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.
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