THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 35, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 35

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:                                                  

samjaya uvaacha

etach chrutvaa vachanam kesavasya

     krrtaanjalir vepamaanah kireetee

namaskrtvaa bhooya evaa ‘ha krishnam

     sagadgadam bheetabheetah pranamya

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

samjaya uvaacha = Sanjaya said:

etat = that: srutvaa = having heard: vachanam = speech: kesavasya = of Kesava: krrtaanjalih = with joint palms: vepamaanah = trembling: kireetee = the crowned one: namaskrrtva = prostrating (himself): bhooyah = again: eva = even: aaha = addressed: krrshnam = to Krishna: sagadgadam = in a choked voice: bheetabheetah = overwhelmed with fear: pranamaya = prostrated.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Sanjaya said:

Having heard that speech of Kesava, the crowned one (Arjuna) with joined palms, trembling, prostrating himself, again addressed Krishna, in a choked voice, bowing down, overwhelmed with fear.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The crown is the symbol of monarchy. A king with a crown on, should not bow his head to anybody. To be fearless is his dharma. Instead of paying homage to others he is to receive homage from others. To be firm and resolute in his utterances is the way of a crowned one. But such kingly conventions have all taken to their heels. Even kings have to humble themselves before God. The more the Jivatman humbles himself before the Paramatman, the better it is for him.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Rudolf Otto gives this whole scene as an example of the place of the numinous, the mysterium tremendum in religion. It presents to us the transcendent aspect of God.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

When anyone is in a state of extreme terror or joy he sheds tears on account of pain or exhilaration of spirits. Then his throat is choked and he stammers or speaks indistinctly or in a dull, choked voice. Arjuna was extremely frightened when he saw the Cosmic Form and so he spoke in a stammering tone.

There is great significance in Sanjaya’s words. He thought that Dhritarashtra might come to terms or make peace with the Pandavas when he knew that his son would certainly be killed for want of proper support when Drona and Karna would be killed by Arjuna. He hoped that consequently there would be peace and happiness to both the parties. But Dhritarashtra was obstinate; he did not listen to this suggestion on account of the force of destiny.  

Comments by the blogger:

Arjuna gasps and his voice is choked with fear.

We have already seen that since Arjuna was not endowed with yogic meditation and practised for years together any form of meditation as described in Gita he is afraid. For a consummate yogi, the Cosmic Form would be an ultimate experience in ecstasy. But Arjuna was not a yogi and he was given initiation through the benevolence of the Lord of Gita to witness the Cosmic Form.

Since we all are filled with the illusion we are not able to witness The Ultimate Truth.

We will all be wetting the pants and trembling in our shoes if God chose to make us witness His Cosmic Form.

Man cannot see the Truth eye to eye and remain undisturbed.

The truth will scorch us all.

Just for an example take the sight of our loved ones, lover or friends; if we were to be forced to see the x-ray film of the head and face of our loved ones we can’t bear the sight. Beauty is only skin deep. Under the skin and flesh, we are nothing but unbearably ugly skeletal form. If we were to see the complete skeletal appearance close up we would be nauseated and afraid of the Truth of our loved ones’ real appearance. The Saint Manickavasaga of the ninth century in his incomparable work, by name, TIRUVASAGAM, in Tamil often says this body is nothing but the ugly flesh and skeleton covered up by the skin. He also says that we have nine holes in our body and nauseating wastage and grime is expelled by all the nine holes continuously without any stop.

Take for example our loved one’s face; if we were enabled to look at the real and Truthful sight of the skin and the millions of tissues and pores on the face close up the unreal face would be lost to our eyes. Our loved one’s face would be revolting. What a beautiful nose our spouse is having and unfortunately, it is not the real sight. Millions of pores and tissues of the so-called nose would frighten us. This is the case with the private parts of our spouses. None of us would be able to see the real sight of the nose of our spouse. Because Man cannot withstand and remain unruffled by the real sight and appearance of our dear ones. But the actual sight is denied to the naked eyes of Man and Woman. We are cozy and unconcerned with the false appearance of our loved ones’ face and other parts. The real sight would drive us up the wall. We are enveloped by illusion. This illusion is part of our daily life. We are enamoured by the false sights. But we are quite comfortable with this illusory worldly life.

Arjuna is, notwithstanding the benefit of the inner eye bestowed by his Lord Master, not just over-awed and overwhelmed with ordinary fear. His voice is choked and he cries out in acute agony for the Lord’s ordinary vision with four arms and discuss and the conch. 

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 34. VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 34

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

dronam cha bheeshmam cha jayadratham cha

     karnam tathaa ‘nyaan api yodhaveeraan

mayaa hataams tvam  jahi maa vyathishthaa

     yudhyasava jetaasi rane sapatnaan

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

Dronam = Drona: cha = and: bheeshmam = Bhishma: cha = and: jayadratham = Jayadratha: cha = and: karnam = Karna: tathaa = also: anyaan = others: api = also: yodha = veeraan = brave warriors: mayaa = by me: hataan = slain: tvam = thou: jahi = do kill: maa = not: vyathishthaah = be distressed with fear: yudhyasva = fight: jetaasi = shalt conquer: rane = in the battle: sapatnaan = the enemies.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Slay Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna and other brave warriors who are already doomed by Me. Be not distressed with fear. Fight and you will conquer your enemies  in battle.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

It has been already made clear that the killing of Drona and Bhishma is not contrary to dharma. The next question is whether they can be killed at all. For, Drona is endowed with weapons divine. And Bhishma is one whom death cannot approach without his own permission. Nobody has so far successfully combated with him. Yet another problem is in regard to Jayadratha. By hard penance his father has acquired the power to make the head of that man burs who succeeded is equally problematic. He is armed with ‘Sakti’ a deadly weapon bestowed upon him by Indra. There is no escape for that man against whome this weapon is used. Karna keeps it to take vengeance on Arjuna’s plight.

‘When God is with us who is against us?’ –This maxim is worth pondering over and to be pursued in life. God is here with Arjuna. What can his powerful enemies do  against him? the Lord has willed to have them destroyed. Their power is already withdrawn from them. They are now like pictures which can be easily brushed aside. Arjuna has only to function just as an arrow at the hands of an archer. The Lord wil have His work done through his agency. The glory of a great conquest will be his, as a reward for this agency. This point is diven home into the mind of Partha.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

mayaa hataam: doomed by me. God knows the direction of their lives and their appointed goal. There is nothing however small or insignificant that has not been ordained or permitted by God, even to the fall of a sparrow.

Arjuna is asked to assume the office of Providence. He will be externally master of nature and inwardly superior to all possible accidents.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Already slain by Me: Therefore, O Arjuna, you need not be afraid of incurring sin by killing them.

Drona had celestial weapons. He was Arjuna’s teacher in the science of Archery. He was Arjuna’s beloved and greatest Guru. Bhishma also possessed celestial weapons. He could die only if and when he wanted to die. He once fought single-handed with Lord Parasurama and was not defeated. So powerful was he.

The father of Jayadratha performed penance with a resolve: “the head of the man who may cause the head of my son to fall on the ground, shall also fall”. During the war, however, Arjuna’s arrow cuts the head and drops it on the lap of the father who inadvertently, makes it fall on the ground: he too dies at once. Karna, the son of the Sun-god, had obtained an unerring missile from Indra.

Comments by the blogger:

This sloka or verse is in continuation of the verse number 34 of this chapter.

God states that Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna and other brave warriors are already slain by Him. Even God could not slain a man who has not accumulated consciously the required Samskaras. Thus that man’s death is scripted by himself. God’s  Universe revolves according as the rule of  cause and effect. If we throw a rubber ball against a wall, the ball is sent back with exactly equal force. And that is the effect of the cause of throwing the ball against the wall. In his Autobiography Srimat Swami Yogananda Paramahamsa describes this evocatively in his book. The Master of Yogananda’s Master was an exact replica of the renouned Babaji under whome the Master of Yogananda’s Master worked as a disciple. Though Yogananda’s Master’s Master was complete in his Sadana or practice of meditation  and realized God and after which he took up a number of disciples under his spiritual heir, he had but one wish that was not fulfilled on his earthly sojourn. What the worthy saint  wanted was to build a palace completely in gold with all the trappings of a great palace! This was one but strong Samskara he had had unfulfilled till his Mahasamadhi or Death. Because of this one Samskara, a strong desire to live in a palace made of gold made him unable to enter into Mahasamadhi. Only persons who have outwitted the Maya or Illusion of this world whereby everyone is motivated towards non-stop action and desiring the fruits of such activities and completely renounce the World can attain Mahasamadhi, God chose a way out so that that one unfulfilled ambition is fulfilled here on the earthly plane; Yoganandaji has colourfully described in his famous Autobiography, by name, “An Autobiography of a Yogi”. God chose that Master who had one blemish in him which made him a  slave to the Samskara shall fulfill completely: God created a great and shining Palace in pure gold! Babaji’s disciple was made to live in that palace till his Samskara was fully fulfilled! The sage, Lahiri Mahasaya, lived in that palace till his desire was completely fulfilled. This palace in gold was created in a vacant place. The moment Lahiri Mahasaya’s desire was fulfilled the whole shining Palace was dismantled and the same was lost to human sight. Once again there was just a vacant site! And Sri Lahiri Mahasaya went up to Heaven without any worldly desire!

The Lord of Gita has created the Universe with a rule that there would be no cause without a logical effect. If we suffer a thought or entertain a desire it gives place for a Samskara. No one, howsoever he or she may be great, can escape this chain of Cause and Effect. Human beings are utterly bewildered at the riches of the world and want to possess all the riches and comforts. Thus there is a rat race against Time! Even in the death-bed human beings are full of unfulfilled desires. Thus they have to come back to this Earth time and time again. only a few among the vast humanity know the Art of Karma Yoga whereby one is ordained to act ceaselessly but without the desire for the fruits of his or her actions. When a man indulges in activities throughout his life with no desire and thus without creating further Samskaras which cause the unwary beings to come back repeatedly to the Earth’s plane. The creation of a desire, howsoever small it might be, gives rise to a Samskara. And one who has created umpteen number of Samskaras cannot escape from having to come back to this World of God to work out those Samskaras.

And when one will die is also the result of one’s creation of Samskaras both in this incarnation and the previous ones. Samskaras follow men as though they were the shadow of them. Part of this working out is the effect of Death for all human beings. Men and Women live and create lots of Samskaras because of their selfish desires for their actions, meet with death at the proper time. There is no escape from the inexorable rule or law of the Universe.

Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna and other brave warriors have earned death because of the chasing Samskaras and this is the time for their Death, and there is a compulsion to live as far as one’s Past and Present Samskaras would allow. The warriors mentioned above have given rise to their Samskaras which lead them toward death.

Since it is the Law of Nature governing God’s Universe, the Lord says He has killed all these warriors and urges Arjuna to fight his battle and obtain unrivalled glory on the Earth.

                                                  

Continuation of the comments by the blogger to the verse number 33, chapter number 11, of The Holy Gita.

Continuation of the comments by the blogger to verse number 33, chapter 11 of Bhagavad Gita.

We have seen that actions like murders and raping are not Lord’s actions and the murderers and rapists are not acting just as the instruments in the Hands of the Lord. But why should the Lord specifically state in the verse 33, chapter 11 of Bhagavad Gita that all actions of killing of the warriors on both sides have already been done by HIM and all Arjuna needs to do is to become just an instrument in carrying out what Sri Krishna wants to do!

Sri Krishna states as above at the risk of being misunderstood by some people. Sri Krishna is not afraid of stating something and staking His arguments as boldly as in the verse number 33. Sometimes a verse in the Bhagavad Gita is self-contained and such verse can be taken as an independent advice and mantra. At the same time, the Lord has stated many times in Gita which are not independent verse in the sense that they may be taken as a completed advice by the Lord of Gita and followed by the faithful devotees. Verse number 33 is one such verse and mantra which has to be understood in the  backround of the Lord’s main theme in the Gita. The Lord of Gita is not afraid of being misunderstood. And the Holy Gita is defenitly not for those weaklings who need to be spoon-fed all the time. An unfaithful man can argue that if all the actions are belonging to the Lord and human beings are just instruments in His Hands. An unfaithful man may ridicule others for putting their unflinching faith in the Lord’s teachings in Gita by pin-pointing verses like the present one. We have to have lots of faith in the teachings of the Lord in Gita. Yes, the Lord says in the verse number 33 that He has already killed all warriors including Bishma and Drona and all Arjuna needs to do is just become consciously an instrument in the hands of the Lord Master. But actions by murderes and raping are not the acts of God and they are carried out by unscrupulous people who have won in suppressing the Lord’s voice inside of them and give overmastering importance to their selfish and wrongful and sinful needs.

Here the warriors of Dhuriyodhana including himself are put to death by God who wants Arjuna to act just as an instrument in His hands and kill and slay those warriors not excluding Bishma and Drona who are fairly fit to be worshiped by Arjuna. Those warriors have written and scripted their own fate  by their commissions and omitions. The Verse 33 does not contemplate any particular act of warriors on the side of Dhuriyodana but relates to actions carried nefariously by Dhuriyodana and others on his side right from the time when Pandavas and Dhuriyodanas were studying as pupils un the able master Drona as teenaged children. Countless are the maleavelent acts indulged in by the Dhuriyodanas against the Pandavas. Right from the beginning of their education  under Drona as young pupils the Dhuriyodanas have been indulging in sinful and utterly nefarious acts so that Pandavas could be put to death. ALL THESE ACTIONS OF THE DHURIYODANAS HAVE SCRIPTED THEIR FATE THAT WAS GOING TO BE WORKED OUT ON THE BATTLE FIELD OF KURUKSHETRA. IT IS THEIR FATE INDEED THAT HAS HASTENED THE DHURIYODANAS TO WAGE THIS WAR.  THE UNSCRUPULOUS ACTS OF THE DHURIYODANAS HAVE ACCUMULATED AGAINST THEM AND THE DHURIYODANAS’ FATE CONSISTING OF THEIR BEING KILLED AND FINISHED OFF ON THE FIELD OF KRUKSHETRA AND THIS IS THE EFFECT OF THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT AND SELFISHLY SINFUL ACTIONS ON THE PART OF THE DHURIYODANAS. IT HAS AN INEXORABLE EFFECT OF BEING KILLED AND IN THIS MANNER THE DHURIYODANAS HAVE SCRIPTED THEIR OWN FATE ACTING QUITE INDEPENDENTLY SELFISHLY AND SINFULLY. THOS ACTS OF THE DHURIYODANAS RIGHT FROM THE EARLY TIME WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG PUPILS WERE NOT ACTS OF GOD EITHER. THEY HAD BEEN COMMITTED CONSCIOUSLY IN THE EXERCISE OF THEIR INDEPENDENT CHOICE. THE INEXORABLE EFFECT OF THEIR BEING KILLED AT KURUKSHETRA WAS THE EFFECT OF A HUGE BUNDLE OF DHURIYODANAS’ ACTIONS RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING ACTING AGAINST THE URGE OF GOD’S VOICE AND THIS INEXORABLE EFFECT IS CONVENIENTLY BEEN REFERRED TO AS GOD’S ACT HERE IN THE VERSE NUMBER 33.                                                  

CONTINUATION OF THE COMMENTS BY THE BLOGGER FOR THE VERSE NUMBER 33 AND CHAPTER NUMBER 11 OF THE HOLY GITA

Continuation of the blogger’s comments:

We have seen elsewhere that God is the Best Creative Writer.

God’s Atman or Soul is the Soul of in everyone of us. God gives twenty-four hours a day which should be used in such a manner so that we do not accumulate further Samskaras. This is the gist of the Karma Yoga. We are pure Atma or Soul but the Soul is hidden in us and we are plunged into the Ocean of Samsara or the worldly life. We have to spend, day in and day out, twenty-four hours a day and everyday. We are shrouded in worldly life which, most of the time, is spent in grabbing and holding Aishwaryas or wealth of all sorts so we and the sons and daughters and others could enjoy the same here on worldly life and uninterrupted materialism. We are selfish. And every waking hour is spent in plotting on how to accumulate more and more wealth and save it for our heirs. The required trick is to indulge continuously in action but with a mind which does not identify with the enjoyments of the worldly life. We have the benefit of the inner conscience which tells us every time we indulge or try to indulge in selfish activities. The moment we try to grab some worldly material our inner voice tells us to not become too selfish and self-centered, but pay heed to inner voice. This inner voice is the voice of God. But unfortunately we, as we grow up into full man and womanhood, we shed the CHILDISH pleasures at small things and benefits and enjoy the worldly life intensely without producing more and more Samskaras. Give a child a clay toy and the whole day is spent by the child in admiring the toy, which is worthless in the view of the grown-ups. As we grow our selfishness also grow and we become so self-centered that we have no time to spend a few minutes in alleviating the sorrows of our neighbours. We are thus plunged into Materialistic Ocean and we are  in action-mode in the sense we cannot go through life  without doing an act. The inner voice is there to guide us. But we become rich in materialistic world proportionate to the extent to which we have become adept in suppressing the urging of the inner voice. The inner voice is there to guide us through this Samsara Sagara or the Ocean of Worldly Life. We have been given by our Holy Father perfect personal choice and the inner voice is there to conduct us through this Ocean of Materialism and we can spend every day in the service of the whole humanity or become selfish and self-centered. This creative choice given by our Maker is mostly spent in materialistic grabbing and  holding wealth of all sorts. We forget that we have come to this earth to wisely and faithfully work out our past karma and not creating new accumulation of Samskaras. We mistake this worldly life for an opportunity in enriching ourselves materially and spend least time in Spiritually Awakening exertions. God’s voice in ourselves is disregarded in relentless search of material gains and satisfaction. We consider those few who spend his or her entire life in spiritual exertions as worldly foolish!

The trouble consist in our being plunged into the Ocean of Materialistic world with a restless mind to grab and possess and enjoy everything on the earthly plane. If we are not given PERSONAL CHOICE we would all become holy beings like Vivekananda or Ramana Maharishi or some other spiritual masters. The murderers and rapists would not be there if we are not given Personal Choice. We are given personal choice but there is God’s voice to guide us through all the material riches if only we could pay heed to its urging.

Man is given PERSONAL CHOICE OF ACTION by God. We are helpless puppets in the hand of Illusion which makes us adore the worldly life.

So we are plunged into the Ocean of Worldly Life and God’s voice is instilled in us to guide us through this bewildering materialism. We all are made action-oriented in the sense we cannot remain aloof from this worldly life. This compulsion to act continuously throughout one’s life is sort of a curse. But only if we become mature spiritually speaking we can afford to spend our life in an activated mode and yet  remain unsullied by the relentless materialistic pursuits. So Man in his compulsive exertion seeks to spend his life to pure materialistic pursuit. But Karma Yoga Tenets require us to not renounce this world by do actions without having a stake in the results. If we can act continuously diligently in a manner that consists of benign thoughts and consideration for our neighbours and for the entire humanity, we can easily free ourselves from material possessiveness and unselfish. Then any and every act of us will not bind us by creating  new bundles of Samskaras. The trick is to continuously indulge in action but without regard for the fruit of our actions. This way new Sumskaras will not arise to bind us to this world and make us come back to this worldly plane repeatedly.

Then how are we going to reconcile with what the Lord of Gita states in verse number 33, chapter number 11, of Bhagavad Gita?

Because the Lord specifically states that all actions of killing the warriors on both sides have already been done by Him and all Arjuna needs do is to become just an instrument in carrying out what Sri Krishna wants to do!

(Dear friends, I have something more to say in this regard which will be uploaded tomorrow).                                                

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 33, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 33

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

tsmaat tvam uttishtha yaso labhasva

     jitvaa satroon bhundshva raajyam samrrddham

mayai ‘vai ‘te nihataah poorvam eva

     nimitamaatram bhava savyasaachin

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

tasmaat = therefore: tvam = thou: uttishtha = stand up: yasah = fame: labhasva = obtain: jitvaa = having conquered: satroon = enemies: bhunkshva = enjoy: raajyam = the kingdom: samrrddham = the unrivalled: mayaa = by me: eva = even: ete = these: nihataah = have been slain: poorvam = already: eva =even: nimitta maatram = a mere instrument: bhava = be: savyasaachin = O left-handed one.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

You therefore arise and obtain fame. Conquer the enemies and enjoy the unrivalled kingdom. By Me have they been verily slain already. You be merely an outward cause, O Savyasachin.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The Lord’s work does not depend on the agency of man for its fulfilment. Precisely and effectively it takes place of its own accord. Man but earns merit by participating in it. By rising equal to an occasion and by discharging his duty, man emerges the better for it. By availing himself of the opportunities and facilities providentially provided in the training ground of this world, man builds his personality. And that is his gain in being a willing instrument in the hands of the Lord.

Fame is not an end in itself. It comes as a by-product of an exemplary and dutiful life. The man of sterling character and noble deeds is praised by all even as a fully blossomed flower is admired by all.

Opposing evil and vanquishing it is the duty of a Kshatriya. The Lord’s design here is conducive to this auspicious end.

Properous earthly life is no detriment to spiritual progress. Rather it is a stepping stone to Sreyas. Earthly kingdom conquered by conforming to dharma is a rare achievement. Efficient and prosperous protection of the kingdom enriches man’s life temporally and spiritually.

The Lord has willed to wipe out wickedness from the world. Arjuna is no more confronted with any uphill task. It is more than sufficient if he merely makes a show of waging the war. The total destruction of the enemies will be the result. But Arjuna is not a man of mediocre stuff. He is a Savyasachin (ambidexterous)—one who can make a deadly delivery of the arrow with the left hand even. He is invincible in war. The opportune moment has come to him to show his valour. By being an instrument in the hands of the Lord, he can gain the glory of having defeated Drona and Bhishma. Right action at right time leads to victory, prosperity and blessedness.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The God of destiny decides and ordains all things and Arjuna is to be the instrument, the flute under the fingers of the Omni-mighty evolution. Arjuna is self-deceived if he believes that he should act according to his own imperfect judgment. No individual soul can encroach on the prerogative of God. In refusing to take up arms, Arjuna is guilty of presumption. See XVIII, 58.

Nimittamaatram: merely the occasion. The writer seems to uphold the doctrine of Divine predestination and indicate the utter helplessness and insignificance of the individual and the futility of his will and effort. The decision is made already and Arjuna can do nothing to change it. He is a powerless tool in God’s hands, and yet there is the other note that God is not arbitrary and capricious but just and loving. How are the two to be reconciled? The numinous idea of the predestinating and solely acting God which induces in us the feeling of the utter dependence on God, the “wholly other” standing over against us in absolute antithesis, is here expressed. The intense intuivtion of the power of God  comes out here and in Job and in Paul: “Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?”

We need not look upon the whole cosmic process as nothing more than the unfolding of a predetermined plan, the unveiling of a ready-made scenario. The writer here is not so much deying of eternity in which all the moments of the whole of time, past, present and future, are present to the Divine Spirity. The radical novelty of each moment of evolution in time is not inconsistent with Divine Eternity.

The ideas of God are worked out through human instrumentality. If we are wise, we so act that we are instruments in His hands. We allow Him to absorb our soul and leave no trace of the ego. We must receive His comman and do His will with the cry “In thy will is our peace”; “Father, into Thy hands I commend my Spirit.” Arjuna should feel, “Nothing exists save Thy will. Thou alone art the doer and I am only the instrument.” The dread horror of the war repels him. Judged by human standards, it is quite incomprehensible but when the curtain is lifted, so as to reveas the purpose of the Almighty, he acquiesces in it. What he himself desired, what he m ight hope to gain in this world or the next do not count any mre. Behind this world of space-time, interpenetrating it, is the creative purpose of God. We must understand that supreme design and be content to serve it. Every act is a symbol of something far beyond itself.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Be thou merely an apparent or nominal cause. I have already killed them in advance. Drona and the other great warriors whom even the gods cannot kill have been defeated by you and so you will obtain great fame. Such fame is due to virtuous Karma only.

Satrun: Enemies such as Duryodhana.

Savyasachi: Aruna who could shoot arrows even with the left hand.

Comments by the blogger:

You may be slightly bewildered by the Text and Commentaries and ask your faithful self that if all actions and activities belong to God and we are just instruments in His able Hands: You are faithful but the above arguments are not absolutely convincing, you may think. You might ask faithfully, that is, without losing faith in the Holy Gita, if Arjuna need not slain his enemies as God has already slain them, but it would suffice if Arjuna deigns to be a mere instrument in God’s Hands, then what about the acts of rapists and thieves? You might, without loosing faith in Sri Krishna, ask if all act rightfully belong to God and we are just Instruments in His Hands, where is the freedom of action involved in the conception of the Universe and Its revolution? Because I have argued even at the outset that God’s greatness specially consists in creating us and giving free will to act which is measured by the accumulation of Samskaras and they in their own way become our prarabtha karma which holds important place in whose family we incarnate in our next birth.

Well the Lord indeed gives us free will to act. As Srimat Swami Chidbhavananda pointed out in the beginning of his commentary, the act of a lamp burning might be used by some people to read a Text like  Bhagavad Gita while the same light might be used by others to forge a document, or plot to indulge in some heinous crime. The lamp has no say in which way we, human beings, choose to use the light emenating from the Lamp. This presupposes the existence of free will on the part of the individual human beings. If we are just instruments in God’s hands how could the commissions of heinous crimes like murdering or raping and murdering a girl? Does God acts thorough those rapists in the act of raping? Never. Then how can we reconcile the Text, this 33^rd sloka? Unless there is a fair amount of free will given to the individual human beings heinous acts such as rape cannot be explained.

OK, so God gives us freedom of action then how could we explain the Lord’s words in sloka number 33 of the Gita, chapter 11? We will see that tomorrow! We need to discuss this aspect in some detail. So, my friends, visit this site tomorrow for the continuation of my argument.  

                                               

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 32, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 32

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

sri bhagavaan uvaacha  

kaalo ‘smi lokakshayakrt pravrddho

     lokaan samaahartum iha pravrtiah

rte ‘pi tvaam na bhavishyanti sarve

     ye ‘vasthitaah pratyanikeshu yodhaah

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

sri bhagavan uvacha = Sri Bhagavan said:

kaalah = time: asmi = (I) am: lokakshaya krrt = world destroying: pravrrddhah = mighty: lokaan = the worlds: samaahartum = to destroy: iha = here: pravrrttah = engaged: rrte = without: api = also: tvaam = thee: na = not: bhavishyanti = shall live: sarve = all: ye = these: avasthitaah = arrayed: pratyaneekeshu = in hostile armies: yodhaah = warriors.

THE TEXT IN ENGLISH:

I am the mighty world-destroying Time now engaged in wiping out the world. Even without you the warriors arrayed in hostile armies shall not live.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

In spite of a life-long companionship with Sri Krishna, what Arjuna has come to know of Him is very little and what remains to be known is much. Hence rises the question, “Tell me who You are.” The answer, “I am the mighty world-destroying Time” is one among the numerous definitions of Iswara. He is known as Mahaakaala. This answer solves the immediate puzzle in the mind of Arjuna.

All events in Nature get buried in time. Relentlessly and constantly it is consuming everything. Again it is time that measures all events. As aakaasa contains all manifested things in itself, time contains all events or causation in itself. As one ascends a hill one sees the ups and downs below merging into a vast expanse. Similarly in the infinitude of time all the happenings in the universe get swallowed. This Time is verily Iswara.

“I know not Your purpose” is the frightened inquiry made by Arjuna. The Lord deals with that mystery. He says He is intent on wiping out the world. Death in fact is taking place ceaselessly. When it is scattered and spread out, it is called the law of nature; but when it is concentrated, it is called a catastrophe. The Lord has this work of extermination done in both the ways—severally and collectively; extensively and intensively. The Mahabharata war is an instance of His intensive destruction of mankind. Whenever a need for it arises He does it very effectively. He truly adores God who sees His hand at work in all destruction small and great. Nothing in the world is terrible to the knower of the ways of the Lord.

Arjuna is given to understand now that the destruction of Bhishma, Drona and Karna is inevitable. He who did not want to be the cause of the death of the venerable ones, realizes now that it is not possible for man to avert the design of the Lord. Arjuna’s eagerness to take revenge on Karna is now shorn of its personal poignancy and spite.

It is certain that these men of might are going to perish independent of Arjuna’s instrumentality. Why then should he at all engage himself in this carnage? (In the next verse the necessity for it is explained).

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Kaala or time is the prime mover of the Universe. If God is thought of as time, then He is perpetually crating and destroying. Time is the streaming flux which moves unceasingly.

The Supreme Being takes up the responsibility for both creation and destruction. The Gita does not countenance the familiar doctrine that, while God is responsible for all that is good, Satan is responsible for all that is evil. If God is responsible for mortal existence, then He is responsible for all that it includes, life and creation, anguish and death.

God has control over time because He is outside of it and we also shall obtain power over time if we rise above it. As the force behind this, He sees farther than we, knows how all events are controlled and so tells Arjuna that causes have been at work for years and are moving towards their natural effects which we cannot prevent by anything we can do now. The destruction of his enemies is decided irrevocably by acts committed long ago. There is an impersonal fate, what the Christians call Providence, a general cosmic necessity, moira, which is an expression of a side of God’s nature and so can be regarded as the will of His sovereign personality, which pursues its own unrecognizable aims. Against it, all protestations of self-determination are of no avail.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMY SIVANANDA:

Even without thee: Even if thou, O Arjuna, wouldst not fight, these warriors are doomed to die under My dispensation. I am the all-destroying Time. I have already slain them. You have seen them dying. Therefore thy instrumentality is not of much importance.

Such being the case, therefore, stand up and obtain fame.

Comments by the blogger:

Like the basic unit of measurement of Man’s actions, thoughts and even imaginations, namely, Samskara, Time also plays an important part in our lives. Sunlight being showered constantly on the blessed Earth and the rotation of the Earth on its axis and rounding of the Earth around the Sun creates Time. Every single act in this Universe is performed in Time. Along with the Samskaras one gives birth to  Time also helps in the exact measurement of Man’s actions and thoughts and even imaginations.

Everything in this Universe is moving and existing in Time.

But the Lord Himself exists out of Time. This is in the sense that while Time and one’s Samskaras measure out activities, thoughts and imaginations, the Lord Master is not controlled by Time. He plays outside the Time but studiously universally controlling everyone and everything in this world by Time and Samskaras.

The warriors belonging to both the sides are doomed to die in Time.

Everyone and everything act out in this Universe being subjugated by Time and self-made Samskaras.

The trick the accomplished Yogis perform is that they, knowing fully that everyone and everything works and plays out the individual role in Time,  perform actions with full knowledge that they act as an instrument in the mighty hands of the Lord. Once we realize this we become subdued and all the thinking and conviction that one is the master of one’s doing   evaporates giving place to the Knowledge that all actions are belonging to Iswara. Then, immediately our ahankara or the conviction that one is the author of one’s actions ceases to be an overmastering delusion.                                             

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 31, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 31

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

aakhyaahi me ko bhavaan ugraroopo

     namo ‘stu te devavara prasida

vijnaatum icchaami bhavantam aadyam

     na hi prajaanaami tava pravrttim

SANSKRI WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

aakhyaahi = tell: me = me: kah = who (art): bhavaan = thou: ugra roopah = fierce in form: namah = salutations: astu = be: te = thee: devavara = O God supreme: praseeda = have mercy: vijnaatum = to know: icchaami = (I) wish: bhavantam = thee: aadyam = the original being: na = not: hi = indeed: prajaanaami = (I) know: tava = thy: pravrttim = doing:

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Tell me who You are, so fierce in form. I bow down to You, O God Supreme; have mercy. I desire to know You, the Primal One. I know not Your Purpose.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHDBHAVANANDA:

The calm, charming and beautiful form of God attracts the devotees. Being drawn to Him in this way is deemed as devotional worship. His terrific form arrests the attention of the devotee in another way. And getting absorbed in it is also a form of worship. The fully qualified devotee is he who with equal devotion and absorption. Fear is conquered by the worship of the  fearful. But Arjuna like many an ordinary devotee is not prepared for the worship of the Terrible.

That Iswara is everything is being realized by Arjuna. But what all phases are comprised in that everything, is not known to him and it is impossible for h im to know. A man and his activities are interrelated. Knowing his activities is one of the ways of knowing the man, to some extent at least. Similarly God can be known in a way through His doings. And that is the supplication that Arjuna makes. The Lord deigns to reveal His purpose.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

The disciple seeks for deeper knowledge.

Comments by the blogger:

We have already seen that Arjuna gains the inner eye only for the specific purpose of witnessing God’s Visvarupa or Cosmic Form. But Arjuna is not the same person as we noticed him at the beginning of the Gita teaching. At the beginning Arjuna was a confused and confounded lot. He had the sentimental senility which made him unable to fight. He stacked up his arguments as to why he should not fight this war which will kill all his kith and kin and also the elders fit to be worshiped. He was prepared to go around the world like a sanyasi with a beggar’s bowl in hands. Then started the teaching of Gita by his Master, Sri Krishna. With the conclusion of the  tenth chapter all his delusions have evaporated and Arjuna becomes capable of fighting. At this juncture Arjuna wants to know more about the Lord of Gita and begs the Lord to show him His Cosmic Form. And the Lord gives Arjuna the benefit of the inner eye and vision. Then the Lord shows His Cosmic Form. Arjuna gets the jitters notwithstanding the inner eye because he was not a consummate Yogi having practised meditation for years together. So, instead of going into raptures and ecstasy in front of the all-devouring Cosmic Form, Arjuna trembles in his shoes. He wants his Lord Master to return to His original form with the Discus and the Conch.

Swami Vivekananda in his able Commentary on Raja Yoga states that Yogis practise meditation for years together and their Kundalini Power gets awackened step by step. Thus when they reach the pinnacle attains the last state having his meditating point in the head there is pure ecstasy. And to such Yogis all the questions about creation and what would happen after death and every other thing is revealed. Since the Yogis’ concentration and consciousness have been lifted from the testicles up toward the chakra in the head, the yogis are not bewildered. Instead of that, the Yogis get gnana or wisdom and they come at last to know the nature of God, who He is and what is the relationship between the Yogis and the Ultimate Lord of the Universe. But, as pointed out by Swami Vivekananda, in some rare cases the practitioner of meditation jump up and tumble on the higher state of consciousness purely accidentally. The Swami even points out that Prophet Mohammed was one such Yogis! Swami Vivekananda describes the effect of the Yogi who has jumped up and attained a higher state of consciousness: the swami states  that in such cases the particular Yogi is bewildered and instead of continuing with his Practice of Yoga and Meditation they mistake the stage of spiritual attainment onto which they have accidentally landed for the Ultimate attainment of Gnana or Wisdom and stagnate at this stage of consciousness without trying to continue with their meditation and travel further up till the attainment of Gnana or quintessential Wisdom or full realization of God.

Arjuna gains inner sight and wisdom for the specific purpose of seeing and witnessing the Lord’s Cosmic Form. He has been promoted to this stage. Hence the utter fear, trembling and trepidation on his part. Arjuna, instead of enjoying the sight of the Lord’s Cosmic Form, gets frightened and asks the Lord in Cosmic Form as to who He is! And there is a prayer for the Lord to get back to his normal form and appearance! There is no ecstasy on the part of Arjuna.

                                           

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 30, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 30

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

lelihyase grasamaanah samantaa

     lokaan samagraan vadanair jvaladbhih

tefobhir aapoorya jagat samagram

     bhaasas tavo ‘graah pratapanti vishno

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

lelihyase = thou lickest: grasamaanah = devouring: samantaat = on every side: lokaan = the worlds: samagraan = all: vadaanaih = with mouths: jvaladbhih = flaming: tejobhih = with radiance: aapoorya = filling: jagat = the world: samagram = the whole: bhaasah = rays: tava = thy: ugraah = fierce: pratapanti = are burning: vishno = O Vishnu.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Devouring all the worlds on every side with Your flaming mouths, You lick Your lips. Your fiery rays, filling the whole world with radiance, are burning, O Vishnu!

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Vishnu is he who is all-pervading. He pervades the world as a force creative and destructive. At this juncture the Lord appears to Arjuna as a destructive force.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Vishnu means all-pervading, Vyapanasila.

Comments by the blogger:

The mouths of Vishnu are flaming. At the time of Pralaya or Destruction of the Universe the Lord is seen as simply slurping up the entire world on every side. Swami Chidbhavananda says that the Lord appears as a Destructive force. In the previous sentence the Swamiji notes that the all-pervading radiance of Vishnu is seen as the Force both Creative and Destructive. It has been uttered in the Hindu Scriptures that at the time of Destruction of the Universe, the Lord appears saddling a white horse. It is said through Arjuna that the fierce rays emanating from the Lord fills up the whole world with radiance. May be it is this radiant light pervading the Universe is said poetically as the White Horse. Sri Vishnu  is said in the Puranas to have taken nine Incarnations and He will appear on a White Steed at the time of Pralaya or the wholesale Destruction of the Universe. This avatar or Incarnation is called as Kalki Avatar.

Brahma is said to be the Creator in the Puranas, and Vishnu as the Sustainor of the Universe and Lord Siva as the Destructive Force. But this distinction and a sort of a Separation of Power is not acceptable to either the worshipper of Vishnu or Lord Siva. In the Scriptural Texts eulogizing Vishnu He is shown as doing the Creation, Sustenance and Destruction. On the contrary, the Scriptural Texts eulogizing Lord Siva He is said to be indulging in Creation, Sustenance  and Destruction. We need not get confused by this apparent difference. It is good for the followers of Sri Vishnu to salute the Lord as indulging in the three functions of creation, sustenance and destruction. And there is no bar for the followers of Lord Siva to hold and believe that it is He indeed who creates, sustaince and destruct the Universe. The Ultimate Lord of the Universe may be eulogised and worshipped as any one of the Gods like, Vishnu, Siva, Mahalakshmi, Parvati, Vinayaga or Murugan. We need not indulge in nit-picking to force our ideology on others worship as God someone other than the deity we are worshiping. I am a staunch devouty of the Lord Siva in His Linga Form. I am not delusive and nothing mars my worship and belieaf on Siva while I worshipfully read various commentaries by Great Authorities. All forms of worship flow as various rivers toward the One Truth of the Universe notwithstanding the particular Deity we worship.

It is very sad to note the differences between the followers of Vishnu and Siva. This is pure nit-picking which will mar and dilute our single-minded worship of our Ishta Devata or Personal Deity. Suits are filed in the Courts of Law on the question of how the temple elephant should be painted on its face and forehead! The followers of Vishnu maintain  that the Pachyderm should be adorned on its forehead with the sign peculiar to them. On the contrary, the followers of Lord Siva maintain that the Pachederm’s forehead should be adorned with triple horizontal lines using the Holy Ash which is peculiar to the followers of Lord Siva. This is purely nit-picking indeed. Whatever be the form of the personal Deity if we adhere to the way of worship as said in the particular group of us we can surely attain the One Ultimate Whole Potential Power of this Universe.                                        

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 11, VERSE NUMBER 29, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 29

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

VERSE IN TRANSLITERATION:

yathaa pradeeptam jvalanam patangaa

     veesantee naasaaya samrddhavegaah

tathai ‘va naasaaya visanti lokaas

     tavaa ‘pi vaktraani samrddhavegaah

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

Yathaa = as: pradeeptam = blazing: jvalanam = fire: patangaah = enter: naasaaya = to destruction: samrddha vegaah = with quickened speed: tathaa = so: eva = only: naasaaya = to destruction: visanti = enter: lokaah = creatures: tava = thy: api = also: vaktraani = mouths: samrddh vegaah = with quickened speed.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

As moths rush headlong into a blazing fire for destruction, so do these creatures hurriedly speed into Your mouths for their destruction.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Though merged in the ocean, the waters of the rivers continue to play their parts in the cosmic function. Whereas, as moths rush only to perish in the blazing fire, these multitudes are marching into the coming conflagration for their destruction which has become a cosmic necessity. But their redemption lies in their being reborn with a change of attitude.

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

These beings blinded by their own ignorance are rushing to their destruction and the Divine Contoller permits it, as they are carrying out the effects of their own deeds. When we will a deed, we will its consequences also. The free activities subject us to their results. As this law of cause and consequence is an expression of the Divine mind, the Divine may be said to execute the law. The writer points out through the conception of world form how the whole cosmos with its vastness, beauty and terror, gods, blessed souls, animals, plants are all there in the plenitude of God’s life. God cannot move outside Himself, having all within now with one object and now with another. We think consecutively but the Divine mind knows all as one. There is no past to it nor future.

Comments by the blogger:

The simile of moths and fire brings out the sense of inevitability of beings including human beings to want to submit themselves to the universal will of the Lord of Gita. Man is afraid of death only till death occurs to his body and once when the astral body gets separated from the  material body at the time of death of a human being there is an intense realization by the soul inside the astral body about the inexorable cause of creation and the purpose of material life on the earthly plane. Man also realizes the number of births and deaths he had hitherto suffered. There is a great rush to get the deserts. After the death of a human being his soul unencumbered by the erstwhile material body but still subject to praraptha Karma and other two Karmas within the four walls of which the soul has to work out the accumulating Karma. The life on the earth is a great conundrum only till a man dies materially and there occurs a simultaneous separation of the astral body from the gross body. But once death occurs, immediately Man’s mind and soul realize the purpose and plan of the humanly life on the earth. There is a great exuberance for those who have not indulged in the five forms of sinful activities in the life that has just now ended. There is an ecstatic pleasure in the realization of the yet another innings on the earthly plane has come to an end. Those who have indulged in the five forms of sins like murder, rape, etc., pay the penalty of the realization of their foul play against the Lord’s Will and such men and women regret intensely and this itself is the suffering in the Hell. Those who have not indulged in the five forms of sins on their earthly playing-out do not have much to regret except the occumulation of fresh bout of samskaras to be worked out through actions in the world at the next innings. They wonder how they could forget completely the existence of the Cosmic Master, God, and indulged here on the earth on various activities of exertions to accumulate wealth beyond a measure and paid scant importance to worship the Lord Master by indulging in good and noble earthly activities besides the ability to work out their Karma with an unaffected mind while trying to live, grab and get the purely worldly things and wealth.

All the delusion with which the humanly life on the earth evaporates as morning dew in the face of the relentless sun. Once the death, an ending of an innings on the earthly plane, occurs there is a great rush to submit to the will of the Lord Master with prayers to take the next innings on the earth quite purposefully devout. Because till all the samskaras are worked out without there being freshly accumulation of samskaras the coming to the plane of the earthly life is inevitable.

Thus there is a great rush on the part of the dead persons to enjoy the fruits of their good actions and come backe here on the earth with a renewed will to spend as much Karma as possible.    

                                  

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 11, VERSE NUMBER 28, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 28

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

VERSE IN TRANSLITERATION:

yathaa nadeenaam bahavo ‘mbuvegaah

     samudram evaa ‘bhimukhaa dravanti

tathaa tavaa ‘mee naralokaveeraa

     visanti vaktraany abhivijvalanti

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

yathaa = as: nadeenaam = of rivers: bahavah = many: ambuvegaah = water currents: samudram = to the ocean: eva = verily: abhimukhaah =towards: dravanti = flow: tathaa = so: tava = thy: amee = these: naraloka  veeraah = heroes in the world of men: visanti = enter: vaktraani = mouths: abhivijvalanti = flaming.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Truly, as the many torrents of rivers rush  towards the ocean, so do these heroes in the world of men fling themselves into Your fiercely flaming mouths.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The rivers that emerge from mountains have no alternative but to rush to empty themselves in the ocean. The rulers of the earth plan for their permanent domination over it while actually they are caught in the death-trap of Destiny. While being consumed they are planning for conquest.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Ami: these warriors such as Bhishma, Arjuna is now seeing all these warriors whom he did not wish to kill, rushing to death. His delusion has vanished. He thinks now: “This battle cannot be avoided. It has the sanction of the Supreme Lord. Why should I worry about the inevitable? The Lord has already destroyed these warriors. I am only an instrument in His hands. No sin can touch me even if I kill them. This is a just cause also”.

Comments by the blogger:

A lovely simile is used in this verse. As has already been seen through the words of Arjuna everyone rush toward the Lord of Gita in His present Form of annihilation. All the rivers inevitably rush toward the ocean. Like that all beings  rush toward the FLAMING MOUTHS of the Lord in His Cosmic Form. Life is like that. All our exertions are only toward a beautiful death! Sri Krishna shows many stomachs, many mouths, etc., and he just slurps up all in the universe at the time of Pralaya. In the Upanishads Agni or Fire is said to be acting as the medium and Agni or Fire welcomes us with our astral body after our death and it is Agni or Fire which brings us after our death to various worlds. Like our own world which is one form of physical consciousness on a physical plan, there are different worlds with varying consciousness. We are transported by Agni or Fire to the subtle world of consciousness according as our  individual accumulation of SAMSKARAS. SAMSKARA IS A SUBTLE UNIT OF MEASUREMENT WHICH WEIGHS UP ALL OUR THINKINGS, SENSATIONS, IMAGINATIONS BESIDES THE FRUIT OF OUR ACTIONS IN THIS PHYSICAL CONSCIOUSNESS. We are the authors of our own fate which determines our next birth after our death.

So Agni is the medium through which we attain the different worlds of consciousness, according to the Upanishads.

It is very apt and pertinent to speak of the Lord’s flaming mouths and into which all the warriors and chiefs of warriors on the side of Dhuriyodanas rush inevitably. It is quite inexorable. All our exertions in this world is indirectly aimed towards a beautiful death! Agni and the Flaming Mouths of the Lord of Gita is one and the same!                     

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBERS 26 AND 27, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 26

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

amee cha tvaam dhrtaraashtrasya putraah

      sarve sahai ‘vaa ‘vanipaalasamghaih

bheeshmo dronah sootaputras tathaa ‘sau

     sahaa ‘smadeeyair api yodhamukhyaih

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

amee = these: cha = and: tvaam = thee: dhrtaraashtrasya = of Dhrtarashtra: putraah = sons: sarve = all: saha = with: eva = even: avanipaala samghaih = hosts of kings of the earth: bheeshmah = Bhishma: dronah = Drona: sootaputrah = Sutaputra: tathaa = also: asau = this: saha = with: asmadeeyaih = with (those) of ours: api = also: yodha mukhyaih = (with) warrior chiefs.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

All the sons of Dhratarashtra with hosts of kings of the earth, Bhishma, Drona and Sutaputra, with the warrior chiefs of ours.

VERSE NUMBER 27:

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

vaktraani te tvaramaanaa visanti

     damshtraakaraalaani bhayaanakaani

kecid vilagnaa dasanaantareshu

     samdrsyante choornitair uttamaangaih

SANSKRIT WORDS AND PHRASES AND THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH:

Vaktraani = mouths: te = thy: tvaramaanaah = hurrying: visanti = enter: damshtaakaraalaani = terrible-toothed: bhayaanakaani = fearful to behold: kecit = some: vilagnaah = sticking: dasana antareshu = in the gaps between the teeth: samdrshyante = are found: choornitaih = crushed to powder: uttama angaih = with ( their ) heads.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Enter hurrying into Your mouth, terrible with tusks and fearful to look at. Some are found sticking in the gaps between the teeth with their heads crushed to powder.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Sutaputra means the son of a charioteer. Here this word connotes Karna, the sworn enemy of Arjuna. He sees his arch-enemy doomed to death. Further his enemies are all already in the grip of death. His allies are also destined to be wiped out in the imminent conflagration. The object of the impending great war is to rid the world of the dead weight of the human weed. The loss for the victor is going to be no less than that for the vanquished.

SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA’S COMMENTARY FOR THE VERSE NUMBER 26:

Karna, though he was the son of Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, was brought up by a charioteer and hence came to be regarded as his son.

SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA’S COMMENTARY FOR THE VERSE NUMBER 27:

How do they enter into the mouth. Arjuna continues (in the next verse).

Comments by the Blogger:

Here is the terrible sight: almost all the chiefs belonging to Dhrdarashtras are put to violent death EVEN BEFORE THE WAR HAS STARTED! When this being the fate of them all, it was just a delusion on the part of Arjuna at the beginning of the Gita Text. Arjuna had thought that it was he who   was going to put to violent death all the Dhridarashtras. Arjuna had shed sentimental tears in the beginning at the compulsion of his having to kill his guru and pithmaha who were fit enough to be worshiped. This is known as ahankaara. Lord is the doer of all actions in this universe and it is with this humble opinion and knowledge that every one of us  should go through life acting as the instruments in the able hands of the Lord. Problems arise only when we become delusive and think of us as the doer of actions.                 

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 25, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 25

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

damshtraakaraalaani cha te mukhaani

     drshtvai ‘va kaalaanalasamnibhaani

diso na jaane na labhe cha sarma

     praseeda devesa jagannivaasa

Sanskrit words and phrases and their meaning in English:

Damshtraa karaalaani = fearful with tusks: cha = and: te = thy: mukhaani = mouths: drshttvaa = having seen: eva = even: kaala analasamnibhaani = blazing like Pralaya-fires: disah = the quarters: na= not: jaane = know: na = not: labhe = do (I ) find: cha = and: sarma =peace: praseeda = have mercy: devesa = O Lord of the Devas: jagannivaasa = O abode of the universe:

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

When I see Your mouths terrible with tusks resembling Pralaya-fires, I know not the four quarters nor do I find peace. Be gracious, O Lord of the gods, O Abode of the universe.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

The quarters are discerned with the help of the sun and the moon. But let it be supposed that one gets immersed in the womb of the blazing and boundless sun. In such a situation the quarters and the directions are all lost sight of. Arjuna finds himself in such a position now. Like the fire of the dissolution of the universe, the all-consuming blaze of the Cosmic Form has confounded Arjuna. Therefore he begs of the Lord to withdraw that terrible form and resume the calm and gracious form.

COMMENTARY BY DR.RADHAKRISHNAN:

Kaalaanala: literally the doomsday fire.

Arjuna loses his bearings. The tremendous experience has in it elements of astonishment, terror and rapture.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Jagannivasa: The substratum of the universe.

Kalannala: The  fires which consume the worlds during the final dissolution of the worlds (Pralaya). Time (Kala) is the consumer of all that is manifest.  

Diso na jane: I do not know the four quarters. I cannot distinguish the east from the west, nor the north from the south.

Comments by the blogger:

Arjuna continues to put in poetic words his fear and bewilderment of the Universal Form of the Lord of  Gita. There are caged birds which hatch chicks in the cage and the chicks grow up in the cage. Their universe is the little space of the cage. They do not know the real extant of God’s Universe. Even when the cage-door is opened to put the food and water inside the cage these birds, which knew nothing about the outer universe, do not attempt to leave the cage. And if you, at last, want to give freedom to the birds of the cage and keep the cage-door wide opened, the caged birds do not know what to do for quite some time. They are even bewildered at first. They hesitate to leave the protective wall of the cage! For any bird which was hatched in natural settings outside the cage the walls of a cage would be quite constricting, but for the cage-hatched bird the walls are considered to be protective.

Arjuna, despite the opening of the inner eye, finds the form of the Lord quite frightening. But for an accomplished Yogi the cosmic form would pose the ultimate in sense-satisfying experience.          

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 24, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 24

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

nabhah sprsam deeptam aneka varnam

     vyaattaananam deepta visaala netram

drshtvaa hi tvaam pravyathitaantaraatmaa

     dhrtim na vindaami samam cha vishno

Sanscrit words and phrases and their meaning in English:

nabhah  sprsam = touching the sky: deeptam = shining: aneka varnam = in many colours: vyaattaananam = with mouts wide open: deepta visaala netram = with large fiery eyes: drshtvaa = having seen: hi = verily: tvaam = thee: pravyathita antaraatmaa = terrified at heart: dhrtim = courage: na = not: vindaami = (I) find: samam = peace: cha = and: vishno = O Vishnu.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

When I see You touching the sky, blazing with many colours, with mouths wide open, with large fiery eyes, my heart trembles in fear and I find neither courage nor peace, O Vishnu.

COMMENTARY BY SWAMI SRIMAT CHIDBHAVANANDA:

It is but natural that one gets unnerved when one is driven into an inconceivable world-devouring sight. One gets settled understanding only when one realizes that fury and calmness are concomitant in the ocean of the Cosmic Being.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Dhriti also means patience and strength.

Sama also means control.

The vision of the Cosmic Form has frightened Arjuna considerably.

Comments by the blogger:

Arjuna did not get to seeing God’s visvaroopa because of the years spent in deep and unswerving meditation. On the contrary, Arjuna is given the indescribable sight of the Lord’s real and worldly or Universal Form owing to the immeasurable benediction and sympathy of the Lord of Gita for Arjuna in the dire straight.

I am reminded of an anecdote in this regard:

Swami Yogananda relates in his book, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI, of the story of a practitioner of Kriya Yoga who had been a government servant. That practitioner of Kriya Yoga had voluntarily retired from his service in favour of continuing with his meditation. When Swami Yogananda asked as to why the said  Yogi had given up his lucrative government service. The Swami Yogananda pointed out to the Yogi that he could have stick to his service while practising Kriya Yoga on the side. To this the Yogi said that he could not continue with the government service as he had suffered from some queer sensation in his backbone. At this Swami describes to the readers of his auto-biyography that the said queer sensation bordering on uneasiness in the backbone was part of the practice of Kriya Yoga. That some practitioners get this queer sensation in the backbone at the beginning stage of Kriya Meditation. That the early practitioners of Kriya Yoga sometimes get this sensation as all the nerves go through the backbone to the head. One must put up with this sensation which prepares the practitioner for the sight of God and realize emancipation. That the queer sensation occurs as it enervates the backbone before God-realization.

Arjuna had not gone through the rigorous and vigorous practice of Kriya Yoga or Meditation but he was endowed with the receptivity through the opening of the Inner Eye for the specific purpose of telling Arjuna that as God had already gone through the process of undoing and destruction of the Dhuriyodana’s clan and thus restore Dharma. That the Lord wants Arjuna to serve just as the instrument by waging the war while the Lord of Gita destroys the wicked.

As Arjuna had not been used to the Yoga of Meditation, despite the endowment of the inner inner Eye, he trembles in trepidation at the indescribable and awesome sight of the Lord of Gita.            

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 11, VERSE 23, VISVARUPA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 23

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION

roopam mahat te bahu vaktra netram

     mahaabaaho bahu baahooru paadam

bahoodaram bahu damshtraakaraalam

     drshtvaa lokaah pravayathitaas tathaa ‘ham

Sanskrit words and phrases and their meaning in English:

Roopam = form: mahat = immeasurable: te = thy: bahu vaktra netram = with many mouths and eyes: mahaabaabaho = O mighty-armed: bahu baahu ooru paadam = with many arms, thighs and feet: bahu udaram =with many stomachs: bahu damshtraa karaalam = fearful with many tusks: drshtvaa = having seen: lokaah = the worlds: pravyathitaah = are terrified: tathaa = also: aham = I.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Seeing Your immeasurable form with myriad mouths and eyes, O mighty-armed, with myriad arms, thighs and feet, with myriad stomachs, and terrible with myriad tusks—the worlds are terror-struk, and so am I.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Man projects the contents of his mind and cognizes them in the world outside. Arjuna had no idea till then that it is Iswara who has become the universe and that there is also a terrific aspect vision of it frightens him even though he is a person extradinary calibre. He projects this unsettled state of his  mind on the world and says that the worlds are terror-struk even as he is.

COMMENTAR BY DR. S. RADHAKRISHNAN:

This is a poetic exaggeratin to bring out the universality and the omniprsense of the Supreme.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Lokah: the worlds—all living beings in the world.

Here is the cause of my fear. Arjuna describes below the nature of the Cosmic Form which has caused terror in his heart.

Comments by the blogger:

The vision of Cosmic Form of the Lord of Gita frightens Arjuna.

It would frighten all of us if we were to look at the Cosmic Form.

The entire Universe is nothing but Iswara or God.

Swami Vivekananda as a teenager was out to meet that great man who has himself seen God in person. So he went out of his way to see one guru or master or renouncer of the world. In his search Swami Vivekananda met so many godmen and put to them all the question if the swami has himself met with God of the Universe. He knocked at every spiritual person’s door. But, while every renouncer claimed to have the idea of the Lord of the world, no one of them came forward to meet the question if he or she has met with God.

Thus the wearied Narendran, as Swami Vivekananda was called at home, came at last to Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. The unhesitating Narendran put to Sri Ramakrishna the very same question and asked the Paramahamsa if he has ever seen or met with the Lord of the Universe. To this question the ready reply came from Sri Ramakrishna who claimed in front of the seeker, Narendran, that he has indeed seen the Lord with his own eyes even as he was seeing Narendran. “I have seen the Lord just in the same way as I am seeing you!

Not only that but the master, Sri Ramakrishna, can make him, the youth Narendran, to see the Lord.

“Are you prepared for the vision of the Lord?”

The eager seeker, Narendran, said he was ready to see God.

The next thing he knew was that the master, Sri Ramakrishna, lifted his right foot and struck the boy, Narendran, on the right side of his chest.

The moment the master touched the young boy on his chest the young seeker of God was transported to differen worlds. One by one Narendran lost the consciousness of this world and the boy was filled with super-consciousness. He sensed he was shedding the consciousness of his friends and about the place where he was seated. He was taken through many worlds of consciousness. Narendran was filled with amazement and bewilderment. He realized that everything he had taken for real and concrete in this world looked just as maya or illusion. At last Narendran was about to shed the relationship of his with his family. When the bewildered Narendran came to  shed his consciousness about his dear mother, Narendran howled and cried out that he wanted  to retain the consciousness of his own and dear mother. “Master, save me. I don’t want to lose my consciousness of everything about this world. I very much want to retain the consciousness of the world. I am bewildered and save me and let me return to the world peopled by those dear and near!”

And, at this, the benign master, took his foot away and let Narendran to return to the worldly consciousness!

When the whole Universe is seen by Arjuna at the same time, he is bewildered. He is filled with utter fear and  trepidation. The Lord is the earth and all the beings in this world. Besides this all the insentient is filled  with God. The whole Universe is the body of the Lord. For the uninitiated Arjuna who had hitherto accustomed to look upon the Lord, Sri Krishna, as his friend with whome he had shared many a joke and treated Him as his trusted friend only.

The Cosmic Form makes Arjuna to tremble in fear.

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER NUMBER 11, VERSE NUMBER 22, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA

  THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

VERSE NUMBER 22

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

TEXT IN TRANSLITERATION:

rudraaditvaa vasavo ye cha saadhyaa

     visve ‘svinau marutas’ cho ‘smapaas cha

gandharva yakshaasura siddha samghaa

     veekshante tvaam vismitaas chai ‘va sarve

Sanskrit words and phrases and their meaning in English:

Rudra aadityaah = Rudras and Adityas: vasavah =Vasu: ye = these: cha = and: saadhyaah = Sadhyas: visve = Viswedevas: asvinau = (the two) Aswins: marutah = Maruts: cha = and: ooshmapaah = Pitrus: cha =and: gandharva yaksha asura siddha samghaah = hosts of Gandharvas, Yakshas, Asuras and Siddhas: veekshante = are looking at: tvaam = thee: veesmitaah = astonished: cha = and: eva = even: sarve = all.

TEXT IN ENGLISH:

The Rudras, Adityas, Vasus, Sadhyas, Viswas, Asvins, Maruts, Ushmapas, hosts of Gandharvas, Yakshas, Asuras and Siddhas—they are all gazing at You and they are amazed.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

Ushmapaas are they who delight in partaking of hot cakes and hot drinks. The Pitrus or manes are called Ushmapaas. Even the celestials are not able to gauge the Cosmic Form of Iswara in its entirety. Some aspects of it come within their purview and drive them into bewilderment.

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Sadhyas are a class of gods of whom Brahma is the chief.

Visvadevas are ten gods who in Vedic times were considered as protectors of human beings. They were called guardians of the world. They  were givers of plenty to the human beings. Their names are: Kratu, Daksha, Vasu, Satya, Kama, Kala, Dhvani, Rochaka, Adrava and Pururava.

The two Asvins, born of Prabha (light), daughter of Tushta and the sun, are the physicians of the gods.

Rudras, Adityas, Vasus and Maruts—see tenth chapter, verses 21 and 23.

Ushmapa: A class of manes. They accept the food offered in the Sradha (anniversary) ceremony or the obsequies, while it is hot. Hence they are called Ushmapas. There are seven groups of manes.

Gandharvas are celestial singers such as Haha and  Huhu.

Yakshas such as Kubera (the god of wealth); Asuras such as Virochana; perfected ones such as Kapila.

Comments by the blogger:

There are things and happenings in this world that fortify the conviction of both the believers and non-believers.

While we read Gita stanzas like the present one may be derided by the non-believers. They might argue that the Vedic entities like Sadhyas, Visvadevas, Aswins, Rudras, Adityas, Vasus and Maruts, Ushmapa, Gandharvas and Yakshas have no meaning in the light of the development of the modern science.

Each power of Nature was given a name and identified with an entity and Vedic Hymns were said and sung to propitiate the same. Man’s knowledge of God had evolved from these gods. The idea of God the ultimate Power who created the world is nothing but the outcome of this evolution.

Then the non –believer might tell this argument presupposes the  understanding that there is no God and He is just an outcome of the idea of gods. Man in his body and mind has evolved through the ages. Like that the Ultimate God was realized by the seers of the period of Vedanta.

Moreover we should give a wide margin and try to understand the minds of the ancient writers. Even God could not have spoken in the modern idiom. HE has spoken in the idiom of the period of Vedanta while Vedic gods were still very much revered. We should context, time and age of a book to be able to understand the mind of a writer. And these gods had much import to Arjuna and others of the age. So the Lord of Gita has spoken in the idiom of that period.         

THE HOLY GITA, CHAPTER 11, VERSE 22, VISVARUPA DARSANA YOGA OR THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE COSMIC FORM

Friends, I have decided to resume blogging. Of all my blogs THE HOLY GITA would get primary importance.  

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

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

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

VERSE NUMBER 21

Text in Transliteration:

amee hi tvaam surasamghaa visanti

   kecid bheetaah: praanjalayo grnanti

svastee ‘ty uktvaa maharshi siddhasamghaah:

   stuvanti tvaam stutibhih: pushkalaabhih:

Sanskrit words and phrases and their meaning:

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

Text in English:

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

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

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

COMMENTARY BY DR.S.RADHAKRISHNAN:

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

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

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

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

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

THE HOLY GITA

CHAPTER NUMBER 11

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

VERSE NUMBER 20

Text in Transliteration:

dyaavaaprithivyor idam antaram hi

   vyaaptam tvayai ‘kena disas cha sarvaah:

drrshttvaa ‘dbhutam rupam ugram tave ‘dam

   iokatrayam pravyathitam mahaatman

Sanskrit words and phrases and their meaning:

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

Text in English:

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

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI CHIDBHAVANANDA:

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

COMMENTARY BY SRIMAT SWAMI SIVANANDA:

Thee: In Thy Cosmic Form.

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

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