Gita for the Beginners

In the X chapter, the Lord sings the glory of those special beings that are best and most blessed with His Divine manifestation. After having told Arjuna about His True Nature as all pervading Consciousness and the basis of all that exists, Lord goes on to tell where to find Him most visibly in the manifest world.

In fact every virtue or vice, like discrimination, wisdom, sanity, forgiveness, truth, control over body and mind, joy and sorrow, evolution and dissolution, fear and fearlessness, violence and non-violence, equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame and disrepute, - these all diverse feelings of creatures emanate from the Lord alone.

To these wonderful utterances of the Lord, Arjuna says,
"You are the Supreme Eternal, the Ultimate Resort, the Greatest Purifier; all seers speak of you as the eternal divine Person, the Prime Deity, unborn and all-pervading. Likewise speak the celestial sage Narada, the sage Vyasa, and others, and so do You Yourself proclaim this to me."
"Therefore, please tell me O master of Yoga, how am I to know You through meditation? And in what particular forms, O Lord, are You to be meditated upon by me?" 10/18

To this Sri Krishna answers, "I am the self seated in the heart of all beings. I am Vishnu among the sons of Aditi, the sun amongst all the luminaries, and the moon amongst the stars. I am the most glorious of Gods amongst all the gods, Indra. I am Shankara, Kubera, and Brahaspati. I am mind among the senses, life force (consciousness) in all living beings; I am the ocean among the water reservoirs, OM among all the words, and Himalayas in the immovable. Among the trees I am the most sacred Ashwattha, among sages I am Narada, among Pandavas I am you, Arjuna, among animals I am the lion, among the demons I am Prahlada, and among philosophers I am Kapila Muni..."

Thus, Lord Krishna goes on specifying in each kind of being, both living and non-living, where He is best and most manifest. Meditating upon these divine manifestations the Lord helps us to understand His glories better and better.

To conclude the Lord says, "Every such creature as is glorious, brilliant, or powerful, know that to be a manifestation of as spark of My effulgence." 10/41
Thus ends the tenth chapter of Yoga of Divine Glories.

Chapter XI

Having conceptually understood that the Supreme Lord as Universal Consciousness is the basis of the 'divinity of each soul', Arjuna had desire to see the Lord in His Universal Glory. To this request Sri Krishna reveals Himself in the most glorious awe-inspiring (and in fact terrifying, if one may say so) universal form. There Arjuna sees multifarious forms, all in one diverse colors, and different shapes. There he sees various gods and sages, Vedas and rudras, there he sees entire creation both animate and inanimate in the single body of the Lord.

Sanjay was also blessed with the power to view scenes on the battleground so that he might describe the war to Dhritarashtra, and hence he also saw the grandeur of the universal form of the Almighty. Sanjay described it thus, "Arjuna saw the supreme deity possessing many mouths and eyes, presenting many wonderful sights, decked with many divine ornaments, wielding many uplifted divine weapons, wearing divine garlands and clothes, besmeared all over with divine sandal pastes, full of all wonders, infinite and having faces on all sides."

"The splendour and glory of the mighty Lord was comparable to effulgence of thousand suns bursting forth all at once in the heaven!" XI/10-11-12

Then Arjuna full of devotion and wonder, his hair standing on end, bowed his head to the Divine Lord and with joined palms praised Sri Krishna thus, "Lord, I see in your body all gods and multitude of different beings, Brahma perched on his lotus seat, so also Shiva and all rishis and celestial serpents in their full glory. I do not perceive your beginning, middle or end..." The praise by Arjuna is worth reading daily. It elevates the mind to the glory of Lord. "You are the Supreme indestructible, worthy of being realized; you are the ultimate resort of this universe, you are the protector of Dharma, I consider you to be the eternal, imperishable, perfect Being."

"The moon and the Sun are your eyes, your mouth blazes forth with eternal divine Fire, and this universe is scorched by your divine radiance. You fill the space between the heaven and earth. The hosts of god are entering and emanating from your mouth, some with folded hands, some full of devotion, and some wonderstruck. At times your form appears alarming and full of terror for me understand fully, and therefore, O lord, I request you to appear in your most beautiful form with four arms holding conch, chakra, mace, and lotus respectively."

The Lord replies, "O Arjuna, have no fear. I have taken this form to annihilate the non-righteous. Look, I have already killed Bhishma, and Karna, Drona and Jayadratha, and all other Kauravas, you just have to become my instrument/medium (nimitta) for what is already determined and accomplished. Now be ready for the war, for if you die in your duty heaven will be your abode, and if you win the whole earth will be your kingdom!"

In fact this chapter is very lengthy (55 verses) but I have shortened it quite a bit. Two points must be borne in the mind, 1) That the Lord reveals himself to his true devotee in some form or the other, and 2) whatever we do is in fact already accomplished as per His wishes. Therefore, surrendering to his wish, one should carry out one's duty with due humility and perfection. One should engage in all righteous actions, seeing Him everywhere, both in creation and destruction, life and death, victory and defeat, joy and sorrow.
End of chapter XI
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Continued Next Part 13 ...

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C S Shah