things that seem urgent. The more I succumb to this pressure, the more I find myself getting entangled in things that are largely inconsequential yet seem to be catastrophically consequential.

O Lord of all energy, you do not want me to be passive in this world, just as you did not want Arjuna to be passive in the Kurukshetra war. You want me to act, using whatever ability, interest, and resources you have given me. Yet you want me to act in a mood of service, to play my part in making the world better by aligning it more with your will. For my contribution to be devotional, my consciousness needs to be devotional, and that requires me to rest in you.

O all-sheltering Lord, the more I rest in you, the more I become calm, convinced and confident that you are indeed in charge of the world, and that above the world’s visible chaos, your invisible plan is still operating. When my head and heart are thus immersed in you, I am then better situated to do your will in the world.

O beloved Lord, help me to see that rest in you is not passivity; it is the path to the purity and clarity that will ensure my activity leads to the most meaningful productivity.

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15.20 This is the most confidential part of the Vedic scriptures, O sinless one, and it is disclosed now by Me. Whoever understands this will become wise, and his endeavors will know perfection.