Chapter 16Verse 14 of 24

Bhagavad Gita 16.14

असौ मया हतः शत्रुर्हनिष्ये चापरानपि । ईश्वरोऽहमहं भोगी सिद्धोऽहं बलवान्सुखी ॥

asau mayā hataḥ śatrur haniṣye cāparān api īśvaro 'ham ahaṁ bhogī siddho 'haṁ balavān sukhī

Translation

"That enemy I have slain, and others also I shall slay. I am lord; I am the enjoyer; I am perfect, strong, and happy."

The voice grows louder. That enemy I have killed. I will kill others too. I am ishvara. I am bhogi. I am siddha. I am balavan. I am sukhi. The pronoun aham repeats like a drumbeat. Each claim escalates. By the end of the verse, the asura has assumed every divine attribute for self. Lordship, enjoyership, perfection, strength, happiness. Krishna names this with surgical precision because the same move shows up in subtle forms among sadhakas. Spiritual achievement claimed as personal trophy. Strength borrowed from grace and pocketed as own. The verse is mirror. The mirror does not insult. It shows the face that the seeker can then choose to wash.

Reflection

Where do you most often pocket as own a strength that grace gave you on loan?

Read this verse in its chapter: Chapter Sixteen

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