Lead me to work that strengthens my purpose and deepens my peace


Bhagavad Gita 18.25

anubandhaṁ kṣayaṁ hiṁsām

anapekṣya ca pauruṣam

mohād ārabhyate karma

yat tat tāmasam ucyate


Action begun in delusion’s night,

Without concern for wrong or right;

Ignoring harm, loss, or others’ pain,

Know this as action born of darkness’ chain.


My dear Lord, my work often leaves me torn between peace and purpose. Consequently, I often oscillate. Sometimes, I prioritize peace to the extent of succumbing to apathy, lethargy, or monotony in whatever I do. Conversely, I sometimes prioritize purpose to the extent of succumbing to hyperactivity, anxiety, and insecurity.

O omniscient Lord, these approaches to work, which arise from the modes of tamas and rajas, reflect my fragmented conception of life. Please help me elevate how I view myself, my role, and my responsibilities in the larger scheme of things. For such elevation, train me to look first not at my work, but at you—who are the master of all work, the shelter of all those who work, and the source of all things that bring worth to work.

O merciful Lord, help me see beyond the limiting vision of my own plans and priorities, be they for peace or for purpose. May I strive first and foremost to act in a mood of service to you. Let me thus find both peace and purpose. May a sublime peace come from my knowing that you are always upholding and unfolding the fabric of being. May a deep purpose come from my knowing that I can place the needle of my agency in your hands and become a thread in that fabric—a thread that, by your benevolence, becomes tangible, substantial, and valuable.

***

18.25 That action performed in illusion, in disregard of scriptural injunctions, and without concern for future bondage or for violence or distress caused to others is said to be in the mode of ignorance.

From: https://gitadaily.com/lead-me-to-work-that-strengthens-my-purpose-and-deepens-my-peace/

Illuminate my intelligence to seek what will elevate and liberate


Bhagavad Gita 18.30

pravṛttiṁ ca nivṛttiṁ ca

kāryākārye bhayābhaye

bandhaṁ mokṣaṁ ca yā vetti

buddhiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī


What inclination’s to be followed, what isn’t;

What obligation’s to be honored, what isn’t;

What’s to be feared, what isn’t; what binds, what frees—

Pure is the intelligence that discerns these.


My dear Lord, to function harmoniously in this world, I need not just the perception to see rightly, but also the intelligence to seek rightly. Please educate my intelligence so it may judiciously translate my conceptions into actions.

O indwelling Lord, just as you see everything inside me for what it is, help me to similarly see my inner inclinations objectively. Let me avoid the two extremes of accepting every idea that pops up within me as if it were divinely inspired and rejecting every idea as if it were devilishly impelled. Equip me to evaluate such inner promptings on their merit.

O all-sustaining Lord, I seek your help to process not only the inner pressure of my inclinations but also the outer pressure of my obligations. Show me which of them are necessary for my sustenance and service, and which arise from others’ excessive desires or from my excessive need for their approval.

O supremely fearless Lord, I need your guidance to process not just my innate inclinations but also my innate inhibitions. Kindly show me which fears protect me from unnecessary troubles, and which hold me back from necessary trials.

Most importantly, O liberated and liberating Lord, let me see clearly which actions bind by seducing me away from you, and which liberate by providing me pathways to come closer to you.

O benevolent Lord, transform my intelligence so that it ultimately leads me to rest in you, the supreme transcendence.

***

18.30 O son of Pṛthā, that understanding by which one knows what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, what is to be feared and what is not to be feared, what is binding and what is liberating, is in the mode of goodness.

From: https://gitadaily.com/illuminate-my-intelligence-to-seek-what-will-elevate-and-liberate/

When my conception is full of holes, may your compassion make it whole


Bhagavad Gita 18.31

yayā dharmam adharmaṁ ca

kāryaṁ cākāryam eva ca

ayathāvat prajānāti

buddhiḥ sā pārtha rājasī


It sees dimly: what dharma is, what it isn’t;

What needs to be done, what needn’t;

Mistaking truth through partial, clouded sight—

That is intelligence shaped by passion’s light.


My dear Lord, much of the world around me is driven by, indeed defined by, the mode of rajas. Please protect me when it drives my actions toward things based on how they glitter, not on whether they matter.

O omniscient Lord, while my vision has holes, your vision forever remains whole. Whenever my conceptions are incomplete and, worse still, therefore become incorrect, please make them whole, so that I do not dissipate my life in pursuing things that seem desirable based on their appearance, but are not actually so based on their substance.

O benevolent Lord, I need holistic intelligence for all of my conceptions: not just those about the objects I pursue, but also those about the duties I discharge and the values I cherish. May your mercy complement my conceptions about my duties and values, so that I can distinguish between what is my moral or practical responsibility toward others and what is a self-created conception fueled by my need for their approval.

O compassionate Lord, I seek and need your compassion to make whole my many conceptions that have been rendered defective, and sometimes even deceptive, by the infection of passion in my inner world. May you please fortify and purify my intelligence so that I can invest my time and energy in pursuing the things that actually count, not the things glamorized by the world that I need to discount.

***

18.31 O son of Pṛthā, that understanding which cannot distinguish between religion and irreligion, between action that should be done and action that should not be done, is in the mode of passion.

From: https://gitadaily.com/when-my-conception-is-full-of-holes-may-your-compassion-make-it-whole/

Protect me from chasing the cause of my dissatisfaction as its cure


Bhagavad Gita 18.32

adharmaṁ dharmam iti yā

manyate tamasāvṛtā

sarvārthān viparītāṁś ca

buddhiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī


Shrouded in darkness, it takes wrong for right,

And sees all things with distorted sight;

Mistaking dharma for adharma’s way—

That is intelligence lost in darkness’ sway.


My dear Lord, whenever I feel dissatisfied, my intelligence is meant to help me determine the cause and address it appropriately. But at present, my intelligence has become diluted, even distorted by tamas. That is why it often diagnoses the very cause of my dissatisfaction as its cure, thereby aggravating and perpetuating my detention in dissatisfaction.

O omniscient Lord, you know how deceptively the forces of illusion work. Whenever I feel dissatisfied, those forces offer a prompt diagnosis of its cause: I am not getting a particular external object to which I have become attached and which I see as a source of instant pleasure. Believing that diagnosis, I overlook the vital truth: that very object has actually enticed and entrapped me in mundane consciousness. That's how I am dragged away, and kept away, from endeavors that are more meaningful, more fulfilling, and more harmonious with your grand plans for me.

O enlightened and enlightening Lord, when I thus become alienated from you and your plans to enrich my heart with enduring meaning, that spiritual distancing is the root cause of my dissatisfaction. Even though the forces of illusion will try relentlessly to misdirect me further away from you, please protect my intelligence from succumbing to their sinister seduction.

O benevolent Lord, rectify and sanctify my intelligence so that it sees and seeks you—and service to you in various and vigorous ways—as my source of supreme satisfaction.

***

18.32 That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, O Pārtha, is in the mode of ignorance.

From: https://gitadaily.com/protect-me-from-chasing-the-cause-of-my-dissatisfaction-as-its-cure/

Please deepen my determination with devotion and strengthen my devotion with determination


Bhagavad Gita 18.33

dhṛtyā yayā dhārayate

manaḥ-prāṇendriya-kriyāḥ

yogenāvyabhicāriṇyā

dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha sāttvikī


That determination which sustains;

Mind, life-breath, senses—all it restrains;

Through yoga practice without deviation,

Pure indeed is that determination.


My dear Lord, for any growth journey in life, be it toward material advancement or toward spiritual enrichment, one of the most elusive assets is determination. Help me stay steady in the pursuit of the things that are worthwhile.

O omnipotent Lord, it is you who are the Lord of my senses and mind, and it is you who can hold them steady so that I can pursue anything worthwhile. Whenever I follow any process for strengthening my determination, such as the time-honored processes of yoga, it is you who infuse those processes with potency. Among all the yogas that grant me access to your supreme power, let me focus on the devotion connection, for it is not just the most empowering, but also the most enlightening. It doesn’t just help me consistently pursue what I think is worthwhile; it also helps me clearly perceive what is truly worthwhile.

O benevolent Lord, please purify my aspirations so I come to realize that among all things worth pursuing, you are the most worthwhile. And when I start prioritizing devotion, I beg you to bless me with a determination that is robust yet realistic. Even if my mind and senses stray away, let them not stay away.

O unfailing Lord, may my determination thus be without deviation through devotion, and may my devotion be without deviation through determination.

***

18.33 O son of Pṛthā, that determination which is unbreakable, which is sustained with steadfastness by yoga practice, and which thus controls the activities of the mind, life and senses is determination in the mode of goodness.

From: https://gitadaily.com/please-deepen-my-determination-with-devotion-and-strengthen-my-devotion-with-determination/

Make me determined to not just pursue the desirable but also determine what is truly desirable


Bhagavad Gita 18.34

yayā tu dharma-kāmārthān

dhṛtyā dhārayate ’rjuna

prasaṅgena phalākāṅkṣī

dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha rājasī


That determination which holds on tight,

To pleasure and treasure, claimed as one's right;

Chasing outcomes, craving worldly gains—

That determination is passion’s chain.


My dear Lord, determination is one of the most inspiring and transforming human virtues. Simultaneously, I need your inspiration to transform the direction of my determination.

O omnipotent Lord, the history of humanity is filled with moving and riveting stories of individuals who overcame seemingly insurmountable adversities to achieve something wonderful. Yet, behind the scenes, many of these success stories conceal tragedies of dissatisfaction, disintegration, and even possible self-destruction. All because they found out too late that what they worked so hard to achieve did not bring them fulfillment. Instead, it left them vulnerable to the misdirecting forces of illusion that are ever-present in this world.

O all-discerning Lord, let me learn from their success stories the indispensable importance of determination. And let me learn from their private pains the even greater importance of determining what is actually desirable. Help me explore and examine what will actually bring meaning and fulfillment to my heart. Let me realize that these come ultimately only from a life in harmony with your love, for you have a most magnificent plan for my supreme welfare, and indeed for everyone’s supreme welfare.

O empowering Lord, once I have dispassionately determined what is truly desirable, grant me the passionate determination to pursue those things wholeheartedly in a mood of devotional participation in your glorious plan.

***

18.34 But that determination by which one holds fast to fruitive results in religion, economic development and sense gratification is of the nature of passion, O Arjuna.

From: https://gitadaily.com/make-me-determined-to-not-just-pursue-the-desirable-but-also-determine-what-is-truly-desirable/

Let the misdirection of my determination inspire its redirection to you


Bhagavad Gita 18.35

yayā svapnaṁ bhayaṁ śokaṁ

viṣādaṁ madam eva ca

na vimuñcati durmedhā

dhṛtiḥ sā pārtha tāmasī



That determination, dark and blind,

Clings to sleep and fears of mind;

To sorrow, despair, and drunken pride,

In such dark resolve the deluded abide.



My dear Lord, whenever I resolve to get rid of some unhealthy habit and fail despite repeated attempts, I often beat myself up for having little or no determination. Help me see my relapses not as the absence of determination, but as the misdirection of determination.

O omniscient Lord, please help me see determination as a feature of my very existence, not just as an act of concentrated and concerted willpower. Accordingly, my relapses become demonstrations not of the absence of determination, but its presence, albeit misdirected: the fact that I can hold on to an unwanted habit even when it has unpleasant consequences shows the strength of my intention.

O all-empowering Lord, may this vision change how I see myself: not as a victim being held in the lethal grip of a hostile attachment, but as an unwitting prisoner shackled by my own inability to leverage the very force by which I can break free. Let me thus see that my laziness is not the lack of determination, but the presence of determination unwittingly harnessed in the service of lethargy. May I then be energized, even electrified, to rescue and release my determination and redirect it toward worthier endeavors, including ultimately service to you.

O Supreme Rescuer, please help me tap the power of my determination so that it will no longer trap me.

***

18.35 And that determination which cannot go beyond dreaming, fearfulness, lamentation, moroseness and illusion – such unintelligent determination, O son of Pṛthā, is in the mode of darkness.

From: https://gitadaily.com/let-the-misdirection-of-my-determination-inspire-its-redirection-to-you/

Lead me to the happiness that ends distress, not to the happiness that ends in distress


Bhagavad Gita 18.36

sukhaṁ tv idānīṁ tri-vidhaṁ

śṛṇu me bharatarṣabha

abhyāsād ramate yatra

duḥkhāntaṁ ca nigacchati


Now, O best of Bharatas, hear,

Of threefold happiness found here;

That which through practice brings delight,

And leads beyond distress’s dark night.


My dear Lord, you have made me an innately pleasure-seeking being. And yet, while the whole world is filled with pleasures and my senses clamor for them, those very pleasures entice and entrap me into greater and greater states of suffering. This is the defining dilemma of my existence.

O benevolent Lord, you reveal here the way out of this dilemma: seek the form of happiness that ends all distress—and that extraordinary happiness becomes accessible through practice.

O omnipotent Lord, empower me to dedicate myself to such practice through persistence and abstinence. Help me persist in pursuing that liberating happiness, which comes from remembering you, serving you, and loving you—or more precisely, making you the supreme object of my love. And help me abstain from other forms of happiness that take me away from you.

O Lord of all love, let me practice persistence and abstinence not merely as exercises of my will, but as expressions of my love, or at least of my intention to love you. Please strengthen my devotional intention with these twin conviction: it is the misdirection of my love that drives me toward the happiness that ends in distress; and it is the redirection of my love toward you that will draw me to the happiness that ends all distress.

***

18.36 O best of the Bhāratas, now please hear from Me about the three kinds of happiness by which the conditioned soul enjoys, and by which he sometimes comes to the end of all distress.

From: https://gitadaily.com/lead-me-to-the-happiness-that-ends-distress-not-to-the-happiness-that-ends-in-distress/

Lead me through the poison of inner cleansing to the nectar of inner cherishing


Bhagavad Gita 18.37

yat tad agre viṣam iva

pariṇāme ’mṛtopamam

tat sukhaṁ sāttvikaṁ proktam

ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam


That which first tastes like poison bitter,

But is later relished as sublime nectar—

That pleasure is of the nature of goodness,

It grants the self divine awareness.


My dear Lord, one of the greatest paradoxes of life centers on the nature of pleasure: what appears joyful turns painful, and what appears painful turns joyful. Lead my vision beyond the austere appearance to the sublime substance of life’s deepest delights.

O omniscient Lord, let me remember that attaining anything worthwhile requires me to say no to my default conditionings. Otherwise, they gravitate toward the path of least resistance—a path that leads not merely to the least rewards, but often to the worst rewards. I end up not only getting far less than my potential, but also getting the opposite of what I desire and treasure.

O merciful Lord, help me see that what is fulfilling eventually is often initially exhausting, stretching me almost to the breaking point in my capacity to fight against my lower conditionings. And yet, that very effort of extending myself cleanses me, silencing my mental chatter and exiling my inner clutter.

O benevolent Lord, may I thus realize and relish the unleashing and harnessing of my potential—my talents, material and spiritual—in the mood of loving service to you. Once my hands, head, and heart are all aligned with your purpose for me, the joy that results is enriching, enlivening, and enduring. May I always cherish that nectar of loving immersion in you. And may it remain, through all of life's temptations and tribulations, my supreme aspiration.

***

18.37 That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness.

From: https://gitadaily.com/lead-me-through-the-poison-of-inner-cleansing-to-the-nectar-of-inner-cherishing/

Help me realize passion’s deception before indulgence, not after indulgence


Bhagavad Gita 18.38

viṣayendriya-saṁyogād

yat tad agre ’mṛtopamam

pariṇāme viṣam iva

tat sukhaṁ rājasaṁ smṛtam


Born from senses meeting sense-objects dear,

“This is nectar”—so it seems seductively clear;

“This is poison”—is the later realization;

Such is pleasure in the mode of passion.


My dear Lord, repeatedly have I experienced this shocking, frustrating, and infuriating reality: the very pleasures that, before indulgence, feel like nectar—irresistible—turn out, after indulgence, to be like poison: intolerable. Yet why does this realization come to me only after the indulgence? Before that realization come obsession and oblivion: obsession with getting the pleasure, and oblivion about its painful postscript.

O Lord of memory, help my intelligence hold on to the memories of my lived experience of sensual pleasure, specifically of how the anticipation always gives way to the anti-climax. Despite all its aggressive and intrusive glamorization, the actual pleasure turns out to be pathetically paltry and scandalously short-lived. I need my intelligence's grip on these post-indulgence memories to be stronger than my mind’s grip on the memories of the few moments of pleasure during indulgence.

O omnipotent Lord, I cannot get such penetrating intelligence from my own deliberation and determination alone. I need your merciful intervention to de-infatuate me in those fateful moments when I am about to succumb to temptation.

O merciful Lord, by such rescue operations that release me from the path to relapse, please gradually make my post-indulgence experience firmly and fully etched in my memory. May those memories jolt my intelligence to reflect and redirect: reflect on passion’s pernicious perversion of my perception, and redirect me toward you, who are the deliverer of supreme spiritual pleasure and thereby my saviour from seductive sensual pleasure.

***

18.38 That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion.

From: https://gitadaily.com/help-me-realize-passions-deception-before-indulgence-not-after-indulgence/