(Image Courtesy Mahanidhiswami)

Only With The Grace Of The Divine Can Dieties Grant Wishes

स तया श्रद्धया युक्तस्तस्याराधनमीहते |
लभते च तत: कामान्मयैव विहितान्हि तान् || 7.22||

sa tayā śhraddhayā yuktas tasyārādhanam īhate
labhate cha tataḥ kāmān mayaiva vihitān hi tān|| 7.22||

Shloka Translation
BG – Ch. 7- Ver. 22:

The devotee, who is endowed with faith, worships a specific heavenly god and achieves the items of desire. However, in actuality, I am the sole arranger of these benefits.

Explanation

When someone decides to seek a finite or worldly purpose instead of Ishvara, they run towards a finite deity. We’ve seen this before in the shlokas. Shri Krishna goes on to remark that when a devotee seeks a finite aim from a finite deity, Ishvara does not oppose. In reality, by fulfilling the devotee’s request of the deity, he deepens that devotee’s faith.

In this verse, Shree Krishna emphasizes that the celestial gods lack the ability to fulfill their worshippers’ material wants. Wishes can only be granted if God allows them. The word labhate implies “to get.” Devotees with mediocre knowledge may believe that pleasing the devats has brought them their desired material items (celestial gods). However, it is God, not the devats, who makes everything possible.

Verse & what we can learn

Even if a devotee approaches a deity with a specific purpose in mind, Ishvara is willing to fulfil it as long as the devotee has sufficient faith in the deity. Ishvara thinks that by fulfilling finite needs through inferior deities, the devotee will learn to further submit his ego. It is impossible to grow in faith without shrinking in ego.

The devotee’s faith grows as his or her desires are sought with greater and greater faith, and the matching desires are satisfied. This procedure has the ability to lead to that devotee’s spiritual progress. He’ll progress from pursuing finite objectives to pursuing the infinite — Ishvara himself. This is the ideal state, yet the devotee is alone responsible for making the change.

To acquire knowledge and to implement that knowledge in life one needs to be mentally and physically active and healthy and for that daily meditation is a great tool.

There are various types of meditation like Buddhist meditation, heartfulness meditation, mindfulness meditation, meditation for stress, and each meditation benefits are countless. There are also numerous meditation techniques for beginners which help in practicing daily meditation so go ahead and start your journey towards a peaceful and balanced life.

In the Next verse, Shri Krishna tells Arjuna that most devotees get stuck in the pursuit of finite goals.

Let’s learn to live with “The Gita” via Meditation Affinity…