At Tara in this fateful hour, I place all Heaven with its power, And the sun with its brightness, And the snow with its whiteness, And the fire with all the strength it hath, And the lightning with its rapid wrath, And the winds with their swiftness along their path, And the sea with its deepness, And the rocks with their steepness, And the earth with its starkness: All these I place, By God's almighty help and grace Between myself and the powers of darkness! . Madeleine LEngle
About This Quote

This is a quote from the Bhagavad Gita, the godly epic. It is a very brief passage in the second chapter of the book, which is known as the Karma Pada. Here, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna that he will be tested in battle. He tells him that he will face many trials in life, and that he must always think of his own well-being when facing them.

"At Tara in this fateful hour," he says, "I place all Heaven with its power." These are some of the gods who are mentioned here - Indra, Vishnu, Surya, Varuna, Yama. The sun is also mentioned. "And the snow with its whiteness." That refers to the snow that covered Mount Parvata when Arjuna was born -- it seemed to be made of pure white crystal.

"And the fire with all its strength it hath." This refers to Agni, who was thought to be the divine fire of sacrifice. The wind is also mentioned here. "And the lightning with its rapid wrath." This refers to Vasus and Rudras -- the winds that carry light along their path across heaven's vault.

And finally, Arjuna's own chariot, which was drawn by two horses. "And the winds with their swiftness along their path." That refers to Vayu -- the god of wind. The sea is also mentioned here -- "And the rocks with their steepness." The mountains are also mentioned here; they're described as "These I place" to protect Arjuna from falling into insanity during battle.

Finally, there is earth itself -- "By God's almighty help and grace" between himself and his enemies.

Source: A Swiftly Tilting Planet

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