THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 49, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 49

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

maa te vyathaa maa cha vimoodhabhaavo

     drrshtvaa roopam ghoram eedrrn mame ‘dam

vyapetabheeh preetamanaah punas tvam

     tad eva me roopam idam prapasya

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN TAMIL:

maa = not: te = thee: vyathaa = fear: maa = not: cha = and: vimooddha bhaavah = bewildered state: drrshttvaa = having seen: roopam = form: ghoram = terrible: eedrrk = such: mama = my: idam = this: vyapetabheeh = with (thy) fear dispelled: preetamanaah = with gladdened heart: punah = again: tvam = thou: tat = that: eva = even: me = my: roopam = form: idam = this: prapasya = behold.

                                                

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Be not afraid nor bewildered on seeing this terrific form of Mine; free from fear and delighted at heart, do you again see this My former form.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The seafarer is delighted when the boisterous waters become pacified. The child is pleased when mother’s anger changes into affection. The Jivatman is transported with joy when he beholds his terror-striking God resume His benediction-showering form.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Former form is the form with four hands with conch, discus, club or mace and lotus.

The Lord saw Arjuna in a state of terror. Therefore, He withdrew the Cosmic Form and assumed His usual gentle form. He consoled Arjuna and spoke sweet, loving words.

Comments by the blogger:

The Lord dismantles his terrific form and welcomes Arjuna to see His former form.

When the true devotee who has surrendered himself to the Lord and owns up his limitations the Lord becomes like a mother and hastens to assuage the anguish of His cheela or devotee. But there must be an unflinching surrender. Prayer comes easily to all human beings. Anyhow surrendering our personal will to the Will of the Lord and act as His vessel is to be learned. Our ego is a great impediment in surrendering our will to the Will of the Lord. Of course, without ego or the sensation of I do this and I do that, nothing by way of action is possible in this world. There is a story about Lord Siva and His nine Seers. In the beginning, Lord Siva created these Nine Rishis and asked them to procreate and beget children and thus start in this world the advent of human beings. Having imparted this message, the Lord went into His usual Self which is one of resting ecstatically in His own Self. After some time, Lord Siva wanted to see how the world was doing and how human beings are living. But to his surprise apart from the Nine Rishis, there was no human being. For the moment He had left the Sapta Rishis or the Nine Saints went into a trance and they came out of it only when the Lord came to see them! Lord Siva realized that the nine Rishis could not create human beings by procreation and He created human beings in pairs, man and woman.

Unquestioning surrender to the Lord is not very easy. Since action and I am the doer of action sense is important for the world to continue with a teeming number of human beings. Nothing is possible without the ego sense. But the trick is to adopt Karma Yoga. A Karma Yogi like the Mahatma Gandhi is indulged in ceaseless action every day. But he does not desire for the fruits of his actions. Indeed when India won Freedom from the White Men and there were much rush and bustle to usher in and announce that India was an independent and sovereign Country at the stroke of the midnight the real author of Freedom was not to be seen in Delhi much less attending the ceremony! For Gandhi was out of the capital city and had gone to an ordinary and remote village to bring in freedom from the Hindus to Muslims and from Muslims to Hindus! That kind of self-effacing action in which the doer has no stakes in the way of personal enjoyment of the fruits of his action came readily to the Mahatma Gandhi and all cannot subjugate one’s weal to the cause of the Nation. For me also it does not come easily. Before I was set up with the Google AdSense I was strenuously praying to the Lord to facilitate that. And after writing 800 pages or 383,411 words I was set up gloriously by the People of AdSense. I, time and again, thanked Lord Siva and gazed at various Ads with a heart full of thankfulness and bliss as though all my prayers were answered by the Lord and I need not any more worry about the constricting financial condition of my family. But all the page viewers had resolved that a person writing about Gita should not seek the fruit thereof! And in the last one or so week since the advent of various and changing and panoramic Ads to my site I have been praying deeply to the Lord and I actually seek the fruits of my actions! I am an ordinary mortal. For the last twenty-five years, I have been reading a list of wants in the pooja room! Bhakti is there. In our house, the lamp will never be extinguished and it will be burning 24 hours a day! I am a good and unflinching devotee. But my devotion toward the Lord is not for the sake of itself. I own up my limitations.

In the epic Mahabharata during the disrobing of Panjali in the court of Dhuriyodhana before the eyes of all Panjali cringe-begs for the Lord’s grace and intervention. But she is tightly catching the upper part of her sari with both hands while her mouth cries out for the intervention of the Lord. Duchadhana, who was asked by Dhuriyodhana to disrobe Panjali, was doing just that fast. But the Lord Krishna’s intervention did not happen. But at the last minute, Panjali raised both the arms upward in an unconditional act of surrender and salutation Lord Krishna intervenes and saves the modesty of Panjali. Later when Dhroupati or Panjali askes the Lord as to why He had not intervened immediately to save her the Lord smiles and replies that till the time when Panjali had been clutching her sari tightly to her trunk and bosom and by that act trying to save her modesty by herself He did not intervene. But the moment Panjali raised in unconditional salutation both her arms the Lord hastened to her help!

If one can subjugate his personal will and agrees to become an instrument in the Lord’s hands one need not afraid of the Maya or Illusion of this world.  

                           

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 48, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 48

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

Na vedayajnaadhyayanair na daanair

    Na cha kriyaabhir na tapobhir ugraih

Evam roopah sakya aham nrrloke

     Drashttum tvad anyena kurupraveera

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

na = not: veda yajna adhyayanaih = by the study of the Vedas and of Yajna: na = not: daanaih = by gifts: na = not: cha = and: kriyaabhih = by rituals: na = not: tapobhih = by austerities: ugraih = severe: evam roopah = in such form: sakyah = (am) possible: aham = I: nrrloke = in the world of men: drashttum = to be seen: tvat = than thee: anyena = by another: kurupraveera = O great hero of the Kurus.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Neither by the study of the Vedas, nor by Yajnas, nor by gifts, nor by rituals, nor by severe penances, can this form of Mine be seen in the world of men by any one else but you, O hero of the Kurus.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

All the meritorious acts mentioned herein are good in themselves. They are all conducive to spiritual growth as well. But in the practice of all of them, egoism prevails to some extent at least. Individualism, however refined it may be, has its own limitations. But when a devotee gives himself over to the Lord and depends on His grace, the reward that come to him is abundantly great.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

One man gets intoxicated with one peg of liquor while another needs an overdose of it before he becomes tipsy. But when intoxicated both are in the same state. In this way some get into bliss with a ray of realization while the others do so after coming into the blaze of the Divine Presence. However, the effect is the same in both the cases.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Dana: Charity such as Tula Purusha (gift of gold equal in weight of a man); Kanyadana (gift of one’s daughter in marriage), gift of a cow, gold, rice, etc.

Kriya: Rituals such as Agnihotra.

Tapas: Such as the Chandrayana Vrata. (This is a kind of Vrata or observance. The daily consumption of food is reduced by one mouthful every day for the dark half of the month beginning with the full moon. Then the food is increased by one mouthful every day during the bright fortnight during the ‘increase’ of the moon. This Vrata (observance) is a great purifier of the mind. It destroys sins.)

Comments by the blogger:

In verse 47 the Lord of Gita addresses Arjuna as O Arjuna. Arjuna means ‘the pure in nature’. In verse 48 the Lord calls Arjuna as ‘O great hero of the Kurus’

We have already seen that not one word in the Gita is superfluous. And we have also seen there is much significance in the way both the Lord and Arjuna address each other in various slokas or verses. What is the significance in calling Arjuna as O Arjuna and then as O great hero of the Kurus?

Arjuna is bewildered and even horrified at the Lord’s Universal or Cosmic Form. The very act of opening Arjuna’s inner eye is a testimony of the love and regard and affection showed by the Lord toward Arjuna. The Lord knows that His Cosmic Form would frighten Arjuna. But it becomes necessary to show Arjuna the great sight by the Lord. Though Arjuna has become convinced of the need for him to fight this war at Kurukshetra and kill his enemies and master and the revered Pitamaha even before the showing of the Cosmic Form, the Lord is not taking any chances and wants to prove one point. It is that the Lord has already condemned to death the Kauravas and all Arjuna has to do is to become a willing instrument in the hands of Sri Krishna and fight what is essentially the war of Arjuna. The war had come unsought by Arjuna. Arjuna’s swadharma is to fight this great war at Kurukshetra. Though this need has already been driven home by the Lord and Arjuna has become disillusioned enough to fight his war, the Lord is not taking any chances and wants to make it abundantly clear to Arjuna that all the brave warriors and Bhishma and Drona are condemned to death because of the totality of their acts right from the beginning. That the Lord has already slain them all. These two reasons have made it necessary for the Lord to show Arjuna His Cosmic Form. 

But at the sight of the Lord’s Cosmic Form, Arjuna becomes almost disoriented and cringe-begs the Lord to dismantle His Cosmic Form and come to him in His endearing human form. The Lord takes pity on the frightened Arjuna and addresses in verse 47 as O Arjuna. It serves two purposes. One is the indication by the Lord that He is about to return to His Human Form. The second reason or purpose is to reassure the bewildered Arjuna that nothing untoward is going to happen. The Lord takes Arjuna by calling him as Arjuna to the days when He had been addressing him as a friend, Arjuna. The second purpose is to reassure in verse 48 that Arjuna is not an ordinary man but a great hero of the Kuru clan. The war that is going to start presently is going to once again prove what a great hero Arjuna is.

Thus the appellations like O Arjuna and O great hero of the Kurus are not without significance.

Everything about Hinduism has come out of the revered Four Vedas. All the Upanishads form part of the Vedas. Bhagavad Gita also is an Upanishad. Almost all the Darsnas or Sects of Hinduism emanated from the Vedas only. The Four Vedas are revered to the extent that a regular study of them cleanses one’s sins and purifies him forever. That is why the Lord says that a regular study of the Vedas would bring the reader all benefits but not the sight of the Cosmic Form. Yajnas or Sacrifices are of two kinds. The Vedic period understood the term Sacrifice only with the physical conduct of them by offering gee and other things on the oblation. But such sacrifices evolved into Upanishadic Sacrifice which is an internalized form of Sacrifices which is a spiritual development through the ages. This internalized sacrifice is acceptable to the Gita. For the Lord at one time says the crude form of sacrifices by putting one in gross and physically painful condition encouraged by the Four Vedas are not acceptable to Him.

In the Hindu Sastras, the way and manner in which one should give gifts of all kinds have been enshrined. One person spends a part of his wealth which he had amassed by striving ceaselessly for years together and gives the part of the wealth to the poor and needy ones. The wealth is nothing but the testimony to the ceaseless striving in the past on behalf of the Giver. This act purifies the mind and takes the Giver to the next footing on the ladder of Spiritualism.

Rituals have their own significance. The Lord Himself says in the early part of the Gita that the gods spend to the earth rain and the rain helps human beings to cultivate their lands and produce food. And in return, human beings must satisfy the Devas or gods in return by indulging in various rituals. So rituals also cleanse the mind of the performer.

A great many past heroes in the spiritual field have conducted and observed severe penances which are great purifiers of the mind.

But all these activities and observances will not enure to the concerned persons the sight of the Lord’s ineffable and unutterable sight of His Cosmic Form.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

THE HOLY YOGA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 47, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 47

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

sree bhagavaan uvaacha

mayaa prasannena tavaa ‘rjune ‘dam

     roopam param darsitam aatmayogaat

tefomayam visvam anantam aadyam

     yan me tvad anyena na drrshttapoorvam

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

sree bhagavaan uvaacha = Sri Bhagavan said:

mayaa = by me: prasannena = gracious: tava = to thee: arjuna = O Arjuna: idam = this: roopam = form: param = supreme: darsitam = has been shown: aatma yogaat = by my own yoga power: tejomayam = full of splendour: visvam = universal: anantam = endless: aadyam = primeval: yat = which: me = of me: tvat = from thee: anyena = by another: na = not: drrshtta poorvam = seen before.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

The Blessed Lord said:

Graciously have I shown you, O Arjuna, this Supreme Form, by My yoga power, this resplendent, universal, infinite, primeval, which none but you has ever seen.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Spiritual exuberance and the experience thereof is the common inheritance of all. Exclusiveness and favouritism have no place in it. Arjuna is beset with a worldly problem. The solution for it has to be found on the background of the cosmic functioning of the Lord. Along with it a peep into the beyond also is provided for him by the grace of the Almighty. Each man finds the reflection of his own face in the mirror. Similarly, Arjuna finds problems peculiar to himself solved in the cosmic setting. His peculiar case is no doubt a solitary incident fittingly solved by the Lord.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

This vision is not the final goal of man’s search; in that case Gita would have ended here. The fleeting vision must become a permanent experience of the seeker. Trance or samaadhi is neither the end nor an essential element of religious life. The blinding flashes, the ecstatic flights must be transmuted into permanent faith. Arjuna cannot any more forget the thrilling scene he saw but he has to work it into his life. The vision only opens; it does not enhance. Even as we test and confirm what we see by the eye, by the evidence of other senses, the knowledge acquired by the vision requires to be completed by the other elements of life.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Lord Krishna eulogises the Cosmic Form because Arjuna should be regarded to have achieved all his ends by seeing this Cosmic Form.

It is also an inducement to all spiritual aspirants to strive to attain this sublime vision. What they should do is explained by the Lord in verses 53 to 55.

Comments by the blogger:

The Lord of Gita says categorically, “This Cosmic Form of Mine has never been seen before by anyone other than thyself.”

How foolish of me, my good friends! All along this chapter, I have been maintaining that Arjuna could not withstand the Lord’s Cosmic Form because he was not an accomplished Yogi who would go into raptures and Samadhi or Trance at the Cosmic sight of the Lord! Brothers and Sisters, I apologise for this grave error. So Arjuna is the only person in this world who had the prerogative of seeing the Lord’s Cosmic Form!

Now let us move to other matters.

The grace of the Lord is important for a Yogi to attain emancipation. For a practitioner of Meditation may spend years meditation and observe all the dos and don’ts under an accomplished master or Guru, but at the very last God’s Grace is important to attain Him. In Esavasya Upanishad in 16^th sloka or verse, the accomplished Yogi prays to the sun for the sight of God though he had done everything by way of meditation. The Yogi prays to the sun. He says to the sun that the sun is the protector of all beings. The sun is said to be travelling alone. The sun is the king reigning over everything in this world. The Yogi calls the sun as the son of Prajapati. At last the Yogi puts forth his prayer to the sun. What is the prayer? “Please withdraw your rays. Please shorten your shining and splendour. I must see your form by your own Grace!”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 46, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 46

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

kireetinam gadinam chakrahastam

     icchaami tvaam drashttum aham tathai ‘va

tenai ‘va roopena caturbhjena

      sahasrabaaho bhava visvamoorte

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

kireettinam = crowned: gadinam = bearing a mace: chakra hastam = with discus in the hand: icchaami = (I) desire: tvaam = thee: drashttum = to see: aham = I: tathaa eva = as before: tena eva = that same: roopenna = of form: chaturbhujena = (by) four-armed: bhava = be: visva moorte = O universal form.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

I desire to see you as before, crowned, bearing a mace and a discus in the hand, in Your former form only, having four arms, O thousand-armed, O Universal Form.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Human beings are two-armed. God is conceived of as four-armed as an indication of His superhuman powers. It is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana that Sri Krishna had on a few occasions revealed Himself as the four-armed Vishnu to some of His devotees. Even with the two arms, He was ever manifesting superhuman and divine powers. Arjuna now says that this human form would be quite sufficient and highly desirable for their normal relationship.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Arjuna is asking Krshna to assume the shape of Vishnu of whom He is said to be an incarnation.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Arjuna says: “O Lord in the Cosmic Form! I do not know where to turn and to whom to address myself. I am frightened. I am longing to see Thee with conch, discus, mace and lotus. Withdraw Thy Cosmic Form. Assume that same four-armed form as before.”

Spiritual aspirants are often impatient to have the highest spiritual experiences immediately they begin their Sadhana. This is wrong. They will not be able to withstand the great power that will surge into them. Be patient!

O thousand-armed refers to the Cosmic Form.         

Comments by the blogger:

Arjuna wants and cringe-begs for the Lord of Gita to assume His former form, which resembles a human being. He further states the Universal Form has a thousand arms. Thousand arms do not mean exactly a thousand arms. When the Lord assumes His Universal Form Arjuna sees innumerous arms, heads, stomachs, etc. This terrible sight bewilders him. There goes a story about the Universal Form of the Lord: a devout was getting ready to sleep. He stretched out on a mattress with his head in the West, feet consequently in the East. But the moment the man’s legs were stretched out in the East a god comes to have a word with the humble devotee. The god from the East states that the humble devotee should not stretch out with his legs pointing toward the Eastern side because the god’s residence and the kingdom are in the eastern side! He further stated the Eastern side belonged to him and those who go to bed with their legs pointing towards the East would incur his wrath.

At once, the humble devotee begs the god for forgiveness and assures the god that he (the devotee) will not stretch out on the floor with his legs pointing in the Eastern side. And the god disappears.

The humble devotee duly changes his position so that his head is pointing towards the East and legs consequently pointing towards West. But the moment his legs are turned toward the Western side another god appears from the West! The god takes offence at the devotee’s legs pointing towards the western side from where the god comes. This time also the humble devotee obliges and begs for forgiveness.

Now the careful devotee changes his position so his head is stretched against North and the legs consequently pointing towards South. This time also a god from South appears from the South and takes offence at the audacity of the humble devotee. So the horrified but humble devotee once again changes his position which results in the devotee’s head is pointed toward South and consequently, his legs are stretched in the North. The moment this happens the god of the Northern side appears and takes offence at the audacity of the humble devotee, and askes the devotee to change position so that his legs would not be pointed toward North!

Though the humble devotee is a self-effacing one with profound faith in God, he takes offence at the gods’ interference and askes the god of North to kindly show a side in this wide world where no god resides!

The god from the North laughs at the devotee’s anger and disappears!

Now the truth dawns on the humble devotee and he says to his wife that in this wide world there could be no place or side which is not pervasively occupied by the Lord. So there would be no offence in whichever side the man’s legs are pointing while he puts up his feet!

The Lord of Gita has come down to the earth and incarnated Himself as a human being with an enchanting form. Arjuna is a dear friend of Lord Krishna and the Lord has been of much help to Arjuna in every stage of his life. He was Arjuna’s friend, philosopher and guide. The Lord of Gita has even given His sister, Subatra, to Arjuna in marriage. The Lord is chosen by Arjuna to side with him though the Lord says that He would not take arms and fight in the war that was going to happen between the Pandavas and Kauravas. So there is abundant love and affection between them. But Arjuna is utterly bewildered at the sight of the Universal Form of the Great God. Arjuna never knew that his friend, Lord Krishna, is not a human being like him. When the Lord shows His original Form which assumes the sum total of the whole of the Universe Arjuna feels threatened and his soul could not find any peace of mind. He had not known that his friend Krishna had such a bewildering other side to His personality. So Arjuna begs the Lord to assume His earlier human form. Arjuna salutes every side of the Lord in His Visvarupam. 

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 45, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 45

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

adrrshttapoorvam hrrshito ‘smi drshtvaa

     bhayena cha pravyathitam mano me

tad eva me darsaya devaq roopam

     praseeda devesa jagannivaasa

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

adrrshtapoorvam = what was never seen before: hrrshitah = delighted: asmi = (I) am: drrshttvaa = having seen: bhayena = with fear: cha = and: pravyathitam = is distressed: manah = mind: me = my: tat = that:  eva = only: me = to me: darsaya = show: deva = O God: roopam = form: praseeda = have mercy: devesa = O Lord of gods: jagannivaasa = O Abode of the universe.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

I rejoice that I have seen what was never seen before, but my mind is confounded with fear. Show me that form only, O God; have mercy. O God of gods, O Abode of the universe.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The watery expanses on the globe are endless, presenting varieties of aspects of theirs. The boisterous part is one among them. Parallel to this, in the cosmic form of Iswara, the terrific is an aspect only. This aspect, in particular, is shown to Arjuna in order to relieve him of his war problems. Having been enlightened in regard to his function in this inevitable catastrophe, he does not desire any further to behold that terrible vision. He pleads that he might be put in communion with the placid and pleasant aspect of the cosmic form. While the boisterous aspect is by the way, the peaceful and the blissful aspect is the norm with beings as well as with Iswara.

SRIMAT SWAMI  RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Brother Hari puts on the make up of a lion for the fun of it and teases his sister into fear. But when he sees the jest too much for the timid girl, he throws away the mask and reveals himself in his true form. In this wise Brahman covers Himself with maya and puts on a destructive and terrible form. When the veil of maya is removed He shines in His original calm and blissful splendour.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

There is not only the form of the Transcendent and Universal Being which is so terrifying in some of its aspects but also the form of Personal God, a meditating symbol of Godhead which is so reassuring to the terrified mortal. Arjuna, who is unable to stand the blinding blaze of light that devastates Krishna’s whole being, wishes to see the more pleasing form. The Light which for ever shines beyond the worlds is also the Light within, the teacher and friend in his own heart.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

For an ordinary man the Cosmic Form (vision) is overwhelming and terrifying, but for a Yogi it is encouraging, strengthening and soul-elevating.

Arjuna says: “The Cosmic Form was never before seen by me. Show me only that form which Thou wearest as my friend.”

Comments by the blogger:

We have already seen the nature of Truth. The truth about anything will scorch us and we would be devastated by the aspect we are not used to experience.

Even among us there are some rare persons who can juggle with four different objects as though they form one oval circle. And in the circus we have seen persons who stand on a tightrope and get hold of saucer after saucer from a person standing on the ground level by their toes and  jerk their leg holding the saucer toward the head and we are amazed at seeing the saucer which has been tossed lands exactly on the centre of the jugglers’ head. Not only this. The juggler catches hold of yet another saucer by his toes and once again tosses it vertically in air and the second saucer lands exactly on the saucer previously put on the juggler's head. In this way, the Juggler throws upward some twenty saucers and each and every saucer artistically thrown by the juggler lands exactly and unerringly on the saucer previously placed on the head. Another person in the circus drinks several mugs of coloured water before our eyes. Each glass or mug has a different colour of water. That is not the feat. After consuming waters from all the glasses the juggler takes up a position and throws or disgorges into each empty glass or mug the exact colour of water the glass had contained originally. Some persons toss into their mouth several sharp blads and start to munch on them before our bewildered eyes and even gulp the contents as though he were eating a piece of soft and freshly baked cake. What I call the crown of achievement is the way a person in the circus takes hold of a steel spoon which has a long and straight handle. Then, holding the steel spoon in his hand in front of his body he starts to throw a concentrated stare at the handle of the straight spoon. Immediately the straight steel handle of the spoon starts to bend as though it were made of plastic or rubber!

While we are amazed at such feats of persons in the circus we know it all is a matter of regular and unceasing practice. But we cannot juggle two balls in front of us with both hands working! When the mind indulges in concentration and makes the flesh and bone and the fiber of every tissue of the organs used to perform the above-said feats the bodily parts and mind learn to do the feat with exact movements of the legs, hands and the stomach muscles.

But for a yogi this kind of feats and similar achievements as Atama Siddhi or Eight-fold feats like walking in the air or on the surface of the water on a pond or sea and similar other feats have no use. When a person starts to meditate properly under the steady supervision of an accomplished guru such Eight-fold feats become possible one by one. The guru strenuously urges the practitioner of Yoga or Meditation to not give way to temptations and stop meditating at this stage and give himself to the all or any of the Eight-fold feats. Because the motive of a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation is to realize God and mingle with Him. The practitioner should not give in to temptations and satisfied with nothing but the sight of God. For such a practitioner seeing God and realizing his soul and mingling with God happens simultaneously for all the three things are one and the same.

Arjuna says in this sloka or verse that he has seen what has never been seen before. It is not as though the vision of the Cosmic Form is beyond the reach of an accomplished and fully realized Yogis. Arjuna is endowed with the inner eye for the specific purpose of seeing for himself the cosmic vision in which all the warriors belonging to the two sides except the Pandavas are slain by Sri Krishna. He is not an accomplished Yogi. So he is frightened by the sight. But an accomplished Yogi will go into rapture and Samadhi at such a vision.

Arjuna also addresses the Lord Of Gita as God of gods.

The Vedic Saints and Seers worshipped God in each of the five elements and other natural phenomena and forces and gave a special name for each such entity and sung hymns. They are all gods. But the Lord of Gita is above all these gods.

The Sole Godhood is an evolution. The Vedic Sages had started from the five elemental gods and in course of time added many more gods which are natural phenomena. In course of time, especially during the Upanishadic period, the Sages identified God with human beings. They understood that the whole Universe is pervaded by God. And what is in Andam or Cosmos is in Pindam or our Body. They found out that when we sit in meditation with closed or crossed eyes on a firm place and start to concentrate on some object or an abstract idea such as Truth the other four senses lose their power of diversion of the mind of the Practitioner of Yoga. When all the five senses come under the practised and firm control of the Practitioner the Illusion of the worldly nature loses all the strength and diversionary power. And then meditation steadily on the holy feet of Lord becomes possible. Then the practitioner identifies himself with this Universe and the Maker of the Universe. Then he understands that God or the Soul is in the cave of the heart. They found out that this cave of heart is situated just by the side of our physical heart. In this cave of the heart as the Upanishadic Seers  found out inheres the whole of the Cosmos! The infinite Sky of the Universe inheres in the cave of the heart in us! That is also the place of our Soul. God resides in us at this place just two inches to the left of the physical heart!

Vishnu is one of the Vedic gods. Rudras also are Vedic gods. But after the time of Vedanta or post-Upanishadic period, Vishnu became the One and the Only God of the Universe and the other worlds for the Vaishnavites and for the Saivaites Lord Siva became the Only one God of the Universe. Around them, various Puranas or Stories and Epics were written by both the Vaishnavites and Saivaites. Thus Brahman of the Vedic Period is identified by the above sects. There is another sect for which Devi or the Goddess is the ultimate Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer. Thus six kinds of Sects of Hinduism solidified into the above three Sects in Hinduism. Of course for all the three Deities above mentioned are the result of the evolution of understanding of the Universe and Creation starting from the Vedic Saints and ending with the post-Upanishadic Period. Thus Man started with multiple gods and worshipped them and slowly realized that there is One and Only God according to the Faith of the above-noted three Sects of Hinduism. 

According to the Vaishnavism, Arjuna identifies Vishnu or Sri Krishna as the God of all Hindu gods.         

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 44, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 44

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

tasmaat pranamya pranidhaaya kaayam

     prasaadaye tvaam aham eesam eeddyam

pite ‘va putrasya sakhe ‘va sakhyuh

     priyah priyaayaa ‘rhasi deva soddhum

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

tasmaat = therefore: prannamya = saluting: prannidhaaya = having bent: kaayam = body: prasaadaye = crave forgiveness: tvaam = thee: aham = I: eesam = the Lord: eeddyam = adorable: pitaa = father: iva = like: putrasya = of the son: sakhaa = friend: iva = like: sakhyuh = of the friend: preeyah = beloved: priyaayaah = to the beloved: arhasi = (thou) shouldst: deva = O God: soddhum = bear.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Therefore, bowing down, prostrating my body, I implore You,  adorable Lord to forgive me. Bear with me, O Lord, as a father with a son, as a friend with a friend, as a lover with his beloved.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

When the glory of the Lord is realized man cannot help adoring Him. That adoration spontaneously expresses itself as bowing down and prostrating. The vast difference in power and wealth among the worldly people creates a gulf between man and man. But the greatness of God is no hindrance to the insignificant man gaining free access to Him. Arjuna feels instinctively the filial love of the son for the father. But there is a certain amount of reverent aloofness of the son from the father. That handicap is removed by raising the relationship to that between two intimate friends moving on terms of equality. This love is further made charming and sweet by converting it into the dotage of the lovers upon each other. None is dearer to man than God.

SRIMAT SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA AS QUOTED BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

When a man develops ecstatic love, he feels God as his own. It is like the Gopis(the shepherd girls)  of Brindavan identifying themselves with Sri Krishna. They always claimed Him as Gopinatha (as the Lord of the shepherd girls) and not as Jagannatha (the Lord of the world).    

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The Supreme is not to be regarded as a transcendent mystery but also to us, as close as a father is to the son, as a friend to the friend or as a lover to the beloved. These human relations find in God their fullest realization and later Vaishnava literature utilizes these ideas more fully.

God as Father is a familiar conception to the Hindu. Rig Veda says: “Be of easy approach to us, even as a father to his son. Do thou, O Self-effulgent Lord, abide with us and bring blessings to us.” Again, Yajur Veda says: “O Lord, thou art our father; do thou instruct us like a father.” The Old Testament uses the image of the father. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” The idea of God as a father becomes the central conception in the teaching of Jesus.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

O Lord, take me to Thy bosom as a mother does her child. Forgive me for all that I have hitherto spoken or done. Forgive my faults. Please overlook my past mistakes. I have done this through ignorance. Now I have come to Thee in submission. I beg Your pardon now.

Comments by the blogger:

Children are adorable because they are completely innocent. God is adorable because He loves us notwithstanding our mistakes; because we take the world for real and not as illusory and become victims to the Lord’s Maya or Illusion.

Only Karma Yogis and Bhakti Yogis (Yogis of the right action and devotion) know how to spend the 24 Maya-filled hours a day without incurring fresh karmic effect that results in our coming to this world’s plane repeatedly. The trick is to spend many many hours of each day in offering worship to the Lord and adoring Him. But we, taking this transitory life on the earth for real, spend as many hours as possible every day in amassing wealth which positively makes us helpless slaves to the illusions of the world. We have already seen the Story of Narada Maya and how the great Sage and devotee of Lord Krishna in His Narayana Form goes to the river with a pitcher for fetching water at the Lord’s bidding, and on seeing a beautiful woman there how the Sage Narada falls in love with her and begins to live with her: as the story goes, the woman gives birth to eight children and one day they all are swept away and killed by the surging tide of the river. The great Sage Narada sits on the bank of the river and cries piteously. The Sage is delivered and freed from the illusion only when the Lord Himself comes to the spot and put a question to the bewildered saint Narada as to what Narada was doing; that He had sent him only to fetch a pail of water in the river! The world is purposely filled with Maya or illusion. We easily fall a prey to the pulls and attractions of the Illusion. Those practising the Yoga of Devotion, on the contrary, spend as many hours as possible in simply adoring the Lord. And those practising Karma Yoga or the Yoga of Action continually indulge in endless activities but without expecting any reward for them. 

Thus 24 hours a day is not a boon to us but a curse unless we are practising either the Yoga of Devotion or the Yoga of right Action.

And adoration automatically comes to the devotees and they love the Lord not for the sake of any returns but for the sake of loving.

The similes of father and son, the love between friends and lovers is evocative. All our love for this material world affects us with repeated births and deaths. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says that all beings, both human and those belonging to the animal kingdom is striving for bliss in abundance. But they spend their lifetime repeatedly in every incarnation in focussing on the pleasures of this illusory world. But the ultimate Bliss involves the devotee and the Lord. We all bear the original bliss we were experiencing before our being sent to this world, and when we had been part and parcel of God. We were the children of Light or the Lord and after being sent to this world we forget our origin and begin to search for bliss in adulterated worldly things. But no being moves with any other motive than bliss. The Absolute Bliss waits for us when we mingle in God and become Him.

As far looking at the Great Lord as a Father or Master or Friend or lover the great 20^th Century Tamil Poet Subramaniya Bharati excels all. He has written moving poetry on Lord Krishna as a friend, lover, father and even as a servant! The Lord comes to us in the form and idea as we pray Him with.

The Great Woman Devotee of Yore, namely, Aandaal, saw the Lord as her lover and refused to marry any human being! She has written evocative poetry clothing her boundless love to the Lord in Tamil and her description of her marriage with the Lord is famous for its sheerness of love and craving for the Lord’s society only as a husband!

Instead of adoring the Lord, we fall a prey to this world’s illusions and adore material things and the opposite sex. But all love of such kind ultimately is routed toward God in the course of the umpteen number of births and deaths. Step by step we become spiritual and lose interest in the worldly joys. The Great Tamil Saint, Sri Ramana Magarishi, says that when we become afflicted with a headache we try our level best and use lots of drugs because we remember the state of being when we had not a headache.  Likewise, we are in continual search of small joys because we subconsciously remember our original state when we were all Children of the Light, which is the form of God.

I see the Lord Siva as my Master and myself His unflinching slave through the thick and thin of life. He has never given me any material comfort. For the last 25 years, I have been living from hand to mouth with my wife and two daughters. Lord Siva is also called in the Vedas as Rudra. And Siva is responsible for the Dissolution of the Universe, while Brahma and Vishnu take care of Creation and sustaining the beings. Rudra makes His worshippers cry and thus makes them entirely dependent on Him. Shedding tears in this world makes the way to Heaven rose-strewn. In all these twenty-five years of my married life, we have been literally existing on the bare minimum and absolutely without any saving! Rudra makes you go through fire and thus cleanse your mind which will fetch good births through the path of emancipation. But recently one miracle occurred. For quite some time I was offline and went back to my profession. Then a break from the profession occurred as my wife cut a tendon in her left hand. The surgery caused a lot of expense for me and unrelieved pain for my wife. I had to look after my wife. Thus I spent one month without going to the courts. But I never flinched by such an ordeal. My faith was put to an ultimate test. And a miracle occurred just about this time. To spend my leisure time I came back to my blogs. THE HOLY GITA blog was a great solace and spiritual experience for me. I wrote long comments for each verse this time. And all of a sudden the storm, Gaja, happened and our town went without electricity for four days consecutively. I felt miserable for I was not able to upload any post. Then on the fifth-day electricity was restored during the night time. I opened my laptop and keyed in. When I attempted to post the verses 41 and 42 I saw Google AdSense Ads! Immediately I rushed to the pooja room and thanked the Lord an umpteen number of times. Now I want to return back to blogging as a vocation and in the process earn money. I am not able to access other sites of mine except THE HOLY GITA. That’s why I have been going from pillar to post in the last couple of days. The restored electricity is only for the nights and during the daytime, we go without electricity. The system also has become very slow. We are experiencing rain every alternative day now. There is no electricity during the daytime. All these things come in the way of writing blogs in all of the sites. They say it would take one month to completely restore electricity. During this time all I could do is writing the site, THE HOLY GITA and hope for the best.

The Lord who takes away the peace of mind turns around and sweetens our life. We adore Him for the sake of itself.   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 11, VERSE 43, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 43

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

pita ‘si lokasya charaacharasya

     tvam asya poojyas cha gurur gartyaan

na tvatsamo ‘sty abhyadhikah kuto ‘nyo

     lokatraye ‘py apratima prabhaava

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

pitaa = father: asi = (thou) art: lokasya = of the world: chara acharasya = of the moving and unmoving: tvam = thou: asya = of thispoojyah = to be revered: ch = and: guruh = the Guru: gareeyaan = weightier: na = not: tvatsamah = equal to thee: asti = is: abhyadhikah = surpassing: kutah = whence: anyah = other: loka traye = in the three worlds: api = also: apratima prabhaava = O being of unequalled power.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

You are the Father of this world moving and unmoving. You are to be adored by this world, You the Greatest Guru; none there exists, who is equal to You in the three worlds; who then can excel You, O Being of unequalled power?

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

If there were more than one Iswara, there is the possibility of one counteracting the doings of another. That would lead to confusion and chaos. But Iswara being unparalleled and His suzerainty supreme, the entire creation adores Him as the Greatest of the great and as the All-powerful.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

There exists none who is equal to Thee: There cannot be two or more Ishvaras. If there were, the world will not get on as it does now. All the Ishvaras may not be of one mind, as they would all be independent of one another. What one wishes to create, another may wish to destroy!

When there does not exist one who is equal to Thee, how could there be one superior to Thee?

Father: Creator. As the Lord is the creator of this world He is fit to be adored. He is the greatest Guru also. Therefore there is no one who is equal to the Lord.

Comments by the blogger:

God in His Turiya form is Only ONE.

But He is worshipped by the Hindus through a great many numbers of deities. This may be viewed by others as self-contradictory thought or idea. But numerous Gods being worshipped by the Hindus is for the sake of the devotees. Both the Holy Bible and the Holy Koran address only one type of devotees. They teach Bhakti Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion only. But we can’t put all the humanity in a straight jacket. The beauty of Hinduism is that it addresses all  the four types of human beings and taking them not as a mass but as an individual unit or being; none is left out. Among human beings belonging to any religion of the world, there are four types. The first type of human beings is the humble and sentimental type. For them, the correct form of worship is to surrender themselves to God and show their DEVOTION to the Lord. This type of human beings are taken care of by the Bakhti Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion. But there are a number of persons who notwithstanding their staunch FAITH IN GOD are not belonging to the sentimental type. They cannot worship God in the way the faithful and humble and sentimental persons. For they are endowed with non-stop action. They are fully devoted to unceasing action and activities. For this kind of people, the Yoga of Devotion would not be of great help. They cannot be expected to sit in the Puja Room and offer worship to God and sing His praises. For these people who are on a continually activated mode, KARMA YOGA is prescribed by the Hindu religion. One is expected to indulge in unceasing activities but without a stake in the result and fruits of his or her actions.

All the Muslim Extremism and Terrorism that has caught the world by its throat is because the Holy Koran does not prescribe KARMA YOGA. It only prescribes Bakhti Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion. So the activated men and women belonging to the Mohammedanism are easily falling prey to the hardcore Terrorists and they are brain-washed and are used as human bombs and toward innumerable ways of Terrorism. But Hinduism takes very good care of people who are fired up with action and are continually on an activated mode and teaches them THE YOGA OF RIGHT ACTION as a means of emancipation.

Like this Gnana Yoga or the Yoga of Wisdom and Raja Yoga take very good care of those who are extremely wisdomatic and given to thoughts of higher nature.

The world’s human beings can thus be divided into the above-mentioned FOUR TYPES. Hinduism alone takes abundant care of each type of human being. There is a saying in Hinduism that there are as many religions as are the people. This is how the Hinduism takes individual care of the spiritual needs of individual persons.

Then let us consider the aspect of the Lord being the Father of this world, moving and unmoving:

God who is the ultimate Authority of the world is naturally Father of the moving. But how can we say He is the Father of the unmoving or insentient? Is He the Father of the earth, the sun, and the moon and all other teeming millions of revolving planets and stars? Yes, because God is pervasive and fills up even the insentient. This idea is peculiar to the Hinduism. The planets and stars are fixed in the heavens or the sky and move according to the rule of mutual attraction. The human beings have a close affinity to the insentient. And the movement of these planets intensely affects the minds and fate of the human beings on the earth! God, so, has created the world as inter-dependent beings and non-beings. He is the natural Father of both the moving and the unmoving.

Lastly, adoration of our Natural Father, the Lord, brings immense self-satisfaction and we are guided by His benedictions and through the inner-voice which we call as Conscience.

{ Dear Friends, you might have read about the storm, by name, Gaja. It affected eight districts in the State of Tamil Nadu, not excluding ours. The storm simply ripped through our small township. Almost all the big trees were simply uprooted and tossed around and there was no electricity for five consecutive days. Though the electric connection has been restored in our town we have to spend the daytime without electricity. They say this condition could be extended several months. As far as the blogs I am writing are concerned I cannot upload my postings as there is no electricity during the daytime. Moreover, the Modem that I use has the Airtel Sim card. Now it has become problematic to upload postings from six ‘O Clock in the morning till six in the evening. I am a late riser. So I’m not able to upload my writings every day. So you must forgive me if there is no posting for days together.}     

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 41 AND 42, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 41 AND 42

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

sakhe ‘ti matvaa prasabham yad uktam

     he krrshna he yaadava he sakhe ‘ti

ajaanataa mahimaanam tave ‘dam

     mayaa pramaadaat pranayena vaa ‘pi

yach chaa ‘vahaasaarthum asatkrrto ‘si

     vihaara sayyaasana bhojanesu

chko ‘thavaa ‘py acuta tat samaksham

     tat kshaamaye tvaam aham aprameyam

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH: sloka number 41

sakhaa = friend: iti = as: matvaa = regarding: prasabham = presumptuously: yat = whatever: uktam = said:  he krrshna = O Krishna: he yaadava = O Yadava: he yaadava = O Yadava: he sakhaa = O friend: iti = thus: ajaanataa = unknowing: mahimaanam = greatness: tava = thy: idam = this: mayaa = by me: pramaadaat = from carelessness: pranayena = due to love: vaa = or: api = even.

    

 yat = whatever: cha = and: avahaasaartham = for the sake of fun: asatkrrtah = disrespectfully: aasana bhojaneshu = while at play, on bed, while sitting or at means: ekah = (when) one: athavaa = or: api = even: achyuta = O Achyuta: tat = so: samaksham = in company: tat = that: kshaamaye = implore to forgive: tvaam = thee: aham = I: aprameyam = immeasurable.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Verse number 41

Whatever I have rashly said from carelessness or love, addressing You as “O Krishna, O Yadava, O friend,” looking on You merely as a friend, ignorant of this Your greatness;

Verse number 42

In whatever way I may have insulted You for jest while at play, reposing, sitting or at meals, when alone, O Achyuta, or in company—that I implore You, Immeasurable One, to forgive.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

It is but natural that the vision of the cosmic form of Iswara brings a dramatic change in the attitude of Arjuna. His assuming a spontaneous reverent relationship with Sri Krishnais theimmediate transformation that has come over him. Not only in him, but in all sadhakas this solemn attitude requires to be invoked and extended to the entire creation. The truth is that the Lord is manifesting Himself in all of these forms. All are therefore unknowingly cognizing fragments of His cosmic form. Cultivation of reverent attitude towards the entire creation is the most potent among spiritual practices.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN: for the Verse 41:

tavedam. Another reading is tavemam.      

For the Verse 42:

The vision of God produces a deep sense of unworthiness and sin. When Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, he said, “Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips...for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lords of Hosts.”

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA: FOR THE VERSE 42:

Arjuna, beholding the Cosmic Form of Lord Krishna, seeks forgiveness for his past familiar conduct. He says, “I have been stupid. I have treated Thee with familiarity, not knowing Thy greatness. I have taken Thee as my friend on account of misconception. I have behaved badly with Thee. Thou art the origin of this universe and yet I have joked with Thee. I have taken undue liberties with Thee. Kindly forgive me, O Lord.”

Tat: All those offences.

Achyuta: He Who is unchanging.

In company: In the presence of others.

Aprameyam: Immeasurable. He Who has unthinkable glory and splendor.

Comments by the blogger:

Arjuna gives more samples of his bewilderment at the sight of the Lord’s Cosmic Form. He begs for forgiveness for having treated the Lord in human form with familiarity. Only after the vision of the Lord’s Cosmic Form Arjuna realizes this is the Lord’s real form and it was out of compassion for the human beings on the earth the Lord had come down to the earth in an endearingly human form.

Arjuna is unduly afraid of his having treated the Lord in His human form with casual familiarity.

But Arjuna, even before the sight of the Cosmic Form had had great regard for the Lord notwithstanding his conviction that Sri Krishna was an ordinary human being.

Before the war at Krukshetra both Arjuna and Dhuriyodana came to visit Sri Krishna in his palace and the first comer, Arjuna, went in and found the Lord’s faked slumber, sat silently at His feet. Within a short while Dhuriyodana went into the bedroom of  Sri Krishna and on seeing the Lord in slumber, Dhuriyodana unhesitatingly sat at the head of the bed! So when the Lord woke up from His faked sleep, he automatically gazed at  Arjuna who had been sitting at His feet. Then only the Lord turned His head and welcomed Dhuriyodana. The Lord had tried His level best to avert the war. But Dhuriyodana and his men were ancious to fight Pandavas and grab their kingdom forever. So now the Lord proposed that He and His army were available to Arjuna and Dhuriyodana. He would not fight in the war. Arjuna and Dhuriyodana should choose between Him and His army. Dhuriyodana was anxious that Arjuna should not choose Sri Krishna’s big army. Since the Lord had seen Arjuna first, He asked Arjuna to choose first. This made Dhuriyodana grow restless. He was afraid that Arjuna should not choose Sri Krishna’s vast army. True to type, Arjuna chose the Lord without any hesitation. Immeadiately a releaved Dhuriyodana chose without any hesitation Sri Krishna’s vast army. For he thought the Lord who would not fight in the war was of no consequence and His army would double the strength of Dhuriyodana.

From this anecdote, we come to know that Arjuna naturally had high regard for Sri Krishna in His human form. Despite his merit, Arjuna is afraid of his having treated the Lord as though He was his friend. This is the result of the trepidation at the sight of the mighty vision of the Lord. An uninitiated Arjuna who had not been practising meditation was naturally afraid of the sight of the Cosmic Form.   

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 40, VISVARUPA DARSAND YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 40

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

namah purastaad atha prrshtthatas te

     namo ‘stu te sarvata eva sarva

ananta veeryaamita vikramas tvam

     sarvam samaapnoshi tato ‘si sarvah

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

namah = salutation: purastaat = (from) before: atha = also: prrshtthatah = (from) behind: te = to thee: namah = salutation: astu = be: te = to thee: sarvatah = on every side: eva = even: sarva = O all: ananta veerya = infinite in power: amita vikramah = infinite in powers: tvam = thou: sarvam = all: samaapnoshi = pervadest: tatah = wherefore: asi = (thou) art: sarvah = all.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Salutation to You before, salutation to You behind, salutation to You on every side, O All! Infinite in might and immeasurable in strength, You pervade all and therefore You are all.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The question of seeking God does not arise to the enlightened; it is a matter of seeing and recognizing Him everywhere and in everything. Arjuna has now risen to this exalted position.

The Lord is revealing His omnipotence exuberantly through the working of the universe. A reverent recognition of it is a form of adoration offered to the Almighty. Nay, man has something more to do. The powers and resources he is gifted with, have all come from God. A proper utilization of them for the public good is a potent form of prayer. It is the proper application of man’s dharma. He who fails to discharge his dharma spoils his life.

Just as a fruit is inclusive of the pulp, the seed and the skin, Iswara is inclusive of the universe and the beings in it. In the act of adoration the Lord, the act of upholding and propitiating the beings is included. In serving the beings, the Lord is served well.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The Supreme dwells everywhere, within, without, above, below and around and there is no place where He is not. See Mundaka Upanishad, II. 2. II; Chaandogya Upanishad, VII. 25

The truth that we are all the creatures of the One Supreme and that He is in each and every one of us is frequently repeated.  

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The words “I prostrate myself before Thee, behind Thee and on every side” indicate the all-pervading nature of the Lord. How can the all-pervading Self have front and back? Finite objects only have front and back sides! Arjuna imagined that there were front and back sides to the Lord and so prostrated himself in his extreme faith and devotion.

O All: Nothing exists without Thee. As the Self is all-pervading, He is called the All. There is nothing except the Self.

On every side, as Thou art present everywhere or in all quarters.

One may be powerful but may not possess the courage to kill the enemies or he may be endowed with a mild form of courage, but the Lord is infinite in courage and infinite in power.

Pervadest by Thy One Self.

Comments by the blogger:

God is all.

There is nothing that is not pervaded and filled by God.

This understanding of Nature and the Cosmos is unique to the Hinduism.

Almost all major religions of this world do not have a concrete conception of this world. But Hinduism though holds this world as a mere mirage and illusion, understands full well that this world is pervaded by the Lord and the whole cosmos exists in Him. It requires lots of courage and spiritual understanding to hold the illusory world as a material thing and understand that it is filled with God and inheres in Him. There are two words, Andam and Pindam. Andam means the whole cosmos. Pindam means our corporeal body of flesh and bones and veins. The holy Sages of Hinduism said thousands of years ago that WHAT IS THERE IN THE ANDAM IS IN PINDAM! Andam or the Cosmos and Pindam or the body are made up of the same ingredients. The Master Chef, the Almighty God, has created the whole world with the help of the FIVE ELEMENTS.  And He has created our bodies in the same way. We are nothing but a conglomeration of the FIVE ELEMENTS! And the Hindu Saints found out thousands of years back that in order to understand the Andam or the Cosmos one should understand the Pindam or one's body! They sought lonely forest retreats and sat in meditation for years together. They found out that the FIVE SENSES are a great iron wall between the illusion and reality. They found out that if one can shut one’s eyes and sit in the lotus posture, one can easily get the better of the other senses! The Five Senses are a great barrier in understanding this world. For their function is to bind us to this Material World. We want to taste the best food and thus we become addicted to luxurious food items and want to earn much in order to get this comfort. The sense of touching makes our senses reel crazily and even after 60 years of life in this world, Man cannot forget what a beautiful woman has got! Thus the Five Senses tie us up to this Material World, while emancipation consists of subduing the Five Senses according to the Hindu Saints and Sages. The primary function of the Senses is to bind forever the human beings to the material pleasures of this world. If we can subdue and get the better of the Five Senses then our inner eye will start to open and the dormant serpent power existing behind the testicles will rise up along the back-bone vertically till it reaches the head. Once that happens, the five senses totally lose their power and attraction and the Sage becomes one with God. This understanding also is unique to the Hinduism. Other major religions hold that the ultimate emancipation consists of the human beings’ entering into Heaven and live forever with God. But the Hindu Saints found out that anyone who is not swayed by the Five Senses and realizes God can mingle in Him. Man is nothing but an individual spark of the Lord. It stands to reason that once we free us from the attraction and pulls of the Five Senses we get back to our original self, that is God.

God fills the world and there can be nothing outside of Him. Arjuna is bewildered and frightened by the Cosmic Form of the Lord of Gita. So he keeps harking back to his original request that the Lord should shed His terrible Cosmic Form and revert back to His endearing human form.

God is All.

The total universe is filled by Him only. But during the Pralaya or Dissolution of the Universe God just slurps up the whole Universe. This attitude and Prowess of the Lord brings tension and discomfort to Arjuna’s understanding.     

      

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 39, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 39

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

VERSE IN TRANSLITERATION:

vaayur yamo ‘gnir varunah sasaankah

     prajaapatis tvam prapitaamahas cha

namo namas te ‘stu sahasrakrrtvah

     punas cha bhooyo ‘pi namo namas te

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

vaayuh = Vayu (the wind): yamah = Yama(God of Death): agnih = Agni (Fire): varunah = Varuna (God of rain): sasaankah = Moon: prajaapatih = Prajapati: tvam = thou: prapitaamahah = great-grandfather: cha = and: namah = salutations: namah = salutations: te = to thee: astu = be: sahasra krrtvah = thousand times: punah = again: cha = and: bhooyah = again: api = also: namah = salutations: namah = salutations: te = to thee.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

You are Vahu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, the Moon, Prajapati and the Great-grandfather. Salutation, salutation to You, a thousand times, and again and again salutation to You.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Prajaapati is the progenitor of beings. Brahma the Creator is the Granfather, he being the progenitor of the Prajaapatis. The Lord Himself is the Great-grandfather since Brahma has come out of Him. The innumerable salutations indicate the upsurge of devotion.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

According to some, “Prajaapati and the grandsire of all.”

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Prajapati: Marichi and others were the seven mind-born sons of Brahma. Kasyapa descended from Marichi and from Kasyapa came all other progeny. Therefore, Marichi, Kasyapa and others are known as Prajapatis or the gods of progeny. The word Prajapati here is interpreted by some as Kasyapa and other Prajapatis. But as the word has been used here in the singular number it is appropriate to take Brahma as Prajapati. Brahma or the Hiranyagarbha is the Karya Brahman (effect). Ishvara is the Karana Brahman (the cause for Brahma). Therefore, Ishvara is the great-grandfather. He is the father of even Brahma.

Ishvara has Maya as the limiting adjunct. Maya is His causal body. Ishvara has no plane. Maya is in an undifferentiated state. She is in a state where the qualities of Nature (Gunas) are in equilibrium. When the equilibrium is disturbed through the will of Ishvara, the three Gunas, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva manifest.

Thou are the moon alludes to and includes the sun also.

Punah, Bhuyah: Again. Salutations a thousand times and again salutations. This indicates that Arjuna had intense faith in and boundless devotion for Lord Krishna. He was not satisfied even if he prostrated himself a thousand times.

Comments by the blogger:

Arjuna salutes the Lord of Gita presently in His Cosmic Form again and again and again! He now has no doubt whatsoever about the high and infinite merits of the Lord and understands that the Universe is not only pervaded by the Lord but the Universe is in God! Arjuna’s new understanding that he and his brothers and the two armies ready to fight and the brave Pitamaha, Bhishma, and venerable teacher, Drona, are all included in the sentient beings of this Universe. And the realization that they all are related to each other having come on to this earth’s plane to work out the effect of their individual past Karma gives Arjuna a sensation of oneness with all. Both his warriors and the warriors on the enemy’s side are going to die. But each warrior has a stake in the working out of the individual karma of each and every other warrior. Not only this. The Lord’s Cosmic Form brings to Arjuna a realization that even the insentient objects of this world are filled with God. The Universe is God’s body. Arjuna’s realization plus the Cosmic Form have brought him a tingling trepidation and raw fear. So we saw him cringe begging the Lord to please return to His earlier human form.

Here in this verse Arjuna bows a thousand times and is not satisfied with that and salutes again and again. The devotion and trepidation go hand in hand. As we saw earlier for the Cosmic Form of the Lord of Gita to bring ecstasy to Arjuna, Arjuna is not a consummate Yogi practising for years together Transcendental Meditation. But the Lord in His infinite compassion has opened the inner eye of Arjuna. So Arjuna is not quite comfortable with the Cosmic Form of the Lord. Another thing that already all the warriors on the enemy’s side have been slain by the Lord Himself without any agency of Arjuna. And Arjuna is now asked by the Lord to become willingly an able instrument in the hands of the Lord. All these new things and realization plus the formidable Cosmic Form of the Lord make Arjuna fervently to put the clock back and he intensely desires for the Lord to assume His endlessly endearing human form.

Arjuna salutes a thousand times and more. He vouchsafes that the Lord is Vayu (the wind god), Yama (the god of Death), Agni (the god of fire), Varuna (the god of rain), the moon and the sun, the Creator and the great-grandfather. The Lord is the Creator of even Brahma (the god of Creation)  Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, the moon and the sun were the Vedic Deities. The Rig-vedic Saints saw godhood in each of the five elements, besides other Universal Powers. Later, in the period of Vedanta or the Upanishadic Period all the Rig-vedic gods were united in the Principal Three Entities, by name, Brahma (the Lord who creates beings), Vishnu (the Lord who sustains the beings and the world, and Siva (the Lord of dissolution of the Universe). Besides this, Lord Vishnu and Lord Siva were individualized by the two sects of worshipers and Vishnu and Siva were individually seen as the Ultimate Lord of the Universe carrying out all the three functions, Creation, Sustenance and Dissolution of the Universe. Though the Vedic gods and elemental powers have lost their relevance today, at the time of Gita, they must have been very much in vogue and worshipped reverently. That is why Vishnu claims throughout the Text of  Bhagavad Gita that He is the Ultimate God carrying out all the Three Cosmic Functions. Arjuna now is vouchsafing that fact in abundant words of mouth and endless salutations by his body.       

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 38, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 38

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

tvam aadideva purushah puraanas

     tvam asya visvasya param nidhaanam

vettaa ‘si vedyam cha param cha dhaama

     tvayaa tatam visvam ananta roopa

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

tvam = thou: aadi devah = the primal God: purushah = Purusha: puraanah = the ancient: tvam = thou: asya = of (this): visvasya = of universe: param = the supreme: nidhaanam = refuge: vettaa = knower: asi (thou) art: vedyam = to be known: cha = and: param = the supreme: cha = and: dhaama = abode: tvayaa = by thee: tatam = is pervaded: visvam = the universe: ananta roopa = O being of infinite forms.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

You are the Primal God, the Ancient Purusha; You are the Supreme Abode of all this, You are the Knower and the knowable and the Supreme Abode; this universe is pervaded by You, O Being of infinite form.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The Lord is aadideva or the Primal God because of His being the source of everything sentient and insentient. The Puri of Prakriti (nature) is His construction; and He being its oldest occupant, He is Puraana Purusha (Ancient Person). When Prakriti is withdrawn during Pralaya, (the dissolution of the universe) it goes to rest in Him. For this reason, He is called Param Nidhaanam or the Supreme Abode.

The sun throws light and reveals the earth that has come out from itself. Akin to this, the Lord is the cognizer and the object cognized. The sea is the abode, it being the originator, the sustainer and the withholder of the waves. Even so, the Lord is the Supreme Abode, Param Dhaama (Supreme Abode of Vishnu), of the universe. The effect known as the universe is pervaded by the cause known as Iswara in His infinite forms.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Primal God, because the Lord is the creator of the universe.

Purusha, because the Lord lies in the body (Puri Sayanat)

Nidhanam: That in which the world rests during the great deluge or cosmic dissolution.

The pot comes out of the clay and gets merged in clay. Even so the world has come out of the Lord and gets dissolved or involved in the Lord. So the Lord is the material cause of the world. Therefore, He is the primal God and the supreme refuge also.

Vetta: Knower of the knowable things. As the Lord is omniscient He knows all about the world, and He is the instrumental or the efficient cause of this world.

Param Dhama: Supreme Abode of Vishnu. Just as the rope (the substratum for the superimposed snake) pervades the ‘snake’ so also Brahman or Vishnu through His Nature as Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute pervades the whole universe.    

Comments by the blogger:

God is the Supreme Abode of the universe. Our life in this world is a challenging one. We can never recall what we were in our earlier incarnations. We can never tell as to when the latest sojourn on the earth will end. God is the Supreme Creative Writer. Before His creativity, all our thriller novel experts pale into insignificant nothingness. God clothes this Atman in skeleton and flesh and a network of the nervous system. He hides our Atman from us by His masterly illusion. He creates time and gives us twenty-four hours. We are on a continuous working mode and we can’t remain even a few seconds without indulging in action. The illusion of this world and the universe hides our great soul, which is an individualized expression of God. So we become earth oriented instead of self orientedness. The continuous action by us ever aims in Yogakshema or earning money and other things that increase our material comforts and keeping for our enjoyment makes us selfish. We don’t even know that everything, sentient and insentient, belongs to God and is pervaded by Him. We don’t realize that our brothers and sisters and the whole humanity have a vested interest in what we do and the vice versa. The work and action we indulge in for selfish ends shades our Atman or Soul from us. We individually can make this compulsion to work by putting our selfish ends on the back-burner and take up the social cause and work for the emancipation of the humanity. The selfish eds for which we devote our best part of life binds us to work-related life for the sake of selfish ends. This binds us all to this worldly life repeatedly after death. The masterly creative writer, God, has given us a personal choice in the way we expend twenty-four hours a day and let us loose on the earth. We, thinking that is our only duty, indulge in various comforts and selfish enrichment. The Self-realization never occurs to us. God lets us preponderatingly free in this world and thus create our own Karmas and Fate as to how we will work further in our succeeding births. WE ARE UNABLE TO REALIZE THAT GOD IS THE SUPREME REFUGE OF THIS UNIVERSE. We must work ceaselessly toward enriching our spiritual mode and way of  life. THIS WORLD IS FULL OF SENSE PLEASURES WHICH BIND US TO REPEATED AND ENDLESS BIRTHS, AND GOD IS THE ONLY REFUGE OF THIS SET UP. WE HAVE TO TAKE REFUGE BY SEEKING GOD’S SOCIETY. THE LIFE IN THIS UNIVERSE IS FULL OF LOWLY AND BIRTH-CREATING PLEASURES. WE ARE UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT GOD IS THE ONLY REFUGE OF THIS UNIVERSE. GOD IS THE KNOWER OF ALL THINGS. HE IS THE ONLY ENTITY THAT WE SHOULD GET TO KNOW IN THIS UNIVERSE. THOUGH GOD IS THE SUPREME ABODE WE SEEK PLEASURE AND COMFORTS FROM THIS UNIVERSE ITSELF, FORGETTING THE LORD WHO IS THE SOLE REFUGE FROM THE PITFALLS OF THIS ILLUSORY UNIVERSE. ARJUNA HAS COME TO UNDERSTAND CLEARLY ABOUT THESE THINGS AND THIS MAKES ARJUNA ON A CONTINUOUS MODE OF GLORIFICATION OF THE LORD.  

INTIMATION TO MY FRIENDS

HI FRIENDS,
AS I AM GOING OUT OF STATION, THERE WOULD BE NO POSTING TODAY. TOMORROW I WILL COME UP WITH THE POST REGARDING THE COMMENTARIES FOR VERSE NUMBER 38. TILL THEN WISH YOU ALL THE BEST.

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 37, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 37

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

kasmaach cha te na nameran mahaatman

     gareyase brahmano ‘py aadikartre

ananta devesa jagannivaasa

     tvam aksharam sad asat tat param yat

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

kasmaat = why: cha = and: te = thy: na = not: nameran = may prostrate: mahaatman = O great-souled one: gareeyase = greater: brahmanah = of Brahma: api = also: aadi kartre = the primal cause: ananta = O infinite being: devesa = O Lord of gods: jagannivaasa = O abode of the universe: tvam = thou: aksharam = imperishable: sat = the being: asat = non-being: tat = that: param = the supreme: yat = which.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

And why should they not, O Great-souled One, bow to You, greater (than all), the Primal Cause even of Brahma, O Infinite Being, O Lord of gods, O Abode of the universe; You are the Imperishable, the being and the non-being, that which is the Supreme.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHVANANDA:

The urge to praise Iswara rises spontaneously in the minds of the enlightened ones. For, knowing and admiring are interrelated. Iswara is Mahaatman as there is none greater than He. He is Ananta due to His transcending time, space and causation. He is the Lord of all the gods, their destiny being shaped by Him. As the ocean is the abode of the waves, the Lord is the abode of the universe. Brahama the Creator is the Immanent Aspect of Iswara. He is also known as Hiranyagarbha. For the convenience of our conception of him, he may be put as the sum total of Jivatmans, Iswara is the primal cause of Brahman even, just as the ocean is the primal cause of all the waves put together. The manifest aspect of the universe is sat, the unmanifest being asat. Iswara is glorified as Akshara since no modification of any kind takes place in Him, even when the universe comes into being from Him. The Lord is not only the Immanent Reality, but He is also the Transcendental Reality. For this reason, He is praised as Param. The glories of God are infinite. What else can the realized souls do than going into raptures and extolling Iswara? The sadhaka rises in spiritual stature as he indulges in the praise of the Lord.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

aadikartr: Thou art the first creator, or Thou art the creator even of Brahmaa.

Jagannivaasa: the Refuge of the universe. The God in whom dwells the universe.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

The Lord is Mahatma. He is greater than all else. He is imperishable. So He is the proper object of worship, love, and delight.

That which exists in the three periods of time is Sat. Brahaman is Sat. That which does not exist in the three periods of time is Asat. This world is Asat. This body is Asat.

The words Sat and Asat mean here the manifested and the unmanifested which form the adjuncts of the Akshara (imperishable). In reality, the Akshara transcends both these. The word Akshara is applied in the Gita sometimes to the Unmanifest (Nature) and sometimes to the Supreme Being.

Ananta is He Who is free from the three kinds of limitations (of time, space and thing) which have already been explained.

Comments by the blogger:

In the earlier sloka or verse, Arjuna says, “It is meet, O Krishna, that the world delights and rejoices in Thy praise. Here in sloka or verse number 37, Arjuna continues his rapturous praises thus, “And why should they not, O great soul, bow to Thee who is greater than all else, the prial cause even of the Creator (Brahma), O infinite Being.”

Arjuna who was petrified by the sight of the Cosmic Form at one stage now rejoices the praise of the Lord of Gita. He has evolved from a frightened soul to a great person who cannot help extolling the Lord’s greatness. This evolution brings us greater delight. Because a petrified Arjuna cannot fight the war to the best of his ability. 

People who find time every day to sing the praise of the Lord are great souls indeed. The Saintly Poet, Tiruvalluvar, exhorts thus: “Whatever you think let it be about satvika thing.”

Because what we actually think we become that in the end. If we praise those high souls among us, past and present, we are elevated and our character is wrought around the qualities we did adopt in praising them. So whatever you think let it be about great things of the world. We should often ponder about great souls among us, and never let up on this quality. Our character forms around the person we often extol.

 This is the reason why we often extol God and sing His infinite qualities. It is not because God does not know about his infinitely rich qualities. We need not to remind God about His greatness. He is extolled as the Wisdomatic Being without having to learn anything. There is nothing neither in this Universe or outside the scope of this infinitely enriched Universe that God does not know. Then why should we extol His praises? Because we become what we often think and speak! Since we are an individual spark of God we get to gain much in devoutly praising the highly elevated qualities of God. The end of Bakhthi Yoga or the Yoga of Devotion is, like other forms of Yoga, illumination and becoming one with God.

We become God! Because we are indeed individual sparks of God. God’s illusion makes us forget our real origin and induces us to endlessly become enmeshed in the material existence with an overmastering urge to garner wealth and keep it with us. The Earth’s plane is only temporary. Except our Soul, every other thing is perishable. First among the perishable is our body. The nine-gated edifice, our body, encroaches every living day into our Spiritual pondering. By learning to extol God and sing His outstanding qualities and aspects make us come nearer to God in the succeeding incarnations and at one stage we become God indeed!