Category Archives: divyaan

Bhagavad Gita Verse 15, Chapter 11

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.15, asanastham, bhoota, brahmaanam, chapter 11 verse 15, dehe, deva, devaam, divyaan, kamala, pashyaam, risheen, sanghaan, sarvaan, tava, uragaan, vishesha

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 15, Chapter 11

Arjuna uvaacha:
pashyaami devaamstava deva dehe sarvaanstathaa bhootavisheshasanghaan |
brahmaanameesham kamalaasanasthamrisheenshcha sarvaanuragaanshcha divyaan || 15 ||
 
Arjuna said:
O Lord, I see deities as well as special classes of beings in your body. Brahma, the lord, seated upon a lotus, and all the sages and divine serpents.
 
pashyaami : I see
devaam : deities
tava : your
deva : O Lord
dehe : in your body
sarvaan : all
tathaa : as well as
bhoota : beings
vishesha : special
sanghaan : classes
brahmaanam : Brahma
eesham : the lord
kamala : lotus
asanastham : seated upon
risheen : sages
cha : and
sarvaan : all
uragaan : serpents
cha : and
divyaan : divine
 
Whenever our emotions are running high, we either keep quiet or speak non-stop. Arjuna now comes out of his silence and speaks at a fast pace to describe what he sees in front of him. The meter of this shloka has changed to indicate the change in pace. Traditionally, these shlokas are also chanted at a slightly faster speed to get their full flavour. So what does Arjuna see?
 
Arjuna says that he sees all kinds of deities and other kinds of beings, which include Lord Brahma seated upon a lotus, as well as the divine sages and divine serpents. The sages include the sapta-rishis such as Vashishtha and the serpents include Vasuki. We had come across these and other beings in the prior chapter when Ishvara himself described his divine manifestations. But Arjuna does not see all of these in different places. He sees them all situated on Ishvara’s cosmic form.
 
What does this indicate? The sages live on earth, the deities live in a higher plane, and serpents live in yet another plane. Arjuna realizes that he is seeing worlds that beyond the earth and beyond the human capacity of vision. He also saw Lord Brahma who, according to Srimad Bhagavatam, arose out the navel of Lord Vishnu and created all the worlds.
 
So Arjuna, in the cosmic form, saw the creator and his creation. More importantly, he realized that Ishvara was beyond the process creation, which he had learned in the eighth chapter.
 
Footnotes
1. “Eesham” could also mean Lord Shiva. This indicates that Arjuna saw both creation and dissolution in the cosmic form.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 9

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by in 9.20, aasaadya, ashnanti, chapter 9 verse 20, devabhoogaan, divi, divyaan, gods, ishtvaa, maam, pootapaahaa, praarthayante, punyam, somapaahaa, surendralokam, svargatim, te, traividyaa, yajnaihi

≈ Comments Off on Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 9

traividyaa maam somapaahaa pootapaa yajnairishtvaa svargatim praarthayante |
te punyamaasaadya surendralokamashnanti divyaandivi devabhoogaan || 20 ||
 
Those well-versed in the three Vedas, after worshipping me through sacrifices, and drinking nectar and purified of sin, they pray for attainment of heaven. Having obtained merits, they enjoy the divine pleasures of the gods in heaven.
 
traividyaa : those well versed in three Vedas
maam : me
somapaahaa : drinkers of nectar
pootapaahaa : purified of sin
yajnaihi : through sacrifices
ishtvaa : after worship
svargatim : to attain heaven
praarthayante : pray
te : they
punyam : merits
aasaadya : obtain
surendralokam : abode of Indra
ashnanti : enjoy
divyaan : divine
divi : heavenly world
devabhoogaan : pleasures of the gods
 
Having described the infinite nature of Ishvara, Shri Krishna now elaborates upon the topic of devotees or bhaktas. There are predominantly two types of devotees: desire-oriented (sakaama) and desireless (nishkaam). Desire-oriented devotees are described in these two shlokas. Note the change to a longer meter to emphasize a change in the topic.
 
Who is the desire-oriented bhakta? He is a devotee who worships Ishvara for a material gain. He either wants merits (punya), wealth (artha), earthly joy (sukha), heavenly joy (svaraga) or a combination of these four. In simple words he is looking for money, name and fame.
 
So for example, if someone wants to buy a car, they pray that it is the right price and that it is in stock. If someone has an exam, they pray that they pass in the exam. Vedas and rituals mentioned in this shloka refer to the efforts that we put into appeasing Ishvara. We may not perform elaborate rituals, but there always is a thought that “please God let this happen so that I can be happy”, which amounts to the same thing as the rituals mentioned here.
 
Now, when a child asks his parents for something insignificant, a parent feels frustrated because the parent has the capability to give much greater value, but cannot do so because the child insists on that insignificant thing. Similarly, Ishvara also may feel sometimes that the things we ask of him – wealth, heavenly pleasures and so on – are insignificant. Such people do not have a strong resolve towards liberation, they do not have the “vyavasaatmikaa buddhi” mentioned in chapter 2. Their focus is diverted away from Ishvara towards material pursuits.
 
Assuming they somehow accumulate merits and attain heaven, what happens next?