Category Archives: drishtvaa

Bhagavad Gita Verse 51, Chapter 11

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by in 11.51, asmi, chapter 11 verse 51, drishtvaa, gataha, idaaneem, idam, janaardana, maanusham, prakritim, roopam, sachetaahaa, samvrittaha, saumyam, tava

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Arjuna uvaacha:
drishtvedam maanusham roopam tava saumyam janaardana |
idaaneemasmi samvrittaha sachetaahaa prakritim gataha || 51 ||
 
Arjuna said:
Seeing this, your pleasant human form, O Janaardana, I have now regained my composure, and attained my true nature.
 
drishtvaa : seeing
idam : this
maanusham : human
roopam : form
tava : your
saumyam : pleasant
janaardana : O Janaardana
idaaneem : at this moment
asmi : I have
samvrittaha : become
sachetaahaa : composed
prakritim : my true nature
gataha : attained
 
The pleasing form of Shri Krishna is glorified in the Srimad Bhaagavatam repeatedly. The cowherdesses of Vrindaavan known as the gopis, elaborately praise this form in the tenth canto of the Bhaagavatam. They say: “Your beauty makes all three worlds auspicious. Even the cows, birds, trees and deer are enthralled when they see your beautiful form.” Arjuna, seeing the human form of Shri Krishna, regained his natural state, free from the fear and bewilderment resulting from the cosmic form.
 
We have come across the meaning of the term “Janaardana” earlier. “Arda” means one who moves, or makes others move. Jana means people, and therefore Janaardana means one who moves people to heaven or hell, in other words, dispenses justice to evildoers. Another meaning of Janaardana is one whom people ask for prosperity and well being. By addressing Shri Krishna as Janaardana, a term he used to address Shri Krishna prior to knowing that he was Ishvara, Arjuna recalled the glory of his human form.
 
So far, we saw Arjuna request Shri Krishna for the cosmic form, Arjuna’s description of the cosmic form and his subsequent reaction to it, followed by a request to revert back to the human form. Now, Shri Krishna summarizes the teaching of this chapter in the the four shlokas that follow.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 45, Chapter 11

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.45, adrishtapoorvam, asmi, bhayena, chapter 11 verse 45, darshaya, devaroopam, devesha, drishtvaa, hrishitaha, jagannivaasa, manaha, praseeda, pravyathitam, tadeva

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adrishtapoorvam hrishitosmi drishtvaa bhayena cha pravyathitam mano me |
tadeva me darshaya devaroopam praseeda devesha jagannivaasa || 45 ||
 
Seeing you form that was never seen before, I am overjoyed and (yet) fearful, my mind is disturbed. Show me that divine form. Be pleased, O Lord of lords, O abode of the universe.
 
adrishtapoorvam : prior unseen
hrishitaha : overjoyed
asmi : I am
drishtvaa : seeing
bhayena : fearful
cha : and
pravyathitam : disturbed
manaha : mind
me : my
tadeva : that
me : to me
darshaya : show
devaroopam : divine form
praseeda : be pleased
devesha : O Lord of lords
jagannivaasa : O abode of the universe
 
Fear is one of our most primal emotions. At some point or the other in our lives, we have encountered fear of losing our job, losing a loved one, fear of an angry confrontation, stage fright and so on. But we can boil all kinds of fear down to three things. First, the fear of losing something that is “ours”. This is the fear of losing our life, our job, our loved ones and so on. Next is the fear of loss of knowledge, or being duped. Third is the fear of losing joy and happiness, fear of sorrow in other words. We can sum it up in this manner: we are afraid of losing our existence, knowledge and happiness.
 
However, if we recall the teaching of the Gita so far, especially from the second chapter, we know that our true nature is the aatmaa, the eternal essence which is infinite existence, knowledge and happiness. So then, the cause of fear is the ego, the delusion that we are not the eternal essence. There is no scope for fear when we know our true nature as the infinite eternal essence. But if we assume that “I am the body”, then all the problems and fears of the body such as disease, old age, death etc become our problems. The fear of death, which is actually the fear of losing the existence of the body, becomes our fear.
 
So then, why did Arjuna fear Shri Krishna’s cosmic form? For a brief moment, Arjuna’s ego had vanished when he considered himself part and parcel of the cosmic form. When his ego came back, it brought with it all the incorrect associations with the body, mind and so on. Arjuna then saw the cosmic form as something outside of himself, something that could destroy him. He acknowledged his fear to Shri Krishna, begging him to go back to his original form.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 24, Chapter 11

07 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.24, aananam, anekavarnam, antaraatmaa, chapter 11 verse 24 cha : and vishnoho, deeptam, deeptavishaalanetram, dhritim, drishtvaa, hi, na, nabhahasprisham, pravyathita, shamam, tvaam, vindaami, vyaatta

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nabhahasprisham deeptamanekavarnam vyaattaananam deeptavishaalanetram |
drishtvaa hi tvaam pravyathitaantaraatmaa dhritim na vindaami shamam cha vishno || 24 ||
 
Seeing you touching the sky, glowing with several colours, with gaping mouths and large blazing eyes, my mind is scared. I have neither courage nor serenity, O Vishnu.
 
nabhahasprisham : touching the sky
deeptam : glowing
anekavarnam : several colours
vyaatta : gaping
aananam : mouths
deeptavishaalanetram : large blazing eyes
drishtvaa : seeing
hi : for
tvaam : you
pravyathita : scared
antaraatmaa : mind
dhritim : courage
na : no
vindaami : I have
shamam : serenity
cha : and
vishnoho : O Vishnu
 
Arjuna describes just how gigantic the cosmic form looked. He says that it “touched the sky”. Its size, combined with the horrible imagery that he saw, created a sight that was scarier than anything we can imagine. Arjuna says that it had an infinite number of colours, indicating the potential to create all kinds of names and forms. Furthermore, it had an infinite number of mouths wide open with fangs, as well as gigantic fiery eyes.
 
This “raudra roopa” or angry form of Ishvara had quite an impact on Arjuna. He admitted to Shri Krishna that he had lost his courage. For one of the world’s foremost warriors that considers courage paramount to say such a thing indicates that this cosmic form must really have been something beyond the realm of our imagination.
 
Arjuna also admitted that he had lost all his serenity. In the second chapter, Shri Krishna mentioned that a “sthita-prajnya” or one who is established in the eternal essence has three key qualities: holistic vision, serenity of mind, and unattached living. Arjuna was a tranquil person by nature, but this manifestation of the cosmic form has the effect of destabilizing him.
 
From our perspective, even if we never see this terrible form, there are several instances in our life when we experience situations that make us lose our will to fight, and also take our serenity away. This shloka urges to recognize Ishvara’s handiwork behind even those situations that make us lose faith in him, and to constantly remind ourselves that every unfortunate circumstance is a means for our self-purification.
 
Even though Arjuna wanted Shri Krishna to end displaying this cosmic form, there was more to come as we shall see next.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 23, Chapter 11

06 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.23, aham, bahoodaram, bahubaahooroopaadam, bahudamshtraakaraalam, bahuvaktranetram, chapter 11 verse 23, drishtvaa, lokaahaa, mahaabaaho, mahat, pravyathitaahaa, roopam, tatha, te

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roopam mahatte bahuvaktranetram mahaabaaho bahubaahooroopaadam |
bahoodaram bahudamshtraakaraalam drishtvaa lokaahaa pravyathitaastathaaham || 23 ||
 
Seeing your grand form with several mouths and eyes, O mighty armed, with several arms, thighs, feet and bellies, with fearful fangs, all beings are disturbed, and (so too am) I.
 
roopam : form
mahat : grand
te : your
bahuvaktranetram : with several mouths and eyes
mahaabaaho : O mighty armed
bahubaahooroopaadam : with several arms, thighs and feet
bahoodaram : with several bellies
bahudamshtraakaraalam : with fearful fangs
drishtvaa : seeing
lokaahaa : beings
pravyathitaahaa : disturbed
tatha : and
aham : I
 
Arjuna’s amazement turned into fear as he witnessed the transformation of Ishvara’s cosmic form. The “soumya roopa” or the pleasant form morphed into into the “ugra roopa”, the fear-inducing form. Shri Krishna’s kind, shining face was no more visible. It now was the face of a monster, with long sharp teeth that were “kaarala”, ready to take a bite.
 
When we see someone who has power but is benevolent and kind, we feel at peace. But when someone with power is clearly intent on causing destruction, we are afraid. When a general of a country army is disciplined and respects civilian authority, people are happy, otherwise he becomes a dictator and scares people. So therefore, seeing this terrible form of Ishvara, Arjuna saw that all beings in all of the worlds were cowering in fear of this form.
 
Why did Ishvara show this form to Arjuna? Didn’t Shri Krishna want everyone to remember his pleasant form only? There is a reason to this. Earlier, we learned about the tendency of our mind to demarcate certain aspect of the world as “good” or “bad”. But if we use the cosmic form as a means to meditate upon Ishvara, we need think like Ishvara. Ishvara comprises the entire creation where everything is necessary and everything has its place. We cannot demarcate anything good or bad. Only by discarding our prior conceptions of good and bad can we truly understand this terrible form of Ishvara.
 
What else about the form scared Arjuna? He continues in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 59, Chapter 2

26 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by in 2.59, api, asya, chapter 2 verse 59, dehinaha, drishtvaa, http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post, niraahaarasya, nivartate, param, rasah, vinivartante, vishayaah

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vishayaa vinivartante niraahaarasya dehinaha |
rasavarjam rasopyasya param drishtvaa nivartate || 59 ||

Objects turn away from the fasting individual, but their taste remains. For the individual who has realized the absolute, the taste also turns away.

vishayaah : objects (of the senses)
vinivartante : turn away
niraahaarasya : fasting
dehinaha : individual
rasavarjam : except taste
rasah : taste
api : also
asya : for this individual
param : absolute
drishtvaa : realized
nivartate : turn away

In the last shloka, we encountered the “tortoise technique” which taught us how to guard ourselves when we encounter factors that can cause us agitation. It does work assuming we remain aware and alert about our thoughts. But if we have strong predispositions or vaasanaas towards any object, person or situation, the memory or “taste” of that factor will keep popping up in our mind. So in this shloka, Shri Krishna provides an overview of how one begins to address the removal of deep rooted predispositions, which is one of the primary goals of any spiritual teaching.

Let’s go back to the black forest chocolate cake example from last time. You saw a piece of cake, you realized that you may succumb to it, and you took a few steps back. But a little later, the taste of that cake from a prior experience will pop up in your mind and begin to torment you. All you can think of for a while will be cake. This is what makes dieting difficult. Our mind keeps pushing us towards food each time we try to restrain ourselves.

So what is the solution? In the shloka, Shri Krishna says that the taste also turns away when we “realize the absolute”. What he means is that we need to set our goal on something higher than ourselves, and hold on to that goal throughout our life. The higher the goal, the greater chance that we will get rid of our predispositions.

When we begin any diet, we typically set a goal, e.g. “I have to lose 2 kg in 3 weeks”. Now, with this shloka in mind, we could try to set a higher goal, which could be “I need to lose this weight so that I can stay healthy to take care of my family”. Or it could be “I need to lose this weight so that I can fulfill my svadharma in the best possible manner”.

In later chapters, the Gita goes into great detail as to how we can gradually set higher and higher goals and ultimately set the highest goal, the “absolute” goal mentioned in this shloka, so that we can burn away all of our predispositions.