Bg 11.52
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
su-durdarśam idaṁ rūpaṁ dṛṣṭavān asi yan mama
devā apy asya rūpasya nityaṁ darśana-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ
Bg 11.53
nāhaṁ vedair na tapasā na dānena na cejyayā
śakya evaṁ-vidho draṣṭuṁ dṛṣṭavān asi māṁ yathā
Bg 11.54
bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya aham evaṁ-vidho ’rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena praveṣṭuṁ ca paran-tapa
Bg 11.55
mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava
Om tat sat iti śrīmadbhagavadgītāsu upaniśadsu
brahmavidyāyām yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasamvāde
viśvarūpadarśanayogo nāma ekādaśodhyāyaha
Translation
The Blessed Lord said: 52. Very hard, indeed, it is to see this Form of Mine which you have seen. Even the gods are ever longing to behold this Form.
53. Neither by the VEDAS, nor by austerity, nor by gift, nor by sacrifices, can I be seen in this Form as you have seen Me (in your present mental condition).
54. But, by single-minded devotion, can I, of this Form, be 'known' and 'seen' in reality, and also 'entered' into, O Parantapa (O scorcher of your foes)!
55. He who does actions for Me, who looks upon Me as the Supreme, who is devoted to Me, who is free from attachment, who bears enmity towards none, he comes to Me, O Pandava.
Commentary
The Universal-Form of the Lord is no easy experience for anyone, and it can be gained neither by study of the Vedas, nor by austerities, nor by gifts, nor by a sacrifice. Even the gods, the denizens of heaven, with their ampler intellects, longer lives, and harder endeavours, are unable to behold this Universal-Form, and they keep on longing for this experience.
And yet, Krishna has shown this Form, mighty and wondrous, to His friend through His Grace, as He Himself admitted earlier.
We may wonder what makes the Lord shower His grace upon one, and not upon another. It CANNOT be a haphazard distribution of an Omnipotent, who does things as He likes, arbitrarily, without any rhyme or reason! For, in that case the Lord will be accused of partiality and arbitrariness.
HERE, IN THE FOLLOWING STANZA, WE GET THE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF WHAT COMPELS THE LORD TO SHOWER HIS SPECIAL FAVOURS UPON SOMEONE SOMETIMES, AND NOT UPON ALL AT ALL TIMES:
Regarding devotion Shankara says: "No doubt, of the means available for liberating ourselves, the most substantial hardware is Bhakti; and identifying ourselves with the Self is called Bhakti."
Identification is the truest measure of Love. The devotee, forgetting his own individual existence and, in his love, identifying to become one with his beloved Lord, is the culmination of Divine Love. The Vedantic student who is the seeker of the Self, is spiritually obliged to renounced all his abject identification with his matter vestures and to discover his true nature to be the Self.
Only those who are thus capable of identifying themselves with the One unifying Truth that holds together, in its web-of-love, the plurality, can experience, "ME IN THIS FASHION" --- in my Cosmic Form.
The three stages in which realisation of Truth comes to man are indicated here when the Lord says, "TO KNOW, TO SEE, AND TO ENTER." A definite intellectual knowledge of the goal and the path is the beginning of a seeker's pilgrimage --- TO KNOW. Next comes the seeker's attempt to masticate the ideas intellectually understood through his own personal reflections upon the information which he has already gathered --- TO SEE. Having thus 'known' and 'seen' the goal, thereafter, the seeker, through a process of detachment from the false and attachment to the Real, comes to experience the Truth as no object other than himself --- TO ENTER. By the term 'entering,' it is also indicated that the fulfilled seeker becomes the very essence of the sought. The dreamer, suffering from the sorrows of the dream, ends it all, when he no more sees, but "enters" the waking-state, himself to become the waker.
HOW? ... I SHALL EXPLAIN, SAYS THE LORD AND ADDS:
When he heard that anyone can, through undivided devotion, not only recognise the cosmic might of the Lord but also experience that glory in himself, the Pandava Prince's face must have reflected an anxiety to acquire this status. As an answer to this unasked question from Arjuna, Krishna explains here how one can grow towards this great fulfilment in life.
The Krishna-plan, for finite man to gain the stature and strength of the Cosmic, seems to consist of five distinct schemes. This is clear from the conditions required of a seeker as given in this verse. They are: (1) whose work is all dedicated to the Lord, (2) whose goal is the Lord, (3) who is a devotee of the Lord, (4) who is free from all attachments, and (5) who is devoid of all sense of enmity towards everyone.
In these five schemes, we find the entire line of self-discipline summarised. Detachment from all activities, whether physical or mental or intellectual can take place only when one is constantly thinking of the Self. Enmity is possible only when one considers the other as separate from oneself. There cannot be enmity between my own right hand and my left hand. The awareness of the Oneness should be experienced through the vision of the same Self everywhere and then alone can the total avoidance of enmity with any creature be fully accomplished.
Total detachment is an impossibility at the mind-and-intellect level. The mind and intellect cannot live without attaching themselves to some thing or being. Therefore, the seeker, through God-dedicated activity, learns first to withdraw all his attachments from other things, and then to turn his mind with the fervour of devoted attachment to the Lord. In accomplishing this, all the schemes explained earlier are, indeed, very helpful.
Thus, when the whole scheme is re-evaluated, we can find in it a logic quite acceptable and perfectly psychological. Each subsequent item in the scheme is beautifully supported and nourished by the previous one. From the stanza, it is evident that the spiritual seeker's great pilgrimage starts with God-dedicated activities. Soon, that God-principle Itself becomes his very goal in life. He will develop, in himself, a consummate liking for this glorious goal. Naturally, all his other finite attachments with the world-of-objects will end, and at last, he will come to contact the Self. Having become the Self, he recognises himself everywhere, in everything, and so, in him there cannot be any sense of enmity at all.
LOVE FOR ALL AND HATRED FOR NONE can be considered the Geeta 'touch-stone' to know the quality of realisation and intensity of experience a seeker has gained through his Sadhana.
Thus, in the UPANISHADS of the glorious Bhagawad-Geeta, in the Science of the Eternal, in the scripture of YOGA, in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, the eleventh discourse ends titled:
THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE UNIVERSAL FORM
The Chapter is rightly named as the vision of the Universal-Form. In Sanskrit scriptural terminology, it is pointed out that the term Vishwa Roopa used here is actually the Virata Roopa. The Self, identifying itself with an 'individual physical body,' experiences the waking-state happenings, and in this condition the Self is called in Vedanta as Vishwa. When the same Self identifies Itself with the total-physical-gross-bodies of the Universe, in that condition the Self is called the Cosmic-Virata. Here the Lord showed His Cosmic-Form but the Chapter is titled as Vishwa-Roopa.
Om Om Om Om Om
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
su-durdarśam idaṁ rūpaṁ dṛṣṭavān asi yan mama
devā apy asya rūpasya nityaṁ darśana-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ
Bg 11.53
nāhaṁ vedair na tapasā na dānena na cejyayā
śakya evaṁ-vidho draṣṭuṁ dṛṣṭavān asi māṁ yathā
Bg 11.54
bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya aham evaṁ-vidho ’rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena praveṣṭuṁ ca paran-tapa
Bg 11.55
mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava
Om tat sat iti śrīmadbhagavadgītāsu upaniśadsu
brahmavidyāyām yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasamvāde
viśvarūpadarśanayogo nāma ekādaśodhyāyaha
Translation
The Blessed Lord said: 52. Very hard, indeed, it is to see this Form of Mine which you have seen. Even the gods are ever longing to behold this Form.
53. Neither by the VEDAS, nor by austerity, nor by gift, nor by sacrifices, can I be seen in this Form as you have seen Me (in your present mental condition).
54. But, by single-minded devotion, can I, of this Form, be 'known' and 'seen' in reality, and also 'entered' into, O Parantapa (O scorcher of your foes)!
55. He who does actions for Me, who looks upon Me as the Supreme, who is devoted to Me, who is free from attachment, who bears enmity towards none, he comes to Me, O Pandava.
Commentary
The Universal-Form of the Lord is no easy experience for anyone, and it can be gained neither by study of the Vedas, nor by austerities, nor by gifts, nor by a sacrifice. Even the gods, the denizens of heaven, with their ampler intellects, longer lives, and harder endeavours, are unable to behold this Universal-Form, and they keep on longing for this experience.
And yet, Krishna has shown this Form, mighty and wondrous, to His friend through His Grace, as He Himself admitted earlier.
We may wonder what makes the Lord shower His grace upon one, and not upon another. It CANNOT be a haphazard distribution of an Omnipotent, who does things as He likes, arbitrarily, without any rhyme or reason! For, in that case the Lord will be accused of partiality and arbitrariness.
HERE, IN THE FOLLOWING STANZA, WE GET THE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF WHAT COMPELS THE LORD TO SHOWER HIS SPECIAL FAVOURS UPON SOMEONE SOMETIMES, AND NOT UPON ALL AT ALL TIMES:
Regarding devotion Shankara says: "No doubt, of the means available for liberating ourselves, the most substantial hardware is Bhakti; and identifying ourselves with the Self is called Bhakti."
Identification is the truest measure of Love. The devotee, forgetting his own individual existence and, in his love, identifying to become one with his beloved Lord, is the culmination of Divine Love. The Vedantic student who is the seeker of the Self, is spiritually obliged to renounced all his abject identification with his matter vestures and to discover his true nature to be the Self.
Only those who are thus capable of identifying themselves with the One unifying Truth that holds together, in its web-of-love, the plurality, can experience, "ME IN THIS FASHION" --- in my Cosmic Form.
The three stages in which realisation of Truth comes to man are indicated here when the Lord says, "TO KNOW, TO SEE, AND TO ENTER." A definite intellectual knowledge of the goal and the path is the beginning of a seeker's pilgrimage --- TO KNOW. Next comes the seeker's attempt to masticate the ideas intellectually understood through his own personal reflections upon the information which he has already gathered --- TO SEE. Having thus 'known' and 'seen' the goal, thereafter, the seeker, through a process of detachment from the false and attachment to the Real, comes to experience the Truth as no object other than himself --- TO ENTER. By the term 'entering,' it is also indicated that the fulfilled seeker becomes the very essence of the sought. The dreamer, suffering from the sorrows of the dream, ends it all, when he no more sees, but "enters" the waking-state, himself to become the waker.
HOW? ... I SHALL EXPLAIN, SAYS THE LORD AND ADDS:
When he heard that anyone can, through undivided devotion, not only recognise the cosmic might of the Lord but also experience that glory in himself, the Pandava Prince's face must have reflected an anxiety to acquire this status. As an answer to this unasked question from Arjuna, Krishna explains here how one can grow towards this great fulfilment in life.
The Krishna-plan, for finite man to gain the stature and strength of the Cosmic, seems to consist of five distinct schemes. This is clear from the conditions required of a seeker as given in this verse. They are: (1) whose work is all dedicated to the Lord, (2) whose goal is the Lord, (3) who is a devotee of the Lord, (4) who is free from all attachments, and (5) who is devoid of all sense of enmity towards everyone.
In these five schemes, we find the entire line of self-discipline summarised. Detachment from all activities, whether physical or mental or intellectual can take place only when one is constantly thinking of the Self. Enmity is possible only when one considers the other as separate from oneself. There cannot be enmity between my own right hand and my left hand. The awareness of the Oneness should be experienced through the vision of the same Self everywhere and then alone can the total avoidance of enmity with any creature be fully accomplished.
Total detachment is an impossibility at the mind-and-intellect level. The mind and intellect cannot live without attaching themselves to some thing or being. Therefore, the seeker, through God-dedicated activity, learns first to withdraw all his attachments from other things, and then to turn his mind with the fervour of devoted attachment to the Lord. In accomplishing this, all the schemes explained earlier are, indeed, very helpful.
Thus, when the whole scheme is re-evaluated, we can find in it a logic quite acceptable and perfectly psychological. Each subsequent item in the scheme is beautifully supported and nourished by the previous one. From the stanza, it is evident that the spiritual seeker's great pilgrimage starts with God-dedicated activities. Soon, that God-principle Itself becomes his very goal in life. He will develop, in himself, a consummate liking for this glorious goal. Naturally, all his other finite attachments with the world-of-objects will end, and at last, he will come to contact the Self. Having become the Self, he recognises himself everywhere, in everything, and so, in him there cannot be any sense of enmity at all.
LOVE FOR ALL AND HATRED FOR NONE can be considered the Geeta 'touch-stone' to know the quality of realisation and intensity of experience a seeker has gained through his Sadhana.
Thus, in the UPANISHADS of the glorious Bhagawad-Geeta, in the Science of the Eternal, in the scripture of YOGA, in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, the eleventh discourse ends titled:
THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE UNIVERSAL FORM
The Chapter is rightly named as the vision of the Universal-Form. In Sanskrit scriptural terminology, it is pointed out that the term Vishwa Roopa used here is actually the Virata Roopa. The Self, identifying itself with an 'individual physical body,' experiences the waking-state happenings, and in this condition the Self is called in Vedanta as Vishwa. When the same Self identifies Itself with the total-physical-gross-bodies of the Universe, in that condition the Self is called the Cosmic-Virata. Here the Lord showed His Cosmic-Form but the Chapter is titled as Vishwa-Roopa.
Om Om Om Om Om
Sources: vedabase.com; The Holy Geeta
