Bhagavatgita a detailed study-chapter10 the glory of the divine manifestations

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Bhagavatgita a detailed study-

chapter10 –The glory of the Divine manifestations

 

1. bhooya eva mahaabaaho SrNu me paramam vachaH

yatthe aham preeyamaaNaaya vakshyaami hithakaamyayaa

 

I will tell you again oh, mighty armed, the words of divine wisdom, listen. I am telling this to you, who loves Me, for your welfare

The tenth and eleventh adhyayas of the Gita serve to induce devotion and in the twelfth adhyaya bhakthiyoga is elaborated. The transcendence and imminence of the Lord is made explicit in the two adhyayas. The tenth is called vibhoothiyoga in which the manifestations of the divine glory are enumerated corresponding to the vision of the Lord in everything while the eleventh adhyaya is called the visvaroopadarsana in which Krishna shows Arjuna the cosmic form. Hence both the adhyayas taken together illustrates the truth that The Lord is in everything and everything is in Him respectively.

Krishna starts telling Arjuna about His greatness as the Lord of the Universe, which is not understood even by the great rshis and devas because He is the source of them all. After imparting the sovereign learning and secret of the supreme reality, in the previous chapter, Krishna tries to make it easier by elucidating again on this topic by saying "listen again to my word of supreme wisdom which I tell you out of love," which is the reason for further elaboration.

2. na me vidhuH suraganaaH prabhavam na maharshayaH

aham aadhirhi dhevaanaam maharsheeNaam cha sarvaSaH

Even devas and the great sages do not know my origin. I am the origin of devas and great sages in all respects.

Krishna then proceeds to explain the knowledge of His real nature which is inexplicable even to the devas and rshis. The impediment to the understanding of the real nature of Brahman is the moha, delusion. In Ramavathara and Krishnavathara there were only very few who had the insight to see the divinity in Rama and Krishna. and this was possible only through devotion. Jnana or knowledge born of devotion removes the delusion of perceiving the mortal form in the divine incarnations.

The reason why, even the devas , who are provided with divine powers and the great rshis of divine intellect could not understand the Lord in His entirety is that He is the origin of all of them and also of the prakrthi and its thathvas, which include the intellect and ego and hence He could not be understood as He transcends them all.. Brahman realization is not an object of knowledge but is an experience. One can know about the form and taste and everything about mango fruit from hearsay or through books but it has to be tasted in order to understand the sweetness of it. It is the same with all the sense objects the enjoyment of which can never be explained but has to be experienced. If it is so for worldly things, how can that which transcends the mind and intellect be understood!

Is it virtually impossible for any one to know the Lord in His entirety? Or is there any one who could know Him? This is answered next.