THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 51, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 51

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

arjuna uvaacha

drrshttve ‘dam maanusham roopam tava saumyam janaardana

idaaneem asmi samvrrttah sachetaah prakrrtim gatah

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

drrshtvaa = having seen: idam = this: maanusham = human: roopam = form: tava = thy: saumyam = gentle: janaardana = O Janardana: idaaneem = now: asmi = am: samvrrttah = composed: sachetaah = with mind: pradrrtim = to nature: gatah = restored.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Having seen this Your gentle human form, O Janardana, I am now composed and am restored to my own nature.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The fish in the troubled water is ill at ease; it regains its normalcy when water becomes calm. Even so the Jivatman cannot remain composed when put in touch with the terrific aspect of Iswara. Arjuna bears evidence to this fact.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Arjuna says to Lord Krishna: “O Lord, I now behold Thy human form. Now my thoughts are collected and I am serene. I can speak. My senses perform their proper functions. My fear has vanished. Thou hast treated me as a mother would treat her erring child whom she embraces and nurses. Just as the calf rejoices when it beholds its mother who was missing for some days, so also I rejoice now when I behold Thy gentle form. I have drunk the nectar. Now I am alive”.

Comments by the blogger:

Now we know that the Lord fully knows the risk involved in allowing Arjuna to see His Cosmic Form. For, in the beginning, in the chapter ARJUNA’S VISHADA YOGA, we see a bewildered Arjuna as to his duty. He couldn’t see any worthwhile purpose in putting to death his revered Pitamaha, Bhishma and the Teacher, Drona, and Arjuna said to the Lord that if the enemies of his were killed their women would be affected, that they would be forced to lead an undeserved life, that the family tradition would get affected, that Arjuna could not see any purpose in indulging in this wasteful war which involved the killing of his relatives on the other side and that it would be advisable to go around the world a-begging. Arjuna went through a sentimental senility. He had forgotten what a fearless warrior he had always been and how he had offered battle to Lord Siva Himself and at the end how He had presented Arjuna with a mighty bow. He snivelled and behaved like a sentimental old woman, which did not go hand in hand with the real Arjuna who struck terror in the hearts of his enemies. He even put aside his bow and told the Lord, who, in His infinite compassion, had willingly offered to serve as Arjuna’s charioteer, that he would not fight this war just as the two armies had been positioned and ready to begin the war!

Now we saw an Arjuna who became bewildered at the sight of the Lord’s terrific Cosmic Form. Arjuna was already made ready to fight the war as his duty. He had seen what a sentimental senility it was to not fight his war which had come to him, a kshatria, quite unsought. The Lord of Gita took Arjuna’s consciousness step by step so that he would realize the futility and the dishonour of fleeing from the war front. And it was Arjuna who had volunteered to witness the Lord’s Cosmic Form. The Lord could have denied this prerogative by saying no Seer or human being had ever seen His Cosmic Form. But the Lord knew that Arjuna would become somewhat demoralized by seeing the terrific Form of His. But still, the Lord was not taking any chances and decided to drive home the pointed point that Arjuna was a Kshatriya or a person belonging to the warrior class and he could not just shrug his swadharmic duty.

In this verse, Arjuna addresses Sri Krishna as Janardana. Janardana means HE WHO IS ADORED BY DEVOTEES FOR THE FULFILMENT OF THEIR DESIRES. What an apt description! At the basic and ordinary level, God is adored principally for the fulfilment of the devotees’ desires. The Lord does not hold it against the persons like me who want to free themselves from problems, economic or otherwise. The Lord Himself says elsewhere in The Holy Gita that people worship Him for fulfilment of their desires, to come out of some problems, out of love and affection for the Lord and the fourth type of people who adore the Lord ( there is no prayers to put forth at the Lord’s lotus feet) for the sake of adoration itself. The fourth type of devotees does not want God to do anything for their selves. Like Kunti who, on being asked at the end of the great war at Kurukshetra as to what she wanted most, asks Sri Krishna for the repeated worldly life so that she could adore the Lord as an unflinching devotee! But the Lord says in The Holy Gita that he loves all types of devotees! That is one of the messages of Bhagavad Gita.    

 Arjuna says in this Sloka or Verse, “Having seen this Your gentle human form, O Janardana, I am now composed and am restored to my own nature.”

The Lord could have denied Arjuna the chance of seeing His  Cosmic Form. He knew full well that the sight and vision of His Cosmic Form will bring about some demoralization in Arjuna. In that case, the Lord’s earlier striving could have become useless. But the Lord takes the risk and wants to make Arjuna see how the warriors on both sides have already been slain by Him even without the medium or agency or involvement of Arjuna. This Cosmic Form has the desirable effect on Arjuna who under normal circumstances is an unparalleled and bravest of warriors striking fear and trepidation in the hearts of the enemies. Now Arjuna says he has become composed. And he further says that he has been restored to his own nature. His nature is fearless warfare. He is now ready both physically and psychologically to wage an aggressive war. Sri Bhagavan, thus, Has been very successful in showing the stuff Arjuna is made of.

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