Category Archives: devam

Bhagavad Gita Verse 14, Chapter 11

28 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.14, abhaashata, avishtaha, chapter 11 verse 14, devam, dhananjaya, hrishtaromaaha, kritaanjalihi, pranamya, saha, shirasaa, tataha, vismaya

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tataha sa vismayaavishto hrishtaromaa dhananjaya |
pranamya shirasaa devam kritaanjalirabhaashata || 14 ||
 
Thereafter, filled with bewilderment, his hair standing on end, Dhananjaya, with folded hands, bowed his head to the lord and began to speak.
 
tataha : thereafter
saha : he
vismaya : bewilderment
avishtaha : filled with
hrishtaromaaha : hair standing on end
dhananjaya : Dhananjaya
pranamya : bowed
shirasaa : his head
devam : to the lord
kritaanjalihi : with folded hands
abhaashata : said
 
So far, Arjuna was reeling under the shock of viewing the cosmic form of Ishvara. Sanjaya paints a wonderful picture of Arjuna’s reaction to this earth-shattering event. Filled with awe and astonishment, Arjuna’s body reacted with goose bumps. Once the extent of the shock receded to some extent, he gained back his faculties and mustered the energy to start speaking again.
 
Another aspect of this shloka is revealed by the phrase “bowed his head to the lord”. Arjuna, scion of the great Kuru dynasty was a proud warrior, one of the finest archers in the land. There were few instances in his life where he faced a situation that would have humbled him. Seeing the entire universe in one tiny corner of the cosmic form put his accomplishments in the right perspective, taking all his pride away. He realized that he was nothing, his greatness was nothing compared to the glory of that infinite Ishvara.
 
So whenever we feel we have accomplished something great, whenever our ego starts to puff up, or even when we feel our personal problems are weighing down upon us, we should do what Arjuna did: fold our hands and bow our head to Ishvara. Our feats and problems are tiny compared to the expanse and power of Ishvara’s universe.
 
Arjuna begins to describe Ishvara’s cosmic form in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 11, Chapter 11

25 Thursday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.11, aalyaa, ambara, anantam, anulepanam, ayam, chapter 11 verse 11, devam, dharam, divyam, gandhaan, sarvaashcharyam, vishvatomukham

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divyamaalyaambaradharam divyagandhaanulepanam |
sarvaashcharyamayam devamanantam vishvatomukham || 11 ||
 
Wearing divine garlands and clothes, anointed with divine fragrances, all of these wonderful (sights) were shining and infinite, with faces on all sides.
 
divyam : divine
aalyaa : garlands
ambara : clothes
dharam : wearing
gandhaan : anointed
anulepanam : anointed with
sarvaashcharyam : all wonderful
ayam : these
devam : shining
anantam : infinite
vishvatomukham : faces on all sides
 
Sanjaya continues the description of Ishvara’s cosmic form in this shloka. Shri Krishna, after giving a hint of Ishvara’s destructive power to Arjuna, showed his soumya roopa or his pleasing form. In other words, all the five senses and the mind enjoyed taking in this pleasant form. To that end, Arjuna saw Ishvara dressed up in fine clothes and garlands, as well as anointed with divine perfumes.
 
Another aspect of this form that it did not have a “centre”. Whenever we try to worship God, we always choose either an idol or an image so that we can focus our thoughts. However, many of us tend to get fixated on one deity, image or idol and consequently shun other deities. Sanjaya, in describing the cosmic form, noted that it had “infinite faces”. In other words, whenever Arjuna tried to pinpoint one face and say “this is Ishvara”, he would fail. Shri Krishna did this to remove any prior conceptions of Ishvara that Arjuna would have harboured.
 
Now, we always need to keep one thing in mind when we contemplate the cosmic form – there is oneness behind all the diversity. It is all one being, ultimately. Just like the millions of cells, tissues and organs in our body serve one person, all the diversity seen in the cosmic form serves one Ishvara. Our minds are used to dividing things, cutting up things. The cosmic form is meant to reverse that process and unify everything.
 
Sanjaya used the word “devam” which means shining to describe this form. He elaborates on this in the next shloka.