Bhagavad Gita 2.69 · Krishna
Awake in a different night
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी।
यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः॥
yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṃ tasyāṃ jāgarti saṃyamīyasyāṃ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ
What is night for all beings, the disciplined one is awake to. What others are awake to is night for the sage who sees.
What it means
Krishna offers a riddle. Most people are wide awake to money, status, pleasure, and asleep to the inner life. The sage is the reverse. Awake to the Self, and calm, even sleepy, about what excites the crowd. Two people can stand in the same room and live in different worlds.
The story
Arjuna is looking at the same battlefield as everyone else. But Krishna is inviting him to wake up to something no one else on that field is seeing, the eternal in every face.
In your life
Picture a hospice volunteer who's unbothered by a delayed bonus but deeply moved by a patient's last smile. What they're awake to has changed. Notice what you're most awake to this week. Is it what matters most?
Wake up to what matters.