Bhagavad Gita- Chap 11 (Part-1) Vishwaroopa Darshana Yogah- Yoga of the Vision of the Universal Form

THE REVELATION OF THE LORD

sri bhagavaan uvaacha
    pashya me paartha roopaani shatasho'tha  sahasrashah
    naanaavidhaani divyaani  naanaavarnaakriteeni cha // 11.5 //

Sri  Bhagavan said
    Behold,  O Partha, by hundreds and thousands, My different forms celestial, varied in colors  and shapes.

To  see gold in different types of ornaments is easy because it involves mere  physical perception. But to see different types of ornaments in total gold is  comparatively difficult because it requires the vision of the intellect.  Similarly, Sri Krishna helped Arjuna to gain the necessary insight to enable  him to perceive The Lord, who is already in front of him, in the form he  desired. Sri Krishna did not transform Himself in the cosmic form but only  bestowed His grace on Arjuna to enable him to perceive the Divine form of The  Lord and hence Sri Krishna says `Behold'. The stupendous self-revelation of  Divine power is manifested to Arjuna who understands the true meaning of the  cosmic process and destiny. The vision is not a myth or a legend but spiritual  experience.

pashyaadityaan vasoon rudraan ashwinau  marutas thathaa
    bahoonyadrishtapoorvaani  pashyaa'shcharyaani bhaarata // 11.6 //

Behold  the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the (two) Ashwins and also the Maruts;  behold many wonders never seen before, O Bharata.

The  Lord enumerates the most important and striking factors to be seen in His  Cosmic Form. The various forms mentioned here were already explained in the  previous Chapter except the term Ashwins. There are various interpretations  about the twins, Ashwini Kumars. They are called Dawn and Dusk or Morning and  Evening stars.

ihai'kastham jagatkritsnam pashyaadya  sacharaacharam
    mama dehe gudaakesha yacchaanyad  drashtumicchasi // 11.7 //

Now  behold today, O Gudakesa, the whole universe of the moving and the unmoving and  whatever else you desire to see, all concentrated in My Body.

The  entire universe comprising of both moving and static objects and beings is  being shown by Sri Krishna as compressed within the frame work of His own  physical structure. As explained earlier the concept of space as a divider  between objects is being removed from Arjuna's mind by The Lord leaving in him  the concept of `total space’ which is equivalent to Sri Krishna’s own physical  dimensions. It is the vision of all in the One.

na tu maam shakyase drashtum anenaiva  swachakshushaa
    divyam dadaami te chakshuh pashya me  yogamaishwaram // 11.8 //

But  with these your own eyes you cannot see Me; I give you the divine eye; behold now  My sovereign Yoga power.

It  was already explained under verse 5 that to see many in the one requires right  intellectual power through philosophical understanding. The Lord says that  Arjuna cannot see Him in the Cosmic Form with his own fleshy eyes (Mamsa  Chakshu) and hence gives him the divine eye (Divya Chakshu). Human  eyes can see only the outward forms, the inner soul is perceived by the eye of  the Spirit.

There  is a type of knowledge that we can acquire by our own efforts, knowledge based  on the perceptions by the senses and intellectual activity. Another kind of  knowledge is possible when we are under the influence of grace, a direct  knowledge of spiritual realities. The god-vision is a gift of God. All these  indicate the unity of the cosmic manifold in the Divine nature.

The  vision is not a mental construction but the disclosure of a truth from beyond  the finite mind. The spontaneity and directness of the experience is  highlighted here.

SANJAYA DESCRIBES THE FORM

sanjaya uvaacha
    evam uktwaa tato raajan mahaa yogeshwaro  harih
    darshayaamaasa paarthaaya paramam  roopamaishwaram // 11.9 //

Sanjaya  said
    Having  spoken thus, O King, the great Lord of yoga, Hari revealed to Partha His  supreme and divine form.

King:  This verse is addressed to Dhritarashtra by Sanjaya. Hari: The one who  maintains the champions of Truth by destroying the powers of falsehood. Sanjaya  now starts describing the list of things that were visible within the frame  work of The Lord.

anekavaktra nayanam anekaadbhuta  darshanam
    anekadivyaabharanam  divyaanekodyataayudham // 11.10 //

With  many faces and eyes, with many wonderful sights, with many divine ornaments,  with many divine weapons uplifted (such a form He showed)

divyamaalyaambaradharam  divyagandhaanulepanam
    sarvaashcharyamayam devam anantam  vishwatomukham // 11.11 //

Wearing  divine garlands and apparel anointed with divine perfumes and creams the  all-wonderful, resplendent, endless, with face turned everywhere.

Total  cosmos is not a subject matter that is amenable for easy mental comprehension.  Sanjaya therefore stumbles for words to give its description. He means to say  that Arjuna looked at this Cosmic Form in all its magnificence and saw The Lord  everywhere, at all times and in every thing indicating that He is beyond the  three limitations of place, time and thing. The Self is everywhere as it is all  pervading. It exists in the past, present and future. It dwells in all parts.  It is therefore endless.

divi sooryasahasrasya  bhavedyugapadutthitaa
    yadi bhaah sadrishee saa  syaadbhaasastasya mahaatmanah // 11.12 //

If  the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that  would be like the splendor of that Mighty One. (The Cosmic or the Universal Form).

The  splendor of the Cosmic Form excels all others; it is indeed beyond comparison.

tatraikastham jagatkritsnam  pravibhaktamanekadhaa
    apashyaddevadevasya shareere  paandavastadaa // 11.13 //

There,  in the body of the God of Gods, Arjuna then saw the whole Universe with its  manifold divisions all gathered together in one.

In  the Cosmic Form of The Lord, Arjuna perceived the entire world of multiple  varieties brought together and made to rest at one and the same place. This  does not mean that the Universe has shrunk into the physical structure of Sri Krishna.  It means that Arjuna could intellectually comprehend the sense of oneness in  the world of matter. He could see many in the one and the One in the many. The  vision is a revelation of the potential divinity of all earthly life.

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