Passage 17

On the Gītā: 7.18

Tap any word for its meaning.

In plain words

The jijñāsu is a “through box (carriage).” The sādhaka who travels in it does not have to get off, but the box is coupled to another train; there are changes of that kind. By that means he reaches the goal. As for the ārta and the arthārthī, theirs is an ordinary railway train: neither a through train nor a through carriage. That train does not run all the way to the goal. So the traveller, the sādhaka, who boards that train gets off it again and again along the way, waits for another train, then boards that other train, and so reaches the goal. Those who travel this way have to go through some hardships and toil. But in the end all four do reach the goal; the difference is one of time and karma. That is why God declares again and again, “These four kinds are all Mine.” Why? Because the goal is one. So the joy lies abundantly in desiring not trifling things but God Himself. Kṛṣṇa Paramātma also said, “Those who desire trifling things are misers; those who desire God alone are the generous.”

Sri Satchitananda Sai