THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 11, VERSE 21, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM:

VERSE NUMBER 21

Text in Transliteration:

amee hi tvaam surasamghaa visanti

   kecid bheetaah: praanjalayo grnanti

svastee ‘ty uktvaa maharshi siddhasamghaah:

   stuvanti tvaam stutibhih: pushkalaabhih:

Sanskrit words and phrases and their meaning:

Amee = these; hi = verily; tvaam = thee; sura samghaah: = hosts of Devas; visanti = enter; kecit = some; bheetaah: = in fear; praanjalayah: = with joined palms; grrnanti = extol; svasti = may it be well; iti = thus; uktvaa having said; maharshi siddha samghaah: bands of great Rishis and Siddhas; stuvanti = praise; tvaam = thee; stutibhih: = with hymns; pushkalaabhih = complete.

Text in English:

These hosts of Devas indeed enter into You; some in awe extol You with joined palms; bands of great Rishis and Siddhas pronounce, “May it be well” and praise You with sublime hymns.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

When the need for it comes, the Lord destroys not only the human beings on a large scale, but also the Devas who are called immortals by courtesy. As disease cleanses the body of bad matter, the Lord cleanses the world of wickedness by destruction on a colossal scale. Those who vaguely understand this design of the Lord, tremblingly submit themselves to the inevitable, with folded hands. There is as much grandeur in the sunset as there is in the sunrise. Like this, there is as much divinity in the Lord’s wiping out the universe as in His creating it. Great Rishis like Narada and Siddhas like Kapila intuit the sublimity of this divine sport and go into raptures in extolling it. Their hymns abound with inspiring ideas clothed in exuberant language. The purport of the praise is, “Lord, may good come out of Your great deeds!”

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The spiritual hosts adore His glory and are lost in ecstatic worship.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Pushkalabhih means complete or well-worded praises or praises full of deep meanings.

Great sages like Narada and perfected ones like Kapila praise Thee with inspiring hymns.   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 11, VERSE 20, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM:

VERSE NUMBER 20

Text in Transliteration:

dyaavaaprithivyor idam antaram hi

   vyaaptam tvayai ‘kena disas cha sarvaah:

drrshttvaa ‘dbhutam rupam ugram tave ‘dam

   iokatrayam pravyathitam mahaatman

Sanskrit words and phrases and their meaning:

Dyaavaa prthivyoh: = of heaven and earth; idam = this; antaram = interpace; hi = indeed; vyaaptam = are filled; tvayaa = by thee; ekena = alone; disah: = quarters; cha = and; sarvaah: = all; drshtvaa = having seen; adbhtam = wonderful; roopam = form; ugram = terrible; tava = thy; idam = this; loka trayam = the three worlds; pravyathitam = are trembling with fear; mahaatman = O Mahatman.

Text in English:

This space between heaven and earth and all the quarters are filled with You alone. Having seen this, Your marvellous and terrible form, the three worlds are trembling with fear, O Mahatman.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Arjuna now realizes that the Lord is all-pervading. The Lord is not only all charm and sweetness, He is also all fierceness and terror. Of these opposites the experience of the one or the other comes to the beholder only to reflect his own frame of mind. Arjuna sees the terrible form of the Lord quite in tune with his disposition. He who did not want to create a ghastly war scene now realizes that with or without his instrumentality, the Lord has assumed this terrific form to purge the world of evils.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Thee: In Thy Cosmic Form.

The space and the quarters: This denotes that the Lord has filled the whole universe of animate and inanimate objects.

In order to remove the doubt entertained by Arjuna as to his success (Cf. II. 6) Lord Krishna makes him feel now that victory for the Pandavas is certain.