I am the Self, O Gudakesha, existing in the heart of all beings. I am the beginning, the middle and also the end of all beings. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter X – Verse 20).
You should think of Me as the Spirit, the innermost Self, the Reality dwelling in the heart of all beings. I am that within all beings, which remains when name and form are removed. I am the Soul, the very Existence of all. But if you cannot see Me as the Self of all, then see My manifestations and know that I am the source, the stay and the end of all beings. I am the alpha and omega of everything.’
Sri Krishna addresses Arjuna here as Gudakesha, which means conqueror of sleep. God can only be known by those who have conquered the sleep of delusion and ignorance. We must wake up; only then can we see. We have to be wide awake, always watchful, for the path of realization is very steep and dangerous. It is like walking on the edge of a sharp sword. The Katha Upanishad says, ‘The path is like the sharp edge of a razor, the wise say: hard to tread and difficult to cross. Arise, awake, approach the great ones and learn.’ Therefore, Bhagavan calls Arjuna Gudakesha.
‘Be watchful, be observant and be thoughtful. Do not think so much of the objects, but think of Me. Let all things serve as a suggestion. Let everything point to Me.’ Then will come that spiritual state of which Sri Krishna speaks in an earlier chapter of the Gita: ‘That which is night to all creatures is day to the sage who knows the Truth, and that which is day to the ignorant, is night to the sage.’ How can we be reminded of God through external things? There are many ways. In the following verses, Sri Krishna will point out the way. The examples given Baby the Lord are perhaps not so valuable to us as they were to Arjuna three or four thousand years ago. But the idea, the principle, is there.
Once Sri Ramakrishna requested to be taken to the zoo in Calcutta. He went round looking at different animals, enjoying the sight. At last he came to the lion’s cage. Then he was highly pleased and satisfied. Before him stood the king of animals in all his beauty, strength and pride. ‘Let us go back,’ he said. ‘I have seen the king of animals; why go any farther?’ The highest manifestation includes all others. The lion called up in him the vision of the Highest and he went into samadhi and he saw God.
Suggestions will come if we practise a little, if we try a little. If we live a prayerful life, all help will come. Help will come from outside and from within. Nature will teach us and God will teach us. The world will speak and sing God’s glory and the still small voice in the heart will guide us on.