The Bhagavad Gita
I was prompted by the very thoughtful writing of Umudi Efe Differson (pen name Diffson James https://diffson.substack.com/archive) to mention this out of sequence.
I was particularly moved by
Chapter 16 – Freedom from Fear and Purity of Heart (Translation by Juan Mascaro)
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[Lord] Krishna to the warrior Arjuna:
1. Freedom from fear, purity of heart, constancy in sacred learning and contemplation, generosity, self-harmony, adoration, study of the scriptures, austerity, righteousness;
2. Non-violence, truth, freedom from anger, renunciation, serenity, aversion to fault-finding, sympathy for all beings, peace from greedy cravings, gentleness, modesty, steadiness;
3. Energy, forgiveness, fortitude, purity, a good will, freedom from pride - these are the treasures of the man who is born for heaven.
4. Deceitfulness, insolence and self-conceit, anger and harshness and ignorance - these belong to a man who is born for hell.
5. The virtues of heaven are for liberation but the sins of hell are the chains of the soul. Grieve not, Arjuna, for heaven is thy final end.
6. There are two natures in this world: the one is of heaven, the other of hell. The heavenly nature has been explained: hear now of the evil of hell.
7. Evil men know not what should be done or what should not be done. Purity is not in their hearts, nor good conduct, nor truth.
8. They say: ‘This world has no truth, no moral foundation, no God. There is no law of creation: what is the cause of birth but lust?'
9. Firm in this belief, these men of dead souls, of truly little intelligence, undertake their work of evil: they are the enemies of this fair world, working for its destruction.
10. They torture their soul with insatiable desires and full of deceit, insolence, and pride, they hold fast their dark ideas, and they carry on their impure work.
11. Thus they are beset with innumerable cares which last long, all their life, until death. Their highest aim is sensual enjoyment, and they firmly think that this is all.
12. They are bound by hundreds of vain hopes. Anger and lust is their refuge; and they strive by unjust means to amass wealth for their own cravings.
13. 'I have gained this today, and I shall attain this desire. This wealth is mine, and that shall also be mine.'
14. 'I have slain that enemy, and others also shall I slay. I am a lord, I enjoy life, I am successful, powerful and happy.'
15. 'I am wealthy and of noble birth: who else is there like me? I shall pay for religious rituals, I shall make benefactions, I shall enjoy myself.' Thus they say in their darkness of delusion.
16. Led astray by many wrong thoughts, entangled in the net of delusion, enchained to the pleasures of their cravings, they fall down into a foul hell.
17. In their haughtiness of vainglory, drunk with the pride of their wealth, they offer their wrong sacrifices for ostentation, against divine law.
18. In their chains of selfishness and arrogance, of violence and anger and lust, these malignant men hate me: they hate me in themselves and in others.
19. In the vast cycles of life and death I inexorably hurl them down to destruction: these the lowest of men, cruel and evil, whose soul is hate.
20. Reborn in a lower life, in darkness birth after birth, they come not to me, Arjuna; but they go down the path of hell.
21. Three are the gates to this hell, the death of the soul: the gate of lust, the gate of wrath, and the gate of greed. Let a man shun the three.
22. When a man is free from these three doors of darkness, he does what is good for his soul, and then he enters the Path Supreme.
23. But the man who rejects the words of the Scriptures and follows the impulse of desire attains neither his perfection, nor joy, nor the Path Supreme.
24. Let the Scriptures be therefore thy authority as to what is right and what is not right. Know the words of the Scriptures, and do in this life the work to be done.
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The Archive-org link below includes multiple versions and translation and my preferred ones are a bit scrambled and hard to sequence so I have linked them all here.
The readings are by Tessa Morgan
Chapter 16:
the cover is so bogus, if the title is about Bhagwat Gita. That is Shah Jahan the Mogul Emperor, Krishna the Blue Overlord Of The Yadavs and some scattered concubines of then society.
Compassionate Mother Kali
You are the stealthy pirate
that sails the seas
of our mindless
hum drum
do-what-others-do existence
With your prey firmly fixed
in your steady gaze
you unfurl your black flag
with skull and cross bones flying in the sun
and stalk our aimless minds
which sail like so many wooden ships
from one meaningless port
to the next
What a sight you are!
With your disheveled long free-flowing black hair
blowing effortlessly in the wind
you direct the universes and all their beings
from the bow of your ship
Your songs of renunciation
detachment
and abandonment of the blind herd mentality
echo endlessly
across the waters of mortality
You are the very spirit of freedom
that dances in reckless unconcerned bliss
overpowering the prim and the proper
the prince and the pauper
trampling all self-imposed scripts of limitation
Victory is always certain
as you storm our ship
that is heavy laden
with the cargo of “I” and “mine”
Most flee in terror
at the sight of your approaching pirate flag
but I have been hunting you!
I am eager for you to steal away
my deluded self interests
and set ablaze my wooden ship
of self-imposed limitations
Mother Kali
I have spotted you in my telescope
just on the horizon of plurality
and I have given the order
to set sail at once!
Day and night
I will watch you closely
not even blinking
so that you will not be able to slip away
I and my motley crew
of mental musings, attachments and fantasies
are ready to join
your pirate band of Divine Marauders
From then on
there will be no captain but you
Like a divine Robin Hood
who sails the oceans of mortal existence
you steal from the bloated opulence
of our wandering thoughts
and give to our thirsting hearts
which long for your
radiant all consuming love
Ethan Walker II
Thank you for the restacks 😊