Bhagavatgita a detailed study- chapter 11-cosmic form

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5.paSya

me paarTha roopaaNi SathaSo aTha sahasraSaH

naanaaviDhaani dhivyaani

naanaavaraNaakrtheeni cha

 

The Lord said,

 

Oh Arjuna, see My forms hundreds upon thousands, manifold, divine, of

various hues and shapes.

 

The Lord tells Arjuna to see the cosmic form describing it in four

slokas. During the rest of the chapter only Sanjaya and Arjuna describe the

form while these are the only words of the Lord about His cosmic form and have

profound significance . In order to understand what has been seen by Arjuna it

is very important to comprehend the real import of these four slokas

Here in this sloka the Lord says that His cosmic form is a consolidation

of all His individual forms enumerated in the last chapter. Since He said that

His manifestations are innumerable in

the last chapter here he says that they are hundreds upon thousands, manifold,

divine and of various colours and forms. If we can visualize the whole universe we can have an idea about

what is meant.

 

But is it as simple as that? No!

 

 

6.

paSya aadgithyaan vasoon rudhraan asvinou maruthaH

thaThaa

bahooni adhrshtapoorvaaNi paSya aaScharyaaNi

bhaaratha

 

See

the adhithyas, vasus rudhras, the twin stars asvin, and also maruths. Oh the

descendent of Bharatha, see what has not been seen before the great wonders.

 

The

twelve adhithyas, eight vasus, eleven rudhras and the 49 maruths and also the

twin stars of asvin constellation, all are to be seen at once. This and other

things not seen before and truly wonderful, Arjuna is about to see. It may

sound not astounding if one thinks that perhaps all the Adhithyas etc. could be

seen in one place through the will of the Lord. But it is not meant in that

sense at all. This is made clear in the next sloka

 

 

7.iha

ekasTham jagath krthsnam paSya adhya sacharaacharam

 

mamadhehe gudaakeSa yaScha anyath dhrashtum

icChasi

 

Now

here see the whole universe of sentient and insentient beings in one place, in

my body, oh the conquerer of sleep , and also whatever you wish to see..

 

This

sloka describes in a nutshell what Arjuna and Sanjaya are going to break into

rapturous outbursts subsequently. The whole universe with sentient and

insentient beings will be seen in My body , says Krishna and one would imagine

this to be a sort of TV show which we are accustomed to see in the depiction of

the visvaroopa, all the beings , planets, devas etc, moving on as in a screen. But in reality is entirely a

different vision.

 

The

hint of the real cosmic form was given in the last sloka where Krishna asked Arjuna to see all Adhithyas, Rudras, etc in one place. Now the

adhithyas are the deities belonging to the twelve months and so are the vasus ,

rudhras etc who are pertaining to different time and place. To see all in one place

means the time factor is not operating,

because as far as the Lord is concerned the time does not exist.

 

So

if we can imagine the vision of time and space without its divisions of past,

present and future and of `now, here and there' etc., we can have a rough idea

of what Arjuna was going to see. Besides the Lord says, yaScha anyath

dhrashtum icChasi, "whatever you wish to see," The foremost wish of Arjuna

at that time was about the possible outcome of the war. Even that will be shown to him, ,is the meaning of Krishna"s words.

 

To

think of the unparalleled magnificence that is going to follow the one is reminded of the words of

Narayanbhattadri in tryuing to describe the Narasimhasvaroopa, athaH paschaath

vishNo na hi vadhithum eeSo asmi sahasaa, " Oh Lord about what happened

afterwards I am not able to articulate

immediately."

 

8.

na thu maam sakyase dhrashtum anena eva svachakshushaa

 

Dhivyam dhdhaami the chakshuH paSya me yogam

aiSvaram

 

You

will not be able to see Me I my cosmic form with these eyes. I will give you

the divine eyes.

 

What

is to follow is the Brahmasakshathkara

which Arjuna is not going to understand fully because it could be understood

only through jnana and bhakthi,. As it is

the transcendental form that is beyond the cognition of body, mind and

intellect it was not possible for Arjuna to see it with his mortal eyes. Hence

out of immense mercy the Lord says that He will give Arjuna divine sight by which he will be able to see

the cosmic form.

 

The

immanence of the Lord could be grasped by intellect but not the transcendence.

To cite a common example we understand that the same electricity is present in

all electrical because we know that the current generated at the source comes

through the appliiance. But to experience the same electricity without the

appliances, present in the atmosphere is difficult because if we experience it we will be no more.

The

words of Arjuna describing the cosmic

form later makes it clear that what he experienced fell short of the

Brahmasakshaathkara, because he describes it as an object of experience and

there is the distinction of one who sees and what is seen. This is absent in

the real perception of the Supreme reality. In Tamil it is said, kandavar

vindilar, vindavar kandilar meaning that one who has seen Brahman have

not come back and those who do, have not seen it. In Kenopanishad also we have

the declaration that yasya amatham thasya matham matham yasya na vedha saH

(Kena.Up.II.3) meaning that it is known to him to whom it is unknown. He

does not know to whom it is known. In simple words if one says I know Brahman,

he sees Brahman as being different from him and hence he doses not know in

reality since he still has the `I ` consciousness. But the one who does not

think he knows is the one who really knows meaning, he is the one who has lost the `I'

consciousness.

 

But

still the sages out of compassion for the humanity have tried to tell us about

that which cannot be told.