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.