Gita Satsangh Chapter 11 Verses 3 to 4: + Krishna will be visible to us!

[Guest guest]

Namaste all

 

These are some recollections of my thoughts on Ch.11-3 and 11-4.

 

In #3 Arjuna asks to be shown the `aishvaram rUpaM' (the divine Form)

of the Lord.

In #4 he adds: Oh yogeshvara, if You think it is possible for me to

see it, please show me your own Imperishable (Form).

 

The key Sanskrit words in these shlokas are

• aishvaraM rUpaM

• yogeshvara (Lord of Yoga)

• darshaya (=show, display, exhibit)

• avyayaM (imperishable).

 

Shri Adi Shankara, while commenting on these shlokas, explains

the `aishvaraM rUpaM' as `jnAna-aishvarya-bala-vIrya-tejObhiH

sampannaM', that is: " that which is conjoined with Enlightening

Wisdom, Wealth and Opulence, Might, Manliness, and Splendour " Usually

a sixth word `shakti' (Energy) is also added to these five so as to

make a total of six qualities which characterise the

epithet `Bhagavan' for the Lord.

 

So the divine Form is to have these six characteristics embedded in

it. Ramanuja lists these six qualities as total power, total wisdom,

total beauty, total wealth, total fame and total renunciation.

 

In Shavaite religious philosophy, these six qualities are said to be

also represented by the six faces of the six-faced Subrahmanya,

therefore called Shanmukha.

 

In 10-24 Krishna says: `I am Skanda among Commanders'. The

word 'skanda' means that which is gathered into one. The six divine

sparks from the eyes of Shiva first took the form of six different

babes. The Divine Mother hugged them all at once and the six merged

into one form, skanda.

 

The Chandogya-upanishad speaks of skanda as the Supreme Being. He is

the commander-in-chief of the gods and so He is deva-senA-pati. His

six faces confer the light of wisdom, grace, austerity, mantra-Sakti,

victory over evil, and love.The six hills which are especially sacred

to him are signified by the six chakras in the human body through

which the kundalini rises to travel to the Supreme. Shankara says

that the six main qualities of Godhead (bhagavAn), namely, lordship,

valour, fame, wealth, wisdom and detachment are signified by the six

faces of shanmukha. These six faces help us to root out the six Urmis

(Waves) that engulf us again and again:

 

So the aishvaraM rUpaM that we are going to be blessed with in the

11th chapter is expected to have these six characteristics, in

whatever way you list them.

 

Now come to the other keywords: `yogeshvara', `avyayam'

and `darshaya'. Only the Master of Yoga, meaning `the Lord', can

display such a Form to us. And that is why, Arjuna uses the most

appropriate word `yogeshvara'. Also in 7-24 He says: Unintelligent

persons think that the Unmanifested has this manifestation in this

present form of mine; they do not know My Supreme Imperishable

Untranscended Form. It is that `avyaya' Form that He is going to

show now.

 

He repeats a similar idea in 9-11, where He says: " Fools think that I

have this human form; they do not know my Supreme Form as the Lord of

Beings " .

 

Note the use of the word `avyayam' in 7-24 and of the word `bhUta-

maheshvaraM' in 9-11.

 

`darshaya' meaning `show (me)' is the other keyword which is the

pleading of Arjuna to the Lord to condescend to disclose that Divine

Form of His.

 

There was another Divine Form, which the Lord showed to his parents

just before he appeared as their child within the four walls of

Kamsa's prison on that famous day

(which we celebrated just last week). The characteristic verse that

describes that unbelievable form occurs in the 10th canto of Shrimad

Bhagavatam.

 

tam-adbhutam bAlakam-ambujekShaNaM caturbhujam shanka-

gadAdyudhAyudhaM /

shrIvatsa-lakShmaM gala-shobhi-kaustubhaM pItAmbaraM sAndra-payoda-

saubhagaM//

mahArha-vaiDUrya-kirITa-kuNDala-tviShA pariShvakta-sahasra-kuntalaM /

uddAma-kAnchyangada-kankaNAdibhiH virAjamAnaM vasudeva aikShata //

 

Meaning: Vasudeva saw that wonder child with four hands, holding a

conch, a mace, a chakra (discus) and a lotus; with Srivatsa emblem on

his chest; with Kaustubha gem on the neck; with cloth of golden hue,

as beautiful as the blue water-filled cloud; with dense hair flowing

around amidst the adornments of crown and ear-rings radiant with

precious gems; and excellently brilliant with bracelets around the

hip and arms.

 

Here I want to add a personal note on this word `darshaya'. For

several years now (maybe twenty or so) I have been repeating this

Bhagavatam shloka as part of my daily prayers. But I made a crucial

change in the shloka. The last two words in the Sanskrit rendering

are `vasudeva aikShata'. In my repetitive recitation I have changed

them into `darshaya pANDuranga', -- meaning, `Show me, Oh

PANDuranga'. `Oh Lord, show me this form' – that is what I mean,

instead of saying that " Vasudeva, Krishna's father, saw that " .

The `darshaya' word is being used in the same connotation that Arjuna

uses in 11-4. `PANDuranga' is one name of the Lord which fits the

Sanskrit rhyme best.

 

It is remarkable that this list has been discussing in the recent

past, whether Krishna is visible to us or not. I believe He is.

Somewhere on this list I saw an explanation of what is `belief' and

what `Faith' is. My belief that He is visible is my Faith!

 

PraNAms to all devotees of Krishna.

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk