Gita Satsangh Chapter 11 Verses 7 to 8

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Gita Satsangh Chapter 11 Verses 7 to 8

(Verse Translation by Swami Gambirananda, Gita Bhasya and commentary

by Swami Chinmayanandaji)

 

Ihaikastham jagatkritsnam pashyaadya sacharaacharam;

Mama dehe gudaakesha yachchaanyad drashtumicchasi. Verse 7

 

7. See now, O gudakesa, O Gudakesa (Arjuna), the entire Universe

together with the moving and the non-moving, concentrated at the same

place here in My body, as also whatever else you would like to see.

 

Pasya, see

adya, now

O Gudakesa, the krtsnam, entire

jagat, Universe

sa-cara-acaram, existing together with the moving and the non-moving

ekastham, concentrated at the same place

iha, here

mama dehe, in My body

ca, as also

yat anyat, whatever else-even those victory, defeat, etc. with regard

to which you expressed doubt in, 'whether we shall win, or whether

they shall conquer us' (2.6)

if icchasi, you would like

drastum, to see them.

 

The enthusiastic seeker's adventurous mind having been sufficiently

educated so far to develop an unending wealth of 'eagerness to know,'

Krishna further educates, sharpening in the student, the 'anxiety to

know' in this mind, with sufficient details on what he may expect in

the Divine Vision that is to follow. This secret technique then makes

the student ardently converge all this attention towards one given

Form Divine. This is achieved by his verse. If we follow the

technique, developed through the expressed words, we shall find that

Vyasa has here explained the entire Science of Love as adumbrated in

the Cult of Bhakti, or 'Devotion to the Supreme.'

 

The entire Universe, constituted both of the moving and the unmoving -

-- of the sentient and the insentient --- is being shown by Krishna

on his own physical structure as described by the effective intimate

term, " Here, concentrated " (Iha-ekastham). And this term has been

annotated in the same stanza as " In this, My Body " (mama dehe). The

entire Universe of gross forms, both movable and immovable, is to be

compressed within the framework of Krishna's girth and height. As we

explained earlier* the concept of space has not been completely

sponged out of Arjuna's mind but a total space-concept equivalent to

Krishna's own mortal dimensions is left in him. With this mind, when

Arjuna looks out, he must necessarily see framed in Krishna all at

once, the entire Universe compressed and miniatured with all its

multiple details intact.

 

Even though " the entire Universe, including both the moving and the

unmoving " is a term sufficiently elastic so as not to leave anything

outside its implications, Krishna again sharpens the enthusiasm of

Arjuna by stating that the Pandava could see anything " ELSE THAT YOU

DESIRE TO SEE. " As a typical mortal, Arjuna is preoccupied with the

particular problem of life and his anxiety naturally grows to peep

into the future and discover its solution rather than to realize the

underlying oneness that embraces even the forms in the outer world-of-

matter.

 

" THE ONE IN THE MANY " HAS BEEN DESCRIBED IN THE LAST CHAPTER, AND

HERE WE ARE ABOUT TO SEE " THE MANY IN THE ONE. "

 

Na tu maam shakyase drashtum anenaiva swachakshushaa;

Divyam dadaami te chakshuh pashya me yogamaishwaram. Verse 8

 

8. But you are not able to see Me merely with this eye of yours. I

grant you the supernatural eye bhold My divine Yoga. No fleshy eye

can behold Me in My Cosmic Form. One can see Me only through the eye

of intuition or the divine eye. It should not be confused with seeing

through the physical eye or through the mind. It is an inner divine

experience attained through intense devotion and concentration.

 

Tu, but

na sakyase, you are not able

drastum, to see

mam, Me, who have assumed the Cosmic form

eva, merely

anena, with this natural

sva-caksusa, eye of yours. However, dadami, I grant

te, you

the divyam, supernatural

caksuh, eye, by which supernatural eye you shall be able to see

Pasya, behold with that

me, My, God's aisvaram, divine

yogam, Yoga, i.e. the superabundance of the power of Yoga [The power

of accomplishing the impossible.-M.S.].

We have already explained how it is relatively easy to see the

essential stuff as the core of individual names and forms, but the

reverse of it --- to discover the many in the one --- is the work of

a subtle intellect functioning through right philosophical

understanding. TO READ a poem, only knowledge of the alphabet is

necessary; but to understand its subtler beauties and to classify it

in a comparative study with other similar poems, it needs a masterly

mind that has been well soaked with the master-pieces in poetry.

Similarly, to see " THE ONE IN THE MANY " is the work of a 'heart'

soaked with faith; but to PERCEIVE " THE MANY IN THE ONE, " we need,

besides the 'heart,' an educated 'intellect' that has learnt to see

for itself the logic of the philosophers. This peculiar capacity of

an educated intellect to see the extraordinary is the vision of the

intellect which is gained when we develop the faculty to perceive and

to know.

 

This obvious fact is explained by the Lord in this stanza, " YOU

CANNOT SEE ME WITH THESE EYES OF YOURS; I GIVE THEE THE VISION

DIVINE. " There are very many critics who try to explain this " Divine-

eye " through fantastic suppositions and ridiculous theories. Such

commentators are certainly men, not much educated in the style of the

Hindu scriptures, the Upanishads. Expressly and tacitly, all through

the Upanishads, it is repeatedly explained that the subtler cannot be

brought within the scope and compass of the instruments-of-perception

given to man. The external sense organs can play freely only in the

outer world-of-objects. Even when we ordinarily " see an idea " it is

not done with our outer pair of eyes. The intellectual comprehension

is meant here by the term " seeing " and the capacity of the intellect

to comprehend is the 'Divine-eye.'

 

This " special-vision " is given to the Pandava Prince so that he may

see " MY SUPREME YOGA-POWER " by which the whole Universe of

multiplicity is being supported by the Lord's own form. Earlier, this

particular Yoga-Power of the Lord has been already described at two

different places, (VII-12 and IX-4) almost in identical terms.

THE SCENE SHIFTS TO HASTINAPURA, IN THE PALACE OF DHRITARASHTRA

[Guest guest]

Swami Dayananda's commentary for verses 7 and 8:

 

Addressing him as Gudakesa, Bhagavan draws Arjuna's attention.

Gudakesa, we have seen, is the one who has mastered his sense

organs. " Here, residing in one place, my body, please see the

entire world, right now. " The world is divided into two parts, moving

and non-moving. " In one place, my body, please see all this Arjuna.

And not only that, anything else you want to see, " yacca anyad

drastum icchasi. What else can there be? Everything is in this

form. The only thing remaining, Sankara says, is the question of who

is going to win this battle. Arjuna wondered whether his side would

win or not. " Now you can resolve that and all other doubts, " Bhagavan

is telling him. " You will see the future including the outcome of

this war. It is all settled. Duryodhana by his deeds has already

brought about the destruction of his clan. You need not do anything

more than play your part. It is like a fruit that has already

ripened. You simply have to touch it and it will fall. You need not

even pluck it. It looks as if you brought it clown, but it was so

ripe that it was ready to fall. Similarly Duryodhana is ripe for

destruction. All you have to do is release a few arrows. Nothing else

is needed. By his own karma he has already brought about the phala.

That is why the war is being waged. He has sought this destruction,

worked hard for it and therefore is getting it. Who are you in all

this? You are only an instrument, nimitta, in the whole process. "

This Bhagavan is going to tell later. " Therefore, if you wish to see

anything more, yaccanyad drastum icchasi, such as the outcome of this

war, you will see it all here in my deha, my form. "

 

" Even though it is possible to see all this, the problem here is your

eyes are not adequate to see me in this cosmic form. " The natural

human eyes with which we can see a few things are not capable of

seeing something of this dimension. For that you require a special

eye. You can call it the eye of wisdom or an extraordinary eye

created by Lord Krishna through his power of maya. Either way,

Bhagavan gave Arjuna the capacity to see his cosmic form. He says, " I

give you eyes that are divyam. " Therefore, please see my wondrous

power, paiya, me yogamaisvaram. Yogam here is the power of maya, a

power that is beyond compare. It holds the capacity for ail

knowledge, jnanasakti, all activity, kriyasakti, and all desire,

iccasakts. Please see my wondorous power of maya in this form.

Bhagavan has given Arjuna the capacity to confront his power. Now

the scene shifts and we are reminded that Sanjaya is relating this

dialogue to Dhrtarastra. The whole dialogue between Krishna and

Arjuna is a quote.

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

Imagine ourselves on a spacecraft and see the universe from the sky.

Even with all trainings and modern scientific devices for our

protection, we will be very uncomfortable to stay there for a long

time. Science has provided us the clues - that if we undertake any

extraordinary adventures such as flying on a spacecraft, we need to

prepare our body and mind. Visvarupadarshanam (Panoramic Vision of

the Universe with all beings in the past, present and future) is

trillion times more adventurous than just seeing the universe from

the spacecraft. The verses in chapter 11 of Bhagavad Gita force our

mind to imagine and capture a glimpse of Visvarupadarshnam by just

using words! Here are some additional notes for our contemplation.

 

 

Verse 7

By addressing Arjuna as `Gudakesa the Lord invites him to observe the

Cosmic Body with due care and attention, so as to leave no room for

any doubt or misconception with regard to the same. The

indeclinable 'Adya' in this verse has been used in the sense of

`now'. The Lord thereby indicates that He was very prompt in

revealing the form which Arjuna desired to see; in fact, He revealed

it the moment Arjuna expressed the desire to see it.

 

The word `Cara' stands for all creatures possessing motion, e.g.,

beasts, birds, insects, moths, gods and human beings etc; while

`Acara' denotes things devoid of motion, e.g., hills trees etc. The

word `Jagat', qualified by the adjectives `Krisnam' and `

`Sacaracaram', therefore signifies the entire universe consisting of

all such creatures, together with their bodies and senses, places of

enjoyment and objects of enjoyment. By inviting Arjuna to behold the

entire creation in a part of His body seated before him in his

chariot the Lord gave an ocular demonstration before Arjuna of the

statement contained in the concluding verse of Chapter X, viz., that

He held the entire universe in a fraction of His Being.

 

By asking Arjuna to behold whatever else he desired to see, the lord

intends to convey that, besides the universe as it existed then,

Arjuna could directly perceive at that moment in a part of His Body

any spectacle expressive of the Lord's virtues and glory etc, scenes

of his own victory and the enemy's defeat, or any other incident

relating to the past, present or future, that he should like to

witness.

 

Verse 8

Sri Krishna was glad that Arjuna sought to obtain a vision of His

divine form endowed with His wonderful power of Yoga; and the Lord

for His own part was prepared to reveal that form to him. But at the

same time He was afraid that His transcendent form could not be seen

with the ordinary human eyes, and that Arjuna lacked the faculty

which was needed for obtaining a vision of that form. This is what is

meant by the first half of this verse.

 

By His own power of Yoga the Lord bestowed on Arjuna a kind of Yogic

faculty to enable him to obtain a vision of the Cosmic Body. This

faculty endowed him with supernatural power and qualified him for a

vision of that divine form. It is this Yogic faculty which is

referred to here by the words `Divyam Caksuh.' A similar type of

divine vision was facilitated to Sanjaya by the divine Vedavyasa at

the time of commencement of the Mahabharata war.

 

A close study of this episode does not warrant the conclusion that

the vision of the Cosmic Body by Arjuna consisted only in realizing

through spiritual wisdom that the entire objective world is a

manifestation of God, or that the `divine eye' said to have been

conferred on him was no other than this realization. The exhortation

to visualize the whole universe in a part of His being through

spiritual enlightenment had already been given by the Lord to Arjuna

at the end of Chapter X, and the same had also been accepted by

Arjuna. The fact that Arjuna longs to perceive with his own eyes the

divine form of Sri Krishna endowed with strength, energy, valor and

effulgence even after this acceptance, and that the Lord Himself is

inviting Arjuna to behold the entire universe as concentrated in the

very form present before his eyes, precludes the assumption that the

vision was nothing but a form of spiritual realization.

 

This drives us to the conclusion that the cosmos in which Arjuna

found to be present was different from the cosmos as seen by him in

the body of the Lord. Had it been otherwise, it would not have been

possible to see the entire space between heaven and earth and all the

quarters covered by the Cosmic Body. At the sight of that dreadful

form of the Lord Arjuna was already seized with wonder, bewilderment,

fear and confusion. This also goes to disprove the theory that the

Lord had simply awakened Arjuna through spiritual enlightenment to a

sense of His identity with the objective universe. Had it been so,

Arjuna would have no cause for fear, agony, and bewilderment

confusion and so on.

 

In modern days we have been provided with Imax theaters equipped with

Mega Sound and Screen to witness big shows. We have also seen some

modern gadgets such as mini-radios, cell phones, hand held computers

where we can see and heard distance scenes. There are some who don't

want to touch such modern instruments and they don't believe that

they are real. Arjuna was likewise equipped by the Lord with an

instrument the powerful Cosmoscope (just like a telescope or modified

kaleidoscope) that enabled him to obtain an unobstructed view of the

whole universe from-where he stood. The kaleidoscope is a tube of

mirrors containing loose colored beads or pebbles, or other small

colored objects. The viewer looks in one end and light enters the

other end, reflecting off the mirrors. The referenced Power of Yoga

could be considered equivalent to superlative instrument beyond

everything that has been achieved by modern science.

 

For instruments like the Radio enable one to hear only such distant

sounds and witness only such distant scenes as are being generated or

occurring at that very moment in a particular part of the universe.

Things occurring in the various parts of the universe cannot be seen

or heard with the help of a single instrument all at once at one and

the same place. Nor can such an instrument enable one to read the

thoughts of another, or foresee future events. In conclusion, there

is nothing in this context to indicate that Arjuna beheld the Cosmic

Body of the Lord with the aid of a scientific instrument.

 

However, on the basis of scientific inventions like the ones

mentioned above, the skeptical minds of the present generation can be

persuaded to agree that it should be possible for the Lord to

facilitate Arjuna to witness the Cosmic Body through Yogic power

bestowed by Him. The form which Arjuna saw was an undisguised

reality, and the sole means of perceiving it was the divine eye in

the form of Yogic power obtained through the grace of God. The form

which Arjuna saw was divine in essence.. The word 'YogamAishwaram,'

represents the Cosmic Body of the Lord displayed through His

wonderful power of Yoga.

 

If we contemplate with fully focusing on these two verses, we can

recognize that everything that we witness is nothing but His Cosmic

Body and power of Yoga! We are currently in the middle of an on-going

discussion on three states – even they too belong to His Cosmic Body

revealed by His Power of Yoga. Our notions of three states along with

created theories to distinguish between those states also belong to

YogamAishwaram. Arjuna's state of mind at the time of

Vishwarupadarshnam was not able to comprehend the Totality at an

intellectual level. Arjuna's fear was caused by the shadow of some

doubts pervading over his impure mind. Only after eradicating all

mind purities, the Atman will Self-Reveal and illuminate the mind

with Pure Wisdom!

 

Harih Om!

 

Ram Chandran

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

It seems that due to the presence of impurities in my end, I have made

a typo in my last statement and it should have been - " Only after

eradicating all mind impurities, the atman will Self-Reveal. "

 

With my warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

 

advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran

wrote:

>

Our notions of three states along with

> created theories to distinguish between those states also belong to

> YogamAishwaram. Arjuna's state of mind at the time of

> Vishwarupadarshnam was not able to comprehend the Totality at an

> intellectual level. Arjuna's fear was caused by the shadow of some

> doubts pervading over his impure mind. Only after eradicating all

> mind purities, the Atman will Self-Reveal and illuminate the mind

> with Pure Wisdom!

>

> Harih Om!

>

> Ram Chandran

>

[Guest guest]

H.N.Sreenivasa Murthy

Pranams to all.

 

advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran wrote:

>

> Namaste:

>

> It seems that due to the presence of impurities in my end, I have made

> a typo in my last statement and it should have been - " Only after

> eradicating all mind impurities, the atman will Self-Reveal. "

>

> With my warmest regards,

>

> Ram Chandran

 

Dear Sri Ramachandran,

Who lights up the impurities of the mind ? Even when the

impurities of the mind are there , is not the Self SELF-Luminous and

Self-revealing? What is the significance of the Upanishadic statement

" yasya BAsA sarvamidaM viBAti || " ? After reading your above stated

statement these questions arose in my mind . Your clarification in

this matter will be of great help to me.

 

With warm and respectful regards,

Sreenivasa Murthy

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sri Narayana Sreenivasa Namo Narayana:

 

Thanks bringing to the attention of the list, the famous quotation

from the Upanishads: 'Tasya Bhasa Sarvamidam Vibhati' (In His light

all else shines). Take a moment to ask within YOU - Where did your

question originate. If we trust the revealations as stated by the

sages of the Upanishad, the answer to your question should also Self-

revealing!

 

There is a saying in Tamil - " Avanindril Oru Anuvum Asiyathu "

(Without Him, even an iota of an atom can move). Lord Krishna also

provides the answers through verses in chapter 7 and 9. For example

in verse 4 of chapter 9, He says:

Mayaa tatamidam sarvam jagadavyaktamoortinaa;

Matsthaani sarvabhootaani na chaaham teshvavasthitah.

All this world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest aspect; all beings

exist in Me, but I do not dwell in them.

This message is profound – the mind impurities are because of Him but

He doesn't dwell in them!

The question arises in our mind- why do I have difficulties in

understanding and why do the cycles of " doubts followed by

clarifications followed by doubts " happen? Only the Brahman without

an iota of mind impurities will know the answer and He is also free

from the cycle. Our religious philosophy is built on the CYCLE which

has no beginning or end! What we have is the cycle – and let us not

try to find the beginning point of the cycle – that is just a waste

of time. The sages of the Upanishads want us to use our time to clean

our mind from the impurities so that the impurities along with the

mind to vanish in the thin air. When that happens, the Atman will

Self-Illumine!

Sometime back, Sadaji made a profound statement that is quite

relevant here – " Even to recognize the darkness, we need His Light!!

With my warmest regards,

Ram Chandran

 

 

advaitin , " narayana145 " <narayana145

wrote:

>

> Dear Sri Ramachandran,

> Who lights up the impurities of the mind ? Even when the

> impurities of the mind are there , is not the Self SELF-Luminous and

> Self-revealing? What is the significance of the Upanishadic

statement

> " yasya BAsA sarvamidaM viBAti || " ? After reading your above

stated

> statement these questions arose in my mind . Your clarification in

> this matter will be of great help to me.

>

> With warm and respectful regards,

> Sreenivasa Murthy

>

[Guest guest]

Namaste:

 

Let me add the following for the interest of those who want to know

more on the referenced Upanishadic statement.

The statement,

 

na tatra sUryo bhAti na candra-tArakaM

naimA vidyuto bhAnti kuto'yam-agniH /

tameva bhAntaM anubhAti sarvaM tasya

bhAsA sarvam-idaM vibhAti //

 

appears in Mundaka upanishad, II-2-10.

 

The above verses are chanted in temples during Aarti time to bring

the essence of the Light in our life.

 

Also,our dear ProfVKji has discussed this verse inside an article

with the title, " Brahman " in the following link:

 

http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/definitions/brahman.htm

 

Here are few other links where there are some additional discussions.

 

http://www.karansingh.com/essays/myth-importance-human-

consciousness.htm

(This article by Karansingh is quite illuminating)

 

http://www.dlshq.org/download/insight_sadhana2.pdf

(Swami Sivananda also discusses the verse in the context of Gita)

 

www.kamakoti.org/hindudharma/part5/referp5b.htm

 

(this discussion comes within text by Paramacharya on Hindu Dharma)

 

 

With my warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin , " Ram Chandran " <ramvchandran

wrote:

>

'Tasya Bhasa Sarvamidam Vibhati' (In His light

> all else shines).