Bhagavatgita a detailed study- chapter 11The Cosmic Form

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Sree Bhagavaan uvaacha

 

52. sudhurdhrSam idham roopam dhrshtavaan asi yath mama

 

dhevaa api asya roopasya nithyam dharsana kaankshiNaH

 

You have seen the form of mine which is very difficult to see and which even the devas are always eager to see.

 

That not only the cosmic form but even the form of Narayana with four arms wielding Sankha chakra gadhaa padhma is rare to be seen even by devas , is the meaning of this sloka. We read about the devas going to the milky ocean and praying to Him to appear before them..

 

53. naham vedhaiH nathapasaa nadhaanena na chejyayaa

 

Sakyam evam viDho dhrashtum dhrshtvaana asi maam

yaThaa

 

I am not seen in this form as you have seen now, by learning the Vedas, or by doing penance or performing sacrifices,

 

54. bhakthyaathu ananayayaa SakyaH aham evam viDho arjuna

 

jnaathum dhrashtum cha thatthvena praveshtum cha

paranthapa

 

I could only be known thus, seen and merged into by unswerving devotion, oh scorcher of foes..

 

This is a reiterating statement of what has been already said in sloka 48.The Lord could not be seen in any form , as the four armed Narayana or as the cosmic form by learning Vedas,by doing penance etc. but only through devotion.

 

Any austerity or acquiring knowledge is of no use unless combined with bhakthi. Even to receive the grace of the Lord, leave alone seeing Him, sincere devotion accompanied with faith, is necessary.

 

We often hear people saying that they have been doing pooja, observing vrathas, doing japa and chanting holy texts etc. but God is not favouring them by granting their wish or that they only face calamity like death or disease etc.

 

Most people who say that they are bhakthas have only belief and not bhakthi. Sraddha is not belief but absolute trust. The real bhaktha does not ask for anything and takes what comes as the blessing of the Lord. The pleasant as well as the unpleasant things that happen is due to our karma which we have to experience. The Lord makes it easy for a devotee to undergo suffering, which in fact does not appear as a suffering at all for a true bhaktha.

 

Devotion with absolute trust and total surrender alone can manifest the Lord within and without. There is a story that illustrates beautifully the idea expressed in the sloka.

 

A yogi was doing penance in a forest to have the darsan of Lord Narasimha observing severe austerity by not eating anything and not swerving from his place both in the hot weather and cold and rainy.

 

A hunter who saw him and took pity on him asked him when he broke his penance for a short interval, the reason for his doing so. When the yogi told him the reason the hunter asked him to describe the form which he wanted to see. The yogi gave a description of the man-lion form of the Lord when the hunter said that he had been roaming around in the forest for a long time and had never seen such a form. He further told the yogi that he will go in search of it and somehow bring it to end the misery of the yogi, who only laughed at his folly that the Lord who never came in front of him so long, could be seen by a mere hunter who lacked his knowledge and yogic power.

 

The hunter searched all over the forest and could not find such an animal as he took it for, and he was desperate and was about to end his life because he could not alleviate the suffering of the yogi when the Lord appeared before him moved by his innocent faith in His existence. Then the hunter tied Him with rope and brought Him before the yogi saying., "See I have brought that what you wanted to see." But the Lord was not visible to the yogi at all. The hunter was insisting that the man-lion was just standing in front. It was then a blow to the pride of the yogi and he became humble and saluted the hunter saying that he was indeed blessed. Then the Lord appeared before him and blessed both of them. Such faith is what is needed to manifest the divine.

 

55. math karma krth math paramo madhbhakthaH

sangavarjithaH

 

nirvairaH sarvabhootheshu yaH sa maam ethi paandava

 

 

One who does everything as My work, engrossed in Me, being My devotee, who has no hatred towards anyone, he alone attains Me, oh son of Pandu.

 

Here at the end of the chapter the Lord is giving a definition of bhakthiyoga which is carried to a completion in the next chapter.

 

The steps to attain the Lord, the ladder leading to the final goal of harmony with the Lord is described in this sloka.

 

First to follow the path of devotion one should do every action, physical, mental and intellectual as the offering to the Lord. "All work as mine, mathkarma," says Krishna.

 

This attitude naturally makes the mind to be absorbed in the Lord all the time and he becomes "mathparamaH, engrossed in Me."

 

Then alone he is qualified to be called "madhbhaktha, my devotee," by the Lord, when he becomes sangavarjitha, free from all attachments except that to the Lord.

 

Such a devotee has no hatred towards any being as he sees all as the manifestation of the Lord only as Nammazvar says in Thirvaimozi,

uNNum soru parugum neer thinnum vettrilai ellaam kaNNan,

even the food and water essential to maintain our life and also all that we enjoy like the betel nuts , are nothing but the manifestations of the Lord.

 

saH maam ethi- such a devotee attains Me, says the Lord.

 

The next chapter is titled Bhakthi yoga though all the six chapters from 7to12 are only extolling bhakthi.