Bhagavatgita a detyailed study-chaper10-The glory of the divine manifestations

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15.svayam eva aathmanaa aathmaanam vetTha thvam

purushotthama

bhoothabhaavana bhootheSa dhevadheva jagathpathe

Oh the Supreme Being, you alone know yourself by yourself. You are the creator and the master of all beings, Lord of the devas and the Lord of the Universe.

When a thing is known there are three aspects, called thriputee of that knowing, namely, the knower, jnaatha, the known, jneyam and the knowledge, jnaanam. The Lord is the object of knowledge, jneya and also the knowledge, jnanam itself as He is janasvaroopa. `Sathyam jnanam anantham Brahma.' He Himself is the knower, jnaathaa, as He is the inner self of all by whom everything is known. The creator has the knowledge of his creation but the created has no knowledge of its creator. Hence the Lord alone knows Himself. The reason for this is being that He is the creator, bhoothabhaavana, the Master of all, bhoothesa, by whom everything including knowledge is given as he says in sloka 10, dhdhaami budDhiyogam tham, He being the Lord of the devas whose powers are from Him only and He is the Lord of the Universe.

16.vakthum arhasi aSesheNa dhivyaaH aatmavibhoothayaH

yaabhiH vibhoothibhiH lokaan imaan thvam vyaapya

thishTasi

You have to tell me about the glory of your manifestations in full, by which you stand pervading the whole universe.

As the Upanishad says the Brahman who alone existed as one only without a second in the beginning willed to become many and Himself manifested as the universe of all beings, sentient an insentient. This is His vibhoothi, His transcendence and imminence by which He pervades all.

17.kaTHam vidhyaamiaham yogin thvaam sadhaa

parichinthayan

keshu keshu cha bhaaveshu chinthyo asmi bhagavan mayaa

How could I know by contemplating on you always and in whichever of all your forms you should be contemplated by me.

Hence Arjuna says that ,only the Lord could enlighten him about His manifestations and powers and show the way to worship Him through His manifestations.

18.visthareNa aathmano yogam vibhoothim cha janaardhana

bhooyaH kaThaya thrpthirhi srNvatho naasthi me amrtham

Please tell me again elaborately all your powers and manifestations, Janardana, there is no satisfaction for me in hearing the nectar of your glory.

Anticipating Krishna 's possible question as to whether what has been said so far has not been made clear to him, Arjuna says that he wants Krishna to repeat what has been said because there could be no satiety in hearing nectar-like attributes of the Lord.

Starting from the Vedas down to the kavyas, which includes ithihasas and puranas, the nectar of the glory of the Lord and His leelas is lapped up by humanity till now.

Brahma said to Valmiki, Yaavath sThaasyanthi girayaH sarithaScha maheethale thaavath raamyanakaThaa lokeshu pracharishyathi, that as long as there are mountains and rivers on earth the story of Rama will be prevalent in all the three worlds. Which is true because even today the Ramayana is welcomed by people in one form or other. Same is true of all the stories of the divine incarnations. The TV serials alone are the proof of this!

Vedantadesika in his Yadhavaabhyudhaya, justifying his writing about the story of Krishna , says that if nectar is available, would it not be grabbed by people?

amrtham yadhi labhyetha kim na grhyetha maanavaiH?

Arjuna who is also a bhaktha , illustrates the truth of the sloka 9 that the devotees derive no end of satisfaction in hearing and talking about the glories of The Lord.

The word Janardana, used here to refer to Krishna, means the one who is resorted to by people to satisfy their desires. janaiH ardhayathe ithi janaardhanaH.