Panchajanyam hrsheekesah-chapter15-The cosmic form-adhyaya11

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Chapter 15-The cosmic form-Adhyaya11

 

Arjuna, having understood the imminence of theLord now expresses a desire to see the transcendent form and to have a direct realisation of the Supreme Being. He asks Krishna to show Himself in His entirety.The Lord in order to remove the traces of ego in Arjuna consents to do so and describes His cosmic form as Arjuna would see it.

paSya mE parTha roopANi SathaSothasahasraSaH

nAnAviDHAni dhivyAni nAnAvarNAkrtheeni cha

The Lord said:

Oh Arjuna, see My forms hundreds upon thousands,manifold, divine, of various hues and shapes.

But knowing that Arjuna could not perceive all that with his existing eyes, Krishna gives him divine vision saying, 'dhivyamadhdhAmi thE chakshuH pasya n me yogam aisvaram.'

Sanjaya who was relating to Dhrtharashtra about what happened on the battlefield was also blessed with the vision, being already given the power to see everything by Vyasa and now on seeing the cosmic form he exclaims ;

'anEkavakthranayanam anEkadhbhutha dharsanam----sarvAScharya mayam anantham visvathO mukham.'

The cosmic form of the Lord was divine, and not limited by space or time and seemed to have multitudes of faces and eyes and facing all directions because of its being the foundation of the entire universe in the past present and future. The infinite splendour is described by sanjaya as 'dhivi soorya sahasrasya bhavedgyugapadhutthiThA;yadhi bhAH sadhrSee sa syAth bhAsasthasya mahAthmanaH,' It was of inexhuastible radiance that it can only be compared to a thousand suns rising simultaneously in the sky.Thus Arjuna saw the entire universe in one place.as an illustration of the word of Krishna in the previous chapter 'aham sarvasya prabhavah matthah sarvam pravarthathE, I am the source of all and everything proceeds from Me.'(.10-8) and 'na thadhasthi vinA yathsyAth may bhootham charAcharam,(10-39) nothing that is mobile or immovable exists without Me.'

Here it is a popular misconception born out of seeing the visvaroopa in the films and on TV that it was a horrible spectacle consisting of many heads, eyes, and other limbs with tongues and eyes rolling, while fire comes out of the mouth etc. Even though it is described as such by Arjuna we should understand that Arjuna was trying to put into words which is beyond description. The Cosmic form is the BrahmasAkshAtkAra which cannot be specified as such through words or by perception as it is beyond all means of knowledge.If one can imagine going beyond time and space then only it is possible to understand the cosmic vision Arjuna has experienced. What presented before Arjuna was the Primal cause along with the effect, the manifest and the unmanifest, outside the concept of time

Arjuna, overcome with amazement, with his hairs standing erect spoke thus:

"I see all devas and all beings in You and I see your infinite form everywhere with no beginning, middle or end. You are a mass of light,blazing like the burning fire and the sun, immeasurable. I understand You as the imperishable, the Supreme One to be realised, You are the substratum of the universe, immutable, eternal protector of dharma and the eternal Purusha.I see You pervading the inerspace between the heaven and earth and all the quarters.The three worlds are greatly overwhelmed with fear seeing your form."

Arjuna imagines that all the worlds are afraid to see the cosmic form forgetting that he alone is able to see it then. He sees all the devas , rshis, and other celestial beings gazing at the Lord with amazement and bowing to Him, praising Him. Seeing Him thus all are shaking with fear , says Arjuna, like he himself does.

Since Arjuna transcends the time by his divine vision, which could be seen only by doing so. he is able to see clearly the end of the war as though happening at present and he says that he sees the kauravas, including Bheeshma, Drona, Karna and others entering the mouth of the Lord, who is the Kala,the Time.

Here is one of the occasions when Vyasa shows his poetic skill. Arjuna compares thr rushing of all the enemy forces into the mouth of the Lord to the torrents of the river rushing towards the sea.

yaThA nadheenAm bahavo ambuvEgAh samudhramEvAbhimukhA dhravanthi

thaThA thavAmee naralOka veerAh viSanthi vakthRanyabhivijvalanthi (.11-28)

Suddenly, seeing the Lord as the annihilator, devouring all beings, Arjuna starts having a doubt as to the real identity of this Being. and asks ' AkhyAhi mE kObhavAn ugraroopO namosthu thE devavarapraseedha; vijnAthum ichAmi bhavantham Adhyam na hi prajAnAmi thava pravrtthim, (11-31) Tell me who You are, with this terrible form? salutations to You, Oh Supreme Being, be gracious. I desire to know You, the Primal one,I do not know Your activity.'

The Lord begins to speak:

kAlOsmi lokakshayakrthpravrddhO lOkAn samAharthum iha pravrtthah;rthEpi thvam na bhavishyanthi sarve yE avasThithAh prathyaneekEshu yODhAh. (11-32)

"I am the world-destroying Time. I have started the annihilation of the worlds. Even without you no one of the warriors here will survive."

Krishna has made it very clear that it is the divine will and He is going to say that explicitly in the next sloka that Arjuna is only the instrument in the hands of the Lord.

ThasmAth thavm utthishTa yaSO labhasva jithvA Sathroon bunkshva rajyam samrddham

mayaivaithE nihathAh poorvamEva nimitthamathram bhava savyasAchin(11-33)

Krishna says in this sloka that he has already slain these hostile warriors and asks Arjuna to stand up and fight and take the credit, remembering that he is only pretext for the destruction willed by the Lord.

When Krishna stood on the side of Pandavas then itself the destruction of kauravas was like the writing on the wall and this fact was known to the wise men like Bhishma and also Karna.Still, karmaveeras as they were, they fought valiantly to the last. The lives of the kaurava warriors were finished the moment Krishna blew his Panchajanya as it created great fear in their minds.

The implication of this sloka is very important. The law of karma operates in an invisible manner and the Lord being the karmaphala dhAtha also acts unobtrusively. But man thinks that he is the agent of his actions and gets agitated. nevertheless he is the agent of his actions as long as they are desire-motivated but even for that the result of such karma is the will of God.

Arjuna, much subdued, speaks with folded hands in supplication.

sThAnE hrshEEkESa thava prakeerthyA jagathprahrshyathyanurajyathE cha

rakshAmsi bheethAni dhiSO dhravanthi sarve namasyanthi cha siddha sanghAh

(11-36)

The whole world is delighted and love You, seeing Your glory. Siddhas bow down to You and the evilforces flee in fear.

Starting from this, nine slokas are the prayer of Arjuna and are very impressive. These form the only sthuthi in Bahagavatgita and chanted by many for its devotional content.

Arjuna says further that there is no wonder that all salute the Lord because He is greater than Brahma, the first creator, He is infinite, the Lord of devas,abides in the Universe as the indweller of all, the imperishable Self which is beyond existence and nonexistence.

Thvam AdhidhEvah purushah purANah thvam asya visvasya param niDHAnam

vEtthAsivEdhyaScha param cha DHAma thvayA thatham visvam anantharoopa

(11-38)

He is the Prime being, ancient and the substratum of the Universe. He is the knower and the known and the Supreme abode. By Him the infinite this univere is pervaded.

Arjuna bows down to Him, who is all the devas, vayu, agni etc.who are pervaded by Him, again and again, from all sides.

Awe inspired, Arjuna remembers that he had shown scant respect to Krishna thinking that he was a cousin and friend. Hence he asks forgiveness for any disrespect shown by him while playing, resting, sitting or eating, while alone or in front of others. "Now only I have understood that You are incomprehensible, You are the father of all that moves and do not move, You are the universal preceptor and there is none equal to You and hence how can any one excelYou.! So I implore Your mercy prostrating before You and please forgive me as a father would do towards his son, or a friend would forgive another friend because You are dear to me and I am dear to You

pithAsi lOkasya characharasya thvamasya poojyascha gururgareeyAn

na thavathsamOasthi abhyaDHikahkuthOnyO lOkaqthraye api aprathimaprabhava.

(11-43)

thasmAth praNamya praNiDhAya kAyam prasAdhayE thvAm aham eesameedyam

pithEva puthrasya sakhEva sakhyuh priyah priyArhasi saiva sOdDum (11-44)

Then Arjuna implores krishna to resume the former form because eventhough he was delighted to see the cosmic form he is filled with awe at the same time.

The Lord tells Arjuna that he was singularly blessed in being able to see the cosmic form which was not seen by anyone so far. Neither through the study of the vedas, nor by sacrifices, nor by recitals of hymns, nor by gifts, nor by rituals, nor by austerities one could see what he has seen, by any mortal.And reassuring him not to fear Krishna assumes his original form well known to Arjuna.

Then Krishna reiterated what he already said .

nAham vEdhairna thapasa na dhAnena na chEjyaya

Sakyah Evam viDHO dhrashtum dhrshtavAn asi n mAm yaTHA

(11-53)

and lays the ground for bhakthiyoga which is elucidated in the next chapter.

bhakthyA thvananyaya sakyah aham EvamviDHo arjuna

jnAthum dhrashtum cha thatthvEna praveshtum cha paramthapa..

(11-54)

Only through singleminded devotion it is possible to know truly, to see and to enter into the Lord, Krishna says.This is the reflection of the passage in Katopanishad 'nAyam AthmA pravachanEna labhyah na mEDhayA na bahunA SruthEna;yamaivEshavrnuthE thEna labhyah thasyaisha Athma vivrNuthE thanoom syAm,' (Kata.2-2-23)

It means that the Self cannot be obtained by instruction, nor by inteelect, nor by much hearing. Whomsoever the Self chooses to reveal itself by him only it is obtained.

It should be remembered that the terms Self,Brahman and the Lord are synonymous and Krishna next leads the topic of bhakthiyoga by saying ,

mathkarmakrnmathparamO mathbhakthah sangavarjithah

nirvAirassarvabhoothEshu yah sa mAmEthi pAndava(11-55)

"Whoever works for Me looks upon Me as the highest, and is my devotee, free from attachment and has no enmity towards any creature, he comes to Me."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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