Bhagavad Gita Verse 19, Chapter 11

02 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by in 11.19, anaadi, anantabaahum, anantaveeryam, antam, chapter 11 verse 19, deepta, hutaashavaktram, idam, madhya, netram, pashyaami, shashi, soorya, svatejasaa, tapantam, tvaam, vishvam

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anaadimadhyaantamanantaveeryamanantabaahum shashisooryanetram |
pashyaami tvaam deeptahutaashavaktram svatejasaa vishvamidam tapantam || 19 ||
 
I see you without beginning, middle and end, with infinite prowess and infinite arms, with the moon and sun as your eyes, with blazing fire out of your mouth. Your radiance burns this universe.
 
anaadi : without beginning
madhya : middle
antam : end
anantaveeryam : infinite prowess
anantabaahum : infinite arms
shashi : moon
soorya : sun
netram : eyes
pashyaami : I see
tvaam : you
deepta : blazing
hutaashavaktram : fire coming out of mouth
svatejasaa : your radiance
vishvam : universe
idam : this
tapantam : burns
 
Ishvara’s infinite nature is highlighted by Arjuna in this shloka. He repeatedly tried to search for the beginning, middle and end of Ishvara’s cosmic form, but fails to do so. He does find something for his mind to hold onto. The moon and the sun are seen as the eyes of the cosmic form. This is useful because it lets us, to the best of our mind’s ability, as a pointer to remembering Ishvara’s cosmic form when we see the moon or the sun.
 
Next, Arjuna describes Ishvara’s powerful prana shakti. Our prana powers all of our physiological functions. It enables us to digest food, move our hands and legs, circulate the blood and so on. Similarly, the cosmic prana of Ishvara also powers the universe, but is infinitely more powerful than our prana. This is revealed through the infinite arms seen by Arjuna, that represent the infinite prowess and power to perform actions.
 
Now, Arjuna begins to see a transformation in the cosmic form. It shifts from a pleasant picture to something a little different. Ishvara’s mouth begins to emit fire, representing the prana in him that consumes food. The food here, however, refers to the offerings we make in the form of sacrifices. The offering, or “hutam”, is consumed by Ishvara resulting in the fire from his mouth heating or powering the universe. This image reinforces the sacrificial wheel of the universe that was described in the third chapter.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 18, Chapter 11

01 Thursday Nov 2012

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tvamaksharam paramam veditavyam tvamasya vishvasya param nidhaanam |
tvamavyayaha shaashvatadharmagoptaa sanaatanastvam purusho mato me || 18 ||
 
You are the imperishable, supreme (being) to be known. You are the supreme foundation of this universe. You are indivisible, the protector of the eternal law. In my opinion, you are the indivisible person.
 
tvam : you
aksharam : imperishable
paramam : supreme
veditavyam : to be known
tvam : you
asya : this
vishwasya : of this universe
param : supreme
nidhaanam : foundation
tvam : you
avyayaha : indivisible
shaashvatadharma : eternal law
goptaa : protector
sanaatana : eternal
tvam : you
purushaha : person
mataha : opinion
me : my
 
This shloka is a beautiful blend of upasaana (worship) and jnyaana (knowledge). Arjuna praises Ishvara’s cosmic form, and also reveals his understanding of the relationship between Ishvara and the eternal essence. It is similar to the relationship between the ocean and water that we have seen several times before.
 
The ocean is the foundation in which several waves are created, sustained and destroyed. Each of those waves thinks that it is separate from the ocean, and is also aware of its mortality. But the water in the ocean and the water in the wave is the same. It is indivisible, eternal, infinite and imperishable. All waves are subject to the universal laws of gravity – whatever goes up, must come down.
 
Similarly, Ishvara is the foundation which creates, sustains and dissolves this universe of names and forms. Each being thinks that it is separate from Ishvara, and is trapped in sorrow because of its finitude. It does not realize that it is the dweller or the Purusha, made up of the very same eternal essence that Ishvara is, like the ocean and the wave are made up of water. Also, all beings are subject to the universal law of karma, of actions generating results. Ishvara is praised as the protector of this law.
 
The Gita repeatedly urges us to discard all sectarian notions we have of Ishvara. Next time, when we prostrate in front of Ishvara in the form of a deity, we should try to think of Ishvara in the form that is described here.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 17, Chapter 11

31 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.17, aprameyam, arkadyutim, cha, chakrinam, chapter 11 verse 17, deeptaanala, deeptimantam, durnireekshyam, gadinam, kireeteenam, pashyaami, samantaat, sarvataha, tejoraashim, tvaam

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kireeteenam gadinam chakrinam cha tejoraashim sarvato deeptimantam |
pashyaami tvaam durnireekshyam samantaadyeeptaanalaarkadyutimaprameyam || 17 ||
 
I see you with a crown, mace and discus, glowing with an abundance of brilliance everywhere. The blazing fire of sunlight from all sides makes you incomprehensible, difficult to perceive.
 
kireeteenam : with crown
gadinam : with mace
chakrinam : with discus
cha : and
tejoraashim : abundance of brilliance
sarvataha : everywhere
deeptimantam : glowing
pashyaami : I see
tvaam : you
durnireekshyam : difficult to perceive with eye
samantaat : from all sides
deeptaanala : blazing fire
arkadyutim : sunlight
aprameyam : incomprehensible
 
As he saw more aspects of the cosmic form, Arjuna realized that he could also see divinity in that form, not just the material world. The mace and discus that he saw are weapons of Lord Vishnu. They symbolize spiritual discipline and the destructive power of time, respectively. Another symbol of Lord Vishnu is the conch, which symbolizes a call to action and a rebuke against lethargy. Arjuna also sees a crown because Ishvara is the ultimate commander and does not move under the control of any selfish desires.
 
“The blazing fire of sunlight”, “abundance of brilliance everywhere” – these poetic phrases convey the light of the eternal essence that Arjuna saw in the cosmic form. It is the same eternal essence that resides within all of us, but is covered with a layer of avidya or ignorance. As we have seen earlier, the eternal essence inside us enables our mind, intellect, senses and body to function. Ishvara, the purest embodiment of the eternal essence, shines like an infinite number of suns, without anything to obstruct its brilliance.
 
Now, no matter how hard he tried, Arjuna was not able to accurately capture his experience in words. This is because the eternal experience is not an object that can be perceived with the senses and described by our mind and intellect. He admits this limitation of his mind by declaring that the cosmic form is “aprameyam”, it is incomprehensible.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 16, Chapter 11

30 Tuesday Oct 2012

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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.

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

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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 14, Chapter 11

28 Sunday Oct 2012

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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 13, Chapter 11

27 Saturday Oct 2012

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tatrakastham jagatkritsnam pravibhaktamanekadhaa |
apashyaddevedasya shareere paandavastadaa || 13 ||
 
Then, the Paandava saw the entire universe with many divisions located in one place in the body of that lord of lords.
 
tatra : that
ekastham : located in one place
jagat : universe
kritsnam : entire
pravibhaktam : with many divisions
anekadhaa : several
apashyat : saw
devedasya : lord of lords
shareere : in the body
paandavaha : the Paandava
tadaa : then
 
Previously, Arjuna was overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of Ishvara’s cosmic form. There was so much going on, so many shapes and forms, that he did not know where to look. He took some time to get accustomed to the radiance emitted from that form. Now that his vision became a little clearer, he saw the entire universe with the earth, the sky, the oceans, animals, plants, trees and humans in one tiny corner of that vast cosmic form.
 
Sant Jnyanadeva provides some illustrations to convey the how small the universe looked. It was like a few atoms on Mount Meru, a few bubbles in the vast ocean and an ant-hill on planet earth. Such was the vastness of the cosmic form that even our universe looked puny. In the Srimad Bhagavatam, we see a similar description. Yashoda saw herself and her village in a tiny corner of the universe that was situated in the yawning toddler Shri Krishna’s mouth.
 
In this shloka, Arjuna quite literally saw “the big picture”. Like us, he was concerned and preoccupied with his problems, his challenges and his worries. He now came face to face with “ananta koti brahmanda naayaka”, the lord of an infinite number of universes. When Arjuna saw Ishvara’s cosmic form, he realized that the universe is nothing but a small fraction of Ishvara’s creation. The tiny wave realized how huge the ocean really is.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 12, Chapter 11

26 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.12, bhaahaa, bhaasaha, bhavet, chapter 11 verse 12, divi, mahaatmanaha, saa, sadrishee, sooryasahastrasya, syaat, tasya, utthitaa, yadi, yugapat

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divi sooryasahastrasya bhavedyugapadutthitaa |
yadi bhaahaa sadrishee saa syaadbhaasastasya mahaatmanaha || 12 ||
 
Should thousands of suns happen to rise in the sky simultaneously, their blaze would resemble the light of that magnificent one.
 
divi : in the sky
sooryasahastrasya : thousands of suns
bhavet : happen
yugapat : simultaneously
utthitaa : rise
yadi : should
bhaahaa : light
sadrishee : resemble
saa : those
syaat : happen
bhaasaha : blaze
tasya : of that
mahaatmanaha : magnificent one
 
To better give us an idea of the level of cosmic form’s brightness, Sanjaya compares to the radiance emitted by an infinite number of suns rising at the same time. Note that “sahasra” means infinite and not the literal meaning, which is thousand. Some scientists who have witnessed nuclear explosions have also used similar language to describe something that is bright beyond comparison.
 
So where does this radiance come from? Let us investigate. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is one of the primary texts that discusses topics regarding the eternal essence. In one instance, it uses the phrase “effulgent infinite being” to describe the eternal essence. This is the source of the radiance. We never get to experience it because it is covered up by the material world. In this case, Shri Krishna enabled Arjuna to see the infinite light and radiance of the eternal essence in its pristine form.
 
We also have to remember that the comparison made by Sanjaya is helpful, but compares two things that are difficult to compare. Even the brilliance of infinite suns is still a brilliance of the material world, whereas Ishvara’s brilliance is divine, far superior that any material brilliance.

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.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 10, Chapter 11

24 Wednesday Oct 2012

Posted by in 11.10, aabharanam, aayudham, adbhutadarshanam, aneka, chapter 11 verse 10, divya, nayanam, udyata, vaktra

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anekavaktranayanamanekaadbhutadarshanam |
anekadivyaabharanam divyaanekodyataayudham || 10 ||
 
With several faces and eyes, showing several marvellous sights, wearing several divine ornaments, armed with several divine uplifted weapons.
 
aneka : several
vaktra : faces
nayanam : eyes
adbhutadarshanam : marvellous sights
divya : divine
aabharanam : ornaments
udyata : uplifted
aayudham : weapons
 
Shri Krishna has a unique style of communication. Like an artist, he first sketches out a broad outline of what he wants to cover, and then step by step fills in the colour to create a grand painting. We see this style in the way he reveals the Vishwa roopa, the cosmic form to Arjuna. First, he reveals the scale and the vastness of the cosmic form by repeatedly using the word “aneka”. “Aneka” means several but it is used in the sense of “infinite” here. We can only imagine Arjuna’s state of mind when his friend transformed into this colossal being with infinite number of faces and eyes.
 
When someone is confronted with such a mighty spectacle, they want to take it all in. The Sistine chapel in the Vatican is an example of an artwork where most people are so overwhelmed with all the details and the complexity that they don’t know where to look. The cosmic form surrounded and engulfed Arjuna to such an extent, there were so many sights to see, that he did not know where should he look and where shouldn’t he look.
 
Now, as a hint of things to come, Shri Krishna displays both aspects of his personality. On one hand he is decked in fine jewellery and ornaments, creating a sight that is pleasing to the eye. But on the other hand his weapons show another aspect to his personality, that he has the potential to use destructive force if necessary.