Bhagavatgita a detailed study- chapter 11The Cosmic Form

June 23, 2009

21.amee hi thvaam surasanghaaH viSanthi

kechith bheethaah praanjalayo grNanthi

svasthi ithi ukthvaa maharshisidDhasanghaaH

sthuvanthi thvaam sthuthibhiH pushkalaabhiH

These hosts of devas enter into you and some, frightened, pray with folded hands. The great sages and siddhas praise you with beautiful hymns saying "may all be well."

All the devas merge into the Lord when their life is ended and created again. They do not go through several lives like the mortals. Moereover the devas are the powers that activate the universe of sentient and insentient beings and they function as ordained by the Lord. Those who are of a lower order merge and emerge without any concern but those who are more evolved are afraid of this process and wish to attain permanence by becoming free from creation and dissolution by attaining mukthi. They pray to the Lord for higher wisdom . The highly evolved beings like the sages perfectly understand the nature of Supreme realty and bless the world . These are the sights presented to Arjuna. Who sees past present and future in the cosmic form of the Lord

22.rudhraadhithyaaH vasavo ye cha saaDhyaa

viSve aSvinou maruthaH cha ushmapaaH cha

ganDharvayakshaasura sidDhasanghaaH

veekshanthe thvaam vismithaaH chaiva sarve

Rudras, Adhithyas, Vasus, sadhyas, viSvedevas, Asvins, Maruths Ushmapaas, gandharvas, yakshas,asuras and groups of siddhas all are seeing you with wonder.

Arjuna expresses the general effect the form of the Lord has on the hosts of divine beings. As one sees what he expects to see, Arjuna saw all the devas of whom he had been familiar through his vedic learning and could specify as per his knowledge of their forms. He sees all the beings and he is going to describe about his own contemporaries later on, starting from the devas first because the Lord has said `pasya aadhithyaan vasoon rudhraan' etc. in the earlier sloka.

The various kinds of celestial beings are mentioned and ushmapaa refers to the pthrs, who are supposed to eat hot food served during Sraddhas.

23. roopam mahath the bahuvakthra nethram

mahaabaaho bahubaahoorupaadham

bahoodharam bahudhamshtraakaaalam

dhrshtvaa lokaaH avyaThithaah thaThaaaham

Seeing your magnificent form with multitudes of faces, eyes, arms. thighs, feet, stomachs and canine teeth , all the worlds are terrified and so am I.

Now Arjuna is expressing his own feelings on seeing the cosmic form. Since he sees all he wanted , meaning , all that he could think of and the sight was baffling. Sometime in dream we see things irrespective of time, place and entities. Since it is a dream we could take it as such but the same in wakeful state would be quite perplexing. If we could imagine the experience of all and at all times and all places we could get some idea of what Arjuna was experiencing. Naturally he is terrified and says so. When we are happy the whole world appears to be happy and vice versa. Hence Arjuna says that the whole world is terrified on seeing the cosmic form. But actually he was only seeing it.

24.nabhasprSam dheeptham aneka varnam

vyaatthaananam dheepthaviSaalanethram

dhrshtvaa hi thvaam pravyaThithaantharaathmaa

Dhrthim cha vindhaami samam cha vishnO

Seeing you touching the sky fiery and of various hues wide opened mouth broad burning eyes my heart is full of fear and I do not find courage or peace, Oh Lord Vishnu.

Arjuna expresses his agitation and fear on seeing the cosmic form. The sight was something that could not be grasped by the mind and intellect and hence the fear of unknown creeps in. He felt that he was about to lose the concept of `I' and `I see" and it is terrifying. When Arjuna saw the Lord everywhere inside and outside him he was losing himself and felt a sense of insecurity. Hence he says that he does not find courage nor peace.

25.dhamshtraakaralaani cha the mukhaani

dhrshtvaiva kaalaanalasannibhaani

dhiSo na jaane na labhe cha Sarma

praseedha dheveSa jagannivaasa

Seeing your mouths with fearful canine teeth looking like the fire of deluge I do not know the directions nor do I attain peace. Be pleased Oh Lord of the devas, who is the abode of the universe..

The form in front of Arjuna was of the all consuming Time. The Lord Himself says later kalo asmi lokakshay krth, " I am the all consuming Time." The perception of Brahman is described by Krishna Himself in chapter 13 sloka 13 as `sarvathaH paaNipaadham thath sarvatho akshiSiromukham,' having hands and feet everywhere and gives even more detailed description of what has been shown as the cosmic form which is not a form restricted by time and space however large it may seem by imagination. It extends beyond all conception. The all consuming Time is portrayed as fire that consumes everything. With no perception of time and space the directions disappear. Hence Arjuna is restive and agitated which he expresses as being devoid of peace.