Gita Satsangh Chapter 11 Verses 3 to 4 - Swami Dayanandaji

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

As I have explained before, let me now add the commentary

explanations from Swami Dayananda Saraswati (from his Gita Home-study

Notes). I once again want to thank Swamiji and Arsha Vidhya

Gurukulam for their permission to use it for group discussions. I

want members to be aware that these materials should be used only for

discussions and if you want it for other purposes, please contact

Arsha Vidhya Gurukulam for their permission. The commentaries which

are provided here from Swami Chinmayananda and Swami Gambirananda

should be also treated in the same way. These sages have provided

their permission only for discussion purposes and not necessarily for

other purposes.

 

Swamiji is a profound teacher of Vedanta and he brings out the

Vedantarasam (the essence of Vedanta) from the Gita so that we can

learn and enjoy. Swamiji provides a glimpse of the teacher-student

relationship through his explanations. When the teacher (Lord

Krishna) understands the sincerity and earnestness of the dedicated

student (Arjuna) they go out of their way to please the student. The

student wants to express his trust and faith on the teacher and what

he/she already learnt from him. The choice of expressions used in

these verses demonstrate the earnestness and Swamiji excels in

bringing out the enthusiasm and curiosity of a sincere student. In

subtle terms, the verses of Gita spells out the required

qualifications of for both the teacher and the student. The

commentaries of the Swamijis provide dramatic presentations of the

dialog between Lord Krishna and Arjuna.

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran

 

Verse 3

 

Just as you have been telling about yourself, 0 Lord, in the same

manner as this I wish to see your form as the Lord, 0 Lord.

 

" Just as you have been talking to me about yourself, 0 Lord, " tvam

atmanam yatha attha. Paramesvara, paramah. not limited by time,

space, or object, as well as Isvara, the one who is the cause, the

Lord of everything. Parames'vara, 0 Lord! Yatha etat means " This very

form (of yourself which you are talking to me about and which I

totally accept as true.) " Sankara adds, not anything different. " I

see that what you say is true and I accept it. I accept because I

understand. " That is what is conveyed here. It is not that he

validates Lord Krishna. " When you said of yourself, " I am this, I am

that " etc. you told of your immanence. "

 

Again Arjuna uses the vocative when he says, " Purusottama, " because

he is imploring. He addresses Krishna as the one who is purusa and

uttama, the most exalted of all beings. Krishna's form is also

Bhagavan's form and so he says aisvaram rupam. Sankara says, " endowed

with knowledge, over lordship, power, strength, creative power, and

glory, jnana-aisvarya-sakti-bala-vlrya-tejobhih sampannah. This is

another definition of Bhagavan in the tradition which Sankara uses

here. This is aisvaram, what belongs to Isvara, the Lord's form. That

I want to see, drastum icchami. Arjuna knows this is a good

opportunity to ask Isvara, the Lord Krishna to show his cosmic form.

 

But he is a little doubtful about whether Bhagavan will reveal it or

not and that he tells in the next verse.

 

Verse 4:

If you think it is possible for me to see that (form of yours), oh

Lord, Lord of the yogins, please show me your perennially eternal

self.

 

..Arjuna wants to see, but then the choice of course, is left to

Bhagavan. " When people know they are asking too much they always

start with, " If it is not too much to ask... " It is a prelude to

asking for a lot. So Arjuna says, " If you consider it is possible for

me to see that (form), oh Lord, manyase yadi tat sakyam maya drastum

iti prabho. He knows he is not qualified because the ordinary eyes he

has are not enough. Some extra eye may be necessary to see the cosmic

form and that is what Arjuna is implicitly requesting here. He

addresses Krishna as prabho, the Lord who gives everything. You will

find this chapter is full of the vocative case. Again he says

yogesvara, the one who is Lord among the yogins. A yogin is one who

has accomplished the end accomplished by the sannyasins, called

moksa. The one who has that yoga is called yogah or yogin. There are

many yogins and Krishna is called the Lord of all of them. He is the

most exalted yogin, the one who keeps the yogamaya under his control,

the mayavl, the Lord.

 

Any yogin at the very least keeps his body under control. That is

asana-siddhi. Then his health and senses etc. can be kept under

control by yama-niyama pranayama pratyahara dharana dhyana samadhi.

This astangayoga will help him to achieve self-mastery. As a person

he is together. Then certain innate powers in the maya like

anima garima, laghimaelc. can be kept under control for which there

is a siddhi-prakarana in the yogasutras. Such people seem to have

existed only in

earlier times. But among those people who had a few things under

control Lord Krishna is the one who has everything under control.

He is mayavl, the one who yields the yoga-maya. He has said so

himself - atmamayaya aham sambhavami, " With the help of maya I come

into being in this particular form. " Therefore when Arjuna addresses

Krishna as yogesvara it looks like a very consciously chosen

word. " Since you are yogesvara, you can, after all, lend some of your

powers to me so that I can see your glorious form. So if you you

think it is possible, then, tatah, for my sake, please show me,

darsaya, your own self, atmanam, which is avyayam aisvaram, the

perennially eternal form of the Lord. " Even though the time-bound

jagat is subject to dissolution, it comes back again. Therefore it is

avyayam, eternal.

 

Now that Arjuna has made this request, Krishna has to decide whether

to grant it or not. He can refuse and change the subject. But he

seems to see it as a good teaching opportunity - another method of

revealing his cosmic form. So far he has been only speaking but-here

is a chance to use a visual device. And he thought it would be good

for Arjuna. When Arjuna said, in the first chapter, " I don't want to

cause all these problems. I will be incurring sin. " he showed an

inflated sense of his role in all of this. So Krishna perhaps thought

this was a good occasion to demonstrate how there is only one purusa

and everything " else " is prakrti. That one purusa is purusottama

which happens to be atma. That is what the entire sastra is saying.

There is no second thing.

 

Arjuna's protests against engaging in battle thinking that he would

incur sin, etc. are all going to be answered simply by this visual

teaching. Bhagavan anticipates this and therefore decides to show him

this form.