From The Holy Geeta:
CHAPTER XI
The Cosmic-Form Divine
IN THE GENERAL SCHEME of developing the theme, Lord Krishna had already explained His immanence in all subjects of the world (Vibhuti). This expansion of Himself in all objects and beings, as a perceptible Divine Presence, is exhaustively explained in the previous chapter entitled 'Vibhuti-yoga' --- the Divine Glories.
Studying this chapter, keeping in view this scheme of development in the Geeta, we detect here that a perfectly modern and scientific method of investigation is employed. An intellectual enquiry seeks, first of all, to GATHER ENOUGH DATA to support a theory, and thereafter, it demands an EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION of the same, without which, the theory cannot be established. If in the previous chapter, therefore, the Geeta has supplied us with enough data to prove that the Self is the substratum for the multiple world, in this chapter, the attempt is to supply Arjuna with a practical demonstration that everything does exist only in the Self.
The declaration that the mud is the essence of all pots, is established only when we prove, not only that all pots have mud in them, but also that the mud always potentially contains all pots of all shapes and dimensions. To see the mud in every pot, one has only to train one's eyes to detect the mud as separate from the pot-shapes, but to see all pots in the mud, no doubt, the observer needs a special 'eye.' He needs a sufficient sense of detachment and a scholarly amount of imagination without which it is impossible for him to detect the world-of-pots in any sample of mud.
Similarly, as was described in the last chapter, to see the Self peeping through the windows of finite objects is relatively an easy task; but it is hard, indeed, for a mortal to cognise at once the entire Universe in one Reality, the Self. And yet, this is possible with the 'eye' of knowledge, which knows so well the art of discrimination, and which has developed in itself a sufficient sense of detachment, so that the observer can forget, for the moment, all his attachments, and view on, in a spirit of hushed expectancy and thrilled wonderment.
What exactly makes the things of the world exist separately from one another? My physical structure is certainly separated from the form and substance of the book that I am reading, or the chair in which I sit, or the table that is in front of me. I am separated from all others, and everyone of them is separate from everything else. Scientifically viewed, the factor that determines the physical existence of all things in the world is the same. And yet, we do not feel the oneness --- they, being separated from each other, exist as individualised entities. What exactly are the factors that divide body from body, that separate object from object?
On a careful analysis, it will be quite clear to the thinker that it is the concept of space that divides the physical structures into independent islands. That which separates me from you, or me from my book, is the intervening space. Within my forearm, from the elbow to the wrist, there is certainly a sense of oneness, because, there is no intervening space present within the homogeneity of its entire length, while my fingers are separate, each being interleaved with space. If the concept of space is totally blotted out, it will be clear that all objects will immediately come together into a happy embrace, and will represent themselves as one congenial, homogeneous whole. And, in this mass of things, there must be all the shapes and forms of all the things of this world at one and the same place and time. This is the concept of the Cosmic-Man; the vision of the world, when viewed by a mind in which the concept of time and space has been dried up! Though, not totally.
Supposing a toy-maker makes out of wax hundreds of forms of animals, birds and creatures and stocks them in a cupboard. Viewed through its glass panes, no doubt, the monkey-doll is different from the cow-doll and both of them are separate from the baby-doll. But suppose the doll-maker changes his mind and he decides to destroy the whole lot and to make out of the stuff something more profitable. On the shelf of the cupboard, the same toys are separated from each other by the intervening space. Suppose the toy-maker decides to squeeze them into one ball of wax. In this act, the maker of the dolls has eliminated the spaces that were there, between the dolls, and in this bringing them together he created a huge ball-of-wax on the surface of which we could see the traces of almost all the dolls that were brought together: perhaps, the tail of the monkey, the face of the cow, the smile of the child, and the head of the dog!
Similarly, if Krishna could dry up "the concept of space" in the mind of Arjuna, the Prince would be able to see the whole Universe as though on his own palm. However, here we find that Arjuna's mind was given enough freedom to move above within the space-limit of Krishna's divine structure. Naturally, he sees in the Krishna-form the entire Universe compressed and packed.
This concept of the Cosmic-Man, and the actual vision of it in the Geeta, satisfies the demand for demonstration in any age of intellectual self-assertion. Having seen the form Arjuna gets completely converted both in his faith and in his understanding.
In this chapter, we find how the exquisite dramatist in Vyasa has squeezed the Sanskrit language dry to feed the beauty of his literary masterpiece. Apart from the chosen words and the mellifluous phrases, every metrical dexterity is being employed here, as an effective strategy to heighten the dramatic situation and to paint clearly the emotions of wonderment, amazement, fear, reverence, devotion, etc., in Arjuna. Altogether, in the dignity of concept, in the beauty of diction, in the artistry of its depiction and in its inner stream of drama, this chapter has been rightly upheld by all as one of the highest philosophical poems in the world's treasure-house of Sacred Books.
|| Chapter - 11 ||
CHAPTER XI
The Cosmic-Form Divine
IN THE GENERAL SCHEME of developing the theme, Lord Krishna had already explained His immanence in all subjects of the world (Vibhuti). This expansion of Himself in all objects and beings, as a perceptible Divine Presence, is exhaustively explained in the previous chapter entitled 'Vibhuti-yoga' --- the Divine Glories.
Studying this chapter, keeping in view this scheme of development in the Geeta, we detect here that a perfectly modern and scientific method of investigation is employed. An intellectual enquiry seeks, first of all, to GATHER ENOUGH DATA to support a theory, and thereafter, it demands an EXPERIMENTAL DEMONSTRATION of the same, without which, the theory cannot be established. If in the previous chapter, therefore, the Geeta has supplied us with enough data to prove that the Self is the substratum for the multiple world, in this chapter, the attempt is to supply Arjuna with a practical demonstration that everything does exist only in the Self.
The declaration that the mud is the essence of all pots, is established only when we prove, not only that all pots have mud in them, but also that the mud always potentially contains all pots of all shapes and dimensions. To see the mud in every pot, one has only to train one's eyes to detect the mud as separate from the pot-shapes, but to see all pots in the mud, no doubt, the observer needs a special 'eye.' He needs a sufficient sense of detachment and a scholarly amount of imagination without which it is impossible for him to detect the world-of-pots in any sample of mud.
Similarly, as was described in the last chapter, to see the Self peeping through the windows of finite objects is relatively an easy task; but it is hard, indeed, for a mortal to cognise at once the entire Universe in one Reality, the Self. And yet, this is possible with the 'eye' of knowledge, which knows so well the art of discrimination, and which has developed in itself a sufficient sense of detachment, so that the observer can forget, for the moment, all his attachments, and view on, in a spirit of hushed expectancy and thrilled wonderment.
What exactly makes the things of the world exist separately from one another? My physical structure is certainly separated from the form and substance of the book that I am reading, or the chair in which I sit, or the table that is in front of me. I am separated from all others, and everyone of them is separate from everything else. Scientifically viewed, the factor that determines the physical existence of all things in the world is the same. And yet, we do not feel the oneness --- they, being separated from each other, exist as individualised entities. What exactly are the factors that divide body from body, that separate object from object?
On a careful analysis, it will be quite clear to the thinker that it is the concept of space that divides the physical structures into independent islands. That which separates me from you, or me from my book, is the intervening space. Within my forearm, from the elbow to the wrist, there is certainly a sense of oneness, because, there is no intervening space present within the homogeneity of its entire length, while my fingers are separate, each being interleaved with space. If the concept of space is totally blotted out, it will be clear that all objects will immediately come together into a happy embrace, and will represent themselves as one congenial, homogeneous whole. And, in this mass of things, there must be all the shapes and forms of all the things of this world at one and the same place and time. This is the concept of the Cosmic-Man; the vision of the world, when viewed by a mind in which the concept of time and space has been dried up! Though, not totally.
Supposing a toy-maker makes out of wax hundreds of forms of animals, birds and creatures and stocks them in a cupboard. Viewed through its glass panes, no doubt, the monkey-doll is different from the cow-doll and both of them are separate from the baby-doll. But suppose the doll-maker changes his mind and he decides to destroy the whole lot and to make out of the stuff something more profitable. On the shelf of the cupboard, the same toys are separated from each other by the intervening space. Suppose the toy-maker decides to squeeze them into one ball of wax. In this act, the maker of the dolls has eliminated the spaces that were there, between the dolls, and in this bringing them together he created a huge ball-of-wax on the surface of which we could see the traces of almost all the dolls that were brought together: perhaps, the tail of the monkey, the face of the cow, the smile of the child, and the head of the dog!
Similarly, if Krishna could dry up "the concept of space" in the mind of Arjuna, the Prince would be able to see the whole Universe as though on his own palm. However, here we find that Arjuna's mind was given enough freedom to move above within the space-limit of Krishna's divine structure. Naturally, he sees in the Krishna-form the entire Universe compressed and packed.
This concept of the Cosmic-Man, and the actual vision of it in the Geeta, satisfies the demand for demonstration in any age of intellectual self-assertion. Having seen the form Arjuna gets completely converted both in his faith and in his understanding.
In this chapter, we find how the exquisite dramatist in Vyasa has squeezed the Sanskrit language dry to feed the beauty of his literary masterpiece. Apart from the chosen words and the mellifluous phrases, every metrical dexterity is being employed here, as an effective strategy to heighten the dramatic situation and to paint clearly the emotions of wonderment, amazement, fear, reverence, devotion, etc., in Arjuna. Altogether, in the dignity of concept, in the beauty of diction, in the artistry of its depiction and in its inner stream of drama, this chapter has been rightly upheld by all as one of the highest philosophical poems in the world's treasure-house of Sacred Books.
|| Chapter - 11 ||
