There are phrases we hear often and pass by without stopping, “with God’s
mercy” being one of them. I had done so myself, until a quiet moment of reading
changed its weight for me. In a passing comment by someone who had attended a
discourse on the Bhagavad Geetha, I encountered the words, “…. unless one is
fortunate to receive the mercy of Krishna….”. The line lingered, as some words
do, asking to be held a little longer. It stirred a feeling that something
subtle in the Geetha had escaped my notice. What follows is born of that pause,
not certainty, but a wish to listen more closely, and to understand what ‘mercy’
might mean when spoken of in the language of the divine.
Within spiritual discourse it is commonly stated that one can cross the
ocean of material existence only by the mercy of Krishna or His devotee. While
such language has devotional and relational significance, a critical reading of
the Bhagavad Geetha itself reveals that the idea of “mercy” as an emotional or
selective intervention of the Supreme is philosophically unnecessary and
potentially misleading. Bhagavan Krishna is omnipotent, omnipresent, and
omniscient, and therefore does not operate through fluctuating emotions such as
favouritism or pity. Rather, He functions through immutable laws governing
consciousness, action, knowledge, and causality. Spiritual advancement,
accordingly, is not dependent on an external bestowal of grace but on an
individual’s disciplined alignment with these eternal principles.
This is precisely the method Krishna employs in
instructing Arjuna. He does not console Arjuna emotionally or promise
deliverance through favour, instead, He reorients Arjuna through clarity,
responsibility, and detachment. Bhagavad Geetha 2.47 establishes this
foundation unequivocally, one has the right to perform prescribed duty but no
claim over the fruits of action. This instruction removes entitlement and
expectation from spiritual life. If liberation were contingent upon mercy, one
would remain psychologically attached to outcomes, even spiritual ones. Krishna
instead demands action free from hope, fear, or emotional bargaining. This
discipline is further defined in 2.48, where equanimity in success and failure
is identified as yoga itself. Yoga, therefore, is not emotional devotion or
passive reliance on divine intervention, but the stabilization of consciousness
amidst dualities.
Krishna reinforces this principle in 3.19 by
stating that one attains the Supreme by working without attachment to results.
The verse leaves no room for selective grace whereby attainment follows
naturally from correct action performed with the proper inner disposition.
Liberation is thus not granted as a favour but realized as a consequence of
alignment with truth. This framework makes clear that the Supreme does not
interfere with the lawfulness of existence, but He reveals it.
The role of the spiritual master must be
understood in the same light. Bhagavad Geetha 4.34 instructs the seeker to
approach a realized teacher with humility, inquiry, and service, because such a
person has seen the truth and can impart knowledge. The guru does not bestow
liberation through mercy but transmits correct understanding. Knowledge is
communicable but realization is personal. The necessity of the spiritual master
lies not in divine favouritism but in epistemic precision. Just as ignorance in
any discipline is removed by proper instruction, ignorance of the self is
removed by those who know reality as it is.
Bondage itself is not moral or emotional in
nature but mechanical, arising from false identification with the body and mind
through ahankara across innumerable births. Conditioning persists due to
ignorance, not because of divine neglect. Ignorance cannot be dissolved by
grace alone, but it must be undone by knowledge. This is why Krishna declares
in Bhagavad Geetha 7.2 that once this knowledge is realized, nothing further
remains to be known. Knowledge is final, complete, and liberating. If mercy
were the determining factor, such emphasis on knowledge would be redundant.
What is traditionally referred to as “mercy”
is better understood as alignment with dharma, the eternal order governing
existence. When action is performed without attachment, with equanimity, and
guided by right understanding, liberation follows inevitably. There is no need
for emotional appeal or expectation of intervention. The Geetha presents a
rigorous spiritual science, not a theology of reward. Krishna does not save
Arjuna instead He educates him. Arjuna is transformed not by grace but by
insight and disciplined action.
Thus,
the Bhagavad Geetha consistently teaches that freedom arises through inward
mastery, sustained inquiry, and unwavering discipline. Grace, if the term is to
be retained at all, is not something to be awaited or granted selectively, it
is already embedded in the very structure of reality. The task of the seeker is
not to seek mercy, but to become fit to recognize and live in accordance with
truth as it eternally is.
AUM TAT SAT
ravivarmmankkanniappan@1331131220253.0567° N, 101.5851° E
