Gita 9.8

Raja Vidya Raja Guhya Yoga

प्रकृतिं स्वामवष्टभ्य विसृजामि पुनः पुनः । भूतग्राममिमं कृत्स्नमवशं प्रकृतेर्वशात् ॥

prakṛtiṁ svām avaṣṭabhya visṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥ | bhūta-grāmam imaṁ kṛtsnam avaśaṁ prakṛter vaśāt ||

In essence: Wielding My own nature as an artist wields a brush, I paint forth all beings again and again - they follow nature's law helplessly, while I remain the free Creator behind the canvas.

A conversation between a seeker and guide to help you feel this verse deeply

Sadhak-Guru Dialogue

Sadhak: "This verse disturbs me. If beings are created 'helplessly,' without choice, how is that fair? Are we just puppets?"

Guru: "Are the characters in your dream unfairly treated when you dream them into existence? Did you consult them before giving them their roles?"

Sadhak: "That's different - they're not real. They're just... projections of my mind."

Guru: "And what if I told you that's exactly what beings are to the cosmic Dreamer? Not 'unreal' in the sense of worthless, but not separately real either. The sense of being a helpless separate creature IS the dream. Waking up reveals there was only ever One - and You are That."

Sadhak: "But I don't feel like the cosmic Dreamer. I feel very much like a helpless creature subject to forces beyond my control!"

Guru: "Of course - the dream character feels like a dream character. The question is: who is aware of this feeling of helplessness? That awareness - is IT helpless?"

Sadhak: "I... don't know. Awareness seems to just watch. It doesn't seem to be in trouble."

Guru: "Exactly. The 'helplessness' belongs to the mind-body organism caught in prakṛti's flow. Awareness itself - your true Self - is what Krishna calls the one who 'presides over' prakṛti. You have mistaken yourself for what you observe."

Sadhak: "So I'm not the helpless creature - I'm the awareness watching a helpless creature?"

Guru: "Even more precisely: you're the awareness in which the entire show of 'helpless creatures' and 'controlling forces' appears. The puppet, the strings, AND the puppeteer are all within you. You are the stage, the light, and the seeing that makes the play possible."

Sadhak: "If I'm truly free, why don't I experience freedom?"

Guru: "Because attention is absorbed in the drama. It's not that you lack freedom - you're freely choosing to watch the show so intently that you forgot you're in a theater. This teaching is the usher tapping your shoulder: 'Remember where you are. Remember what you are.'"

Sadhak: "What changes when I remember?"

Guru: "The show continues - prakṛti keeps playing. But you watch as the free one, not the bound one. Same movie, different viewer. Or rather, you recognize you were always the free viewer, temporarily hypnotized by a compelling film."

Did this resonate with you? Share it with someone who needs to hear this.

🌅 Daily Practice

🌅 Morning

Before the day begins, recognize the forces that will move you today: biological needs (hunger, fatigue), psychological patterns (habits, preferences), social conditioning (expectations, roles). These are prakṛti operating through the body-mind. Say to yourself: 'The organism will be moved by nature's forces today. I am the awareness watching this movement.' This doesn't mean being passive but acting from recognition rather than reaction - letting awareness illuminate each moment rather than being dragged unconsciously by conditioning.

☀️ Daytime

When you catch yourself feeling helpless - overwhelmed by circumstances, controlled by emotions, pushed by deadlines - pause and investigate: 'Who is feeling helpless?' The body-mind is indeed subject to forces. But the one NOTICING the helplessness - is that one trapped? Use the day's challenges as practice opportunities. Each time prakṛti's control is felt, it's a chance to recognize the one who knows that control, who is prior to it, untouched by it.

🌙 Evening

Review the day asking: 'Where did I act from identification with prakṛti (reactively, compulsively, unconsciously)? Where did I act from awareness (responsively, freely, consciously)?' No judgment - both happened as they had to. But the very act of reviewing builds discrimination. Close with the recognition: 'Today's entire play - my helplessness and my efforts, my failures and successes - all appeared in awareness. Tomorrow, awareness will witness a new play. I am that awareness, not any character in the play.'

Common Questions

If I'm 'helplessly' controlled by prakriti, how can I be held responsible for my actions? Isn't this an excuse for anything?

The helplessness described is the existential condition of identified consciousness, not a moral excuse. You are 'helpless' in the sense that you didn't choose to be born, can't will your thoughts, and will inevitably die - these are prakṛtic facts. But within this condition, karma operates: actions have consequences. The body-mind you're identified with IS subject to moral law. The teaching isn't 'do anything since you're helpless' but 'recognize your deeper nature that was never bound.' The jñānī (knower) acts freely BECAUSE they know they're not the doer; the ajñānī (ignorant) acts compulsively BECAUSE they think they're the doer. Knowledge brings responsibility, not license.

Krishna says He creates beings 'again and again.' Does this mean my specific individuality recurs eternally?

The 'punaḥ punaḥ' (again and again) refers to the cosmic cycles - kalpas arising and dissolving eternally. Your specific karmic pattern recurs until liberation - you continue manifesting according to your saṁskāras until knowledge burns the seeds. After liberation, 'you' don't return because the 'you' that could return was always a case of mistaken identity. The individuality was never ultimately real; it was consciousness temporarily playing a role. When the role is recognized as role, the actor doesn't return to the same character in the next play.

This sounds deterministic - everything controlled by prakriti's laws. Where's free will?

Free will exists, but not where you think. The ego - the sense of being a separate doer - has no free will; it IS prakṛti, determined by guṇas, karma, and conditioning. But YOU are not the ego. You are the awareness in which ego appears. This awareness is already free - not free to choose this or that within the dream, but free from the dream itself. The spiritual 'choice' is not between action A or B but between remaining identified with the character or awakening as the Author. Even this 'choice' is more like recognition than decision - you don't choose to wake up; you simply stop choosing to stay asleep.

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