Confier à Dieu les rênes du Moi

Krishna et Arjuna conversent sur le char avant la bataille de Kurukshetra. Peinture indienne.

La Bhagavad Gita ("Le Chant du Seigneur") est l'une des parties du Mahabharata, la grande épopée classique de l'Inde. Elle relate la conversation entre le prince Arjuna et son cocher Krishna (8e avatar du dieu Vishnou) avant la bataille fratricide de Kurukshetra qui va opposer les clans rivaux des Pandava et des Kaurava, issus du même père mais de mères différentes. Dans cette œuvre religieuse et philosophique, les chevaux symbolisent les sens. Les rênes, ce sont les pensées. Le passager, c'est l'esprit. Le cocher, c'est l'âme et le tout est le Moi.

Auparavant, Arjuna avait confié sa vie à Krishna, par amour.

Pour le saint indien Ramakrishna (1836-1886), le Christ était aussi un avatar de Vishnou.

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19. The Blessed Lord said: Yes, I will tell thee of my divine Vibhutis, but only in some of My principal pre-eminences, O best of the Kurus; for there is no end to the detail of My self-extension in the universe.

20. I, O Gudakesha, am the Self, which abides within all beings. I am the beginning and middle and end of all beings.

21. Among the Adityas I am Vishnu; among lights and splendours I am the radiant Sun; I am Marichi among the Maruts; among the stars the Moon am I.

22. Among the Vedas I am the Sama-Veda; among the gods I am Vasava; I am mind among the senses; in living beings I am consciousness.

23. I am Shiva among the Rudras, the lord of wealth among the Yakshas and Rakshasas, Agni among the Vasus; Meru among the peaks of the world am I.

24. And know Me, O Partha, of the high priests of the world the chief, Brihaspati; I am Skanda, the war-god, leader of the leaders of battle; among the flowing waters I am the ocean.

25. I am Bhrigu among the great Rishis; I am the sacred syllable OM among words; among acts of worship I am the worship called Japa (silent repetitions of sacred names etc.); among the mountain- ranges I am Himalaya.

26. I am the Ashwattha among all plants and trees; and I am Narada among the divine sages, Chitraratha among the Gandharvas, the Muni Kapila among the Siddhas.

27. Uchchaisravas among horses know me, nectar-born; Airavata among lordly elephants; and among men the king of men.

28. Among weapons I am the divine thunderbolt; I am Kamadhenu the cow of plenty among cattle; I am Kandarpa the love-god among the progenitors; among the serpents Vasuki am I.

29. And I am Ananta among the Nagas, Varuna among the peoples of

the sea, Aryaman among the Fathers, Yama (lord of the Law) among those who maintain rule and law.

30. And I am Prahlada among the Titans; I am Time the head of all reckoning to those who reckon and measure; and among the beasts of the forest I am the king of the beasts, and Vainateya among birds.

31. I am the wind among purifiers; I am Rama among warriors; and I am the alligator among fishes; among the rivers Ganges am I.

32. Of creation I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, O Arjuna. I am spiritual knowledge among the many philosophies, arts and sciences; I am the logic of those who debate.

33. I am the letter A among letters, the dual among compounds. I am imperishable Time; I am the Master and Ruler (of all existences), whose faces are everywhere.

34. And I am all-snatching Death, and I am too the birth of all that shall come into being. Among feminine qualities I am glory and beauty and speech and memory and intelligence and steadfastness and forgiveness.

35. I am also the great Sama among mantras, the Gayatri among metres; among the months I am Marga-sirsha, first of the months; I am spring, the fairest of seasons.

36. I am the gambling of the cunning, and the strength of the mighty; I am resolution and perseverance and victory; I am the sattwic quality of the good.

37. I am Krishna among the Vrishnis, Arjuna among the Pandavas; I am Vyasa among the sages; I am Ushanas among the seer-poets.

38. I am the mastery and power of all who rule and tame and vanquish and the policy of all who succeed and conquer; I am the silence of things secret and the knowledge of the knower.

39. And whatsoever is the seed of all existences, that am I, O Arjuna;

nothing moving or unmoving, animate or inanimate in the world can be without me.

40. There is no numbering or limit to My divine Vibhutis, O Parantapa; what I have spoken, is nothing more than a summary development and I have given only the light of a few leading indications.

41. Whatever beautiful and glorious creature thou seest in the world, whatever being is mighty and forceful (among men and above man and below him), know to be a very splendour, light, and energy of Me and born of a potent portion and intense power of my existence.

42. But what need is there of a multitude of details for this knowledge, O Arjuna? Take it thus, that I am here in this world and everywhere. I support this entire universe with an infinitesimal portion of Myself.

Bhagavad-Gita by Sri Aurobindo, Chapter X.