Essays on the Gita

Time the Destroyer 387Beyond the action he will look towards that to which it leads,that for which he is warring. For God the Time-Spirit doesnot destroy for the sake of destruction, but to make the waysclear in the cyclic process for a greater rule and a progressingmanifestation, rājyaṁ samṛddham. He will accept in its deepersense, which the superficial mind does not see, the greatnessof the struggle, the glory of the victory, — if need be, the gloryof the victory which comes masked as defeat, — and lead mantoo in the enjoyment of his opulent kingdom. Not appalledby the face of the Destroyer, he will see within it the eternalSpirit imperishable in all these perishing bodies and behind itthe face of the Charioteer, the Leader of man, the Friend ofall creatures, suhṛdaṁ sarvabhūtānām. This formidable World-Form once seen and acknowledged, it is to that reassuring truththat the rest of the chapter is directed; it discloses in the end amore intimate face and body of the Eternal.