Thiruvaheendhrapuram RathnAngi Kaimkaryam series: Posting 256/Desika Prabhandham : GeethArTa Sangraham : Part 17

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs of Lord PaarTasArathy :

 

Today , we will study the ELEVENTH Chapter of

SrImath Bhagvath GeethA .This chapter has

55 slOkams . This chapter is about the vision of

the cosmic form(Viswa Roopam ) of the Lord .

 

Introduction

***************

AchArya RaamAnujA says : " Having heard from the Lord

of His divine nature unique to Him , and of the entire universe

as having its proper form , existence and activities (Svaroopa,

sTithi and Pravrutthi) dependent on Him , and being convinced of

the truth of this doctrine , Arjuna (was) still desirous of percieving

the Lord in this way and conveyed his longing to the Lord .

By the grace of the Lord , Arjuna was able to see Him "

in His cosmic form .

 

The Lord gave Arjuna the divine vision (Dhivya Chakshus)

to see Him in His Viswa Roopam . Arjuna saw the Lord

in His infinite form with countless limbs with no

end , middle or beginning . Arjuna became panic stricken at

the sight of the Lord devouring all the worlds on every side

and saw all the sons of DhrutarAshra entering the fearful

mouth of the Lord and being ground up into powder .

Arjuna observed that these heros rush in to the Lord's

mouth like moths rushing quickly into a raging fire to meet

their death .The terrified Arjuna asks the Lord about

the purpose of taking such a fierce form .

 

The Lord replied: " O ArjunA , the great bowman!

I am the world-destroying time . Manifesting fully ,

I have begun to destroy the worlds here. Even without you ,

none of these warriors arrayed in the hostile ranks shall

survive ...Therefore arise , win glory . Conquering your foes ,

enjoy a prosperous kingdom . By Me , they( Your foes)

have been slain already . You be merely an instrument " .

 

The overwhelmed Arjuna fell at the feet of the Lord

and begged to be forgiven for all the trepasses from

treating the Lord as his friend and equal .He eulogized

the Lord and recognized Him as the Lord of all Gods ,

the ancient one (AadhidEvan) and primal (Pursusha:

PurANa: ) .

 

Beholding the Lord's cosmic form , the overwhelmed

Arjuna saluted the Lord a thousands of times : " NamO

NamastE asthu sahsarakruthva: , punasccha BhUyOapi

namO namastE ". Being ignorant of Your majesty and

valour , I have called You " Oh KrishNA , Oh Yaadhavaa,

Oh Friend " out of friendship and ajn~Anam . Oh ApramEya!

Please forgive all disrespect shown to You by me out of my

blinding ignorance about Your majesty , valour and Vaibhavam

as the Lord of all Gods . Oh Lord of unmatchable greatness !

Thou art the Father of the world . You are the Jagath Guru

worthy of adoration . There is no one equal or superior to You

in all the three worlds .

 

After seeking the Lord's pardon for earlier trespasses ,

Arjuna begged the Lord now to resume His non-fierce form

(Soumya roopam ) with which he was more familar and comfrotable .

This is the form with four hands and with a dazzling crown , mace

and discus. Lord obliged and took on His human form as

the charioteer of Arjuna .

 

Swamy AlavanthAr's summary of the 11th chapter

*****************************************************

yEkAdasE svayATAthmya sAkshAthkAra avalOkanam

dhattham uktham vidhiprApthyO: bhakthyEkpaayathA taTA

 

-- 15th SlOkam of GeethArtha Sangraham

 

(Meaning ): In the eleventh chapter, Lord blessed Arjuna

with the divine vision to see His cosmic form and stated that

Bhakthi is the only upAyam (means) to see , know and attain

Him .

 

Swamy Desikan's summary of the 11th Chapter

**************************************************

yellAm Tanakku uruvAi ilangum vahai Taan- - uraitthu

sollAl aRinthathu sOrAmal kaNDida vENDum yenRa

villALanukku anRu meyk-kaNN kodutthu ithu vERumuNDO

nallArkaL kANpar yenRu navinRAn nangaL NaayakanE

 

- - - - 12th paasuram of Swamy Desikan's GeethArTa Sangraham

 

Meaning of the First line of the Paasuram :

*********************************************

" YellAm Tanakku uruvAi ilangum vahai Taan- - uraitthu"

 

Arjuna who had recieved upadEsam until now through

the ten chapters made this request to the Lord : I am now

free of doubt about Your status as ParamAthmA , Your

Lordship over chEthanams and achEthanams , Your

indwellership in them all , You are the creator , protector

and dissolver of all creation originating from You ,

You are the abode of infinite auspcious attributes and

your sankalpam is the prime mover of all activities

in this world and your being is the foundation of this universe.

I am convinced of these etrnal truths thru Your upadEsams.

 

Meaning of the second line of the Paasuram

**********************************************

" sollAl aRinthathu sOrAmaRk-kaNDida vENDum

yenRa VillAlanukku "

 

Oh Lord ! Having heard about Your glories through Your

own mouth , I long to see the divine body of Yours , which

is the object of such divine attributes . That cosmic form of

Yours with all its guNams , vibhUthis and forms is an object of

my deep desire for being seen.

 

Meaning of the Third line of the Paasuram

********************************************

" anRu meyk-kaNN kodutthu vERumuNDO "

 

Our Lord said that Arjuna could not see His cosmic form

with his physical eyes and blessed him with the divine vision to

see that unique form with thousands and thousands of limbs

hosting many worlds and engaged in destroying Arjuna's

enemies in the battle field.

 

That cosmic form was fierce and blindingly lustrous.

It was adorned with many aabharaNams and looked like

the thousands of Suns that have arisen at the same time.

Arjuna was frightened by that fierce form of the Lord and

asked for pardon for the trespasses made earlier in

his relationship with the Lord as His friend . Arjuna begged

the Lord to take His benovolent form as KrishNa of enchanting

form . The Lord pointed out that the darsanam of His cosmic form

is much desired by the dEvAs and yet is not attainable by them .

He praised Arkuna for having had the good fortune to witness

His cosmic form .

 

The Lord pointed out further that one wihtout Bhakthi

will not be able to see Him even if he recites VedAs ,

performs tapas , dhAnam , homam and Yaj~nam. Only

thru single minded bhakthi in Him and without seeking any

other phalan , a true Bhakthan alone can see and enjoy

Him said the Lord to Arjuna.

 

The Meaning of the fourth line of the Paasuram

**************************************************

"nallOrkaL kaaNbar yenRu navinRAn nagaL NaayakanE "

 

The Lord of ours instructed Arjuna about those BhAgavathAs

who could succeed in seeing Him and enjoying Him :

 

1) They perform sakala karmAs prescribed to them

such as VedAdhyayanam as aarAdhanam for the Lord

(2) They recognize the Lord as the Phalan for all karmAs

(3) They can not sustain themselves except thru performing

kaimkaryam to Him (4) They have no attachment to any thing

because of their overabundant love(Bhakthi) for the Lord

(5) They igore the nonlasting and trivial pleasures of SamsAram

and turn their attention to the parama sukham of the Lord

(6) They attribute their sufferings to the sins accumulated

by them (7) They recognize that all the janthus are under

BhagavAn's adheenam (control) and they have no enimity towards

any one of Lord's creation and (8) They totally cut asunder ajn~Anam

as well as ViparItha Jn~Anam to enjoy the Lord fully. These tathtvams

were explained by the Lord to Arjuna in the 11th Chapter .

 

Some Key slOkams of the 10th Chapter of Bhagavath GeethA

***************************************************************

Thvamaksharam Paramam vEdhithavyam

Thvamasya Visvasya Param nidhAnam

Thvamavyaya: Saasvatha-dharma-gOpthA

SanAthanasthvam PurushO mathO mE

 

- - - - 18th SlOkam

 

Oh Lord ! Thou art the imperishable , Supreme One to

be realized . Thou art the supreme foundaton of this

universe . Thou art the unchangable , protector of

the eternal law (Saasvatha dharma gOpthA ). Thou art

understood by me as the everlasting Supreme Being !

 

Sudarsamidham roopam dhrushtvAnasi yanmama

dEvA apyasya roopasya nithyam darsana-kAnkshiNa:

 

naaham vEdairna tapasA na dhAnEna na chEjyayA

sakya yEvamvidhO dhrashtum dhrushtavAnasi Maam yaTA

 

BhakthyA thvananyayA sakya ahamEvam vidhO Arjuna

jn~Atum dhrashtum cha tatthvEna pravEshtum cha Paramtapa

 

-- - - - SlOkams 52 , 53 & 54

 

(Meaning ): It is very difficult to witness this form of Mine ,

which You have just seen. Even the dEvAs long forever

to behold this cosmic form of Mine . This form beheld

by you can not be seen by mastery over VedAs , victory over

austeriites or by giving gifts galore or by the performance of

Yaagams . It can only be seen , known and entered into

by single-minded devotion towards Me.

 

Sarvam KrishNArpaNam asthu ,

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan KOil VaradachAri SadagOpan

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

[Guest guest]

Respected Swami U.Ve. Sadagopan:

 

Your vyakyaanam of Bagavad Geetha, quoting, GeethA

rtha Sangraham, Swami Desika's summary of important

chapters and Important slokas of Geetha etc. is most

enlightening. Most of the publications on Geetha

explain the contents from Advaita point of view. You

are now opening the eyes of younger generation of

modern english educated vaishnavites with the

vyakyAnam from Vishitadvaita point of view.

 

In this connection, I remember to have read a slokam

(I presume in Sri Bagavad Geetha) on how the nature

of bakthi should be ( like a flow of oil, bakthi

should be continuous). Could you please confirm this

sloka is in Geetha and if so could you quote the

original sl0ka (referring to chapter and the No.) and

other parrallel slokas or pasurams on this concept?

Thank you

 

Adiyaen

Nerur S. Rajagopalan