I am gambling among the fraudulent; the prowess of the powerful. I am victory; I am perseverance; I am the sattva of the sattvika. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 – Verse 36)
I am gambling among the fraudulent, the wicked means of amassing or losing fortunes. I am the victory of the victorious and perseverance of those who make an effort. I am the sattva of the sattvika.’
Arjuna is to think of Bhagavan always, so that his mind may not go astray. But how can we think of Bhagavan when we see so many evil things. Sri Krishna says, ‘Do not think of the evil things; think of the power behind them.’
‘Of all ways of deceiving, gambling is the strongest, the chief deceiving-power, and that I am,’ says Bhagavan. ‘My power works through all, good or bad. Nothing can happen without Me. The leaf that falls to the ground falls through My power. Man becomes king or beggar in a moment of time through gambling. That is also My power. Do not do things you call evil because they will involve you more, but know the Truth. Know that I am the power, the energy of all deeds, the noblest and the meanest. No power exists anywhere outside of Me. The same flow of power runs through saint and sinner. The one will use it to worship Me, the other to commit sin. It is a question of the use or abuse of that power, which comes from Me.’ When we play different musical instruments, they emit different sounds. But the air that enters the instruments and causes the sound is the same. So it is with God’s power. ‘See Me as the manifestation of that power through different instruments; even call it good or evil, not according to the power but according to the instrument.
Try to see Me even in evil. When Pavhari Baba was bitten by a snake, he said, ‘A messenger had come from my beloved Bhagavan.’ He recognized the power of God in the snake. And when Sri Ramakrishna inadvertently met some prostitutes, he bowed down to them and saluted in them his Divine Mother. Bhagavan is all in all and everywhere present, but only the free soul can see Him. To gain that power of vision, all these examples are given.