SRIMAD BHAGAWAD GITA CHAPTER 10 (Gita.10)
https://youtu.be/a40jxYZfTFc
SRIMAD BHAGAWAD GITA CHAPTER 10
अथ दशमोஉध्यायः ।
श्रीभगवानुवाच ।
भूय एव महाबाहो शृणु मे परमं वचः ।
यत्तेஉहं प्रीयमाणाय वक्ष्यामि हितकाम्यया ॥ 1 ॥
भूय एव महाबाहो शृणु मे परमं वचः ।
यत्तेஉहं प्रीयमाणाय वक्ष्यामि हितकाम्यया ॥ 1 ॥
न मे विदुः सुरगणाः प्रभवं न महर्षयः ।
अहमादिर्हि देवानां महर्षीणां च सर्वशः ॥ 2 ॥
अहमादिर्हि देवानां महर्षीणां च सर्वशः ॥ 2 ॥
यो मामजमनादिं च वेत्ति लोकमहेश्वरम् ।
असंमूढः स मर्त्येषु सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ॥ 3 ॥
असंमूढः स मर्त्येषु सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ॥ 3 ॥
बुद्धिर्ज्ञानमसंमोहः क्षमा सत्यं दमः शमः ।
सुखं दुःखं भवोஉभावो भयं चाभयमेव च ॥ 4 ॥
सुखं दुःखं भवोஉभावो भयं चाभयमेव च ॥ 4 ॥
अहिंसा समता तुष्टिस्तपो दानं यशोஉयशः ।
भवन्ति भावा भूतानां मत्त एव पृथग्विधाः ॥ 5 ॥
भवन्ति भावा भूतानां मत्त एव पृथग्विधाः ॥ 5 ॥
महर्षयः सप्त पूर्वे चत्वारो मनवस्तथा ।
मद्भावा मानसा जाता येषां लोक इमाः प्रजाः ॥ 6 ॥
मद्भावा मानसा जाता येषां लोक इमाः प्रजाः ॥ 6 ॥
एतां विभूतिं योगं च मम यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।
सोஉविकम्पेन योगेन युज्यते नात्र संशयः ॥ 7 ॥
सोஉविकम्पेन योगेन युज्यते नात्र संशयः ॥ 7 ॥
अहं सर्वस्य प्रभवो मत्तः सर्वं प्रवर्तते ।
इति मत्वा भजन्ते मां बुधा भावसमन्विताः ॥ 8 ॥
इति मत्वा भजन्ते मां बुधा भावसमन्विताः ॥ 8 ॥
मच्चित्ता मद्गतप्राणा बोधयन्तः परस्परम् ।
कथयन्तश्च मां नित्यं तुष्यन्ति च रमन्ति च ॥ 9 ॥
कथयन्तश्च मां नित्यं तुष्यन्ति च रमन्ति च ॥ 9 ॥
तेषां सततयुक्तानां भजतां प्रीतिपूर्वकम् ।
ददामि बुद्धियोगं तं येन मामुपयान्ति ते ॥ 10 ॥
ददामि बुद्धियोगं तं येन मामुपयान्ति ते ॥ 10 ॥
तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थमहमज्ञानजं तमः ।
नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता ॥ 11 ॥
नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता ॥ 11 ॥
अर्जुन उवाच ।
परं ब्रह्म परं धाम पवित्रं परमं भवान् ।
पुरुषं शाश्वतं दिव्यमादिदेवमजं विभुम् ॥ 12 ॥
परं ब्रह्म परं धाम पवित्रं परमं भवान् ।
पुरुषं शाश्वतं दिव्यमादिदेवमजं विभुम् ॥ 12 ॥
आहुस्त्वामृषयः सर्वे देवर्षिर्नारदस्तथा ।
असितो देवलो व्यासः स्वयं चैव ब्रवीषि मे ॥ 13 ॥
असितो देवलो व्यासः स्वयं चैव ब्रवीषि मे ॥ 13 ॥
सर्वमेतदृतं मन्ये यन्मां वदसि केशव ।
न हि ते भगवन्व्यक्तिं विदुर्देवा न दानवाः ॥ 14 ॥
न हि ते भगवन्व्यक्तिं विदुर्देवा न दानवाः ॥ 14 ॥
स्वयमेवात्मनात्मानं वेत्थ त्वं पुरुषोत्तम ।
भूतभावन भूतेश देवदेव जगत्पते ॥ 15 ॥
भूतभावन भूतेश देवदेव जगत्पते ॥ 15 ॥
वक्तुमर्हस्यशेषेण दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः ।
याभिर्विभूतिभिर्लोकानिमांस्त्वं व्याप्य तिष्ठसि ॥ 16 ॥
याभिर्विभूतिभिर्लोकानिमांस्त्वं व्याप्य तिष्ठसि ॥ 16 ॥
कथं विद्यामहं योगिंस्त्वां सदा परिचिन्तयन् ।
केषु केषु च भावेषु चिन्त्योஉसि भगवन्मया ॥ 17 ॥
केषु केषु च भावेषु चिन्त्योஉसि भगवन्मया ॥ 17 ॥
विस्तरेणात्मनो योगं विभूतिं च जनार्दन ।
भूयः कथय तृप्तिर्हि शृण्वतो नास्ति मेஉमृतम् ॥ 18 ॥
भूयः कथय तृप्तिर्हि शृण्वतो नास्ति मेஉमृतम् ॥ 18 ॥
श्रीभगवानुवाच ।
हन्त ते कथयिष्यामि दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः ।
प्राधान्यतः कुरुश्रेष्ठ नास्त्यन्तो विस्तरस्य मे ॥ 19 ॥
हन्त ते कथयिष्यामि दिव्या ह्यात्मविभूतयः ।
प्राधान्यतः कुरुश्रेष्ठ नास्त्यन्तो विस्तरस्य मे ॥ 19 ॥
अहमात्मा गुडाकेश सर्वभूताशयस्थितः ।
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ॥ 20 ॥
अहमादिश्च मध्यं च भूतानामन्त एव च ॥ 20 ॥
आदित्यानामहं विष्णुर्ज्योतिषां रविरंशुमान् ।
मरीचिर्मरुतामस्मि नक्षत्राणामहं शशी ॥ 21 ॥
मरीचिर्मरुतामस्मि नक्षत्राणामहं शशी ॥ 21 ॥
वेदानां सामवेदोஉस्मि देवानामस्मि वासवः ।
इन्द्रियाणां मनश्चास्मि भूतानामस्मि चेतना ॥ 22 ॥
इन्द्रियाणां मनश्चास्मि भूतानामस्मि चेतना ॥ 22 ॥
रुद्राणां शङ्करश्चास्मि वित्तेशो यक्षरक्षसाम् ।
वसूनां पावकश्चास्मि मेरुः शिखरिणामहम् ॥ 23 ॥
वसूनां पावकश्चास्मि मेरुः शिखरिणामहम् ॥ 23 ॥
पुरोधसां च मुख्यं मां विद्धि पार्थ बृहस्पतिम् ।
सेनानीनामहं स्कन्दः सरसामस्मि सागरः ॥ 24 ॥
सेनानीनामहं स्कन्दः सरसामस्मि सागरः ॥ 24 ॥
महर्षीणां भृगुरहं गिरामस्म्येकमक्षरम् ।
यज्ञानां जपयज्ञोஉस्मि स्थावराणां हिमालयः ॥ 25 ॥
यज्ञानां जपयज्ञोஉस्मि स्थावराणां हिमालयः ॥ 25 ॥
अश्वत्थः सर्ववृक्षाणां देवर्षीणां च नारदः ।
गन्धर्वाणां चित्ररथः सिद्धानां कपिलो मुनिः ॥ 26 ॥
गन्धर्वाणां चित्ररथः सिद्धानां कपिलो मुनिः ॥ 26 ॥
उच्चैःश्रवसमश्वानां विद्धि माममृतोद्भवम् ।
ऐरावतं गजेन्द्राणां नराणां च नराधिपम् ॥ 27 ॥
ऐरावतं गजेन्द्राणां नराणां च नराधिपम् ॥ 27 ॥
आयुधानामहं वज्रं धेनूनामस्मि कामधुक् ।
प्रजनश्चास्मि कन्दर्पः सर्पाणामस्मि वासुकिः ॥ 28 ॥
प्रजनश्चास्मि कन्दर्पः सर्पाणामस्मि वासुकिः ॥ 28 ॥
अनन्तश्चास्मि नागानां वरुणो यादसामहम् ।
पितूणामर्यमा चास्मि यमः संयमतामहम् ॥ 29 ॥
पितूणामर्यमा चास्मि यमः संयमतामहम् ॥ 29 ॥
प्रह्लादश्चास्मि दैत्यानां कालः कलयतामहम् ।
मृगाणां च मृगेन्द्रोஉहं वैनतेयश्च पक्षिणाम् ॥ 30 ॥
मृगाणां च मृगेन्द्रोஉहं वैनतेयश्च पक्षिणाम् ॥ 30 ॥
पवनः पवतामस्मि रामः शस्त्रभृतामहम् ।
झषाणां मकरश्चास्मि स्रोतसामस्मि जाह्नवी ॥ 31 ॥
झषाणां मकरश्चास्मि स्रोतसामस्मि जाह्नवी ॥ 31 ॥
सर्गाणामादिरन्तश्च मध्यं चैवाहमर्जुन ।
अध्यात्मविद्या विद्यानां वादः प्रवदतामहम् ॥ 32 ॥
अध्यात्मविद्या विद्यानां वादः प्रवदतामहम् ॥ 32 ॥
अक्षराणामकारोஉस्मि द्वन्द्वः सामासिकस्य च ।
अहमेवाक्षयः कालो धाताहं विश्वतोमुखः ॥ 33 ॥
अहमेवाक्षयः कालो धाताहं विश्वतोमुखः ॥ 33 ॥
मृत्युः सर्वहरश्चाहमुद्भवश्च भविष्यताम् ।
कीर्तिः श्रीर्वाक्च नारीणां स्मृतिर्मेधा धृतिः क्षमा ॥ 34 ॥
कीर्तिः श्रीर्वाक्च नारीणां स्मृतिर्मेधा धृतिः क्षमा ॥ 34 ॥
बृहत्साम तथा साम्नां गायत्री छन्दसामहम् ।
मासानां मार्गशीर्षोஉहमृतूनां कुसुमाकरः ॥ 35 ॥
मासानां मार्गशीर्षोஉहमृतूनां कुसुमाकरः ॥ 35 ॥
द्यूतं छलयतामस्मि तेजस्तेजस्विनामहम् ।
जयोஉस्मि व्यवसायोஉस्मि सत्त्वं सत्त्ववतामहम् ॥ 36 ॥
जयोஉस्मि व्यवसायोஉस्मि सत्त्वं सत्त्ववतामहम् ॥ 36 ॥
वृष्णीनां वासुदेवोஉस्मि पाण्डवानां धनञ्जयः ।
मुनीनामप्यहं व्यासः कवीनामुशना कविः ॥ 37 ॥
मुनीनामप्यहं व्यासः कवीनामुशना कविः ॥ 37 ॥
दण्डो दमयतामस्मि नीतिरस्मि जिगीषताम् ।
मौनं चैवास्मि गुह्यानां ज्ञानं ज्ञानवतामहम् ॥ 38 ॥
मौनं चैवास्मि गुह्यानां ज्ञानं ज्ञानवतामहम् ॥ 38 ॥
यच्चापि सर्वभूतानां बीजं तदहमर्जुन ।
न तदस्ति विना यत्स्यान्मया भूतं चराचरम् ॥ 39 ॥
न तदस्ति विना यत्स्यान्मया भूतं चराचरम् ॥ 39 ॥
नान्तोஉस्ति मम दिव्यानां विभूतीनां परन्तप ।
एष तूद्देशतः प्रोक्तो विभूतेर्विस्तरो मया ॥ 40 ॥
एष तूद्देशतः प्रोक्तो विभूतेर्विस्तरो मया ॥ 40 ॥
यद्यद्विभूतिमत्सत्त्वं श्रीमदूर्जितमेव वा ।
तत्तदेवावगच्छ त्वं मम तेजोंஉशसम्भवम् ॥ 41 ॥
तत्तदेवावगच्छ त्वं मम तेजोंஉशसम्भवम् ॥ 41 ॥
अथवा बहुनैतेन किं ज्ञातेन तवार्जुन ।
विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत् ॥ 42 ॥
विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत् ॥ 42 ॥
ॐ तत्सदिति श्रीमद्भगवद्गीतासूपनिषत्सु ब्रह्मविद्यायां योगशास्त्रे श्रीकृष्णार्जुनसंवादे
विभूतियोगो नाम दशमोஉध्यायः ॥10 ॥
==
https://youtu.be/0omaFVWMNUI
https://youtu.be/0omaFVWMNUI
X
The Yoga of the Divine Glories
Summary of Tenth Discourse
Krishna tells Arjuna that even the Devas and highly evolved souls fail to understand how He projects Himself as the universe and all its manifestations. He goes on to describe the various qualities that beings manifest according to their Karmas. All these qualities—wisdom, truth, contentment, etc.—originate from Him.
The true devotees of the Lord are wholly absorbed in Him. They have completely surrendered to Him and through single-minded devotion they are granted the power of discrimination, the discrimination that leads them from the unreal to the Real. Krishna emphatically declares that ignorance is destroyed and knowledge gained through Divine Grace alone.
Arjuna accepts the descent of the Supreme in a human form, but wishes to know from the Lord Himself His Cosmic powers by means of which He controls the diverse forces of the universe. The Lord describes His Divine glories, bringing within the range of Arjuna’s comprehension His limitless manifestations, and how He upholds everything. In short, the Lord is the Almighty Power that creates, sustains and destroys everything.
Sri Bhagavaan Uvaacha:
Bhooya eva mahaabaaho shrinu me paramam vachah; Yatte’ham preeyamaanaaya vakshyaami hitakaamyayaa.
The Blessed Lord said:
1. Again, O mighty-armed Arjuna, listen to My supreme word which I shall declare to thee who art beloved, for thy welfare!
COMMENTARY: The all-compassionate Lord in His mercy wants to encourage Arjuna and cheer him up, and so He Himself comes forward to give him instructions without any request having been made by Arjuna.
Na me viduh suraganaah prabhavam na maharshayah; Ahamaadirhi devaanaam maharsheenaam cha sarvashah.
2. Neither the hosts of the gods nor the great sages know My origin; for, in every way I am the source of all the gods and the great sages.
Yo maamajamanaadim cha vetti lokamaheshwaram; Asammoodhah sa martyeshu sarvapaapaih pramuchyate.
3. He who knows Me as unborn and beginningless, as the great Lord of the worlds, he, among mortals, is undeluded; he is liberated from all sins.
COMMENTARY: As the Supreme Being is the cause of all the worlds, He is beginningless. As He is the source of all the gods and the great sages, so there is no source for His own existence. As He is beginningless, He is unborn. He is the great Lord of all the worlds.
Buddhir jnaanamasammohah kshamaa satyam damah shamah; Sukham duhkham bhavo’bhaavo bhayam chaabhayameva cha.
4. Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, happiness, pain, birth or existence, death or non-existence, fear and also fearlessness,
Ahimsaa samataa tushtistapo daanam yasho’yashah; Bhavanti bhaavaa bhootaanaam matta eva prithagvidhaah.
5. Non-injury, equanimity, contentment, austerity, fame, beneficence, ill-fame—(these) different kinds of qualities of beings arise from Me alone.
Maharshayah sapta poorve chatwaaro manavastathaa; Madbhaavaa maanasaa jaataa yeshaam loka imaah prajaah.
6. The seven great sages, the ancient four and also the Manus, possessed of powers like Me (on account of their minds being fixed on Me), were born of (My) mind; from them are these creatures born in this world.
Etaam vibhootim yogam cha mama yo vetti tattwatah; So’vikampena yogena yujyate naatra samshayah.
7. He who in truth knows these manifold manifestations of My Being and (this) Yoga-power of Mine, becomes established in the unshakeable Yoga; there is no doubt about it.
Aham sarvasya prabhavo mattah sarvam pravartate; Iti matwaa bhajante maam budhaa bhaavasamanvitaah.
8. I am the source of all; from Me everything evolves; understanding thus, the wise, endowed with meditation, worship Me.
Macchittaa madgatapraanaa bodhayantah parasparam; Kathayantashcha maam nityam tushyanti cha ramanti cha.
9. With their minds and lives entirely absorbed in Me, enlightening each other and always speaking of Me, they are satisfied and delighted.
Teshaam satatayuktaanaam bhajataam preetipoorvakam; Dadaami buddhiyogam tam yena maamupayaanti te.
10. To them who are ever steadfast, worshipping Me with love, I give the Yoga of discrimination by which they come to Me.
COMMENTARY: The devotees who have dedicated themselves to the Lord, who are ever harmonious and self-abiding, who adore Him with intense love, who are ever devout, obtain the Divine Grace.
Teshaam evaanukampaartham aham ajnaanajam tamah; Naashayaamyaatmabhaavastho jnaanadeepena bhaaswataa.
11. Out of mere compassion for them, I, dwelling within their Self, destroy the darkness born of ignorance by the luminous lamp of knowledge.
Arjuna Uvaacha:
Param brahma param dhaama pavitram paramam bhavaan; Purusham shaashvatam divyam aadidevamajam vibhum.
Arjuna said:
12. Thou art the Supreme Brahman, the supreme abode (or the supreme light), the supreme purifier, the eternal, divine Person, the primeval God, unborn and omnipresent.
Aahustwaam rishayah sarve devarshirnaaradastathaa; Asito devalo vyaasah swayam chaiva braveeshi me.
13. All the sages have thus declared Thee, as also the divine sage Narada; so also Asita, Devala and Vyasa; and now Thou Thyself sayest so to me.
Sarvametadritam manye yanmaam vadasi keshava; Na hi te bhagavan vyaktim vidurdevaa na daanavaah.
14. I believe all this that Thou sayest to me as true, O Krishna! Verily, O blessed Lord, neither the gods nor the demons know Thy manifestation (origin)!
Swayamevaatmanaatmaanam vettha twam purushottama; Bhootabhaavana bhootesha devadeva jagatpate.
15. Verily, Thou Thyself knowest Thyself by Thyself, O Supreme Person, O source and Lord of beings, O God of gods, O ruler of the world!
Vaktum arhasyasheshena divyaa hyaatmavibhootayah; Yaabhir vibhootibhir lokaanimaamstwam vyaapya tishthasi.
16. Thou shouldst indeed tell, without reserve, of Thy divine glories by which Thou existeth, pervading all these worlds. (None else can do so.)
Katham vidyaamaham yogimstwaam sadaa parichintayan; Keshu keshu cha bhaaveshu chintyo’si bhagavanmayaa.
17. How shall I, ever meditating, know Thee, O Yogin? In what aspects or things, O blessed Lord, art Thou to be thought of by me?
Vistarenaatmano yogam vibhootim cha janaardana; Bhooyah kathaya triptirhi shrinvato naasti me’mritam.
18. Tell me again in detail, O Krishna, of Thy Yogic power and glory; for I am not satisfied with what I have heard of Thy life-giving and nectar-like speech!
Sri Bhagavaan Uvaacha:
Hanta te kathayishyaami divyaa hyaatmavibhootayah; Praadhaanyatah kurushreshtha naastyanto vistarasya me.
The Blessed Lord said:
19. Very well, now I will declare to thee My divine glories in their prominence, O Arjuna! There is no end to their detailed description.
COMMENTARY: The Lord’s divine glories are illimitable.
Ahamaatmaa gudaakesha sarvabhootaashayasthitah; Ahamaadishcha madhyam cha bhootaanaamanta eva cha.
20. I am the Self, O Gudakesha, seated in the hearts of all beings! I am the beginning, the middle and also the end of all beings.
Aadityaanaamaham vishnur jyotishaam raviramshumaan; Mareechirmarutaamasmi nakshatraanaamaham shashee.
21. Among the (twelve) Adityas, I am Vishnu; among the luminaries, the radiant sun; I am Marichi among the (seven or forty-nine) Maruts; among stars the moon am I.
Vedaanaam saamavedo’smi devaanaam asmi vaasavah; Indriyaanaam manashchaasmi bhootaanaamasmi chetanaa.
22. Among the Vedas I am the Sama Veda; I am Vasava among the gods; among the senses I am the mind; and I am intelligence among living beings.
Rudraanaam shankarashchaasmi vittesho yaksharakshasaam; Vasoonaam paavakashchaasmi meruh shikharinaamaham.
23. And, among the Rudras I am Shankara; among the Yakshas and Rakshasas, the Lord of wealth (Kubera); among the Vasus I am Pavaka (fire); and among the (seven) mountains I am the Meru.
Purodhasaam cha mukhyam maam viddhipaartha brihaspatim; Senaaneenaamaham skandah sarasaamasmi saagarah.
24. And, among the household priests (of kings), O Arjuna, know Me to be the chief, Brihaspati; among the army generals I am Skanda; among lakes I am the ocean!
Maharsheenaam bhriguraham giraamasmyekamaksharam; Yajnaanaam japayajno’smi sthaavaraanaam himaalayah.
25. Among the great sages I am Bhrigu; among words I am the monosyllable Om; among sacrifices I am the sacrifice of silent repetition; among immovable things the Himalayas I am.
COMMENTARY: Repetition of the Mantra is regarded as the best of all Yajnas or sacrifices. There is no loss or injury in this Yajna. Manu says: “Whatever else the Brahmana may or may not do, he attains salvation by Japa alone”.
Ashwatthah sarvavrikshaanaam devarsheenaam cha naaradah; Gandharvaanaam chitrarathah siddhaanaam kapilo munih.
26. Among the trees (I am) the peepul; among the divine sages I am Narada; among Gandharvas I am Chitraratha; among the perfected the sage Kapila.
Ucchaihshravasamashwaanaam viddhi maamamritodbhavam; Airaavatam gajendraanaam naraanaam cha naraadhipam.
27. Know Me as Ucchaisravas, born of nectar among horses; among lordly elephants (I am) the Airavata; and among men, the king.
Aayudhaanaamaham vajram dhenoonaamasmi kaamadhuk; Prajanashchaasmi kandarpah sarpaanaamasmi vaasukih.
28. Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows I am the wish-fulfilling cow called Surabhi; I am the progenitor, the god of love; among serpents I am Vasuki.
Anantashchaasmi naagaanaam varuno yaadasaamaham; Pitreenaamaryamaa chaasmi yamah samyamataamaham.
29. I am Ananta among the Nagas; I am Varuna among water-Deities; Aryaman among the manes I am; I am Yama among the governors.
Prahlaadashchaasmi daityaanaam kaalah kalayataamaham; Mrigaanaam cha mrigendro’ham vainateyashcha pakshinaam.
30. And, I am Prahlad among the demons; among the reckoners I am time; among beasts I am their king, the lion; and Garuda among birds.
Pavanah pavataamasmi raamah shastrabhritaamaham; Jhashaanaam makarashchaasmi srotasaamasmi jaahnavee.
31. Among the purifiers (or the speeders) I am the wind; Rama among the warriors am I; among the fishes I am the shark; among the streams I am the Ganga.
Sargaanaamaadirantashcha madhyam chaivaaham arjuna; Adhyaatmavidyaa vidyaanaam vaadah pravadataamaham.
32. Among creations I am the beginning, the middle and also the end, O Arjuna! Among the sciences I am the science of the Self; and I am logic among controversialists.
Aksharaanaamakaaro’smi dwandwah saamaasikasya cha; Ahamevaakshayah kaalo dhaataaham vishwatomukhah.
33. Among the letters of the alphabet, the letter “A” I am, and the dual among the compounds. I am verily the inexhaustible or everlasting time; I am the dispenser (of the fruits of actions), having faces in all directions.
Mrityuh sarvaharashchaaham udbhavashcha bhavishyataam; Keertih shreervaakcha naareenaam smritirmedhaadhritih kshamaa.
34. And I am all-devouring death, and prosperity of those who are to be prosperous; among feminine qualities (I am) fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, firmness and forgiveness.
Brihatsaama tathaa saamnaam gaayatree cchandasaamaham; Maasaanaam maargasheersho’hamritoonaam kusumaakarah.
35. Among the hymns also I am the Brihatsaman; among metres Gayatri am I; among the months I am Margasirsa; among seasons (I am) the flowery season.
Dyootam cchalayataamasmi tejastejaswinaamaham; Jayo’smi vyavasaayo’smi sattwam sattwavataamaham.
36. I am the gambling of the fraudulent; I am the splendour of the splendid; I am victory; I am determination (of those who are determined); I am the goodness of the good.
COMMENTARY: Of the various methods of defrauding others, I am gambling, such as dice-play. Gambling is My manifestation. I am power in the powerful. I am victory in the victorious. I am effort in those who make that effort.
Vrishneenaam vaasudevo’smi paandavaanaam dhananjayah; Muneenaamapyaham vyaasah kaveenaamushanaa kavih.
37. Among Vrishnis I am Vasudeva; among the Pandavas I am Arjuna; among sages I am Vyasa; among poets I am Usana, the poet.
Dando damayataamasmi neetirasmi jigeeshataam; Maunam chaivaasmi guhyaanaam jnaanam jnaanavataamaham.
38. Among the punishers I am the sceptre; among those who seek victory I am statesmanship; and also among secrets I am silence; knowledge among knowers I am.
Yachchaapi sarvabhootaanaam beejam tadahamarjuna; Na tadasti vinaa yatsyaanmayaa bhootam charaacharam.
39. And whatever is the seed of all beings, that also am I, O Arjuna! There is no being, whether moving or unmoving, that can exist without Me.
COMMENTARY: I am the primeval seed from which all creation has come into existence. I am the seed of everything. I am the Self of everything. Nothing can exist without Me. Everything is of My nature. I am the soul of everything.
Naanto’sti mama divyaanaam vibhooteenaam parantapa; Esha tooddeshatah prokto vibhootervistaro mayaa.
40. There is no end to My divine glories, O Arjuna, but this is a brief statement by Me of the particulars of My divine glories!
Yadyad vibhootimat sattwam shreemadoorjitameva vaa; Tattadevaavagaccha twam mama tejom’shasambhavam.
41. Whatever being there is that is glorious, prosperous or powerful, that know thou to be a manifestation of a part of My splendour.
Athavaa bahunaitena kim jnaatena tavaarjuna; Vishtabhyaahamidam kritsnamekaamshena sthito jagat.
42. But of what avail to thee is the knowledge of all these details, O Arjuna? I exist, supporting this whole world by one part of Myself.
Hari Om Tat Sat
Iti Srimad Bhagavadgeetaasoopanishatsu Brahmavidyaayaam
Yogashaastre Sri Krishnaarjunasamvaade
Vibhootiyogo Naama Dashamo’dhyaayah
Iti Srimad Bhagavadgeetaasoopanishatsu Brahmavidyaayaam
Yogashaastre Sri Krishnaarjunasamvaade
Vibhootiyogo Naama Dashamo’dhyaayah
Thus in the Upanishads of the glorious Bhagavad Gita, the science of the Eternal, the scripture of Yoga, the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, ends the tenth discourse entitled:
“The Yoga of the Divine Glories”
Swami Sivananda.
https://youtu.be/a40jxYZfTFc
Commentary on the Bhagavadgita
by Swami Krishnananda
Discourse 30: The Tenth Chapter Begins – The Glories of God
In the Tenth Chapter we go further, to a greater emphasis of the immanence of God—not God coming sometimes when we are in a state of distress, not a God who provides us with what we need when we need it, but God perpetually residing in all things which are the glories of this world.
There is such a thing called glory, enhancement of spirit, genius, supernal power, high respectability, the power to attract—something that will not allow us to take our mind away. There are certain things from which we cannot take our mind away, due to their beauty or grandeur. When we look at the beautiful full moon in a clear sky, we do not want to look away. We go on gazing at that scintillating, beautiful, soft, honey-exuding glow, as it were—the full moon, radiating calmness and coolness with its beams. The beauty of the full moon attracts us; but the beauty of the ocean is of a different kind. It exalts our spirit by the magnitude of its superiority over us. Take the example of an elephant. We would like to go on looking at it again and again, for some reason which we cannot understand. For a particular reason, we would not like to take our eyes away from the full moon because of the beauty. Why do we like to look at an elephant? Is it beautiful? It is majestic, and it humbles us to some extent. Our ego feels very small before the might of the elephant and, therefore, we feel the greatness and power of the elephant. We maintain a respectful distance from it on account of the humility that we automatically feel due to the largeness of its body and the greatness of its power. So it is majesty that attracts us here, not beauty. Similarly, the grandeur, the power, the terror, the capacity of the ocean to destroy us, and the largeness which is far beyond our egoism, makes us look at it with great wonder. “Oh, what a wonder is the great ocean of waves, terrific in their nature!” Hence, we can be attracted to things either because of their beauty or because of their grandeur.
God is both beauty and grandeur. Mostly, religions do not consider God as a beautiful person; there is no emphasis on that. So we always fear God as a justice of the Supreme Court or a policeman, and we think that He has to be respected because of His power and His capacity to punish us. We fear God. We do not embrace God as if He is a beautiful, beloved thing. Why is it so? It is because of the emphasis in religious circles—in all religions, whether Semitic or Indian—on the fatherhood of God. That the fatherhood of God is emphasised in all religions is something very peculiar. It may be due to the historical circumstances, or because the prophets and the progenitors of the scriptures happened to be mostly men. Whatever the reason be, it appears that the fatherhood of God has been overemphasised in religions, as if He is only father.
God is also mother. In India, mother worship—Shakti worship—has been inculcated. This other side of God, the feminine aspect, is not completely cut off from the male aspect as if God is only male, and not female. The ardhanarisvara tattva, or the unity of the two polar essences, the positive and negative, are considered in the ardhanarisvara tattva of Lord Siva, where Siva and Shakti are one person. As it is said in religious parlance, especially in India, husband and wife constitute one person. They are not two different persons. Though physically they appear to be two persons, their soul is one.
The idea of Shakti worship—the spirit of there being unity between the positive and the negative, and there being no cleavage between man and woman—was introduced in India; yet, the concept of fatherhood prevails. Though we may accept that God can also be conceived as mother and worshipped as Shakti, or Devi, we think of God predominantly as supremely just—a lawgiver, a judiciary, and a terror Who blesses us only if He is pleased, and punishes us if He is not pleased.
Do we think that God is beautiful? Sakshan manmathamanmathah (S.B. 10.32.2) is a term used in the Bhagavata: “He is the cupid of cupids, the beauty of beauties.” Even if the essences of all the beautiful things in the world—the quintessence of the most beautiful things, human or otherwise, whatever they be—are taken together, it will not stand before the beauty of God. It is very unfortunate that God should be regarded only as a terror, as a justice, and as a fearful person. He is the most enchanting. The enchanting, beautiful character of God is especially brought into high relief in the life of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, who is the might of mights, the power of powers, and represents the fatherhood of God in this tremendous incarnation as the height of yogic ecstasy and power; and yet, he was the beauty of beauties. The Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata also describe Bhagavan Sri Krishna as an incarnation of God, and they remove the partial notion of God as only a father who is merely just and legal in His attitude, rather than compassionate and friendly. The friendliness of God, the power of God, the transcendence of God, the superiority of God, the beauty of God, the enchanting capacity of God, the tremendous attraction that He exerts upon us is delineated in Bhagavan Sri Krishna, who is the full incarnation of God.
The glories of God are detailed in the Tenth Chapter. These glories can be seen in certain enhanced, exalted things which are beyond ordinary human concepts.
“Where are You actually present in this world, O Lord? You said that You are in all things. Are You in an atom? Are You in a dustbin? Are You in a tree? Are You in a stone? Where are You?”
“I am in everything, no doubt, yet My presence can be especially felt in certain exalted manifestations.” Towards that description we are entering the most glorious chapter, the Tenth—where Sri Bhagavan Himself starts speaking without Arjuna raising a question. “I shall speak to you further about My glories and My supernal greatness.”
Śrībhagavānuvāca: bhūya eva mahābāho śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ, yat te’haṁ prīyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hitakāmyayā (10.1): “You are very dear to Me, and I am dear to you; and because of this fact, I feel prompted to tell you a little more for your own welfare, for your hita, for your goodness. I will tell you something that is very secret, something that is supremely good for you.”
Na me viduḥ suragaṇāḥ (10.2): “The gods do not know Me, really speaking, let alone human beings. They cannot know Me in My true essence because I am the origin of all these gods.” Aham ādir hi devānāṁ maharṣīṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ: “Even maharishis cannot know Me in full. Nobody can know My origin because I am prior to the manifestation, or the coming into being, of their existence.”
Yo mām ajam anādiṁ ca vetti lokamaheśvaram, asaṁmūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate(10.3): “Whoever knows Me as the ancient one, prior to all manifested forms, greater than all the gods of religions—such a person completely non-deluded in mind is free from every kind of fault, and no sin can accrue to that person.” God is not merely in things—in personalities and objects—He is also in the relations between things. That which is between things is also God’s operation, and to that He directs His attention.
Buddhir jñānam asaṁmohaḥ kṣamā satyaṁ damaḥ śamaḥ, sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ bhavo’bhāvo bhayaṁ cābhayam eva ca; ahiṁsā samatā tuṣṭis tapo dānaṁ yaśo’yaśaḥ, bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṁ matta eva pṛthagvidhāḥ (10.4-5): “The intelligence in some people, and the absence of intelligence in other people; the capacity to forgive; truthfulness; self-restraint, externally as well as internally; the experience of pleasure and pain; the coming and going of things; fear, and the absence of fear; the capacity of a person to feel the feelings of other people, and be compassionate to others, and not hurt others’ feelings, and maintain an equilibrated attitude towards all people; the charitable nature of people; the glories, and even the absence of glories of people—all these proceed from Me.” Bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṁ matta eva pṛthagvidhāḥ: Night and day, life and death, light and darkness, good and bad, necessary and unnecessary—everything is subsumed under this integrality of the supreme inclusiveness of the Absolute Supreme Being.
The Tenth Chapter is a preliminary to the exposition of God’s greatness and glory that is to come later: “Everything comes from Me. Even the gods and the rishis are emanations subsequent to My existence.”
God’s existence is a difficult thing to conceive. We say that God is all-pervading. This idea of the all-pervadingness of God arises due to the space which we see before our eyes. Pervading all things means existing as a vast expanse, like space; but this comparison is inept for God Himself because God is prior to the manifestation of space. He is said to be omnipresent because of our idea that there is an extended spatial universe. If there is no space and no expanse of the three-dimensional world, the idea of omnipresence will not arise in our mind. We say He is omniscient—knows all things; but where were the ‘things’ before creation took place? So the idea that He is all-knowing is also not a good definition of God. We say He is all-powerful, omnipotent; but on whom does He exercise His power if there is nothing external to Him?
Where was God sitting before He created the world? Because of the world, because of this created universe, we say He is everywhere, He knows all things, and He is all-powerful. Do we describe Him in terms of what He has created? What was He before He created? Where was He seated? Such difficulties are beyond human comprehension. The statement “Everything comes from Me—even the universe, the gods, and the rishis” leaves us in a state of mental perplexity as to how God could be the Creator and yet remain transcendent. And, in His transcendent state, where does He exist? This question is very intriguing because the term ‘where’ implies space, location, distance, and a situation. We would realise and appreciate that, because of this difficulty, God cannot be defined. It is Pure Existence.
Maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve catvāro manavas tathā, madbhāvā mānasā jātā yeṣāṁ loka imāḥ prajāḥ (10.6): The prominent great rishis are supposed to be seven in number. They are Marichi, Atri, Angirasa, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasishtha. Though there are many rishis, these are the most prominent, highly exalted spirits. The chatvāraḥ—Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, and Sanatkumara—are the four original emanations of Brahma, the Creator. There are fourteen Manus, who are the rulers of the fourteen worlds. All are God’s emanations. Madbhāvā mānasā jātā: “My will—My mere thought, My determination—projected these great rishis.”
Brahma, the first born in the cosmos, thought that he should manifest the variety of this creation, so in the beginning he thought of the four Kumaras: Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara. They looked like small children. Brahma told them, “Help me with creation.” They were inwardly established in the eternal Almighty. They said, “We are not going to help you in creation. We are established in our own Self.” The first sons of Brahma were disobedient, and he was very angry with them. Brahma’s anger rose to the midpoint between his eyebrows, but he could not pour that anger on them because they were established in the Almighty Supreme Being. As he could not pour this anger on the Kumaras, what would he do with that fury that rose up? That fury came out as Rudra, who is also known as Siva, and Brahma said, “Please create.” Rudra created demons, goblins and all kinds of ganas, which were not what Brahma intended. Brahma told him, “Please stop your creation. I have had enough of it. Go and meditate somewhere. From now on, you should only meditate, and not create. Go from here.” These are some of the stories in the Bhagavata Purana. All these emanate from the Supreme Being, in the sequence mentioned.
Etāṁ vibhūtiṁ yogaṁ ca mama yo vetti tattvataḥ, so’vikampena yogena yujyate nātra saṁśayaḥ (10.7): “My glory is that I am beyond the world of space, time and objects. I am transcendent in My essential nature, and yet I pervade all things. Aham ādir hi devānāṁ maharṣīṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ (10.2): The gods and the rishis, who are the greatest of beings, are emanations from Me; therefore, they cannot know Me. Even such great spiritual stalwarts cannot have an access to My real secret, because I am prior to them. How can the effect know the cause? Hence, nothing in creation—in all the fourteen realms—can know what God ultimately is. “One who knows this secret of Mine—this great yoga through which I manifest Myself and yet seem to be not manifesting anything at all, and remain transcendent and immanent in all things at the same time—such a person is established in unshakeable yoga. Sovikampena yogena yujyate: Not a shakeable, transitory, ‘coming and going’ yoga, but a permanently established unity with Me, which is the highest yoga. That is called unshakeable communion—avikampa yoga. Such is the blessing of that supreme seeker who resorts to Me in My essential nature—tattvato jñātvā.”
Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo (10.8): Again He repeats, “All things come from Me.” Mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: “Everything is an effect manifested from the ultimate cause, Myself.” Iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāvasamanvitāḥ: “All difficulties vanish in one moment in the case of those great devotees who realise that even the worst of things have a location in My existence.” It was already mentioned that even the worst of sinners have a place in God. “Whoever is established in this conviction that all things emanate from Me—the whole world of goodness and badness, beauty and ugliness, permanence and impermanence, all arise from Me and, therefore, I am the cause of all things—knowing this, they never get disturbed or perturbed in their minds. They resort to Me day in and day out, undisturbed by the events taking place in the world.”
Maccittā madgataprāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam, kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca(10.9): “These devotees of Mine are always happy. They smile and dance in ecstasy at all times because their mind is absorbed in Me, and their prana is absorbed in Me. And when they talk among themselves, they talk only about Me and My glory; there is nothing else in their minds. They tell stories about Me—about My incarnations, My manifestations, My performances in this great creation. Every day they are involved in this spiritual activity of contemplating on Me, singing My glories, mutually instructing one another on the mystery of My life. Thus they remain very happy, and are delighted in their life.”
Teṣāṁ satatayuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prītipūrvakam, dadāmi buddhiyogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te (10.10): “In great compassion, I endow these devoted souls with the highest kind of understanding by which they cannot forget Me at any time. Those who are perpetually united with Me—satatyukta—and who worship Me and adore Me and praise Me in intense devotional love, to them I give this great blessing and grace of Mine in the form of superior understanding.”
If the gods want to help us, they do not come to protect us with a stick in their hands like a shepherd protecting sheep. Their help always comes in the form of an enhanced understanding, a blessing which they pour upon us in the form of an increased insight into the nature of things. This is because knowledge is the greatest blessing, insight is the greatest power, and there is nothing in this world equal to illumination. Objects, property, wealth, social status—none of them can stand before illumination and insight into the true nature of things, with which God blesses those who are eternally, perpetually, united with Him.
Teṣām evānukampārtham (10.11): “I am immensely compassionate and merciful towards these people. I think of them, and they are in Me.” Aham ajñānajaṁ tamaḥ nāśayāmy: “I shall destroy even the ignorance in you.” In bhakti marga, the emphasis is on God being entirely responsible for the welfare of the devotee, both here and hereafter. He shall see to it that we are provided with all physical, material amenities for our daily sustenance. He shall also see to it that we are properly educated in the spiritual sense. He shall see to it that all our ignorance is destroyed. He shall see to it that we are absorbed into Him.
When effort is necessary, and we do not merely depend on the pouring of God’s grace from above, this is called markatanyaya, or the monkey doctrine, because when a monkey runs about with a little baby, the baby clings to it with its effort. But where the emphasis is only on God’s grace that He shall take care of us, it is like a cat carrying its kitten. A cat carries its kitten by its neck, and the kitten need not have to cling to it.
Sarvathā vartamāna (6.31): Here God stresses the point that “Whatever you be and in whatever condition you may be living, if your heart is in Me, you need not bother about anything, either of this world or of the other world.” He is emphasising that even the ignorance in our mind will be destroyed. We need not have to read scriptures and go to lectures, or make any particular effort in the direction of what is called spiritual practice. The only sadhana that we are required to perform is surrender. Ananya saranagatih is the pinnacle and the last point in bhakti marga. Love of God is the entire sadhana. There is no need to roll the beads or do different breathing techniques and sit in certain postures; nothing of the kind is necessary. And all these techniques are futile if the love of God is absent.
The highest sadhana is the pouring forth of our soul into the Universal Soul; then everything shall be taken care of automatically. We need not bother about tomorrow: “What shall I eat? Where is my raiment? How long shall I live? Who will take care of me?” We shall be taken care of, and what is to be done tomorrow shall be told to us tomorrow. Jñānadīpena bhāsvatā: “I shall illumine the personality of these great devotees with the light of wisdom, destroying their ignorance and blessing them with the highest illumination, by which they will know the truths of all things.”
This is an introductory oration by Sri Bhagavan Himself in the beginning of the Tenth Chapter, before Arjuna could raise any question. Now Arjuna starts speaking. He is really startled, wonderstruck, after hearing all these things that have been told to him. Arjuna says, “Thou art the Supreme Being. I see that You are inseparable from the Ultimate Reality. I appreciate it, I can understand it, and I accept it. You are the Supreme Abode, O Lord! The greatest of purities, the Purity behind purities, Supreme You are. The Eternal Purusha You are.” Ᾱdideva: the original God; aja: immortal.
Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam ādidevam ajaṁ vibhum (10.12). Here Arjuna addresses Sri Krishna; and this is a kind of prayer that we can recite every day: “O God! You are the Eternal Absolute, the Supreme Abode, the Purity behind purities, the Eternal Purusha, the God beyond gods. Rishis glorify You. Narada and other minstrels of God sing Your glory. I have been told by such seers like the rishis Asita, Devala, and Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa that You are the veritable Immortal Being masquerading in this world. You are the Absolute masquerading in this world. This has been told to me by Vyasa and other rishis.”
Ᾱhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarve devarṣir nāradas tathā, asito devalo vyāsaḥ svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me (10.13): “Now You Yourself are telling that. You have declared Yourself to be the incomparable, secondless Being. It is a great wonder indeed to hear all this. I accept all this in toto, and I am highly delighted to hear all this discourse of Yours, O Lord!”
Sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yan māṁ vadasi keśava (10.14): “The highest Truth of truths are revealed to me now.” Na hi te bhagavan vyaktiṁ vidur devā na dānavāḥ: “Who am I to understand what You are? Not the gods, not all creation, not all the demons, nothing anywhere can know what kind of person You are. Who am I to understand what You are? Only You know Yourself.” God knows God, and nobody else can know God. You cannot know God. I cannot know God. Nothing of the world can know God. The entire creation cannot know God, because it is subsequent to God’s existence. Who knows God? God only knows God and, finally, God attains God.
Svayam evātmanātmānaṁ (10.15): “You know Yourself, and nobody can know You. Thou knowest Thyself.” He puruṣottama: the Supreme Being, Supreme Purusha; bhūtabhāvana: the blessing for all people; bhūteśa: the Lord of creation; devadeva: the God of gods; jagatpate: the ruler of the universe. “I prostrate myself before You. I shall be happy to hear some more details about this. How do You pervade this universe in Your eternal glory? In what forms can I worship You in my daily life, in my behaviour, from morning to evening? Will You kindly dilate upon this subject a little more, to my great satisfaction and happiness?”
Vaktum arhasyaśeṣeṇa: “Without leaving anything out, tell me everything about Yourself—Your glories, Your divine immanence in this world of manifestation.” Vaktum arhasyaśeṣeṇa divyā hyātmavibhūtayaḥ, yābhir vibhūtibhir lokān imāṁs tvaṁ vyāpya tiṣṭhasi (10.16): “What are the ways in which You manifest Yourself in this world? In which place in this world of manifestations, in which object, in what manner can I recognise You? How can I know You? Please tell me.”
Kathaṁ vidyām ahaṁ yogiṁs tvāṁ sadā paricintayan (10.17): “Day and night I would like to meditate and contemplate on You. In what manner should I contemplate? Please tell me in detail.” Keṣu keṣu ca bhāveṣu cintyosi bhagavan mayā: “In this world which is constituted of millions of forms, in what forms should I contemplate on You? Where are You manifest more, and in what forms are You manifest less? Please detail all these wondrous glories of Yourself.”
Vistareṇātmano yogaṁ vibhūtiṁ ca janārdana, bhūyaḥ kathaya (10.18): “Repeat it once again. You have already told me something about Yourself. I would like to hear it again and again because it is amrita, it is nectar to my ears. Please tell me in all detail Your glories, Your powers and Your manifestations. Tell me once again, though You have already told me once. Please tell me in greater detail because my satisfaction has no end. Let my satisfaction rise from lower to higher states. I am already satisfied. May I be further satisfied, and may I be blessed with immense infinite satisfaction. My ears are never satisfied with any amount of nectar of Your speech that is poured into my ears.” Tṛptir hi śṛṇvato nāsti me’mṛtam: “You are pouring nectar into my ears and I am delighted, but I should be more delighted if You describe Your further glories in Your own way so that I may find it easier to behold You in all things and unite myself with Thee.”
“It is very difficult,” says the Lord, “to tell you in words what I am.”
There was a great sage called Muchukunda, who helped the gods in a war with the demons. Indra, who was highly pleased with him said, “Ask for a boon.”
He said, “I am very much tired. The only thing I need is a good sleep. This is the blessing: Let me sleep somewhere in a corner without disturbance, and bless me also that if anybody disturbs me while I am asleep, he shall perish in one second.”
“Be it so!” said Indra.
Then Muchukunda, with post-war fatigue, went into a cave and fell asleep. Meanwhile, Kalayavana, a demon discharged by Kamsa under the instigation of Jarasandha and others, was pursuing Sri Krishna; and Sri Krishna, with a double motive in his mind, entered the cave in which Muchukunda was sleeping, which Kalayavana saw.
Sri Krishna was dark blue in colour and, fortunately or unfortunately, Muchukunda was also the same colour. Sri Krishna entered the cave and stood in a corner, and the demon Kalayavana also entered. When he saw someone with almost the same colour as Sri Krishna lying down, fast asleep, he said “Oh, you are sleeping here!” and kicked him with his foot. The sleeping man slowly opened his eyes, and immediately the demon was reduced to ashes.
Then Sri Krishna came forward. Muchukunda looked at him and said, “Who are you, this great mysterious magnificence that is standing before me? Will you kindly tell me your name?”
Sri Krishna replied, “Infinite are My names. You can count the grains of sand on the shores of the ocean, but My glories and My names are larger in number than the sands on the beach of the ocean.”
Likewise, here Sri Krishna tells Arjuna, “It is impossible to tell you in toto all the manifestations in this world in which you can behold Me; but briefly, in essence, I shall outline where My excellence can be beheld.”
Śrībhagavānuvāca: hanta te kathayiṣyāmi divyā hyātmavibhūtayaḥ, prādhānyataḥ kuruśreṣṭha nāstyanto vistarasya me (10.19): The Lord says, “I will tell you briefly. The details that you are speaking of are endless, infinite. How will I go on telling you all that is infinite in its nature? But I will give you an outline of where you can locate Me in this world.”
Aham ātmā guḍākeśa sarvabhūtāśayasthitaḥ (10.20): “I am the soul of all beings. Wherever you see existence, there you see Me present as the basic fundamental reality of all. The love of life, which can be seen even in the worst of creatures, is actually a distorted love that they are manifesting towards the existence of their own individuality—but actually, that existence is borrowed from My universal existence. I am the soul, the basic reality, the undiminished essence, the fundamental existence bereft of association with the body, mind, and all other social connections. That deepest essence, the ‘I’ which you refer to, the ‘I’ that is in everything—in plants, in animals, in insects, in gods—that ‘I’, the soul, as it were, of all things, is Me. The deepest reality, the soul, the Self, the indubitable fundamentality in all things, is Me. Wherever you see love of life persisting and a clinging to existence, realise, notice and understand that everybody is clinging to My true universal existence that operates through their individual bodies, which they mistake for real existence. The Atman, the Self of all beings, is Me. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all things. If the universe has come from somewhere, realise that it has come from Me. If it is existing now, it is due to My existence; and one day or the other, it shall be absorbed into Me. This is to tell you, briefly, the cosmic aspect of My manifestations. Now I shall tell you the individualised, specialised forms of My manifestations, which are such glories as the sun and other things.”
==
In the Tenth Chapter we go further, to a greater emphasis of the immanence of God—not God coming sometimes when we are in a state of distress, not a God who provides us with what we need when we need it, but God perpetually residing in all things which are the glories of this world.
There is such a thing called glory, enhancement of spirit, genius, supernal power, high respectability, the power to attract—something that will not allow us to take our mind away. There are certain things from which we cannot take our mind away, due to their beauty or grandeur. When we look at the beautiful full moon in a clear sky, we do not want to look away. We go on gazing at that scintillating, beautiful, soft, honey-exuding glow, as it were—the full moon, radiating calmness and coolness with its beams. The beauty of the full moon attracts us; but the beauty of the ocean is of a different kind. It exalts our spirit by the magnitude of its superiority over us. Take the example of an elephant. We would like to go on looking at it again and again, for some reason which we cannot understand. For a particular reason, we would not like to take our eyes away from the full moon because of the beauty. Why do we like to look at an elephant? Is it beautiful? It is majestic, and it humbles us to some extent. Our ego feels very small before the might of the elephant and, therefore, we feel the greatness and power of the elephant. We maintain a respectful distance from it on account of the humility that we automatically feel due to the largeness of its body and the greatness of its power. So it is majesty that attracts us here, not beauty. Similarly, the grandeur, the power, the terror, the capacity of the ocean to destroy us, and the largeness which is far beyond our egoism, makes us look at it with great wonder. “Oh, what a wonder is the great ocean of waves, terrific in their nature!” Hence, we can be attracted to things either because of their beauty or because of their grandeur.
God is both beauty and grandeur. Mostly, religions do not consider God as a beautiful person; there is no emphasis on that. So we always fear God as a justice of the Supreme Court or a policeman, and we think that He has to be respected because of His power and His capacity to punish us. We fear God. We do not embrace God as if He is a beautiful, beloved thing. Why is it so? It is because of the emphasis in religious circles—in all religions, whether Semitic or Indian—on the fatherhood of God. That the fatherhood of God is emphasised in all religions is something very peculiar. It may be due to the historical circumstances, or because the prophets and the progenitors of the scriptures happened to be mostly men. Whatever the reason be, it appears that the fatherhood of God has been overemphasised in religions, as if He is only father.
God is also mother. In India, mother worship—Shakti worship—has been inculcated. This other side of God, the feminine aspect, is not completely cut off from the male aspect as if God is only male, and not female. The ardhanarisvara tattva, or the unity of the two polar essences, the positive and negative, are considered in the ardhanarisvara tattva of Lord Siva, where Siva and Shakti are one person. As it is said in religious parlance, especially in India, husband and wife constitute one person. They are not two different persons. Though physically they appear to be two persons, their soul is one.
The idea of Shakti worship—the spirit of there being unity between the positive and the negative, and there being no cleavage between man and woman—was introduced in India; yet, the concept of fatherhood prevails. Though we may accept that God can also be conceived as mother and worshipped as Shakti, or Devi, we think of God predominantly as supremely just—a lawgiver, a judiciary, and a terror Who blesses us only if He is pleased, and punishes us if He is not pleased.
Do we think that God is beautiful? Sakshan manmathamanmathah (S.B. 10.32.2) is a term used in the Bhagavata: “He is the cupid of cupids, the beauty of beauties.” Even if the essences of all the beautiful things in the world—the quintessence of the most beautiful things, human or otherwise, whatever they be—are taken together, it will not stand before the beauty of God. It is very unfortunate that God should be regarded only as a terror, as a justice, and as a fearful person. He is the most enchanting. The enchanting, beautiful character of God is especially brought into high relief in the life of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, who is the might of mights, the power of powers, and represents the fatherhood of God in this tremendous incarnation as the height of yogic ecstasy and power; and yet, he was the beauty of beauties. The Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata also describe Bhagavan Sri Krishna as an incarnation of God, and they remove the partial notion of God as only a father who is merely just and legal in His attitude, rather than compassionate and friendly. The friendliness of God, the power of God, the transcendence of God, the superiority of God, the beauty of God, the enchanting capacity of God, the tremendous attraction that He exerts upon us is delineated in Bhagavan Sri Krishna, who is the full incarnation of God.
The glories of God are detailed in the Tenth Chapter. These glories can be seen in certain enhanced, exalted things which are beyond ordinary human concepts.
“Where are You actually present in this world, O Lord? You said that You are in all things. Are You in an atom? Are You in a dustbin? Are You in a tree? Are You in a stone? Where are You?”
“I am in everything, no doubt, yet My presence can be especially felt in certain exalted manifestations.” Towards that description we are entering the most glorious chapter, the Tenth—where Sri Bhagavan Himself starts speaking without Arjuna raising a question. “I shall speak to you further about My glories and My supernal greatness.”
Śrībhagavānuvāca: bhūya eva mahābāho śṛṇu me paramaṁ vacaḥ, yat te’haṁ prīyamāṇāya vakṣyāmi hitakāmyayā (10.1): “You are very dear to Me, and I am dear to you; and because of this fact, I feel prompted to tell you a little more for your own welfare, for your hita, for your goodness. I will tell you something that is very secret, something that is supremely good for you.”
Na me viduḥ suragaṇāḥ (10.2): “The gods do not know Me, really speaking, let alone human beings. They cannot know Me in My true essence because I am the origin of all these gods.” Aham ādir hi devānāṁ maharṣīṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ: “Even maharishis cannot know Me in full. Nobody can know My origin because I am prior to the manifestation, or the coming into being, of their existence.”
Yo mām ajam anādiṁ ca vetti lokamaheśvaram, asaṁmūḍhaḥ sa martyeṣu sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate(10.3): “Whoever knows Me as the ancient one, prior to all manifested forms, greater than all the gods of religions—such a person completely non-deluded in mind is free from every kind of fault, and no sin can accrue to that person.” God is not merely in things—in personalities and objects—He is also in the relations between things. That which is between things is also God’s operation, and to that He directs His attention.
Buddhir jñānam asaṁmohaḥ kṣamā satyaṁ damaḥ śamaḥ, sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ bhavo’bhāvo bhayaṁ cābhayam eva ca; ahiṁsā samatā tuṣṭis tapo dānaṁ yaśo’yaśaḥ, bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṁ matta eva pṛthagvidhāḥ (10.4-5): “The intelligence in some people, and the absence of intelligence in other people; the capacity to forgive; truthfulness; self-restraint, externally as well as internally; the experience of pleasure and pain; the coming and going of things; fear, and the absence of fear; the capacity of a person to feel the feelings of other people, and be compassionate to others, and not hurt others’ feelings, and maintain an equilibrated attitude towards all people; the charitable nature of people; the glories, and even the absence of glories of people—all these proceed from Me.” Bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṁ matta eva pṛthagvidhāḥ: Night and day, life and death, light and darkness, good and bad, necessary and unnecessary—everything is subsumed under this integrality of the supreme inclusiveness of the Absolute Supreme Being.
The Tenth Chapter is a preliminary to the exposition of God’s greatness and glory that is to come later: “Everything comes from Me. Even the gods and the rishis are emanations subsequent to My existence.”
God’s existence is a difficult thing to conceive. We say that God is all-pervading. This idea of the all-pervadingness of God arises due to the space which we see before our eyes. Pervading all things means existing as a vast expanse, like space; but this comparison is inept for God Himself because God is prior to the manifestation of space. He is said to be omnipresent because of our idea that there is an extended spatial universe. If there is no space and no expanse of the three-dimensional world, the idea of omnipresence will not arise in our mind. We say He is omniscient—knows all things; but where were the ‘things’ before creation took place? So the idea that He is all-knowing is also not a good definition of God. We say He is all-powerful, omnipotent; but on whom does He exercise His power if there is nothing external to Him?
Where was God sitting before He created the world? Because of the world, because of this created universe, we say He is everywhere, He knows all things, and He is all-powerful. Do we describe Him in terms of what He has created? What was He before He created? Where was He seated? Such difficulties are beyond human comprehension. The statement “Everything comes from Me—even the universe, the gods, and the rishis” leaves us in a state of mental perplexity as to how God could be the Creator and yet remain transcendent. And, in His transcendent state, where does He exist? This question is very intriguing because the term ‘where’ implies space, location, distance, and a situation. We would realise and appreciate that, because of this difficulty, God cannot be defined. It is Pure Existence.
Maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve catvāro manavas tathā, madbhāvā mānasā jātā yeṣāṁ loka imāḥ prajāḥ (10.6): The prominent great rishis are supposed to be seven in number. They are Marichi, Atri, Angirasa, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasishtha. Though there are many rishis, these are the most prominent, highly exalted spirits. The chatvāraḥ—Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana, and Sanatkumara—are the four original emanations of Brahma, the Creator. There are fourteen Manus, who are the rulers of the fourteen worlds. All are God’s emanations. Madbhāvā mānasā jātā: “My will—My mere thought, My determination—projected these great rishis.”
Brahma, the first born in the cosmos, thought that he should manifest the variety of this creation, so in the beginning he thought of the four Kumaras: Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara. They looked like small children. Brahma told them, “Help me with creation.” They were inwardly established in the eternal Almighty. They said, “We are not going to help you in creation. We are established in our own Self.” The first sons of Brahma were disobedient, and he was very angry with them. Brahma’s anger rose to the midpoint between his eyebrows, but he could not pour that anger on them because they were established in the Almighty Supreme Being. As he could not pour this anger on the Kumaras, what would he do with that fury that rose up? That fury came out as Rudra, who is also known as Siva, and Brahma said, “Please create.” Rudra created demons, goblins and all kinds of ganas, which were not what Brahma intended. Brahma told him, “Please stop your creation. I have had enough of it. Go and meditate somewhere. From now on, you should only meditate, and not create. Go from here.” These are some of the stories in the Bhagavata Purana. All these emanate from the Supreme Being, in the sequence mentioned.
Etāṁ vibhūtiṁ yogaṁ ca mama yo vetti tattvataḥ, so’vikampena yogena yujyate nātra saṁśayaḥ (10.7): “My glory is that I am beyond the world of space, time and objects. I am transcendent in My essential nature, and yet I pervade all things. Aham ādir hi devānāṁ maharṣīṇāṁ ca sarvaśaḥ (10.2): The gods and the rishis, who are the greatest of beings, are emanations from Me; therefore, they cannot know Me. Even such great spiritual stalwarts cannot have an access to My real secret, because I am prior to them. How can the effect know the cause? Hence, nothing in creation—in all the fourteen realms—can know what God ultimately is. “One who knows this secret of Mine—this great yoga through which I manifest Myself and yet seem to be not manifesting anything at all, and remain transcendent and immanent in all things at the same time—such a person is established in unshakeable yoga. Sovikampena yogena yujyate: Not a shakeable, transitory, ‘coming and going’ yoga, but a permanently established unity with Me, which is the highest yoga. That is called unshakeable communion—avikampa yoga. Such is the blessing of that supreme seeker who resorts to Me in My essential nature—tattvato jñātvā.”
Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavo (10.8): Again He repeats, “All things come from Me.” Mattaḥ sarvaṁ pravartate: “Everything is an effect manifested from the ultimate cause, Myself.” Iti matvā bhajante māṁ budhā bhāvasamanvitāḥ: “All difficulties vanish in one moment in the case of those great devotees who realise that even the worst of things have a location in My existence.” It was already mentioned that even the worst of sinners have a place in God. “Whoever is established in this conviction that all things emanate from Me—the whole world of goodness and badness, beauty and ugliness, permanence and impermanence, all arise from Me and, therefore, I am the cause of all things—knowing this, they never get disturbed or perturbed in their minds. They resort to Me day in and day out, undisturbed by the events taking place in the world.”
Maccittā madgataprāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam, kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca(10.9): “These devotees of Mine are always happy. They smile and dance in ecstasy at all times because their mind is absorbed in Me, and their prana is absorbed in Me. And when they talk among themselves, they talk only about Me and My glory; there is nothing else in their minds. They tell stories about Me—about My incarnations, My manifestations, My performances in this great creation. Every day they are involved in this spiritual activity of contemplating on Me, singing My glories, mutually instructing one another on the mystery of My life. Thus they remain very happy, and are delighted in their life.”
Teṣāṁ satatayuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prītipūrvakam, dadāmi buddhiyogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te (10.10): “In great compassion, I endow these devoted souls with the highest kind of understanding by which they cannot forget Me at any time. Those who are perpetually united with Me—satatyukta—and who worship Me and adore Me and praise Me in intense devotional love, to them I give this great blessing and grace of Mine in the form of superior understanding.”
If the gods want to help us, they do not come to protect us with a stick in their hands like a shepherd protecting sheep. Their help always comes in the form of an enhanced understanding, a blessing which they pour upon us in the form of an increased insight into the nature of things. This is because knowledge is the greatest blessing, insight is the greatest power, and there is nothing in this world equal to illumination. Objects, property, wealth, social status—none of them can stand before illumination and insight into the true nature of things, with which God blesses those who are eternally, perpetually, united with Him.
Teṣām evānukampārtham (10.11): “I am immensely compassionate and merciful towards these people. I think of them, and they are in Me.” Aham ajñānajaṁ tamaḥ nāśayāmy: “I shall destroy even the ignorance in you.” In bhakti marga, the emphasis is on God being entirely responsible for the welfare of the devotee, both here and hereafter. He shall see to it that we are provided with all physical, material amenities for our daily sustenance. He shall also see to it that we are properly educated in the spiritual sense. He shall see to it that all our ignorance is destroyed. He shall see to it that we are absorbed into Him.
When effort is necessary, and we do not merely depend on the pouring of God’s grace from above, this is called markatanyaya, or the monkey doctrine, because when a monkey runs about with a little baby, the baby clings to it with its effort. But where the emphasis is only on God’s grace that He shall take care of us, it is like a cat carrying its kitten. A cat carries its kitten by its neck, and the kitten need not have to cling to it.
Sarvathā vartamāna (6.31): Here God stresses the point that “Whatever you be and in whatever condition you may be living, if your heart is in Me, you need not bother about anything, either of this world or of the other world.” He is emphasising that even the ignorance in our mind will be destroyed. We need not have to read scriptures and go to lectures, or make any particular effort in the direction of what is called spiritual practice. The only sadhana that we are required to perform is surrender. Ananya saranagatih is the pinnacle and the last point in bhakti marga. Love of God is the entire sadhana. There is no need to roll the beads or do different breathing techniques and sit in certain postures; nothing of the kind is necessary. And all these techniques are futile if the love of God is absent.
The highest sadhana is the pouring forth of our soul into the Universal Soul; then everything shall be taken care of automatically. We need not bother about tomorrow: “What shall I eat? Where is my raiment? How long shall I live? Who will take care of me?” We shall be taken care of, and what is to be done tomorrow shall be told to us tomorrow. Jñānadīpena bhāsvatā: “I shall illumine the personality of these great devotees with the light of wisdom, destroying their ignorance and blessing them with the highest illumination, by which they will know the truths of all things.”
This is an introductory oration by Sri Bhagavan Himself in the beginning of the Tenth Chapter, before Arjuna could raise any question. Now Arjuna starts speaking. He is really startled, wonderstruck, after hearing all these things that have been told to him. Arjuna says, “Thou art the Supreme Being. I see that You are inseparable from the Ultimate Reality. I appreciate it, I can understand it, and I accept it. You are the Supreme Abode, O Lord! The greatest of purities, the Purity behind purities, Supreme You are. The Eternal Purusha You are.” Ᾱdideva: the original God; aja: immortal.
Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān, puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam ādidevam ajaṁ vibhum (10.12). Here Arjuna addresses Sri Krishna; and this is a kind of prayer that we can recite every day: “O God! You are the Eternal Absolute, the Supreme Abode, the Purity behind purities, the Eternal Purusha, the God beyond gods. Rishis glorify You. Narada and other minstrels of God sing Your glory. I have been told by such seers like the rishis Asita, Devala, and Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa that You are the veritable Immortal Being masquerading in this world. You are the Absolute masquerading in this world. This has been told to me by Vyasa and other rishis.”
Ᾱhus tvām ṛṣayaḥ sarve devarṣir nāradas tathā, asito devalo vyāsaḥ svayaṁ caiva bravīṣi me (10.13): “Now You Yourself are telling that. You have declared Yourself to be the incomparable, secondless Being. It is a great wonder indeed to hear all this. I accept all this in toto, and I am highly delighted to hear all this discourse of Yours, O Lord!”
Sarvam etad ṛtaṁ manye yan māṁ vadasi keśava (10.14): “The highest Truth of truths are revealed to me now.” Na hi te bhagavan vyaktiṁ vidur devā na dānavāḥ: “Who am I to understand what You are? Not the gods, not all creation, not all the demons, nothing anywhere can know what kind of person You are. Who am I to understand what You are? Only You know Yourself.” God knows God, and nobody else can know God. You cannot know God. I cannot know God. Nothing of the world can know God. The entire creation cannot know God, because it is subsequent to God’s existence. Who knows God? God only knows God and, finally, God attains God.
Svayam evātmanātmānaṁ (10.15): “You know Yourself, and nobody can know You. Thou knowest Thyself.” He puruṣottama: the Supreme Being, Supreme Purusha; bhūtabhāvana: the blessing for all people; bhūteśa: the Lord of creation; devadeva: the God of gods; jagatpate: the ruler of the universe. “I prostrate myself before You. I shall be happy to hear some more details about this. How do You pervade this universe in Your eternal glory? In what forms can I worship You in my daily life, in my behaviour, from morning to evening? Will You kindly dilate upon this subject a little more, to my great satisfaction and happiness?”
Vaktum arhasyaśeṣeṇa: “Without leaving anything out, tell me everything about Yourself—Your glories, Your divine immanence in this world of manifestation.” Vaktum arhasyaśeṣeṇa divyā hyātmavibhūtayaḥ, yābhir vibhūtibhir lokān imāṁs tvaṁ vyāpya tiṣṭhasi (10.16): “What are the ways in which You manifest Yourself in this world? In which place in this world of manifestations, in which object, in what manner can I recognise You? How can I know You? Please tell me.”
Kathaṁ vidyām ahaṁ yogiṁs tvāṁ sadā paricintayan (10.17): “Day and night I would like to meditate and contemplate on You. In what manner should I contemplate? Please tell me in detail.” Keṣu keṣu ca bhāveṣu cintyosi bhagavan mayā: “In this world which is constituted of millions of forms, in what forms should I contemplate on You? Where are You manifest more, and in what forms are You manifest less? Please detail all these wondrous glories of Yourself.”
Vistareṇātmano yogaṁ vibhūtiṁ ca janārdana, bhūyaḥ kathaya (10.18): “Repeat it once again. You have already told me something about Yourself. I would like to hear it again and again because it is amrita, it is nectar to my ears. Please tell me in all detail Your glories, Your powers and Your manifestations. Tell me once again, though You have already told me once. Please tell me in greater detail because my satisfaction has no end. Let my satisfaction rise from lower to higher states. I am already satisfied. May I be further satisfied, and may I be blessed with immense infinite satisfaction. My ears are never satisfied with any amount of nectar of Your speech that is poured into my ears.” Tṛptir hi śṛṇvato nāsti me’mṛtam: “You are pouring nectar into my ears and I am delighted, but I should be more delighted if You describe Your further glories in Your own way so that I may find it easier to behold You in all things and unite myself with Thee.”
“It is very difficult,” says the Lord, “to tell you in words what I am.”
There was a great sage called Muchukunda, who helped the gods in a war with the demons. Indra, who was highly pleased with him said, “Ask for a boon.”
He said, “I am very much tired. The only thing I need is a good sleep. This is the blessing: Let me sleep somewhere in a corner without disturbance, and bless me also that if anybody disturbs me while I am asleep, he shall perish in one second.”
“Be it so!” said Indra.
Then Muchukunda, with post-war fatigue, went into a cave and fell asleep. Meanwhile, Kalayavana, a demon discharged by Kamsa under the instigation of Jarasandha and others, was pursuing Sri Krishna; and Sri Krishna, with a double motive in his mind, entered the cave in which Muchukunda was sleeping, which Kalayavana saw.
Sri Krishna was dark blue in colour and, fortunately or unfortunately, Muchukunda was also the same colour. Sri Krishna entered the cave and stood in a corner, and the demon Kalayavana also entered. When he saw someone with almost the same colour as Sri Krishna lying down, fast asleep, he said “Oh, you are sleeping here!” and kicked him with his foot. The sleeping man slowly opened his eyes, and immediately the demon was reduced to ashes.
Then Sri Krishna came forward. Muchukunda looked at him and said, “Who are you, this great mysterious magnificence that is standing before me? Will you kindly tell me your name?”
Sri Krishna replied, “Infinite are My names. You can count the grains of sand on the shores of the ocean, but My glories and My names are larger in number than the sands on the beach of the ocean.”
Likewise, here Sri Krishna tells Arjuna, “It is impossible to tell you in toto all the manifestations in this world in which you can behold Me; but briefly, in essence, I shall outline where My excellence can be beheld.”
Śrībhagavānuvāca: hanta te kathayiṣyāmi divyā hyātmavibhūtayaḥ, prādhānyataḥ kuruśreṣṭha nāstyanto vistarasya me (10.19): The Lord says, “I will tell you briefly. The details that you are speaking of are endless, infinite. How will I go on telling you all that is infinite in its nature? But I will give you an outline of where you can locate Me in this world.”
Aham ātmā guḍākeśa sarvabhūtāśayasthitaḥ (10.20): “I am the soul of all beings. Wherever you see existence, there you see Me present as the basic fundamental reality of all. The love of life, which can be seen even in the worst of creatures, is actually a distorted love that they are manifesting towards the existence of their own individuality—but actually, that existence is borrowed from My universal existence. I am the soul, the basic reality, the undiminished essence, the fundamental existence bereft of association with the body, mind, and all other social connections. That deepest essence, the ‘I’ which you refer to, the ‘I’ that is in everything—in plants, in animals, in insects, in gods—that ‘I’, the soul, as it were, of all things, is Me. The deepest reality, the soul, the Self, the indubitable fundamentality in all things, is Me. Wherever you see love of life persisting and a clinging to existence, realise, notice and understand that everybody is clinging to My true universal existence that operates through their individual bodies, which they mistake for real existence. The Atman, the Self of all beings, is Me. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all things. If the universe has come from somewhere, realise that it has come from Me. If it is existing now, it is due to My existence; and one day or the other, it shall be absorbed into Me. This is to tell you, briefly, the cosmic aspect of My manifestations. Now I shall tell you the individualised, specialised forms of My manifestations, which are such glories as the sun and other things.”
==
Discourse 31: The Tenth Chapter Concludes – God's Special Manifestations
God manifests Himself in creation through His essential natures. His natures can be classified as existence, knowledge, power and bliss. God is existence. Existence is common to all things. Even a rock, even a hill, even a stone exists, and in that sense, philosophically, we may say that God is present even in inanimate things. But the quality of existence seems to be a special consideration in the assessment of any kind of value. If a person merely exists, we do not feel that it is adequate. If a person exists and also has knowledge, we consider that person to be superior to the person who merely exists. If a person exists, has knowledge, and also has some power, we consider that person as superior to the person who has existence and knowledge but no power. But if a person has existence, knowledge, power, and also immense bliss characterising his personal life, we consider that person to be almost superhuman.
What are the degrees of the manifestation of God in this world? We can rule out the characteristic of existence, inasmuch as it is present everywhere and we cannot say that God is not manifest in anything. God is manifest everywhere. The point made out in the Tenth Chapter is that He is especially manifest in certain things, though He exists uniformly everywhere as pure Being. Wherever there is knowledge and power, there God’s manifestation seems to be superb. In the list that is given here in the Tenth Chapter, the emphasis seems to be on knowledge and power.
We can appreciate that knowledge cannot be found anywhere except in a human being. There is some kind of knowledge in everything—even plants have an inkling, and animals have some knowledge. When we speak of knowledge, we generally speak of the understanding that characterises the human species. But power can be either physical or mental. In physical power, animals are superior to man. Man cannot stand before animals as far as physical strength is concerned; but man has a mental power which is superior to animals. Hence, while any animal can terrify man physically, man can subdue any animal mentally.
Therefore, here in the delineation of the glories of God, various aspects of manifestation are taken into consideration. Very strong animals like lions are also considered to be manifestations, though their strength is only physical. A king is considered to be a manifestation, though we cannot say that the power of a king is mental; his power is administrative, and it has to be equated with physical power. And certain creatures, like alligators or crocodiles, are also considered to be specimens of the manifestation of God because crocodiles have a special strength of their own—a purely physical strength.
Thus, in the delineation of the categories of the manifestation of God in the Tenth Chapter, perhaps God—the Lord—wants His glories to be seen where there is intense knowledge and intense power, both physical and mental. Wherever we see supreme physical strength, we may say there is an inkling or a little expression of that which surpasses all that is inferior to us. As far as mental power is concerned, there is no need to say much about it because it is supreme power. Mental power can control the whole world, while physical power is local and it can work only at a particular place, and not everywhere.
The God that is supposed to be manifest in all things is mentioned here as revealed throughout creation—in all the realms of being, right from Brahmaloka downwards, because even the names of celestials are mentioned here as manifestations. Briefly, it is said that the supreme manifestation of God is in the Selfhood of all people. Aham ātmā guḍākeśa sarvabhūtāśayasthitaḥ (10.20): Wherever there is an enhancement of the character of Selfhood, or pure subjectivity, there we may say that God is predominantly manifest. Where there is too much expression of objectivity, and the consideration that material value surpasses spiritual and religious values, there we may say that God’s presence is less. Hence, the Selfhood, which is the spiritual character of things, is to be regarded as the principal manifestation of divinity in all things. Aham ādiś ca madhyaṁ ca bhūtānām anta eva ca: It is said briefly that God manifests Himself as the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things. Everything originates from Him, all things are sustained by Him, and all things will return to Him in the end.
Now the specific manifestations are mentioned. The general manifestations are as the Creator, the Sustainer and the Destroyer, the Self and the Soul of all things. These are the general Supreme manifestations; but there are lesser manifestations as particular items of creation.
The greatest and the most adorable of the particular units of creation before us is the sun god. Ᾱdityānām ahaṁ viṣṇuḥ (10.21): “Among the Adityas, twelve in number, Vishnu Aditya am I.” Sūrya ātma jagaṭasṭa (R.V. 1.115.1). Surya is supposed to be the self of everything that moves and does not move. Sūrya ātma jagaṭasṭa is a Vedic statement, and we know very well the extent to which the sun god determines life in this world. Verily, the sun is God. Suryah pratyaksha devata is also another saying, which means the sun is the visible god. If we want to see God in this world, we have to see God in the sun, as no glory can equal the sun.
It is said there are twelve manifestations of the sun. It is difficult to explain as to what these twelve are, because it is mentioned “among the Adityas, Vishnu am I”. Towards the end of the Bhagavata there is some mention of twelve suns, which are just nomenclatures of the manifestation of the same sun during the twelve months of the year. But there are other interpretations which say that the twelve suns are not just the names of the same sun during the twelve months of the year, they are concentric circles of solar manifestation in the cosmos, which is something very difficult for us to understand. It is a purely theological, astronomical or mystical concept which we usually never hear of. It is believed that because this earth is one of the planets going around the sun, the sun may be said to be the father of the entire family of the planets. This solar system is also like one of the planets that goes round another sun, and there are many other solar systems also going around it like planets. That second sun, which is a superior central luminosity which regards this solar system as its planet or satellite, is itself a satellite of another sun; and the entire superior second solar system goes around that sun as a planet. In this way, it goes on higher and higher until we reach that supreme state, which is the twelfth sun, identified with Lord Vishnu himself—that is, God Himself is the final sun. That is what we can make out, if at all we are able to understand the sense of this statement ādityānām ahaṁ viṣṇuḥ: “Of the twelve Adityas, Vishnu am I.” Jyotiṣāṁ ravir aṁśumān: “Of all brilliances, the brilliance of the sun is Me.”
Marīcir marutām asmi: “There are forty-nine Maruts, of which Marichi, the pre-eminent one, is Myself.” Nakṣatrāṇām ahaṁ śaśī: At night, the biggest luminosity is the moon. Though the moon is not a star, it is figuratively considered to be a star because of the luminosity that it sheds. Because it is the biggest luminosity at night, it is considered to be star-like in appearance. “That is also My glory—particularly the luminosity of the full moon.”
Vedānāṁ sāmavedo’smi (10.22): “I am the Sama Veda among the Vedas.” Because of its intonation, the beauty of its melody and the belief that it is the quintessence of even the Rigveda—and, in addition, it is set to music—the Sama Veda is considered to be especially sacred. Devānām asmi vāsavaḥ: “I am Indra among the gods” because he is the king of the gods. Indriyāṇāṁ manaś cāsmi: “Of all the perceptive capacities, I am the mind.” This is because even though the sense organs are organs of perception, no doubt, without the mind they cannot perceive anything; the eyes cannot see, the ears cannot hear, etc. The central cognitive or perceptive faculty is the mind. The mind is the king in this body, operating its satellites which are the sense organs. So “I am the mind among the sense organs—that is, the cognitive functions.” Bhūtānām asmi cetanā: “I am consciousness among all people. Wherever there is awareness, consider Me as manifest there.”
Rudrāṇāṁ śaṁkaraś cāsmi (10.23): Just as there are twelve Adityas, there are eleven Rudras, of which the most peaceful and compassionate one—the salubrious and most easily approachable, calm and quiet one—is Siva. Rudra is supposed to be very angry, ferocious and active; but all forms of Rudra are not like that. Rudra is also Siva. There is the Siva aspect which is calm and blessed and subdued, and there is also Rudra which is fierce. “There are eleven Rudras, of which the glorious, peaceful Sankara am I, radiating love and compassion.”
It is said that Ravana worshipped Rudra in all the forms. Ravana had ten heads. The story goes that Ravana cut off one of his heads and offered it to one form of Rudra. He then cut off another head and offered it to the second Rudra. In this manner he offered his ten heads to ten Rudras; but the eleventh Rudra could not be appeased because Ravana did not have eleven heads. The eleventh Rudra became angry because nothing had been offered to him, so he appeared in the form of fierce Hanuman. It is said that Hanuman in Lanka was a manifestation of the eleventh Rudra—Rudravatara—who destroyed Lanka because Ravana could not satisfy him. It seems that Ravana wept and said, “If I had eleven heads, I would not have suffered like this. I had only ten.”
Vitteśo yakṣarakṣasām: “Among the Yakshas and Rakshasas—the demi-gods, who are neither brutal Rakshasas nor gods, but are something midway between them—I am Kubera, the lord of riches, the treasurer of Rudra, or Siva.” Vasūnāṁ pāvakaś cāsmi: “There are eight Vasus, called Ashtavasu, who are also demigods. Of them I am Agni, the fire god.” Meruḥ śikhariṇām aham: “Of all the highest mountains with towering peaks, I am Meru Parvata.”
Purodhasāṁ ca mukhyaṁ māṁ viddhi pārtha bṛhaspatim (10.24): “Among all preceptors, guides, and all Gurus, I am Brihaspati.” This is because Brihaspati is supposed to be the most intelligent and wisest of all teachers. He is the Guru of the gods, and is a god himself. Senānīnām ahaṁ skandaḥ: “Among military generals, I am Skanda.” Skanda, or Kartikeya, was the most powerful leader of armies. Sarasām asmi sāgaraḥ: “Among reservoirs of water, I am the ocean” because it is the vastest reservoir of water.
Maharṣīṇāṁ bhṛgur ahaṁ (10.25): “Among rishis, I am Bhrigu.” Among the sons or progeny of Brahma, Bhrigu is considered here as representing all the might and glory of all the rishis. Marīcir atry-aṅgirasau pulastyaḥ pulahaḥ kratuḥ, bhṛgur vasiṣṭha ity ete mad-antā brahma-vādinaḥ (S.B. 4.29.43): Of the ten sons who were born to Brahma, the Lord considers Bhrigu as supreme in his power and glory. Therefore, “I am that Bhrigu himself.”
Girām asmy ekam akṣaram: “Of all the roots of the style of language and sound, I am Omkara, or pranava.” Every sound, every intonation, everything that we speak, and every kind of language and sound formation is a manifestation of Omkara. “I am that Omkara itself.”
Yajñānāṁ japayajño’smi: “Among all spiritual sacrifices, I am japa yajna.” Neither sacrifices in which different forms of oblations such as ghee, etc., are poured into the fire, nor material sacrifices or even ritualistic worship are equal to japa yajna, because it is the most harmless and non-material of all sacrifices. Therefore, “I consider japa as the greatest of spiritual sadhanas.” Sthāvarāṇāṁ himālayaḥ: “Among immovable things, I am the Himalayas. Nobody can shake Me.”
Aśvatthaḥ sarvavṛkṣāṇāṁ (10.26): “Among trees, I am the sacred Asvattha.” This is the peepul tree, which is considered as the most sacred of all trees. People worship the three gods—Brahma, Vishnu and Siva—through this tree, considering Brahma as the root, Vishnu as the middle, and Rudra as the top. Mūlato brahmarūpāya madhyato viṣņurūpiņe, agrataḥ shivarūpāya hyekabilvaṁ shivārpanamḥ (Bilva 8): People prostrate to the Asvattha tree and circumambulate the tree again and again to expiate all their sins and receive divine blessings. Most sacred is the Asvattha tree.
Devarṣīṇāṁ ca nāradaḥ. “Among all the Deva rishis, I am Narada.” There are varieties of rishis—Brahma rishi, Raja rishi and Deva rishi. If a spiritually adept supreme genius becomes a rishi, he is called a Brahma rishi. Vasishtha is a Brahma rishi. Janaka is a Raja rishi. Narada is considered to be a Deva rishi because he is one of the celestials and yet he is a seer.
Gandharvāṇāṁ citrarathaḥ: “Among all the Gandharvas, who are the leaders of music and of aesthetic science—art of every kind—I am Chitraratha.” The Gandharvas are celestial musicians and dancers. Together with Apsaras, they are supposed to decorate and entertain the celestials in heaven, especially in the court of Indra.
Siddhānāṁ kapilo muniḥ: “Among perfected siddhas, I am Kapila.” Kapila was the progenitor of the Sankhya philosophy, and was also the teacher of a special kind of bhakti yoga. In the Third Skandha of the Srimad Bhagavata, he speaks to his own mother, Devahuti, about the highest philosophy of bhakti, divine devotion. A siddha is one who has all the eight powers of yoga. A yogi who has eight powers can become small or big, light or heavy, pervade everywhere, and can even touch the moon with his fingers. Rishis have such powers. “Among them, I consider Siddha Kapila as supreme, and I am manifest in him.”
Uccaiḥśravasam aśvānāṁ (10.27): “Among the treasures that rose from the ocean when it was churned for nectar by the gods and the demons—as it is told in the Puranas, and especially in the Srimad Bhagavata—among these treasures, the divine horse called Uchchaihshravas is Me.” It is the most powerful, most beautiful and most glorious of horses, and it is now under the control of Indra. “Such horse, which is divine in nature, which came from Amrita Manthana, the churning of the Milky Ocean, that Uchchaihshravas am I.” Viddhi mām amṛtodbhavam: Know me as that which came from the nectarine ocean.
Airāvataṁ gajendrāṇāṁ: “Among mighty elephants, I am Airavata.” Another treasure that came from the churning the ocean is Airavata, an elephant—the ideal of elephantine strength. It is the vehicle of Indra.
Narāṇāṁ ca narādhipam: “Among human beings, I am king” because a king controls all persons.
Ᾱyudhānām ahaṁ vajraṁ (10.28): “Among all destructive weapons, I am Vajra.” Vajra is the weapon of Indra. It was made of the spine of a rishi called Dadhichi, and because of the tapas shakti of that sage, Vajra is an invincible weapon. Because it is an invincible weapon, God is supposed to be manifest in it.
Dhenūnām asmi kāmadhuk: “Among other treasures that came from the churning of the ocean came Kamadhenu, a wish-yielding cow. Anything that you want will be given by that cow, and that cow am I.” The daughter of Kamadhenu, called Nandini, who used to pour forth anything that one wanted, was taken care of by Vasishtha. When King Visvamitra went to Vasishtha’s ashram, Nandini entertained him with such a glorious repast that Visvamitra was stunned; and we have the story of the battle that then took place between Vasishtha and Visvamitra over this cow, which is the daughter of Kamadhenu. Kamadhenu is the most divine of all cows, and is in heaven.
Prajanaś cāsmi kandarpaḥ: “Of all the impulses to create, the power of reproduction is Myself, because it is the most powerful impulse in people. That which alienates itself into another, the self-reproductive instinct, is the most powerful instinct in a person; that acts because of My being behind it.”
Sarpāṇām asmi vāsukiḥ: There are two kinds of snakes, poisonous and non-poisonous. “Among poisonous snakes, I am Vasuki.”
Anantaś cāsmi nāgānāṁ (10.29): “Among non-poisonous snakes, I am Ananta”—on whom Narayana is reclining in the milk ocean.
Varuṇo yādasām aham: “Among aquatic beings, I am Varuna.” Because Varuna is supposed to be the king of all waters, he is the aquatic god and rules over all that is inside the ocean.
Pitṛṇām aryamā cāsmi yamaḥ: “Among the pitris, I am Aryama.” Just as there are many Adityas and many Rudras, there are also many pitris; and Aryama rules over the pitris.
Yamaḥ saṁyamatām aham: “Among those who restrain, control, punish, and exert law and order everywhere, Yama am I.” Yamadanda is the punishing principle which maintains law and order in the universe.
Pralhādaś cāsmi daityānāṁ (10.30). “Among Daityas, because of the goodness and devotion of Prahlada, I consider Prahlada is Me.” Demons are very terrible, and we cannot find a demon who is a devotee of God; but Prahlada, the son of the demon Hiranyakashipu, happened to be a devotee of God. Therefore, even among Daityas there are some devotees, such as Prahlada.
Kālaḥ kalayatām aham: “Among all transforming principles, time am I. Because the succession of events and everything that takes place in a historical process has a beginning and end, and because the very principle of evolution or involution is time, I am at the back of it.”
Mṛgāṇāṁ ca mṛgendro’haṁ: “Among all animals, I am the lion.” We know the glory and the power of the lion. He is the king of the forest, and the king of animals.
Vainateyaś ca pakṣiṇām: “Among birds, I am Garuda.” Garuda is one of the celestial birds, and is mentioned at the beginning of the Mahabharata. Narayana, or Vishnu, is supposed to be riding on him. Garudadhvaja is Narayana, or Vishnu. Garuda is the most sacred and most powerful of birds.
Pavanaḥ pavatām asmi (10.31): “Among all purifying principles in this world, breeze, air, wind am I.” Nothing can purify more than air. There must always be a breeze. Just as light is purifying, air is also purifying.
Rāmaḥ śastrabhṛtām aham: “Among all the warriors, Rama am I.” Nobody is equal to Rama. When he takes up his bow and arrow, the earth simply trembles.
Jhaṣāṇāṁ makaraś cāsmi: “Among aquatic fish-like creatures, the crocodile am I.” The crocodile is not a fish, but lives in the water and is the biggest and most powerful; therefore, it is considered as a special manifestation.
Strotasām asmi jāhnavī: “Among all rivers, Ganga am I.” Ganga is the most holy of rivers. It comes from heaven itself, and passes through all the three regions—Svarga, Bhuloka and Patala.
Sargāṇām ādir antaś ca madhyaṁ caivāham arjuna (10.32): “Of all creative processes, the beginning and the middle and the end I am.” He is repeating once again that He is all-in-all: the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer.
Adhyātmavidyā vidyānāṁ: “Among all learning—all sciences, arts and academic acquisitions—spiritual knowledge am I.” All other knowledge is secondary, because it is only spiritual knowledge that takes us to the immortal Self-realisation.
Vādaḥ pravadatām aham: “Among discussions, I am the art of argument and logical disquisition, producing proof by deducing inferences from premises.” This is because all discussions culminate finally in the production of a proof by logical demonstration.
Akṣarāṇām akārosmi (10.33): “Among all the letters of the alphabet, I am the initial primary vowel ‘a’.” The vowel ‘a’ has to be with every other kind of intonation and letter of the alphabet—ka, kha,ga, gha, cha, chha, ja, jha. Whatever we may say, akara is at the back of it.
Dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca. Samasa is a kind of grammatical combination where two words of equal importance are joined together. It is a peculiar Sanskrit-oriented argument—ramascha krishnascha ramakrishnau—which is a joint presentation of two things in one word, and both words are equally important. Therefore, they are called dvandva, one being equal to the other. And because of the equality of the two principles involved—samasa and dvandva—the Lord says He is that. “One is not inferior to the other. I equilibrate both things.”
Aham evākṣayaḥ kāla: I am the imperishable time that controls and restrains all creatures.”
Dhātāhaṁ viśvatomukhaḥ: “I am Brahma himself, with faces all around, who creates this cosmos.”
Mṛtyuḥ sarvaharaś cāham (10.34): “I am the destroying principle at the end of time. I become Rudra and dance to the tune of the dissolution of the whole cosmos. The tandava nritya of Rudra will take place at the end of time. When the music of the damaru starts, the earth will tremble and become pieces; the sun, moon and stars will fall down, and the whole of creation will become liquid. I am that destroying principle.”
Udbhavaś ca bhaviṣyatām: “I am also the principle that will re-create after the destruction.”
Kīrtiḥ śrīr vāk ca nārīṇāṁ: “The beauty, the glory, the modesty and the grace that is found in women, that also am I.”
Smṛtir medhā dhṛtiḥ kṣamā: The power of memory, understanding, fortitude, and the capacity to forgive is a glorious quality of people. All these qualities are Me.”
Bṛhatsāma tathā sāmnāṁ (10.35): “The Sama mantra, which is called Brihat Sama, am I.” Among Sama mantras, there is a special Sama called Brihat Sama. It is a highly spiritually charged invocation of God; therefore, it is called Brihat Sama—large Sama—the most powerful of Samas. It is the most important mantra, and it is chanted with music in the Sama Veda.
Gāyatrī chandasām aham: “Among all the mantras of the Vedas, the Gayatri mantra am I. Also among all the metres, I am Gayatri.” The Gayatri mantra is the very root and essence of all Vedic mantras.
Māsānāṁ mārgaśīrṣo’ham: “Of the twelve months, the month of Margasirsha is Myself.” This is because of the subdued atmosphere of that particular period of the year when it is neither hot nor cold. Therefore, the Lord describes himself as present in this harmonious presentation of atmospheric conditions, the spring and the autumn. Margasirsha corresponds to autumn, to some extent.
Ṛtūnāṁ kusumākaraḥ: “I am also the spring.” He is the spring and autumn both, because these are the two periods of the year when it is neither too hot nor cold, when it is pleasant. “I am that pleasant time.”
Dyutaṁ chalayatām asmi (10.36): “Among the deceivers, I am the gambler.” Very strange! That is, “The best and the worst am I.” It comes to that. Both that which is extremely good and extremely bad meet at one point, one day or the other; therefore, God should be considered to be present even in an expert trickster.
Tejas tejasvinām aham: “Among people who have great grace, power and energy in them, that energy, glory and varchas (radiance in one’s face arising out of spiritual awakening), comes from Me.”
Jayo’smi vyavasāyo’smi: “I am victory. Wherever there is success and victory, it is Me that brings out victory and success; and all activity that leads to success—vyavasaya—is Me only.”
Sattvaṁ sattvavatām aham: “I am the sattva in those people endowed with modesty, calmness, sobriety, intelligence, and goodness.”
Vṛṣṇīnāṁ vāsudevo’smi (10.37): “Among the Vrishnis, I am Krishna.” The Vrishnis are a kind of clan; the Yadava clan is called the Vrishni clan, of which Krishna was their leader. Vasudeva is Sri Krishna himself. Here the Supreme Being refers to Vasudeva as Sri Krishna—the leader and the best among the Yadavas.
Pāṇḍavānāṁ dhanaṁjayaḥ: “Among the Pandavas, I am Arjuna.” He does not say “I am Yudhishthira”, even though Yudhishthira is supposed to be the most virtuous, because extremely virtuous people are not useful. They create trouble. And so Sri Krishna is Arjuna, who is moderate.
Munīnām apyahaṁ vyāsaḥ: “Among munis, great saints and sages, I am Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa. The great Master, the omniscient one who wrote the Mahabharata, the Brahma Sutras and the Puranas and classified the Vedas, that great being is Myself.”
Kavīnām uśanā kaviḥ: “Among political experts, the leaders of ethical and moral principles in political science, and very wise ones in administration, I am Usana—Sukracharya.”
Daṇḍo damayatām asmi (10.38): “Among restraining forces, punishment am I.”
Nītir asmi jigīṣatām: “I am polite behaviour in people who want to win success.” Whenever we want to win victory, we must be polite in our behaviour—sama. This is the first method that we have to adopt. The other three—dana, bheda, danda—should come afterwards. “Niti, or proper behaviour, and administrative and diplomatic ability, should be regarded as Myself because it is the best way of winning victory.”
Maunaṁ caivāsmi guhyānāṁ: “I am the silence of secrets. All secrets merge into pure silence. You don’t say anything, you don’t think anything, you just ‘be’ yourself. That kind of spiritual inwardness, which is called silence, is Myself.”
Jñānaṁ jñānavatām aham: “I am the wisdom of all those who are wise.”
Yac cāpi sarvabhūtānāṁ bījaṁ tad aham arjuna (10.39): “Whatever be there in this creation—wherever it be, in whatever form—the seed of it is Me; it arises from Me.”
Na tad asti vinā yat syān mayā bhūtaṁ carācaram: “Without Me, nothing can come into being. Neither the moving nor the non-moving—sthavara-jangama—nothing can come into being without Me. Therefore, I am the seed of all.”
Nāntosti mama divyānāṁ vibhūtīnāṁ paraṁtapa (10.40): “What is the use of talking much, O Arjuna! There is no end to My glories. How long will I go on describing them? I have told you a little bit—an outline of the main principles of My manifestations. I can go on endlessly telling stories of My manifestation. There is no limit, no end to My glories.”
Eṣa tūddeśataḥ prokto vibhūter vistaro mayā: “I have specially mentioned certain things as examples because it is not possible to delineate or describe everything in this world of time.” Even if we live as long as creation, it will not be possible to delineate or explain all the names and glories of God, because the glories of God are infinite. “Wherever there is special excellence, consider Me as present there.” Excellence means a special manifestation of ability which ordinarily cannot be considered as possible for people. In the Guinness Book of Records, records of exceptional performances can be found. We may say even those are manifestations of God because they are something exceptional, and cannot be done ordinarily. That is why they are entered in the Guinness Book. So we can add here: “The Guinness Book also is Me.”
Yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṁ śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā, tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṁ mama tejoṁ’śasaṁbhavam(10.41): “Wherever there is glory, power, radiance, energy and aura spreading itself around, wherever there is manifestation of prosperity of every kind, high excellence, in that you can consider Me as present.”
Athavā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna (10.42): “What is the use of talking more? Why do you want to ask so many questions?” Viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat: “In brief I shall tell you: With a little fraction of Myself, I am sustaining the whole cosmos.”
God manifests Himself in creation through His essential natures. His natures can be classified as existence, knowledge, power and bliss. God is existence. Existence is common to all things. Even a rock, even a hill, even a stone exists, and in that sense, philosophically, we may say that God is present even in inanimate things. But the quality of existence seems to be a special consideration in the assessment of any kind of value. If a person merely exists, we do not feel that it is adequate. If a person exists and also has knowledge, we consider that person to be superior to the person who merely exists. If a person exists, has knowledge, and also has some power, we consider that person as superior to the person who has existence and knowledge but no power. But if a person has existence, knowledge, power, and also immense bliss characterising his personal life, we consider that person to be almost superhuman.
What are the degrees of the manifestation of God in this world? We can rule out the characteristic of existence, inasmuch as it is present everywhere and we cannot say that God is not manifest in anything. God is manifest everywhere. The point made out in the Tenth Chapter is that He is especially manifest in certain things, though He exists uniformly everywhere as pure Being. Wherever there is knowledge and power, there God’s manifestation seems to be superb. In the list that is given here in the Tenth Chapter, the emphasis seems to be on knowledge and power.
We can appreciate that knowledge cannot be found anywhere except in a human being. There is some kind of knowledge in everything—even plants have an inkling, and animals have some knowledge. When we speak of knowledge, we generally speak of the understanding that characterises the human species. But power can be either physical or mental. In physical power, animals are superior to man. Man cannot stand before animals as far as physical strength is concerned; but man has a mental power which is superior to animals. Hence, while any animal can terrify man physically, man can subdue any animal mentally.
Therefore, here in the delineation of the glories of God, various aspects of manifestation are taken into consideration. Very strong animals like lions are also considered to be manifestations, though their strength is only physical. A king is considered to be a manifestation, though we cannot say that the power of a king is mental; his power is administrative, and it has to be equated with physical power. And certain creatures, like alligators or crocodiles, are also considered to be specimens of the manifestation of God because crocodiles have a special strength of their own—a purely physical strength.
Thus, in the delineation of the categories of the manifestation of God in the Tenth Chapter, perhaps God—the Lord—wants His glories to be seen where there is intense knowledge and intense power, both physical and mental. Wherever we see supreme physical strength, we may say there is an inkling or a little expression of that which surpasses all that is inferior to us. As far as mental power is concerned, there is no need to say much about it because it is supreme power. Mental power can control the whole world, while physical power is local and it can work only at a particular place, and not everywhere.
The God that is supposed to be manifest in all things is mentioned here as revealed throughout creation—in all the realms of being, right from Brahmaloka downwards, because even the names of celestials are mentioned here as manifestations. Briefly, it is said that the supreme manifestation of God is in the Selfhood of all people. Aham ātmā guḍākeśa sarvabhūtāśayasthitaḥ (10.20): Wherever there is an enhancement of the character of Selfhood, or pure subjectivity, there we may say that God is predominantly manifest. Where there is too much expression of objectivity, and the consideration that material value surpasses spiritual and religious values, there we may say that God’s presence is less. Hence, the Selfhood, which is the spiritual character of things, is to be regarded as the principal manifestation of divinity in all things. Aham ādiś ca madhyaṁ ca bhūtānām anta eva ca: It is said briefly that God manifests Himself as the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things. Everything originates from Him, all things are sustained by Him, and all things will return to Him in the end.
Now the specific manifestations are mentioned. The general manifestations are as the Creator, the Sustainer and the Destroyer, the Self and the Soul of all things. These are the general Supreme manifestations; but there are lesser manifestations as particular items of creation.
The greatest and the most adorable of the particular units of creation before us is the sun god. Ᾱdityānām ahaṁ viṣṇuḥ (10.21): “Among the Adityas, twelve in number, Vishnu Aditya am I.” Sūrya ātma jagaṭasṭa (R.V. 1.115.1). Surya is supposed to be the self of everything that moves and does not move. Sūrya ātma jagaṭasṭa is a Vedic statement, and we know very well the extent to which the sun god determines life in this world. Verily, the sun is God. Suryah pratyaksha devata is also another saying, which means the sun is the visible god. If we want to see God in this world, we have to see God in the sun, as no glory can equal the sun.
It is said there are twelve manifestations of the sun. It is difficult to explain as to what these twelve are, because it is mentioned “among the Adityas, Vishnu am I”. Towards the end of the Bhagavata there is some mention of twelve suns, which are just nomenclatures of the manifestation of the same sun during the twelve months of the year. But there are other interpretations which say that the twelve suns are not just the names of the same sun during the twelve months of the year, they are concentric circles of solar manifestation in the cosmos, which is something very difficult for us to understand. It is a purely theological, astronomical or mystical concept which we usually never hear of. It is believed that because this earth is one of the planets going around the sun, the sun may be said to be the father of the entire family of the planets. This solar system is also like one of the planets that goes round another sun, and there are many other solar systems also going around it like planets. That second sun, which is a superior central luminosity which regards this solar system as its planet or satellite, is itself a satellite of another sun; and the entire superior second solar system goes around that sun as a planet. In this way, it goes on higher and higher until we reach that supreme state, which is the twelfth sun, identified with Lord Vishnu himself—that is, God Himself is the final sun. That is what we can make out, if at all we are able to understand the sense of this statement ādityānām ahaṁ viṣṇuḥ: “Of the twelve Adityas, Vishnu am I.” Jyotiṣāṁ ravir aṁśumān: “Of all brilliances, the brilliance of the sun is Me.”
Marīcir marutām asmi: “There are forty-nine Maruts, of which Marichi, the pre-eminent one, is Myself.” Nakṣatrāṇām ahaṁ śaśī: At night, the biggest luminosity is the moon. Though the moon is not a star, it is figuratively considered to be a star because of the luminosity that it sheds. Because it is the biggest luminosity at night, it is considered to be star-like in appearance. “That is also My glory—particularly the luminosity of the full moon.”
Vedānāṁ sāmavedo’smi (10.22): “I am the Sama Veda among the Vedas.” Because of its intonation, the beauty of its melody and the belief that it is the quintessence of even the Rigveda—and, in addition, it is set to music—the Sama Veda is considered to be especially sacred. Devānām asmi vāsavaḥ: “I am Indra among the gods” because he is the king of the gods. Indriyāṇāṁ manaś cāsmi: “Of all the perceptive capacities, I am the mind.” This is because even though the sense organs are organs of perception, no doubt, without the mind they cannot perceive anything; the eyes cannot see, the ears cannot hear, etc. The central cognitive or perceptive faculty is the mind. The mind is the king in this body, operating its satellites which are the sense organs. So “I am the mind among the sense organs—that is, the cognitive functions.” Bhūtānām asmi cetanā: “I am consciousness among all people. Wherever there is awareness, consider Me as manifest there.”
Rudrāṇāṁ śaṁkaraś cāsmi (10.23): Just as there are twelve Adityas, there are eleven Rudras, of which the most peaceful and compassionate one—the salubrious and most easily approachable, calm and quiet one—is Siva. Rudra is supposed to be very angry, ferocious and active; but all forms of Rudra are not like that. Rudra is also Siva. There is the Siva aspect which is calm and blessed and subdued, and there is also Rudra which is fierce. “There are eleven Rudras, of which the glorious, peaceful Sankara am I, radiating love and compassion.”
It is said that Ravana worshipped Rudra in all the forms. Ravana had ten heads. The story goes that Ravana cut off one of his heads and offered it to one form of Rudra. He then cut off another head and offered it to the second Rudra. In this manner he offered his ten heads to ten Rudras; but the eleventh Rudra could not be appeased because Ravana did not have eleven heads. The eleventh Rudra became angry because nothing had been offered to him, so he appeared in the form of fierce Hanuman. It is said that Hanuman in Lanka was a manifestation of the eleventh Rudra—Rudravatara—who destroyed Lanka because Ravana could not satisfy him. It seems that Ravana wept and said, “If I had eleven heads, I would not have suffered like this. I had only ten.”
Vitteśo yakṣarakṣasām: “Among the Yakshas and Rakshasas—the demi-gods, who are neither brutal Rakshasas nor gods, but are something midway between them—I am Kubera, the lord of riches, the treasurer of Rudra, or Siva.” Vasūnāṁ pāvakaś cāsmi: “There are eight Vasus, called Ashtavasu, who are also demigods. Of them I am Agni, the fire god.” Meruḥ śikhariṇām aham: “Of all the highest mountains with towering peaks, I am Meru Parvata.”
Purodhasāṁ ca mukhyaṁ māṁ viddhi pārtha bṛhaspatim (10.24): “Among all preceptors, guides, and all Gurus, I am Brihaspati.” This is because Brihaspati is supposed to be the most intelligent and wisest of all teachers. He is the Guru of the gods, and is a god himself. Senānīnām ahaṁ skandaḥ: “Among military generals, I am Skanda.” Skanda, or Kartikeya, was the most powerful leader of armies. Sarasām asmi sāgaraḥ: “Among reservoirs of water, I am the ocean” because it is the vastest reservoir of water.
Maharṣīṇāṁ bhṛgur ahaṁ (10.25): “Among rishis, I am Bhrigu.” Among the sons or progeny of Brahma, Bhrigu is considered here as representing all the might and glory of all the rishis. Marīcir atry-aṅgirasau pulastyaḥ pulahaḥ kratuḥ, bhṛgur vasiṣṭha ity ete mad-antā brahma-vādinaḥ (S.B. 4.29.43): Of the ten sons who were born to Brahma, the Lord considers Bhrigu as supreme in his power and glory. Therefore, “I am that Bhrigu himself.”
Girām asmy ekam akṣaram: “Of all the roots of the style of language and sound, I am Omkara, or pranava.” Every sound, every intonation, everything that we speak, and every kind of language and sound formation is a manifestation of Omkara. “I am that Omkara itself.”
Yajñānāṁ japayajño’smi: “Among all spiritual sacrifices, I am japa yajna.” Neither sacrifices in which different forms of oblations such as ghee, etc., are poured into the fire, nor material sacrifices or even ritualistic worship are equal to japa yajna, because it is the most harmless and non-material of all sacrifices. Therefore, “I consider japa as the greatest of spiritual sadhanas.” Sthāvarāṇāṁ himālayaḥ: “Among immovable things, I am the Himalayas. Nobody can shake Me.”
Aśvatthaḥ sarvavṛkṣāṇāṁ (10.26): “Among trees, I am the sacred Asvattha.” This is the peepul tree, which is considered as the most sacred of all trees. People worship the three gods—Brahma, Vishnu and Siva—through this tree, considering Brahma as the root, Vishnu as the middle, and Rudra as the top. Mūlato brahmarūpāya madhyato viṣņurūpiņe, agrataḥ shivarūpāya hyekabilvaṁ shivārpanamḥ (Bilva 8): People prostrate to the Asvattha tree and circumambulate the tree again and again to expiate all their sins and receive divine blessings. Most sacred is the Asvattha tree.
Devarṣīṇāṁ ca nāradaḥ. “Among all the Deva rishis, I am Narada.” There are varieties of rishis—Brahma rishi, Raja rishi and Deva rishi. If a spiritually adept supreme genius becomes a rishi, he is called a Brahma rishi. Vasishtha is a Brahma rishi. Janaka is a Raja rishi. Narada is considered to be a Deva rishi because he is one of the celestials and yet he is a seer.
Gandharvāṇāṁ citrarathaḥ: “Among all the Gandharvas, who are the leaders of music and of aesthetic science—art of every kind—I am Chitraratha.” The Gandharvas are celestial musicians and dancers. Together with Apsaras, they are supposed to decorate and entertain the celestials in heaven, especially in the court of Indra.
Siddhānāṁ kapilo muniḥ: “Among perfected siddhas, I am Kapila.” Kapila was the progenitor of the Sankhya philosophy, and was also the teacher of a special kind of bhakti yoga. In the Third Skandha of the Srimad Bhagavata, he speaks to his own mother, Devahuti, about the highest philosophy of bhakti, divine devotion. A siddha is one who has all the eight powers of yoga. A yogi who has eight powers can become small or big, light or heavy, pervade everywhere, and can even touch the moon with his fingers. Rishis have such powers. “Among them, I consider Siddha Kapila as supreme, and I am manifest in him.”
Uccaiḥśravasam aśvānāṁ (10.27): “Among the treasures that rose from the ocean when it was churned for nectar by the gods and the demons—as it is told in the Puranas, and especially in the Srimad Bhagavata—among these treasures, the divine horse called Uchchaihshravas is Me.” It is the most powerful, most beautiful and most glorious of horses, and it is now under the control of Indra. “Such horse, which is divine in nature, which came from Amrita Manthana, the churning of the Milky Ocean, that Uchchaihshravas am I.” Viddhi mām amṛtodbhavam: Know me as that which came from the nectarine ocean.
Airāvataṁ gajendrāṇāṁ: “Among mighty elephants, I am Airavata.” Another treasure that came from the churning the ocean is Airavata, an elephant—the ideal of elephantine strength. It is the vehicle of Indra.
Narāṇāṁ ca narādhipam: “Among human beings, I am king” because a king controls all persons.
Ᾱyudhānām ahaṁ vajraṁ (10.28): “Among all destructive weapons, I am Vajra.” Vajra is the weapon of Indra. It was made of the spine of a rishi called Dadhichi, and because of the tapas shakti of that sage, Vajra is an invincible weapon. Because it is an invincible weapon, God is supposed to be manifest in it.
Dhenūnām asmi kāmadhuk: “Among other treasures that came from the churning of the ocean came Kamadhenu, a wish-yielding cow. Anything that you want will be given by that cow, and that cow am I.” The daughter of Kamadhenu, called Nandini, who used to pour forth anything that one wanted, was taken care of by Vasishtha. When King Visvamitra went to Vasishtha’s ashram, Nandini entertained him with such a glorious repast that Visvamitra was stunned; and we have the story of the battle that then took place between Vasishtha and Visvamitra over this cow, which is the daughter of Kamadhenu. Kamadhenu is the most divine of all cows, and is in heaven.
Prajanaś cāsmi kandarpaḥ: “Of all the impulses to create, the power of reproduction is Myself, because it is the most powerful impulse in people. That which alienates itself into another, the self-reproductive instinct, is the most powerful instinct in a person; that acts because of My being behind it.”
Sarpāṇām asmi vāsukiḥ: There are two kinds of snakes, poisonous and non-poisonous. “Among poisonous snakes, I am Vasuki.”
Anantaś cāsmi nāgānāṁ (10.29): “Among non-poisonous snakes, I am Ananta”—on whom Narayana is reclining in the milk ocean.
Varuṇo yādasām aham: “Among aquatic beings, I am Varuna.” Because Varuna is supposed to be the king of all waters, he is the aquatic god and rules over all that is inside the ocean.
Pitṛṇām aryamā cāsmi yamaḥ: “Among the pitris, I am Aryama.” Just as there are many Adityas and many Rudras, there are also many pitris; and Aryama rules over the pitris.
Yamaḥ saṁyamatām aham: “Among those who restrain, control, punish, and exert law and order everywhere, Yama am I.” Yamadanda is the punishing principle which maintains law and order in the universe.
Pralhādaś cāsmi daityānāṁ (10.30). “Among Daityas, because of the goodness and devotion of Prahlada, I consider Prahlada is Me.” Demons are very terrible, and we cannot find a demon who is a devotee of God; but Prahlada, the son of the demon Hiranyakashipu, happened to be a devotee of God. Therefore, even among Daityas there are some devotees, such as Prahlada.
Kālaḥ kalayatām aham: “Among all transforming principles, time am I. Because the succession of events and everything that takes place in a historical process has a beginning and end, and because the very principle of evolution or involution is time, I am at the back of it.”
Mṛgāṇāṁ ca mṛgendro’haṁ: “Among all animals, I am the lion.” We know the glory and the power of the lion. He is the king of the forest, and the king of animals.
Vainateyaś ca pakṣiṇām: “Among birds, I am Garuda.” Garuda is one of the celestial birds, and is mentioned at the beginning of the Mahabharata. Narayana, or Vishnu, is supposed to be riding on him. Garudadhvaja is Narayana, or Vishnu. Garuda is the most sacred and most powerful of birds.
Pavanaḥ pavatām asmi (10.31): “Among all purifying principles in this world, breeze, air, wind am I.” Nothing can purify more than air. There must always be a breeze. Just as light is purifying, air is also purifying.
Rāmaḥ śastrabhṛtām aham: “Among all the warriors, Rama am I.” Nobody is equal to Rama. When he takes up his bow and arrow, the earth simply trembles.
Jhaṣāṇāṁ makaraś cāsmi: “Among aquatic fish-like creatures, the crocodile am I.” The crocodile is not a fish, but lives in the water and is the biggest and most powerful; therefore, it is considered as a special manifestation.
Strotasām asmi jāhnavī: “Among all rivers, Ganga am I.” Ganga is the most holy of rivers. It comes from heaven itself, and passes through all the three regions—Svarga, Bhuloka and Patala.
Sargāṇām ādir antaś ca madhyaṁ caivāham arjuna (10.32): “Of all creative processes, the beginning and the middle and the end I am.” He is repeating once again that He is all-in-all: the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer.
Adhyātmavidyā vidyānāṁ: “Among all learning—all sciences, arts and academic acquisitions—spiritual knowledge am I.” All other knowledge is secondary, because it is only spiritual knowledge that takes us to the immortal Self-realisation.
Vādaḥ pravadatām aham: “Among discussions, I am the art of argument and logical disquisition, producing proof by deducing inferences from premises.” This is because all discussions culminate finally in the production of a proof by logical demonstration.
Akṣarāṇām akārosmi (10.33): “Among all the letters of the alphabet, I am the initial primary vowel ‘a’.” The vowel ‘a’ has to be with every other kind of intonation and letter of the alphabet—ka, kha,ga, gha, cha, chha, ja, jha. Whatever we may say, akara is at the back of it.
Dvandvaḥ sāmāsikasya ca. Samasa is a kind of grammatical combination where two words of equal importance are joined together. It is a peculiar Sanskrit-oriented argument—ramascha krishnascha ramakrishnau—which is a joint presentation of two things in one word, and both words are equally important. Therefore, they are called dvandva, one being equal to the other. And because of the equality of the two principles involved—samasa and dvandva—the Lord says He is that. “One is not inferior to the other. I equilibrate both things.”
Aham evākṣayaḥ kāla: I am the imperishable time that controls and restrains all creatures.”
Dhātāhaṁ viśvatomukhaḥ: “I am Brahma himself, with faces all around, who creates this cosmos.”
Mṛtyuḥ sarvaharaś cāham (10.34): “I am the destroying principle at the end of time. I become Rudra and dance to the tune of the dissolution of the whole cosmos. The tandava nritya of Rudra will take place at the end of time. When the music of the damaru starts, the earth will tremble and become pieces; the sun, moon and stars will fall down, and the whole of creation will become liquid. I am that destroying principle.”
Udbhavaś ca bhaviṣyatām: “I am also the principle that will re-create after the destruction.”
Kīrtiḥ śrīr vāk ca nārīṇāṁ: “The beauty, the glory, the modesty and the grace that is found in women, that also am I.”
Smṛtir medhā dhṛtiḥ kṣamā: The power of memory, understanding, fortitude, and the capacity to forgive is a glorious quality of people. All these qualities are Me.”
Bṛhatsāma tathā sāmnāṁ (10.35): “The Sama mantra, which is called Brihat Sama, am I.” Among Sama mantras, there is a special Sama called Brihat Sama. It is a highly spiritually charged invocation of God; therefore, it is called Brihat Sama—large Sama—the most powerful of Samas. It is the most important mantra, and it is chanted with music in the Sama Veda.
Gāyatrī chandasām aham: “Among all the mantras of the Vedas, the Gayatri mantra am I. Also among all the metres, I am Gayatri.” The Gayatri mantra is the very root and essence of all Vedic mantras.
Māsānāṁ mārgaśīrṣo’ham: “Of the twelve months, the month of Margasirsha is Myself.” This is because of the subdued atmosphere of that particular period of the year when it is neither hot nor cold. Therefore, the Lord describes himself as present in this harmonious presentation of atmospheric conditions, the spring and the autumn. Margasirsha corresponds to autumn, to some extent.
Ṛtūnāṁ kusumākaraḥ: “I am also the spring.” He is the spring and autumn both, because these are the two periods of the year when it is neither too hot nor cold, when it is pleasant. “I am that pleasant time.”
Dyutaṁ chalayatām asmi (10.36): “Among the deceivers, I am the gambler.” Very strange! That is, “The best and the worst am I.” It comes to that. Both that which is extremely good and extremely bad meet at one point, one day or the other; therefore, God should be considered to be present even in an expert trickster.
Tejas tejasvinām aham: “Among people who have great grace, power and energy in them, that energy, glory and varchas (radiance in one’s face arising out of spiritual awakening), comes from Me.”
Jayo’smi vyavasāyo’smi: “I am victory. Wherever there is success and victory, it is Me that brings out victory and success; and all activity that leads to success—vyavasaya—is Me only.”
Sattvaṁ sattvavatām aham: “I am the sattva in those people endowed with modesty, calmness, sobriety, intelligence, and goodness.”
Vṛṣṇīnāṁ vāsudevo’smi (10.37): “Among the Vrishnis, I am Krishna.” The Vrishnis are a kind of clan; the Yadava clan is called the Vrishni clan, of which Krishna was their leader. Vasudeva is Sri Krishna himself. Here the Supreme Being refers to Vasudeva as Sri Krishna—the leader and the best among the Yadavas.
Pāṇḍavānāṁ dhanaṁjayaḥ: “Among the Pandavas, I am Arjuna.” He does not say “I am Yudhishthira”, even though Yudhishthira is supposed to be the most virtuous, because extremely virtuous people are not useful. They create trouble. And so Sri Krishna is Arjuna, who is moderate.
Munīnām apyahaṁ vyāsaḥ: “Among munis, great saints and sages, I am Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa. The great Master, the omniscient one who wrote the Mahabharata, the Brahma Sutras and the Puranas and classified the Vedas, that great being is Myself.”
Kavīnām uśanā kaviḥ: “Among political experts, the leaders of ethical and moral principles in political science, and very wise ones in administration, I am Usana—Sukracharya.”
Daṇḍo damayatām asmi (10.38): “Among restraining forces, punishment am I.”
Nītir asmi jigīṣatām: “I am polite behaviour in people who want to win success.” Whenever we want to win victory, we must be polite in our behaviour—sama. This is the first method that we have to adopt. The other three—dana, bheda, danda—should come afterwards. “Niti, or proper behaviour, and administrative and diplomatic ability, should be regarded as Myself because it is the best way of winning victory.”
Maunaṁ caivāsmi guhyānāṁ: “I am the silence of secrets. All secrets merge into pure silence. You don’t say anything, you don’t think anything, you just ‘be’ yourself. That kind of spiritual inwardness, which is called silence, is Myself.”
Jñānaṁ jñānavatām aham: “I am the wisdom of all those who are wise.”
Yac cāpi sarvabhūtānāṁ bījaṁ tad aham arjuna (10.39): “Whatever be there in this creation—wherever it be, in whatever form—the seed of it is Me; it arises from Me.”
Na tad asti vinā yat syān mayā bhūtaṁ carācaram: “Without Me, nothing can come into being. Neither the moving nor the non-moving—sthavara-jangama—nothing can come into being without Me. Therefore, I am the seed of all.”
Nāntosti mama divyānāṁ vibhūtīnāṁ paraṁtapa (10.40): “What is the use of talking much, O Arjuna! There is no end to My glories. How long will I go on describing them? I have told you a little bit—an outline of the main principles of My manifestations. I can go on endlessly telling stories of My manifestation. There is no limit, no end to My glories.”
Eṣa tūddeśataḥ prokto vibhūter vistaro mayā: “I have specially mentioned certain things as examples because it is not possible to delineate or describe everything in this world of time.” Even if we live as long as creation, it will not be possible to delineate or explain all the names and glories of God, because the glories of God are infinite. “Wherever there is special excellence, consider Me as present there.” Excellence means a special manifestation of ability which ordinarily cannot be considered as possible for people. In the Guinness Book of Records, records of exceptional performances can be found. We may say even those are manifestations of God because they are something exceptional, and cannot be done ordinarily. That is why they are entered in the Guinness Book. So we can add here: “The Guinness Book also is Me.”
Yad yad vibhūtimat sattvaṁ śrīmad ūrjitam eva vā, tat tad evāvagaccha tvaṁ mama tejoṁ’śasaṁbhavam(10.41): “Wherever there is glory, power, radiance, energy and aura spreading itself around, wherever there is manifestation of prosperity of every kind, high excellence, in that you can consider Me as present.”
Athavā bahunaitena kiṁ jñātena tavārjuna (10.42): “What is the use of talking more? Why do you want to ask so many questions?” Viṣṭabhyāham idaṁ kṛtsnam ekāṁśena sthito jagat: “In brief I shall tell you: With a little fraction of Myself, I am sustaining the whole cosmos.”
No comments:
Post a Comment