THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 10, VERSE 32, VIBHUTI YOGA OR THE YOGA OF DIVINE MANIFESTATIONS

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 10

VIBHUTI YOGA OR THE YOGA OF DIVINE MANIFESTATIONS:

VERSE NUMBER 32

Text in Transliteration:

sargaanaam aadir antas cha madhyam chai ‘vaa ‘ham arjuna

adhyaatmavidyaa vidyaanaam vaadah: pravadataam aham

Sanskrit words and phrases and their meaning:

sargaanaam = among creations; aadih: = the beginning; antah: = the end; cha = and; madhyam = the middle; cha = and; eva = also; aham = I; arjuna = O Arjuna; adhyaatma vidyaa = the science of Self; vidyaanaam = among sciences; vaadah: = logic; pravadataam = among controversialists; aham = I.

Text in English:

Of created things I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, O Arjuna. Of the sciences I am the science of the Self; of those who debate I am the reason.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

In the twentieth stanza of this chapter the Lord states that He is the beginning, the middle and also the end of beings. Here He states that the same is the case in regard to the elements as well. While making an ornament, while maintaining it as such and while melting it back to the original state, gold the material cause of it, remains ever the same. In this way Iswara the root cause of the universe is ever Himself even while projecting and preserving it.

The science of the Self is Atma vidyaa or Brahma vidyaa. Ignorance vanishes when Brahman is known. The delusion of birth and death disappears; all problems get solved. The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. There is no science superior to this. The Lord is Himself this Atma vidyaa.

Reason is the most useful instrument possessed by man for enquiry into the real and the non-real, into truth and its opposite. Brushing aside all prejudices and predispositions, if reason be faithfully followed it takes the inquirer up to the gateway of intuition. Pure reason is a glory come from God.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Know the One that is the root of everything. Then truth becomes self-evident to you. Put the number one first and then add the zeros to it; this done, the zeros have their value. Without the number one, they are valueless. The many get their values from the original number one. Iswara is the number one; the universe and the beings are the zeros appended to it.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

adhyaatmavidhyaa vidyaanaam: of the sciences I am the science of the self. The science of the self is the way to beatitude. It is not an intellectual exercise or a social adventure. It is the way to saving wisdom and so is pursued with deep religious conviction. Philosophy as the science of the self helps us to overcome the ignorance which hides from us the vision of reality. It is the universal science according to plato. Without it, the departmental sciences become misleading. Plato observes: “The possession of the sciences as a whole, if it does not include the best, will in some few cases aid but more often harm the owner.” Alcibibiades, II, 144 D.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

In verse 20 above the Lord says, “I am the beginning, the middle and the end of the whole movable and immovable creation.” Here the whole creation in general is referred to.

As the knowledge of the Self leads to the attainment of the final beatitude of life or salvation, it is the chief among all branches of knowledge.

Pravadatam: By the word controversialist, we should here understand the various kinds of people using various kinds of argumentation in logic such as Vada, Jalpa and Vitanda. Vada is a way of arguing by which one gets at the truth of a certain question. The aspirants who are free from Raga-Dvesha and jealousy raise amongst themselves questions and answers and enter into discussions on philosophical problems in order to ascertain and understand the nature of the Truth. They do not argue in order to gain victory over one another. This is Vada. Jalpa is wrangling in which one asserts his own opinion and refutes that of one’s opponents. No attempt is made to establish the other side of the question. In Jalpa and Vitanda one tries to defeat another. There is desire for victory.