Gita Satsangh Chapter 10: Verses 31 to 33

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Namaste:

 

Lord Krishna continues enlightening Arjuna with His Glories through

these verses. In our daily life, with contemplation, we can recognize

the presence of Divinity. While we walk along the beach of an ocean,

we can feel the cool breeze which freshens our body and calms the

mind! The ocean, the wind, the sun, the mountains and all the

nature's wonders rekindles the presence of the Divine! Let us

continue to hear more of His Glories directly from Him!

 

Pavanah pavataamasmi raamah shastrabhritaamaham;

Jhashaanaam makarashchaasmi srotasaamasmi jaahnavee. 31

 

Among the purifiers (or the speeders) I am the wind; Rama among the

warriors am I; among the fishes I am the shark; among the streams I

am the Ganga.

 

Some commentators have interpreted the word 'Pavatam' to mean those

possessed of swift motion, thought such an interpretation is not

supported by grammer. The wind has been regarded as the best even

among those possessing speed as well as among purifiers. Hence the

superiority is established from both the points of you.

The word 'Rama' in this verse refers to Bhagavan Sri Ramachandra, son

of king Dasharata. By declaring his identity with Sri Rama, the lord

shows that it is He who assumes different forms for carrying on

different kinds of sports in different ages. There is no difference

between Sri Rama and Sri Krishna; for it is He who appears in the

form of Sri Rama.

 

Among fishes, the shark is the largest and the most powerful. It is

on account of this distinction that the lord declares it to be His

own self. The river Ganges or Bhagirathi, is the best of all rivers.

Having its origin in the water which washed the feet of the Lord, it

is held to be most sacred in character. The Puranas and It has as

sing its glory in the highest terms.

 

Besides this, the story goes that on one occasion Bhagavan Vishnu

Himself melted and began to flow like water. Finding His way into the

water-pot of Brahma in that liquid form, He became known as the

Ganges. Thus being no other than Brahma transformed into a liquid,

the Ganges possesses infinite glory. Hence the Lord declares it to be

His own self.

 

Sargaanaamaadirantashcha madhyam chaivaaham arjuna;

Adhyaatmavidyaa vidyaanaam vaadah pravadataamaham. 32

 

Among creations I am the beginning, the middle and also the end, O

Arjuna! Among the sciences I am the science of the Self; and I am

logic among controversialists.

 

In verse 20 above the Lord declared Himself as the beginning. the

middle and also the end of all beings; and in the present verse He

says that He is the beginning, the middle and the end of all

creations. There is no tautology here; for whereas the

word 'Bhutanam' in verse 20 stands for sentient beings alone, the

word Sarganam' in the present verse stands for the whole creation

consisting of sentient and insentient beings and including all the

worlds.

 

'Adhyatmavidya' or Brahmavidya is that branch of knowledge which

deals with the Self, throws light on the Self and enables the soul to

realize Brahma easily. All other branches of knowledge in the world,

known as well as unknown, are inferior to Brahmavidya; for they

strengthen the bonds of ignorance rather than break them. Through

Brahmavidya, however, the knot of ignorance is untied for ever and

the truth relating to God realized. Hence it is superior to all other

branches of knowledge and that is why the Lord declares it to be His

own self.

 

There are three forms of argumentation known by the names

of 'Jalpa'. 'Vitanda' and 'Vada'. A disputation which is held with a

view to establishing one's own viewpoint and for the demolition of

the adversary's standpoint irrespective of which is right and which

is wrong, is called 'Jalpa'. That which is resorted to only for the

demolition of the opponent's standpoint is known as 'Vitanda' while

reasoning with the pure motive of arriving at the right conclusion is

known by the name of 'Vada'. While 'Jalpa' and 'Vitanda' give rise to

anger, hatred violence, pride and other evils, 'Vada' is helpful in

ascertaining the truth and attaining one's spiritual goal. So.

while 'Jalpa' and 'Vitanda' are worth giving up, 'Vada' is worth

adopting wherever necessary. It is because of this merit possessed

by 'Vada' that the Lord declares it as one of His glories.

 

Aksharaanaamakaaro'smi dwandwah saamaasikasya cha;

Ahamevaakshayah kaalo dhaataaham vishwatomukhah. 33

 

Among the letters of the alphabet, the letter "A" I am, and the dual

among the compounds. I am verily the inexhaustible or everlasting

time; I am the dispenser (of the fruits of actions), having faces in

all directions.

 

The sound represented by 'A' is the first of all vowels and

consonants and it runs through the sounds represented by all other

letters. The Sruti also says: "All speech is represented by the sound

For these reasons the sound 'A' is the best of all other sounds.

Hence the Lord declares it to be His own self.

 

The copulative compound is the best of all compounds, inasmuch as

all its components carry equal emphasis. Hence the Lord enumerates it

as one of His glories.

 

The word 'Kala' occurring in verse 30 denotes Time as understood in

terms of its various divisions such as a Kalpa, Yuga, year, half-

year, month, day, hour, minute, second and so on. It is an evolute of

Prakarti and ceases to exist in what is known as the Mahapralaya, or

Final Dissolution. Therefore, it is not unending. The Time referred

to in the present verse, however, is the same as the supreme Brahma

or God Himself, who is constant, eternal and everlasting and without

beginning or end: Hence the word has been qualified by the adjective

endless(Aksayati). Thus there is a world of difference between the

Time referred to inverse 30 and the Time spoken of in the present

verse. One is a product of Prakrti, while the other is wholly beyond

Prakrti.

 

Speaking of Himself as "the sustainer of all, having His face on all

sides", the Lord brings out His identity with the Cosmic Form of God.

The intention is to show that the all-formed and all-pervading God,

the sustainer and nourisher of all, is the same as Sri Krsna, and no

other.

 

 

Easy references:

The Gita Supersite http://www.gitasupersite.org/ contains most of the

commentaries including commentaries in many languages.

 

Access Adi Shankara's commentary and Swami Chinmayananda's commentary

at URL: advaitin/files

First click and open the folder:

<Bhagawad Gita Commentaries and References>

Then click on the Gita related folders such as Sankara1 and Chinmaya

to access the files

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ref post 30569

 

It was such a pleasure to read this installment of 'Vibhuti Yoga'

yesterday when the whole of Bharatvarsha bust clebrating the Holy

festival of 'Holi' and drowning themselves in the Color of 'Krishna

Prema' - it is time to removed the 'colored' Thinking on the subject

of 'VARNA ASHRAMA' Dharma and drwon ourselves in the ocean of Krishna

leela - the only lasting Color is the color of the sky and the ocean -

that is the color odf our our Lord , sri Krishna paramatma - Neela

megha - Oceanic consciousness!

 

Sri Ramji has come up witha lot of wonderful explanations of verse

31, 32 and 33 of Vibuti Yoga.

 

In particular , i enjoyed reading his explanation on

 

srotasaamasmi jaahnavee.

 

Among tHE STREAMS , I am the river Ganga .

 

Thank you , i have never read anything quite like this - eXquisitte

commentary.

 

Now, may i add a verse from Sri Adi shankara bhagvadpada's

Gangashtakam in this context .

 

“Bhagavati tava teere neera mãtrãshanoham vidhe vishaya trishnah

Krishnam ãradhayãmi!”

 

Adi Sankara Bhagavat Pãdal, in His ‘Gangãshtakam’ sung in Vãrãnasi,

says,

“Living on the banks of the Ganga, giving up even ‘bhiksha’ (begging

for food) and drinking only the Ganga water and giving up all matters

will I not live worshipping Krishna!”

 

In Vãrãnasi, while singing the sloka on Ganga, the Ãchãrya does not

praise the ‘Kshetra devatas’ (gods of the Holy Place) viz. Viswanatha

or Visalakshi or Annapoorani but speaks on Krishna. This illuminates

Ãchãrya’s Krishna Bhakti!

 

(http://www.madhuramurali.org/mm/year2002/may2002/may02_gangaashtakam.

html )

 

Of Course, Sri Madhura murali is 'colored' by his love for Lord

Krishna as he is a devout preacher of Krishna bhakti! our beloved

Acharya has also sung the glories of Sri Annapurna devi , the

presiding deity of Kashi in his Annapurnashtakam. A parama jnani is

also a paarma shakta-bhakta as is evident in all his compositions on

the various Goddesses!

 

The comments that attracted my attention was this in verse 32

vaadah pravadataamaham. 32

 

I am logic among controversialists.

 

Then Sri Ramji goes on to differentiate between three types of

arguments - jalpa, vithanda and vada -

 

Guys, we have all the three prsent in equal measure in this august

group - rather , that is what makes this group so lively and

interesting - never a dull moment - instead of the usual monologues

we see in other groups where there is mere recitation of scriptural

facts and quotes. Sometimes , Jalpa +vothanda+ vada leads us

to 'Duality' BUT - AT ALL COSTS ONE SHOULD AVOID 'DUELITY' for that

is a river of no return. When Adi shankara bhagvafapada and

Mandamishra engazed in a debate , it was an atmosphere of infinite

scholarly delight so much so one of adi shankara's disvciples is

quoted as saying ' how can i intervente in this dialogue of two great

scholars." ( i cannot recall the exact sanskrit verse) and of course

we all know who won the debate ! and the garland of flowers that

Mandana mishra's wife Bharati threw on adi shankara's neck never

faded proving the acharya to be the winner! Yes there was only light-

no heat when acharya Argues - that is the hallmark of a brahma

jnani , one who is situated in Truth!

 

..In verse 33 , i like this part ...

 

Aksharaanaamakaaro'smi > Among the letters of the alphabet, the

letter "A" I am

 

Yes!

 

Thiruvalluvar says in the very first verse of Thirukual

 

AKARA MUDAL EZHATELLAM AADI BHAGWAN MUTHETE ULAGHU

 

"A" is the first and source of all the letters. Even so is God

Primordial the first and source of all the world.

 

A IS THE MOTHER OF ALL ALPHABETS - A IS FOR 'Amma'-

 

A is for Atma

 

A is in the bijaakshara - 'Aum'

 

A is for 'Atma'

 

A is for 'ADWAITA'

 

finally A is for the one without beginning and end - adi and anantam!

 

ADI PURUSHA ANANTA PADMANABHAM AHAM BAJAMI!