Bhagavatgita a detailed study- chapter 11The Cosmic Form

July 2, 2009

arjunauvaacha

36. sThaane hrsheekesa thavaprakeerthyaa

jagath prahrshyathi anurajyathe cha

rakshaamsi bheethaani dhiSo dhravanthi

sarve namasyanthi cha siddha sanghaaH

Arjuna said,

It is but proper that the s whole universe is delighted and attracted towards you. Such is your glory. All the hosts of siddhas are bowing down to you while the evil forces are running away from you.

Arjuna says that it is quite understandable that all the world is delighted and attracted towards the Lord and the reason is given in the following sloka. The wise are saluting the cosmic form of the Lord and the evil forces like rakshasas are running away in fear.

It should be remembered that only Arjuna was seeing the vivaroopa and not the whole world. But Arjuna is seeing the past present and future and hence he could see the activities of the devotees and sages and also the evil forces. He is misapprehending that all are happening at present.

37.Kasmaath cha the na nameran mahaathman

gareeyase brahmaNo api aadhikarthre

anantha dhevesa jagannivaasa

thvam aksharam sadhasath thath param yath

Why should not they show obeisance to You, oh great one, who are greater than even Brahma the creator? You are the imperishable, infinite being, Lord of the devas, and the abode of the universe , extending beyond existence and nonexistence.

The reason for the statement in the previous sloka is given here as follows in which Arjuna reiterates what has been said by him earlierin the chapter.

The Lord is greater, gareeyas, than Brahma ,first creator, aadhikarthr, since He is the Brahman from whom even the first creator came from.

He is anantha because there is no beginning, middle and end for Him, naantham na maDhyam na punasthava aadhim (sloka 16)

dhevesa jagannivaasa- He is the Lord of all devas and the abode of the whole universe. thvam asya viSvasya param niDhaanam (sloka18)

aksharam- the imperishable. thavam aksharam (sloka17) The aksharabrahman has been elucidated by the Lord himself in the eighth chapter.

sadhasath thath param- sath is what is existing as aksharam, the self. asath is everything that perishes as non-self. The Lord is beyond both. This is what was explained as paraa and aparaa praktrthi in chapter7 and the Lord Himself being higher than both

38. thvam aadhidhevaH purushaH puraanaH

thvam asya viSvasya param niDhaanam

vetthaaasi vedhyam cha param cha Dhaama

thvayaa thatham viSvam anantharoopa

You are the Primal Lord, the Ancient Being, You are the supreme resting place of the universe. You are the knower and the known and the supreme abode. The universe is pervaded by You, who has infinite forms.

The idea expressed already by Arjuna is again mentioned here. But it is not pounarukthyam, tautology. He is so overwhelmed by the cosmic form that he keeps on expressing the wonder in various words even of the same meaning. When we express something wonderful we say, it is great, it is magnificent, it is superb etc. all meaning the same thing but the exhilaration does not seem to be contained in just one word but it overflows. Similarly here Arjuna is repeating the terms describing the Lord in various forms.

vetThaasi vedhyam cha – The Lord alone knows His real glory as such and He alone is the vedhya, the only thing to be known, by which everything becomes known, ekavijnaanena sarva vijnaanam.

The Upanishad says,

vachaarambhaNam vikaaraH naamaDheyo mrtthikethyeva sathyam, meaning, when the mud is know all the effects of the mud, namely pots etc become known. The mud alone is real and others are but modifications of it. Similarly when you know Brahman all else become known which are only the manifestations of Brahman, in other words, the sareera of the Lord. When you know a person you cannot lknow him only as a body but as the whole, consisting of body, mind, intellect and soul. Everything else has identity only because of the soul with in. This is the idea expressed here by thvam vedhyam asi. He is

also the vetTha , the knower as the self alone is the knower by whose power everything else becomes known.

These terms expressed in this speech of Arjuna have all been expounded by Krishna Himself in the early chapters but while Arjuna only listened to them till now , of course with full belief in the words of Krishna, only now he has the actual practical proof of what he has heard so far.

39. vayuH yamo agniH varunaH SasaankaH

parajpathiH thvam prapithaamahaH cha

namo namsthe asthu sahasrakrthvaH

punaScha bhooyo api namom namasthe

You are Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna and Moon. Prajapathi and the great grand father. Salutations to You thousand times and again and again.

Now after saying "You are everything" , now Arjuna goes to the particular from the general, to vyashti from samashti. He sees the Lord as all devas, vayu, yama agni etc., and he goes on offering obeisance to the Lord as he was overwhelmed by the supereminence. He does not feel that it is sufficient even by bowing to the Lord a thousand times.

Prajapathis are the procreators like kasyapa created by Brahma who are the fathers of all beings while the pithamaha is Brahma, the grandfather of all. prapithamaha is the Lord himself who created even brahma and as such the great grandfather.

40. namaH purasthaath aTha prshTathasthe

namosthu the sarvatha eva sarva

ananthaveeryaamithavikramasthvam

sarvam samaapnoshi thatho asi sarvaH

I bow to you front and back and on all sides. Oh the one who is all, who is of infinite valour and immeasurable glory, you pervade all and hence you are everything.

Arjuna bow down to the Lord in all directions because wherever he looked he saw nothing but the cosmic form. He expresses his wonder and comprehension that the Lord is all and everywhere and of infinite glory.

Thus realizing the magnificence of the Lord who was none else than the Krishna Vasudeva whom he had known so long, Arjuna feels his insignificance and expresses his anguish of not knowing the greatness of Krishna so far.