Category Archives: praseeda

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 31, Chapter 11

14 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.31, aadyam, aakhyaahi, bhavaan, bhavantam, chapter 11 verse 31, devavara, hi, ichhaami, kaha, me, na, namaha astu, prajaanaami, praseeda, pravruttim, tava, te, ugraroopaha, vijnyaatum

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aakhyaa hi me ko bhavaanugraroopo namostute devavara praseeda |
vijnyaatumichhaami bhavantamaadyam na hi prajaanaami tava pravruttim || 31 ||
 
Please reveal who you are, with such a fierce form. I bow to you, O best among deities, be gracious. I wish to know you, O ancient being, for I do not understand your purpose.
 
aakhyaahi : please reveal
me : to me
kaha : who
bhavaan : you
ugraroopaha : fierce form
namaha astu : I bow
te : to you
devavara : O best among deities
praseeda : be gracious
vijnyaatum : to know
ichhaami : I wish
bhavantam : you
aadyam : ancient being
na : not
hi : for
prajaanaami : do I understand
tava : your
pravruttim : purpose
 
In the seventh book or canto of the Srimad Bhaagavatam, Lord Vishnu incarnates as the Lion Man Narasimha to slay Hiranyakashipu, the king of the demons. He then proceeds to destroy Hiranyakashipu’s army. But his anger is not appeased even after doing so. Extremely scared and worried, the heavenly deities send Prahalaada, Lord Vishnu’s devotee, to talk to Narasimha. He first praises Lord Vishnu, after which he asks him several questions. Appeasement, followed by humble questioning, is the best way to pacify an angry person, which is what Arjuna did to the fearful cosmic form of Ishvara in this shloka.
 
In the course of just a few moments, Shri Krishna transformed from his human form, to a gigantic cosmic form that was pleasing, then to another cosmic form that was extremely scary. Arjuna requested him to reveal who he was at this moment, and what was his mission and purpose for destroying everything. Even in his request there was humility and surrender, because Arjuna asked for the Lord’s grace, knowing fully well that he was the “Aadyam”, the original primal being of this universe.
 
The word “Aadyam” is used by Sant Jnyaneshwar in the first stanza of his commentary on the Gita known as the Jnyaaneshwari : “Om Namoji Aadya”, meaning “my salutations to that primal being”. This word is extremely significant in the context of this shloka. For someone or something to take on the responsibility of destruction, it has to be present before and after creation. It also has to be beyond all names and forms, because it is names and forms that are created and destroyed. So when the entire universe is dissolved, the same original being creates, sustains and destroys the universe again.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 25, Chapter 11

08 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.25, chapter 11 verse 25, damshtraa, devesha, dishaha, drishta, eva, jaane, jagannivaasa, kaalaanala, karaalaani, labhe, mukhaani, na, praseeda, sannibhaani, sharma

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damshtraakaraalaani cha te mukhaani drishtaiva kaalaanalasannibhaani |
disho na jaane na labhe cha sharma praseeda devesha jagannivaasa || 25 ||
 
Seeing you with dreadful tusks and your mouths blazing like fires of destruction, I neither know the directions nor do I have peace. Be pleased, O lord whose abode is the universe.
 
damshtraa : tusks
karaalaani : with dreadful
cha : and
te : your
mukhaani : mouths
drishta : seeing
eva : only
kaalaanala : fires of destruction
sannibhaani : blazing like
dishaha : directions
na : not
jaane : I know
na : not
labhe : have
cha : and
sharma : peace
praseeda : be pleased
devesha : O lord
jagannivaasa : whose abode is this universe
 
When we go beyond the imagery of this shloka and try to extract the meaning, we find that Arjuna comes face to face with a point of no return. He is unable to “know the directions”, unable to decide where to run away from here. All the plans he has made to do this or that thing are suddenly no more. Many people who come face to face with their mortality may have thoughts similar to what Arjuna is echoing here.
 
I came across a website of a terminal cancer patient who wrote his obituary just before he passed away. Here’s an excerpt from that website:
 
…It turns out that no one can imagine what’s really coming in our lives. We can plan, and do what we enjoy, but we can’t expect our plans to work out. Some of them might, while most probably won’t. Inventions and ideas will appear, and events will occur, that we could never foresee. That’s neither bad nor good, but it is real.
 
I think and hope that’s what my daughters can take from my disease and death. And that my wonderful, amazing wife _____ can see too. Not that they could die any day, but that they should pursue what they enjoy, and what stimulates their minds, as much as possible—so they can be ready for opportunities, as well as not disappointed when things go sideways, as they inevitably do…
 
So when we realize that ultimately, we are powerless in front of the grand scheme of the cosmos, our ego drops all its pretenses and surrenders itself in prayer to Ishvara. Prayer is only possible when there is utter surrender of individuality. So Arjuna prays to Shri Krishna, urging him to return to his pleasing form. But Shri Krishna is not done yet.