Article title: Viśvarūpa
by
Sachi R. Sachidananda
May 29, 2022
This article was written originally at the request of Shree Guruvayurappan Temple, Brampton, Canada.
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The words often used to describe Srimadbhagavadgītā are, “the scripture for all mankind.” This supreme honour has been accorded to the Gītā because it is a manual for right living in every circumstance. It cuts across race, religion and language, and is equally applicable for every status in life and the type of problem faced.
The two pivots on which the Gītā stands are, “Karmayoga” and “Viśvarūpa”. You ask anybody who has any acquaintance with the Gītā and he or she will mention how Bhagavān Śrīkṛṣṇa taught Arjuna on the battlefield the truth of “Karmayoga”, which loosely translates as “do your duty the best and leave unto Īśvara the rest.”
The second pivot, the subject of this article, is “Viśvarūpa”. This teaches us in several ways the truth of right living, every moment experiencing Īśvara (whose English equivalent used normally is God) in everything, person, and circumstance.
These two pivots are encapuslated in my favourite Śloka BG18.46
Yataḥ pravṛttirbhūtānām ena sarvamidaṃ tatam |
Svakarmaṇā tamabharcya siddhiṃ vindati mānavaḥ || BG18.46 ||
Translated, it means
“From whom proceeds the activity of all beings, and by whom all this is pervaded - worshipping him through his own duty, a man attains perfection.” The two ideas of Karmayoga and Viśvarūpa are beautifully brought together in this dictum for right living.
The eleventh chapter of the Srimadbhagavadgītā is called Viśvarūpa darśanayoga. In this chapter, Sañjaya describes how Arjuna requests Bhagavān to show him his cosmic form. Bhagavān is pleased to accede to Arjuna and gives him a special pair of eyes and shows him his Viśvarūpa.
In this article, I want to explain my understanding that indeed, the paradigm of Viśvarūpa is covered in three chapters - Chapter 10 Vibhūtiyoga, Chapter 11 Viśvarūpadarśanayoga, and Chapter 12 Bhaktiyoga. I feel that taken together, the three chapters reveal the entire manual of how to live rightly, being connected with Īśvara always.
The Chapter 10 Vibhūtiyoga begins with this most endearing statement from Bhagavān:
Maccittā madgataprāṇā bodhayantaḥ parasparam |
Kathayantaśca māṃ nityaṃ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca || BG 10.09 ||
Translated, it means
“People who are, with their mind and senses directed to me, explaining me to each other, and talking of me - they are always pleased and happy.”
This is the spirit in which an endeavour like that of Guruvayurappan Temple of Brampton has been undertaken by well-intentioned people. For anyone of us, it is the rarest of good fortunes to be in the company of the devout and to constantly immerse oneself in the thoughts of Bhagavān.
The rest of Chapter 10 is filled with wonderful insights of how Īśvara reveals himself all the time, all around us, in our day-to-day living. Anybody who breathes excellence and radiates glory of any kind, be it a manager, a housewife, a sportsperson, a sadhu, a teacher- you name it - is displaying the glory of Īśvara. Nothing can be described as godly if it is cheap, corrupt, evil, untruthful, violent, harmful to the society or the environment. In that sense, all violent movements are ungodly. There is, on the other hand, Bhagavān’s call to right action rooted in Dharma, to face and destroy evil. For that, there is ample guidance in the Gītā.
As Bhaṭṭatiri describes in the Nārāyaṇīyam,
“jiṣṇostvaṃ kṛṣṇa sūtaḥ khalu samaramukhe bandhughāte dayāluṃ
khinnaṃ taṃ vīkṣya vīraṃ kimidamayi sakhe nitya eko'yamātmā ।
ko vadhyaḥ ko'tra hantā tadiha vadhabhiyaṃ projjhya mayyarpitatmā
dharmyaṃ yuddhaṃ careti prakṛtimanayathā darśayan viśvarūpam ॥” (Nārāyaṇīyam 86.6), meaning
“In your role as Arjuna's charioteer, you saw the warrior sad and dejected in the face of the war, with the pitiful thought of having to kill his relatives and his own people. You said to him, 'O Friend! What is this? Ātman is eternal and only one. Who is the slain and who is the slayer here? Therefore, giving up all fear of killing, surrender yourself to me and carry out this righteous war.' By saying so and showing him your cosmic form, you brought Arjuna back to a balanced state of mind.”
In the beginning of Chapter 11, Arjuna makes a humble plea to Bhagavān,
“Draṣṭumicchāmi te rūpam aiśvaraṃ puruṣottama” BG 11.03 - meaning “Oh Supreme Lord, I wish to see your infinite form of cosmic glory!”
Bhagavān is most merciful when he says, “of course, Arjuna, you can see whatever you wish to see in my form, my infinite glory. However, it cannot be with these eyes of yours which look outward, but with the celestial eye I am giving you to behold my divine miracle.”
“Divyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ paśya me yogamaiṣvaram” BG 11.08
What we should understand from these words is that in the Chapter 10, Bhagavān has listed how, in everyday life, we can observe divinity in things and people based on their behaviour, appearance, excellence, and glory. But if you want to go beyond the senses and the mind, you need the grace of the divine to open up your inner vision. That will raise our consciousness to the level needed to see the glory of Īśvara beyond common outwordly sense perceptions.
Now, the Viśvarūpa revealed to Arjuna is in many layers. It is mostly so terrifying that even such an unparalleled warrior and a chosen disciple of Bhagavān as Arjuna is badly shaken. Apart from beholding all the cosmic deities, all the great warriors he was surrounded by, Arjuna sees in the Viśvarūpa the macabre sport of Death, about to crush and eat up everyone around. To understand this, we need to remember that this was the moment of the defining battle of civilizational conflict between good and bad. All mankind was going to pay a price for precipitating such a war despite the best efforts of the Pānḍavās and even the mediation of Bhagavān Śrīkṛṣṇa himself. It shows what will happen when good people like Bhīṣma are conflicted and confused on whose side they are.
Indeed, coming back to Chapter 11 Viśvarūpadarśanayoga of the Gītā, Arjuna’s stuttering, almost incoherent, reaction to the experience of Viśvarūpa is described beautifully in these two verses:
“sthāne hṛṣīkeśa tava prakīrtyā
jagatprahṛṣyatyanurajyate ca ।
rakṣāṃsi bhītāni diśo dravanti
sarve namasyanti ca siddhasaṅghāḥ ॥ BG11-36 ॥
tvamādidevaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇas-
tvamasya viśvasya paraṃ nidhānam ।
vettāsi vedyaṃ ca paraṃ ca dhāma
tvayā tataṃ viśvamanantarūpa ॥ BG11-38॥”
Translated, it means
“It is just, oh Bhagavān, that by your glory the world is delighted and attracted towards you, whereas the demons get frightened and run in all directions. All the enlightened souls bow down to you. You are the primeaval Īśvara, the beginningless one, the supreme repository of the universe, you are the knower (our soul) and the knowable (all experience), and the highest abode! Oh one of infinite form, by you is the universe pervaded.”
Finally, Bhagavān tells Arjuna that this special vision of Viśvarūpa has been granted to Arjuna only because of Arjuna’s devotion and Bhagavān’s love for him. This vision would be impossible for even the great yogis and munis and jñānis adept in the scriptures. This shows that Bhagavān’s grace is the supreme factor for liberation and divine insight.
Now, for someone like Arjuna who has seen Bhagavān’s glory manifest in the outside world and also the many-layered reality of Īśvara shown to him through grace in his inner vision, the question arises, how should that person live? The answer is that he should live a life full of Bhakti. But what is Bhakti? Is it worship, japa, tapa, ritual, scriptural study or what? The answer comes in Chapter 12 Bhaktiyoga.
Pointedly, Arjuna asks Bhagavān whether one should try and meditate on the abstract, formless Brahman, at the same time following all rules of right conduct, or one should worship Īśvara with form.
Even a basic knowledge of Sanskrit is sufficient to understand Bhagavān’s reply which unambiguously states that for those who are embodied, (all of us, since none of us is bodyless!), the path of devotion to Īśvara with form is supreme.
I reproduce below the verse and the interpretation from Adi Sankara Bhashya, translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier (Pub. Ramakrishna Math, Madras 600004)
There are two more verses I wish to quote from Chapter 12 Bhakti Yoga.
For someone like me, it is not enough to simply devote all thought, word and deed in the worship of Īśvara. I also need to live in this world and continue to function through doing my karma, interacting with the rest of humanity and the environment. How do I do that in the spirit of Gītā?
“Adveṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṃ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca ।
nirmamo nirahaṅkāraḥ samaduḥkhasukhaḥ kṣamī ॥ 12-13॥
Santuṣṭaḥ satataṃ yogī yatātmā dṛḍhaniścayaḥ ।
mayyarpitamanobuddhiryo madbhaktaḥ sa me priyaḥ ॥ 12-14॥”
Translated, it means
“Non-hateful, friendly, and compassionate toward all beings, free from ideas of I and mine, balanced in pain and pleasure, forgiving, always cheerful, contemplative, self-controlled, of firm conviction, living with his mind and intellect dedicated to Īśvara, such a devotee is dear to me (Bhagavān)!”
In other words, there is a need for me to integrate Karmayoga with my realization of Viśvarūpa. This is given as a manual for understanding and action in the triad of the chapters 10, 11, and 12 of Srimadbhagavadgītā. What better clarity, what better authenticity, and what better practicality can we get from any scripture? That is why Srimadbhagavadgītā is “the scripture for all mankind.”
All that remains is for me to be surrendered to Bhagavān and live in his grace.
Hariḥ Om Tat Sat
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Sachi R. Sachidananda, May 29, 2022
