Bhagavatgita a detailed study- chapter 10 teh glory of the divine manifestations

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3. aksharaaNaam akaaro asmi dhvandhvaH saamaasikasya

cha

aham eva akshayaH kaalaH Dhaathaa aham

visvathomukhaH

I am the letter `a' of all the letters and dhvandhvasamasa of all the compounds. I am only the imperishable time and the creator facing everywhere.

Akaara the letter 'a' is the beginning and the basis of all letters. The upanishad says akaaro vai sarvaa vaak, that is, the akaara stands for all the speech.

Samaasa is the compound formed by the words as distinguished from sanDhi which is the combination of two words. For example when mama and eva are joined it is written as mamaiva , This is only a sanDhi, where the letters of the previous and the next word changes according to the rule of grammar. In samasa however two words join in a compound word that gives a different meaning from their individual meanings

The main divisions of samaasas are thathpurusha, bahuvreehi and dhvandhva. In thathpurusha the second word gets the importance as in seethaapathiH, derived as seethaayaaH pathiH, in which the second word pathiH is the important one meaning Rama. In Bahuvreehi the two words compounded to indicate a third as in peethaambaraH,. Peetha is yellow and ambara is cloth and the two joined together denote the one who wears peethaambara derived as peetham ambaram yasya saH, the Lord Narayana.

In dhvandhva however both the words get the same importance as in raamaH cha lakshmaNaH cha .raamalakshmanou, meaning Rama and Lakshmana.

Kaala mentioned here is the infinity of time while that referred by kaalaH kalayathaam aham earlier is the measurable time.

Dhaatha means the creator who has faces everywhere, meaning the viratpurusha.

 

34.mrthyuH sarvaharaH cha aham udhbhavaScha

bhavishyathaam

keerthiH Sree vaak cha naareeNaam smrthiH meDhaa

DhrthiH kshamaa

I am the death that carries all away and the origin of all that is going to be. I am the fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence , firmness and patience among the women.

In sloka 19 of chapter9, the Lord says that He is the death as well as immortality. amrtham chaiva mrthyuScha. (9.19) mrthyu here means the annihilator and the next refers to the creator, udhbhavaH bhavishyathaam, the origin of that which is going to be, meaning the creation after annihilation.

The Sanskrit words denoting fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, firmness and patience are all in feminine gender. They are the names of the daughters of Dhakshaprajapthi who married the rshis and they are the powers behind these qualities. Hence Krishna uses the word nareeNaam, of women. The implication may be that if all these qualities are found in one woman she is certainly a divine manifestation.

35. brhathsaama thaThaa saamnaam gaayathree Chandhasaam

aham

maasaanaam maargaSeershio aham rthoonaam

kusumaakaraH

I am the Brhathsaman of the samaveda, gaythri among the metres. I am the month Margasira and spring among the seasons.

Of the Vedas the Lord said that He is the samaveda and now He says that of the passages in samaveda He is the brhathsama, which is the most important of all the samans.

Gaythri is a Chandhas , a metre in which the gayathrimanthra is found. Gayathri is extolled as chandhasaam maathaaa, the mother of all chandhas. Of the other chandhas the anushtup in which the vishnusahasrarnama is said, is worth mentioning.

The month maargaSieersha or margazi is considered to be auspicious as it is supposed to be the ushatkala, dawn of the devas, when they chant sthothras of the Lord and worship Him. Whatever done in the month of margazi fetches more fruit than done in other months. Usually there are special poojas and rituals observed in this month in all the temples, both saivite and vaishnavite. Andal following the gopis of Brindavan, observed the paavai nonbu, and composed the immortal verses, known as Thiruppavai in this month. The general belief that wedding and other festivals should be avoided in this month is due to the fact that this month should be reserved exclusively for the worship of the Lord.

Kusumaakara is spring season, loved by all, when the whole world is joyous, .called so because trees and creepers put forth flowers , kusumaani, during this season.

36.dhyootham Chalayathaam asmi thejaH thejasasvinaam

aham

jayo asmi vyasaayo asmi satthvam satthvavathaam aham

I am the gambling among the fraudulent and the luminance of the luminous. I am the victory , endeavour and the goodness of the good.

Dhyootham is gambling. The Lord is in everything, meaning both good and bad. He is the witness self of everything, sentient and insentient like the sun who shines equally on pure as well as dirty place. A thing is evil not by itself but because of the use it is put to. Hence the evil impulses are bad and not the temptations by themselves. Moreover the karma of everyone leads them towards temptations which can be overcome only by the help of the Lord. The reason why Krishna chose gambling of all the vices may be that it played havoc in the life of the Pandavas and also because it is a game of chance and hence denotes fate.

Thejas, luminance, jayaH, victory, vyavsaaya, endeavour, goodness , satthva, these are the noble qualities which are the manifestations of the Lord , meaning that one could acquire them only through the grace of the Lord.

 

37. vrshNeenaam vaasudhevo asmi paandavaanaam

DhananjayaH

muneenaam api aham vyaasaH kaveenaam uSanaa kaviH

I am Vasudeva of Vrishni clan and Arjuna of the Pandavas. I am Vyasa among the sages and Sukra among the intuitive.

Here `I' means the supreme purusha and not Krishna. Krishna says that He is the Lord Narayana Himself incarnated as Vaasudeva ,son of Vasudeva.

Dhananjaya is the name of Arjuna and even though he is the prominent of the pandavas because of his valour, the reference is here to his being born as rshi Nara when the Lord incarnated as rshi Narayana, in Nara-nrayana avathara. Krishna himself mentions this in Mahabharatha ,

narasthvamasi dhurDharsha harinaaraayaNaohyaham,(MB-vanaparva) "You were rshi Nara , oh unconquerable one, and I was Harinarayana"

sage Vyasa was the most prominent of the seers as he was the one who codified the Vedas and came to be known as Vedavyasa. It should be remembered that Vyasa gave the insight to Sanjaya to see. what was happening in the battle field and hence Sanjaya reported as it happened. So this was not a self eulogy by Vyasa.

uSanaa is the name of Sukracharya , the asuraguru. He was also called kavi as he was intuitive and skilled in manthras. He is also one of the nine grahas, Sukra, whose another name is Kavi.

38.dhando dhamyathaam asmi neethirasmi jigeeshathaam

mounam chaivaasmi guhyaanaam jnaanam jnaanavathaam

aham

I am the punishment of the law-givers and the polity of those who wish to win. I am the silence of the secrets and wisdom of the wise.

The Lord is the power behind any punishment, dhanda, given for the right reasons by the custodians of law, dhamayath.. Jigeeshath is the one who wishes to win by truthful method. neethi here means the policy which is based on truth,. With reference to the winning a war etc., neethi may mean polity which is essential for a king.

In order to guard the secret, guhya, silence, mouna, is essential. Moreover silence is divine when it enters the mind dispelling all thoughts of the world when one can intuit the divinity within. The word muni is derived from mouna only. mounaath muniH

Since the Lord is the jnanasvarupa , He says he is the jnana , wisdom of the wise.