VII: 29

Chapter 7, Verse 29

"Those who take refuge in me,
Striving for release from old age and death,
Know absolute freedom in the Self,
As well as the secret of action.

Swami Chidbhavananda:

To lose our hard-earned vigor and to become a prey to death:  is this our reward?

To do deeds of rarity, to achieve the impossible and then to quit the world as if in banishment?

Is this all there is?

Reflecting on death wakes us up to realities with which we would not otherwise become acquainted.  When the right enquiries are reflected upon in great depth, we come to know of the truths about the Self, ourselves, and Karma.

Sri Eknath Easwaran:

Growing up close to my Grandmother, I had the blessing of hearing early and often in life the tremendous truth that you and I are so much more than this finite, mortal body.  As a child, I used to run home from school in the afternoon to be with my Grandmother, who waited for me by the front gate.  Eagerly I told her everything that had happened that day...what I had learned in school, what the teacher had said and what had happened on the playing field.  One day, though, I came walking slowly up the road with a cloud of gloom on my face.

"What's the matter, little light?" my Grandmother asked.

"Bad news, Granny," I said.  "Today our teacher told us that compared to the Sun, we are just insignificant bits of dust."

She laughed.  "This Sun will burn out," she said, "but you and I will never come to an end."