After Krishna reveals his message of love to Arjuna (18.64-66), he issues a surprising caveat (18.67): don’t share this message with the spiritually unevolved.
Why this restriction? If Krishna loves everyone, why does he not want everyone to know that he loves them? Certainly, Krishna wants everyone to know about his love for them; and he wants them to reciprocate by offering their love to him. But he doesn’t want people to misunderstand or misapply his declarations of love.
Consider Krishna’s love-filled declaration in the previous verse (18.66): he will protect from all sinful reactions those who lovingly surrender to him and do whatever he calls them to do. How might this be read by the spiritually unevolved, that is, by people who are so consumed by material pleasures as to have no understanding of life’s spiritual side, leave alone God’s spiritual love for everyone? They may misuse it to do wrong things — and then claim divine immunity in the name of being surrendered.
Let’s illustrate such misuse through an example. Suppose a wealthy father needs his responsible son to do a difficult and dangerous assignment. To encourage his son, he may assure, “I will get you out of any trouble you may get into while doing this assignment.” Suppose another son, who is self-indulgent and irresponsible, hears his father’s assurance and presumes that his father will protect him, no matter what he does. He may seek sensual indulgences while transgressing moral or legal boundaries — and on getting into trouble, he may expect, even demand, that his father bail him out.
To prevent such misuse, the father will enjoin his responsible son to not repeat his assurance to his less responsible brothers. Similar is Krishna’s caveat.
One-sentence summary:
Krishna cautions against the indiscriminate sharing his message of love not because he wants to hide his love from the world, but because he doesn’t want his message to be misused.
Think it over:
- Who are considered to be spiritually unevolved?
- How might such people misuse Krishna’s message of love? Explain with an example.
- Why does Krishna restrict the sharing of his message?
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18.67: This confidential knowledge may never be explained to those who are not austere, or devoted, or engaged in devotional service, nor to one who is envious of Me.
To know more about this verse, please click on the image
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