Gita Satsangh Chapter 11 Verses 19 to 20

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Gita Satsangh Chapter 11 Verses 19 to 20

(Verse Translation by Swami Gambirananda, Gita Bhasya and commentary

by Swami Chinmayanandaji)

 

Anaadimadhyaantamanantaveeryam Anantabaahum shashisooryanetram;

Pashyaami twaam deeptahutaashavaktram Swatejasaa vishwamidam

tapantam. Verse 19

 

19. I see You as without beginning, middle and end, possessed of

infinite valor, having innumerable arms, having the sun and the moon

as eyes, having a mouth like a blazing fire, and heating up this

Universe by Your own brilliance.

 

Pasyami, I see

tvam, You

as anadi-madhya-antam, without beginning, middle and end

ananta-viryam, possessed of infinite valour

and also ananta-bahum, having innumerable arms

sasi-surya-netram, having the sun and the moon as the eyes

dipta-hutasavakram, having a mouth like a blazing fire

tapantam, heating up

idam, this

visvam, Universe

sva-tejasa, by Your own birlliance.

 

19. I see You without beginning, middle, or end, infinite in power,

of endless arms, the sun and moon being Your eyes, the burning fire

Your mouth, heating the whole universe with Your radiance.

Continuing the description of the Infinite as comprehended by the

subtle perception of Arjuna and interpreted by his intellect in terms

of the Universe of things and names, it is explained, " I SEE THEE

WITHOUT BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END, INFINITE IN POWER, OF INFINITE

ARMS. " This pen-picture, drawn by Vyasa with his eloquent poetry,

gives a false impression that the theme is an object, and many are

the artists who have tried to capture this form on the canvas. The

folly is clear to every intelligent student of Vedanta. That which is

Infinite, without beginning or end, cannot be brought within the area

of a limited canvas-piece. But, at the same time, the phrase " OF

INFINITE ARMS " tickles the painter to express it through his own art.

In fact, the Universal-Form, standing out so clearly in relief work

in this transcendental apprehension of the author, can be

comprehended only by students of deep understanding and developed

intuition.

 

Here, by the term " OF INFINITE ARMS " it only means that the Supreme

Self, as the dynamic life, is the one essential strength behind every

hand that acts and achieves.

 

The " principle of light " is the very " principle " in the eye. If the

eyes were not there, light itself would have no meaning. At the same

time, if the " principle of light " were not blessing the objects of

form, the instruments of cognition --- the eyes --- could not have

functioned at all. We have here the description of the totality.

The " principle of vision, " i.e., all the eyes in the whole universe,

is described as the pair-of-eyes, in the Universal-Form of the Lord.

Therefore, in the technical language of Vedanta, it has been aptly

described here that " THE SUN AND THE MOON ARE YOUR EYES. "

BURNING FIRE OF YOUR MOUTH --- Here fire has been considered as the

principle behind speech and the principle governing taste. Warm food

tastes better; frozen-food has no taste. The presiding deity of

speech can FIRE the generation. HEATED discussions always take place;

cold discussion is a painful monotony. Speeches that freeze the

audience are only lullabies. And the mouth being the seat for both

the instruments of speech and taste, the mouth of the Vishwaroopa is

explained here as " Fire. "

 

HEATING THE WHOLE UNIVERSE WITH YOUR RADIANCE --- The Self cannot but

be luminous, because Consciousness illumines all experiences, at all

times, in all living organisms. This light of Consciousness not only

illumines, but also imparts the Warmth of life to the entire

Universe. From the very statement it is evident that the ancient

Hindu had turned his gaze inward only when he had exhausted his

observations and study of the world outside. It seems that he knew

well that at a certain degree of temperature alone life could

continue on this globe; below the required minimum and above the

maximum temperature, life would be extinct.

The light that is emanating from Truth is Its own light, and not

something which It has derived from any other source. It is by " Your

own Radiance " (Swa-Tejasa) that the life is sustained in the world of

names and forms.

 

Dyaavaaprithivyoridamantaram hi Vyaaptam twayaikena dishashcha

sarvaah;

Drishtwaa'dbhutam roopamugram tavedam Lokatrayam pravyathitam

mahaatman. Verse 20

 

20. Indeed, this intermediate space between heaven and earth as also

all the directions are pervaded by You alone. O exalted One, the

three worlds are struck with fear by seeing this strange, fearful

form of Yours.

 

Hi, indeed

idam, this

antaram, intermediate space

dyavaprthivyoh, between heaven and earth

ca, as also

sarvah, all

the disah, direction

vyaptam, are pervaded

tvaya, by You

ekena, alone, who have assumed the Cosmic form. Mahatman, O exalted

One, who by nature are high-minded

the lokatrayam, three worlds

pravyathitam, are struck with fear, or are perturbed

drstva, by seeing

idam, this

abdhutam, strange, astonishing

ugram, fearful, terrible

rupam, form

tava, of Yours.

 

Therefore, now, in order to clear that doubt which Arjuna earlier had-

as in, 'whether we shall win, or whether they shall conquer' (2.6)-,

the Lord proceeds with the idea, 'I shall show the inevitable

victory of the Pandavas.' Visualizing that, Arjuna said: 'Moreover-'.

Truth, as apprehended by Arjuna, pervades the entire world-of-objects

and even the concepts of time and space are not independent of this

Truth. The theme that has been described here, we should not forget,

is the Infinite, the Eternal. Naturally, it is said here, " BY YOU

ALONE, THE SPACE BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH AND ALL

THE QUARTERS OF THE SKY, IS PERVADED. "

 

The concept of universal oneness cannot be easily grasped. The more

one realizes it, the more one gets staggered at the immensity of it

all. A limited intellect cannot but shudder at the manifestation of

such a vast and majestic Truth.

 

SEEING THE MARVELLOUS AND THE AWFUL FORM, ARJUNA SAYS, " THE WORLDS

ARE TREMBLING. " It is psychologically true that each man sees the

world as he himself is. We look at the world through the windows of

our mind; as our mind is, so is the world to us. Arjuna felt

staggered and trembling in himself when he looked at the world in

that mental condition and he could not but see that the whole world

was equally wonder-struck and trembling as he himself was. Even while

he is preoccupied with the great theme in hand, Vyasa does not forget

the fundamental behavior in man. These fine touches add a glow of

realism to this mystic picture of incomparable beauty and

immeasurable depth.

 

ARJUNA HAD A DOUBT REGARDING THE POSSIBILITIES OF SUCCESS IN THE

WAR.* IN ORDER TO REMOVE THIS, LORD KRISHNA NOW GIVES ARJUNA A PEEP

INTO THE FUTURE THAT IS IN STORE FOR THE WORLD:

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Swami Dayananda Saraswati's Detailed Comments for these verses:

==============================================================

 

I see you as one who has no beginning, middle or end, with endless

hands and the moon and the sun for your eyes, and a mouth like

blazing fire who heats/energizes this world by his own light. " In

this cosmic form I see you with no beginning or end nor any middle

between the two, anadi-madhya-antam. " Anywhere he looks, in all

directions Arjuna finds visvarupa. Not only that, now he sees why

Krishna is almighty. " You have anantaviryam, a sakti or power

that has no limit. " Then again Arjuna sees him with hands (and legs)

everywhere, anantabahum. And he sees that the eyes of this cosmic

form are the moon and the sun, s'as'i-surxa-rietram. This is part of

the classic description given for visualization and meditation upon

the cosmic form. The sun and moon are the eyes, the space is the

body, heaven is the head, and prthivi the feet. If there is a cosmic

form for the Lord, viewed from this planet, what could his

eyes be other than the sun and moon? Hutasa means one who eats ail

that is offered to him. That is fire. And it is dipta-hutaga a very

well-lighted blazing fire. " I see the blazing fire as your mouth,

vaktram. " " I see you as heating up, energizing, the entire world. "

 

Indeed, this (space) in between heaven and earth and all the quarters

are pervaded by you as one (form). Seeing this wondrous; frightening

form of yours, the three worlds are shaken, 0 Lord. " The space

between heaven and earth, called antariksa is pervaded by you as one

person. " Arjuna sees this cosmic form of Krishna pervading the entire

space. Similarly, all the quarters, disatica sarvah, east, west,

north, south, then north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west,

and so on, all of them Arjuna says, " are pervaded by you alone.

Anywhere I look I find your form. " He sees that all this, the whole

Jagat is Isvara. Naturally, everything is going to be included. He

addresses Krishna here as mahatma, the one whose atma is mahan, all-

pervasive, accommodating the whole creation.

 

This cosmic form is adbhutam, something wondrous which has never been

seen before. Then again it is ugram, most frightening and seeing,

drstva, this, all the three worlds, lokatrayam, are shaken by it,

pravyathitam. It is not that they are really shaken. This is only

Arjuna's way of saying how frightened he is. The form is so

overwhelming that seeing it, all the people in the three worlds

should be shaken. How can the cosmic form be frightening? Only when

it is seen as separate from the seer. That is Arjuna's problem. If

he had included his form, there would be no problem. If you are

everything, who is to be frightened of what? Only from a second thing

can there be fear, dvaitaddhi bhayam bhavati And there would be no

second thing if he had included himself. After seeing this vision

Arjuna remained basically the same. He had softened a little and

understood certain things but nothing more than that. In fact he did

not really have a cosmic vision. How can a vision excluding yourself

could be cosmic? It is like a wave seeing the " entire " ocean minus

itself. It is not seeing the entire ocean. Arjuna only saw a world

within the form of Krishna and therefore, was frightened. In the next

verse he talks about his fright.

Sankara introduces this verse by reminding us of Arjuna's dilemma in

the second chapter. He said that he did not know which outcome of the

war would be better, victory or defeat. " Killing whom we do not wish

to live, those are the people standing before me, te avasthitah

pramukhe. " In order to resolve that, Bhagavan presented enough

features in his cosmic form for Arjuna to infer a decisive victory

for the Pandava clan and the fate of all the Dhartarastras.