I am Justice: Clear, Impartial

Creatures rise and creatures vanish;
I alone am real, Arjuna,
looking out, amused, from deep
Within the eyes of every creature.

I am the object of all knowledge,
Father of the world, its mother,
Source of all things, of impure and
Pure, of holiness and horror.

I am the goal, the root, the witness,
Home and refuge, dearest friend,
Creation and annihilation,
Everlasting seed and treasure.

I am the radiance of the sun, I
Open or withhold the rainclouds,
I am Immortality and
Death, am being and non-being.

I am the Self, Arjuna, seated
in the heart of every creature.
I am the origin, the middle,
And the end that all must come to.

Those who worship me sincerely
with their minds and bodies, giving
Up their whole lives in devotion,
Find in me their heart’s fulfilment.

Even those who do no know me,
If their actions are straightforward,
Just, and loving, venerate me
With the truest kind of worship.

All your thoughts, all your actions,
All your fears and disappointments,
Offer them to me, clear-hearted;
Know them all as passing visions.

Thus you free yourself from bondage,
From both good and evil karma;
Through your non attachment, you
embody me, in utter freedom.

I am justice: clear, impartial,
Favouring no one, hating no one.
But in those who have cured themselves
of selfishness, I shine with brilliance.

Even murderers and rapists,
Tyrants, the most cruel fanatics,
Ultimately know redemption
Through my love, if they surrender

To my harsh but healing graces.
Passing through excruciating
Transformations, they find freedom
And their hearts find peace within them.

I am always with all beings;
I abandon no one. And
However great your inner darkness,
You are never separate from me.

Let your thoughts flow past you, calmly;
Keep me near, at every moment;
Trust me with your life, because I
Am you, more than you yourself are.’

 

Sri Krishna to Arjuna,

Translated by Stephen Mitchell based on The Bhagavad Gita an interlinear translation by Winthrop Sargeant

Commentary for Poem of the Day 28/01/06

The Bhagavad Gita record the conversation between Sri Krishna and Arjuna during the battle of Kuruksetra. It is part of the Mahabarata and is one of the most important Hindu scriptures. The Oxford professor Max Muller described the Bhagavad Gita as “Like a University lecture delivered by God” In this extract Sri Krishna describes the omnipotence and omnipresence of God and also His all forgiving nature.”