Category Archives: tava

Bhagavad Gita Verse 73, Chapter 18

29 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by in 18.73, achyuta, asmi, gatasandehaha, karishye, labdhaa, mayaa, mohaha, nashtaha, prasaadaan, smritihi, sthitaha, tava, vachanam

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Arjuna uvaacha:
nashto mohaha smritirlabdhaa tvatprasaadaanmayaachyuta |
sthitosmi gatasandehaha karishye vachanam tava || 73 ||
 
Arjuna said:
My delusion has been destroyed, and my memory has been restored with your grace, O infallible one. I stand with my doubts removed. I shall do as you say.
 
nashtaha : destroyed
mohaha : delusion
smritihi : memory
labdhaa : restored
tvat : your
prasaadaan : grace
mayaa : by me
achyuta : O infallible one
sthitaha : stand
asmi : I
gatasandehaha : doubts removed
karishye : I shall do
vachanam : words
tava : your
 
If we recall, the first words uttered by Arjuna in the Gita were as follows : O achyuta, O infallible one, in preparation for combat, position my chariot between the two armies. Arjuna uses the same address, achyuta, the infallible one, in this shloka. So the conversation that was initiated by Arjuna is concluded here. Arjuna says that the ignorance of his true nature is no more, since he has regained his smritihi, his memory, the knowledge of his true self. When one comes to know about their true self, there is no more delusion in this world. Everything is seen for what it really is, an illusion, a superimposition by maaya on the self.
 
There is another significance of the word achyuta. While we forget our true nature, and erroneously take maaya to be real, Ishvara is always standing firm in his position as unaffected by the superimposition of maaya. Since he is infallible, only with his grace can we overcome our delusion and come out of the cycle of birth and death, of samsaara. Removal of delusion is the aim of all spiritual teaching, as we saw earlier. All that remains is to stand firm, to be stitaha, in the knowledge of our true self.
 
From the standpoint of the world, Arjuna was convinced that performing his duty as a warrior was the right decision to make at this point. Therefore, he acknowledged that the teaching of the Gita benefitted him, and that he was ready to fight in the war. From the highest standpoint of the absolute, Arjuna’s sense of agency, his sense of doership, had gone away, once he understood that the self can neither do anything, nor can it enjoy anything. He performed actions spontaneously, in the service of Ishvara. In the words of Shri Shankaraachaarya, he had achieved the ultimate goal of life. He did not have to accomplish anything else.

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 41, Chapter 11

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.41, api, chapter 11 verse 41, he, idam, iti, krishna, mahimaanam, matvaa, mayaa, pramaadaat, pranayena, prasabham, sakhaa, tava, uktam, vaa, yaadava ajaanataa, yat

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sakheti matvaa prasabham yaduktam he krishna he yaadava he sakheti |
ajaanataa mahimaanam tavedam mayaa praamadaatpranayena vaapi || 41 ||
 
Thinking of you as a friend, I addressed you rashly as O Krishna, O Yaadava, O friend. Not knowing your greatness, I said it in this manner out of carelessness or also out of affection.
 
sakhaa : friend
iti : in this manner
matvaa : thinking
prasabham : rashly
yat : whatever
uktam : said
he : O
krishna : Krishna
yaadava : Yaadava
ajaanataa : not knowing
mahimaanam : greatness
tava : your
idam : this
mayaa : I
pramaadaat : in carelessness
pranayena : in affection
vaa : or
api : also
 
Arjuna and Shri Krishna were childhood friends. Growing up together, Arjuna never realized the divine nature of Shri Krishna’s birth. He had treated him as he would treat any other friend of his. Now, having understood his divine nature having viewed the cosmic form, he wanted to acknowledge his ill-treatment of Shri Krishna, and beg for forgiveness for all the times he had acted imprudently. After all he was Arjuna, whose name meant “one who is extremely straight-forward”.
 
In Arjuna’s time, just like in the present time, insults with respect to people’s skin colour or caste were quite popular. Arjuna recounts his insults to Shri Krishna where he used to call him dark-skinned, refer to his caste, or call him a friend instead of a more respectable title. And like any of us, his intellect knew that insulting anyone was not the right thing to do, but he did it anyway. Knowing this well, Arjuna owned up to his ignorance, carelessness and rash behaviour.
 
But Arjuna also gave another side of the story. Although he did insult Shri Krishna out of carelessness in some instances, there were other instances when he did it out of sheer affection for his friend. When there is affection from both sides between friends, it is totally acceptable to insult each other. Arjuna was going to ask for forgiveness very soon, and hoped that Shri Krishna would keep this side of the story in his mind.

Bhagavad Gite Verse 36, Chapter 11

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.36, anurajyate, bheetaani, cha, chapter 11 verse 36, dishaha, dravanti, hrisheekesha, jagat, namasyanti, prahrashyati, prakreertyaa, rakshaamsi, sarve, sidhhasanghaahaa, sthaane, tava

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Arjuna uvaacha:
sthaane hrisheekesha tava prakreertyaa jagatprahrashyatyanurajyate cha |
rakshaamsi bheetaani disho dravanti sarve namasyanti cha sidhhasanghaahaa || 36 ||
 
Arjuna said:
Rightly, O Hrisheekesha, the universe is elated and enamoured by your glories. Demons run in all directions out of fear, and the hosts of siddhas bow to you.
 
sthaane : rightly
hrisheekesha : O Hrisheekesha
tava : your
prakreertyaa : glories
jagat : universe
prahrashyati : elated
anurajyate : enamoured
cha : and
rakshaamsi : demons
bheetaani : out of fear
dishaha : directions
dravanti : run
sarve : all
namasyanti : bow
cha : and
sidhhasanghaahaa : hosts of siddhas
 
Having understood the workings of Ishvara’s universe, Arjuna responds with the powerful word “sthaane”, which means everything that is going on is right, everything is in its place. As we saw earlier, we tend to question Ishvara every time there is a massive calamity, either at a personal level or at a global level. Or, we sometimes ask Ishvara to let things be a certain way. But when we understand that Ishvara is behind it all, and is orchestrating events for the benefit of the entire universe and not just a subset, we too, are compelled to say “sthaane”, it is all right.
 
With this knowledge, we now know why people in our world are happy and unhappy at the same time. Those who view the world through Ishvara, those who have the vision of Ishvara, take delight in everything and hence they are happy. But those who view the world through their ego-driven vision fear Ishvara’s destructive process, and then become unhappy. Rakshasaas or demons run in fear, while siddhas or perfected beings salute Ishvara.
 
Furthermore, Arjuna understands a wonderful technique by which we can gain immense dispassion towards the world. A child drops his attachment to his toys when he becomes an adult and gets attached to something higher than toys, like his career for instance. So when we develop a strong attachment to Ishvara, when we are enamoured, “anurajjyate”, by Ishvara, we automatically drop our worldly attachments. All we need to do is to direct our senses to Hrisheekesha, the master of the senses.
 
This shloka and the upcoming ten shlokas are one of the most beautiful prayers to Ishvara ever written.

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 30, Chapter 11

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.30, apoorya, bhaasaha, chapter 11 verse 30, grasmaanaha, jagat, jvalabhdihi, lelihyaase, lokaan, prapanti, samagraan, samagram, samantaat, tava, tejobhihi, ugraahaa, vadanaihi :, vishno

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lelihyaase grasmaanaha samantaallokaansamagraanvadanairjvalabhdihi |
tejobhiraapoorya jagatsamagram bhaasastavograahaa prapanti vishno || 30 ||
 
Devouring everyone from all sides, through your fiery mouths, you are licking (your lips). Your terrible rays, filling the universe with brilliance, are burning everything, O Vishnu.
 
lelihyaase : licking
grasmaanaha : devouring
samantaat : from all sides
lokaan : people
samagraan : all
vadanaihi : through mouths
jvalabhdihi : fiery
tejobhihi : with brilliance
apoorya : filling
jagat : universe
samagram : everything
bhaasaha : rays
tava : your
ugraahaa : terrible
prapanti : burning
vishno : O Vishnu
 
When we are enjoying a particulary tasty meal, we cannot resist licking our fingers and lips. It is a sign that we would like to have more. Also in Indian culture, wasting of food is not allowed, so we lick our fingers to ensure that nothing goes to waste. In the same way, Ishvara in his cosmic form thoroughly enjoys the process of destruction. He also ensures that nothing is spared, nothing goes to waste. Everything and everyone ultimately is destroyed.
 
Now, we may ask, isn’t it cruel to derive pleasure from destruction? It may be true from a relative standpoint, but not from the absolute standpoint. If old trees and animals do not die in a jungle, new ones cannot be created. If old businesses aren’t allowed to fail, new startups cannot bring innovative products to the market. If no one dies, the earth is unable to sustain the needs of an infinitely growing population.
 
Destruction is a necessary part of life. If we think like an individual, destruction is painful. If we think like Ishvara, destruction is enjoyable. It also creates dispassion towards the miseries of our human body, since we know it will eb destroyed to create something new.
 
Arjuna continues to describe what he sees. He says that the rays of fire that are emitted by Shri Krishna are burning up the universe with their heat. He wants to take those fiery rays away. Since Shri Krishna has not yet listened to him, he asks him a question with the hope of gaining attention, and potentially, bringing back the form of Shri Krishna that he loves.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 29, Chapter 11

12 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.29, api, chapter 11 verse 29, eva, jvalanam, lokaaha, naashaaya, patangaahaa, pradeeptam, samriddhavegaahaa, tathaa, tava, vaktraani, vishanti, yathaa

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yathaa pradeeptam jvalanam patangaa vishanti naashaaya samriddhavegaahaa |
tathaiva naashaaya vishanti lokaastavaapi vaktraani samriddhavegaahaa || 29 ||
 
Like moths enter a blazing fire with great speed for their destruction, so also do these people enter your mouths with great speed for their destruction.
 
yathaa : like
pradeeptam : blazing
jvalanam : fire
patangaahaa : moths
vishanti : enter
naashaaya : for destruction
samriddhavegaahaa : with great speed
tathaa : so do
eva : only
naashaaya : for destruction
vishanti : enter
lokaaha : these people
tava : your
api : also
vaktraani : mouths
samriddhavegaahaa : with great speed
 
In the previous shloka, Arjuna gave the example of rivers flowing into the ocean to indicate the ultimate dissolution of all names and forms back to their source, Ishvara. Some may raise a doubt here. They may say, water is inert so naturally it goes wherever the flow takes it. In order to dispel this doubt, Arjuna gives the example of moths that rush towards a flame, and are eventually destroyed. Sant Jnyaneshwar gives the example of water droplets evaporating on a hot iron rod in his commentary.
 
By showing the process of destruction at such a grand scale, Shri Krishna also wants to remove Arjuna’s fear of death. Since the physical body goes away after death, there is no question of pain once we die. We are scared not about the pain of death, but about losing all of our identity as a so-and so, with all his possessions and attachments. The name and form that we have become attached, and its network of relationships with other names and forms, is what ultimately gets dissolved.
 
But when we know that death is nothing but a return of our name and form into that of Ishvara’s, our fear of death will go away, or at least, diminish to a great extent. In fact, when we become a devotee of Ishvara, death loses its unpleasantness because now it means a return to the original source of the universe. We begin to lead our lives with a great degree of courage and fearlessness, because we know how it will all end.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 28, Chapter 11

11 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.28, abhimukhaa, abhivijvalanti, ambuvegaahaa, amee, bahavaha, chapter 11 verse 28, dravanti, eva, nadeenaam, naralokaveeraa, samudram, tathaa, tava, vaktraani, vishanti, yathaa

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yathaa nadeenaam bahavombuvegaahaa samudramevaabhimukhaa dravanti |
tathaa tavaamee naralokaveeraa vishanti vaktraanyabhivijvalanti || 28 ||
 
Like torrents of several rivers rush towards the ocean, so do those brave men of this earth run to your blazing mouths.
 
yathaa : like
nadeenaam : rivers
bahavaha : several
ambuvegaahaa : torrents
samudram : ocean
eva : only
abhimukhaa : towards
dravanti : rush
tathaa : so do
tava : to you
amee : those
naralokaveeraa : brave men of the earth
vishanti : run
vaktraani : mouths
abhivijvalanti : blazing
 
Putumayo, Caqueta, Vaupes, Guainea, Morona, Pastaza, Nucuray, Urituyacu, Chambira, Tigre, Nanay, Napo, and Huallaga. These are names of just a handful of 1100 rivers that feed the Amazon, the largest river in the world by volume. It covers almost 7 million square kilometres of land in South America, and empties 300,000 cubic metres per second into the Atlantic Ocean. The most distant source of the Andes is a glacier on the western edge of South America, near the Pacific Ocean, on the other side of the continent.
 
Arjuna, on seeing the hordes of warriors rushing into Ishvara’s mouths, compares them to the water in a river rushing with great speed into the ocean. It reminds him of Shri Krishna’s description of the water cycle as a sacrifice when he was explaining karma yoga. A drop of water which originated from the ocean evaporates into the sky, falls down as rain into a water body, and eventually finds its way into a flowing river that goes right back into its source, the ocean. At one point it thinks that it is rain, or it is a pond, a lake, a stream and so on, forgetting its true nature as water.
 
Similarly, we tend to think of ourselves as children, students, engineers, executives, rich people, poor people at different points in our lives, and forgetting that our journey is just a cycle that begins from Ishvara, the source, and ends back into that same source. So even though Arjuna was scared of Ishvara’s monstrous form, he understood that there was nothing to be scared about destruction. It was a bona fide part of Ishvara’s creative process.
 
Arjuna illustrates another aspect of this scene in the next shloka.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 20, Chapter 11

03 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.20, adbhutam, agram, antaram, chapter 11 verse 20, dishashcha, drashtvaa, dyaavaaprathivyoho, ekena, hi, idam, lokatrayam, mahaatman, pravyathitam, roopam, sarvaahaa, tava, tvayaa, vyaaptam

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dyaavaaprathivyoridamantaram hi vyaaptam tvayaikena dishashcha sarvaahaa |
drashtvaadbhutam roopamagram tavedam lokatrayam pravyathitam mahaatman || 20 ||
 
This distance between heaven, earth is and all directions is pervaded only by you alone. Having seen this, your fascinating and terrible form, the three worlds are afraid, O great one.
 
dyaavaaprathivyoho : heaven and earth
idam : this
antaram : distance
hi : only
vyaaptam : pervaded
tvayaa : by you
ekena : one
dishashcha : directions
sarvaahaa : all
drashtvaa : having seen
adbhutam : fascinating
roopam : form
agram : terrible
tava : your
idam : this
lokatrayam : three worlds
pravyathitam : afraid
mahaatman : O great one
 
Nowadays, computers can be trained to recognize objects and faces. They do this by first taking a snapshot of a scene, and then differentiating between what is space is what is not. If they can do this differentiation correctly, they can compare the outlines of the “not-space” with outlines of familiar objects to arrive at a conclusion such as “this is a box” and so on.
 
Our eyes work in pretty much the same way. Whenever they see space, they do three things. First, they separate whatever they see as not-space and call those things “objects”. Next, they send those objects to the mind which uses its memory to say “this is a box and a key”. But in addition to recognizing objects, the mind also automatically adds another thought. Since the box and key are separated by space, they are far away from me and therefore not a part of me.
 
Our minds are conditioned to believe that Ishvara is sitting somewhere far away. He is separated from us by space, by distance. But when Arjuna saw the cosmic form, he realized that space is not different from Ishvara. In fact, Shri Krishna himself said that space is part of his nature in the seventh chapter. Ishvara is not separate and far away from us, he is with us all the time. In fact, he only exists, “ekena”, all alone, by himself. We are not different from him. This is the main point of this shloka. Only by constantly remembering the cosmic form will we truly understand this message.
 
Now, Ishvara’s ugra roopa, his terrible form, slowly replaces his saumya roopa, his pleasant for. For every pleasant experience in the world, there has to be a corresponding unpleasant experience as well. Once you label something as “good”, there will be something “bad” by default. Seeing this frightful form of Ishvara, with fire coming out of all his mouths, all the three worlds were beginning to worry.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 11

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.16, aadim, anantaroopam, aneka, antam, baahuhu, chapter 11 verse 16, madhyam, na, netram, pashyaami, punaha, sarvataha, tava, tvaam, udaraha, vaktra, vishvaroopa, vishveshvara

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anekabaahoodaravaktranetram pashyaami tvaam sarvatonantaroopam
naantam na madhyam na punastavaadim pashyaami vishveshvara vishvaroopa || 16 ||
 
I see you with numerous hands, bellies, mouths and eyes, with infinite forms from all sides. I see no end, middle and beginning of you, O lord of the universe, O cosmic form.
 
aneka : numerous
baahuhu : hands
udaraha : bellies
vaktra : mouths
netram : eyes
pashyaami : I see
tvaam : you
sarvataha : from all sides
anantaroopam : infinite forms
na : no
antam : end
madhyam : middle
punaha : and
tava : your
aadim : beginning
pashyaami : I see
vishveshvara : O lord of the universe
vishvaroopa : O cosmic form
 
Arjuna, in his hasty speech, fleshes out the detailed imagery of Ishvara’s cosmic form. He now sees an infinite number of forms, but his mind cannot in any way comprehend or point out what is being seen. It is only able to process parts of this image – hands, mouths, eyes and so on, but is not able to make sense of the whole picture. The fable of the blind men who could only touch parts of the elephant comes to mind here. One blind man thought that the trunk was a rope, the ear was a sieve and so on, but they did not realize that they were touching an elephant.
 
When Arjuna could not figure out how the various eyes, hands, bellies and mouth fit together, he tried to see whether the entire cosmic form had a shape or an outline to it. As a warrior, he was trained to look at a gigantic military formation and make sense of it based on its shapre. But his mind failed there as well. He was not able to locate where that cosmic form began, where its middle was, and where it ended. All our mental functions are useless when we cannot distinguish one thing from another.
 
We may be tempted to visualize the cosmic form based on some artistic rendition of this shloka that we would have seen in our childhood, especially when we were growing up in India. Most paintings of this shloka show Shri Krishna as a tall entity with many arms, legs and faces but we can still see the battlefield where he is standing on. However, Arjuna was completely engulfed and surrounded by this cosmic form in all three dimensions, “from all sides” as the shloka reads. It is impossible for a human to visualize and capture it accurately in a painting.
 
Through this shloka, Shri Krishna reveals the limitations of the mind with its tendency to chop up everything into fragments. It fails to understand Ishvara’s mind which is operating at the cosmic level. Our thoughts are limited to what we consider “me” and “mine”, but Ishvara’s thoughts take the entire universe into account. Furthermore, it also indicates that all names and forms arise from Ishvara and merge back into Ishvara.