Gita: The Song of Life – 7

Sri Krishna:

“Thus I am known in Vedas
And holy texts, as
‘Sat-Chit-Ananda’
Or ‘Aum’.”

Arjuna:

“That is strange, Krishna,
Can You be known
By a name, ‘Om’?
A hollow b-o-o-m?”

Sri Krishna:

“ ‘AUM’
Is the very first sound, Arjuna,
Which broke the silence
Of space—

And scattered words, which are shown as ‘things’;
The three letters—
‘Ah,’ ‘Oo,’ and ‘Um,’—
‘A,’ ‘U,’ ‘M’

‘A’—from the throat;
‘U’—through the tongue; and
‘M’—ending when lips do close—
Are the sum of vocable names.

The three do mark the three ‘states’:
The wakefulness,
The dream,
The sleep.

I am the OM
Dive into OM
And you merge
In Me!

When man says ‘AUM’—when they leave the earth—
They come to Me, straight;
They have, no more, the bother of birth—
Or the need to die!”

Arjuna:

“That is most easily done, Krishna.
Wait for the knock from Yama’s porters;
Shout ‘AUM!’
They flee!”

Sri Krishna:

“Arjuna, any moment may be the knock of death!
So keep the AUM, ever over the tongue;
Train the mind; teach it not to flit
From one heap of dirt, to another, worse!”

Arjuna:

“Does it mean that I am not bound?
I can cleanse,
And tame,
And train…

All that I think or speak or do,
Through concentration on the ‘AUM’?
No! I am a puppet! You pull the strings;
I am but a tool, which You wield.”

Sri Krishna:

You are a tool, Arjuna,
But a living tool!
You have the choice
Of good or bad;

Of giving ear to Me, within you—
Or turning away, into ways of sin.
You are Sat-Chit-Ananda!
Though you may not know your truth.”

Arjuna:

That is a little
New for me.
Tell me, Krishna,
How I deserve the same?”