ARJUNA said: "O Keshava ! I beg Thee to explain
Prakriti, the Female Principle of creation;
Purusha-the Male-Principle;
Kshetra-the body as the spirit's habitation;
Kshetrajna-the soul and Over-soul;
Jnana-the Knowledge; and Jneya-the knowable."
Sree Bhagavan said ; Arjuna ! to make thee under-
stand
The esoteric principle of Bhakti,
I have explained the real nature of the soul
As well as the various actions of the soul conditioned.
I have told thee explicitly about pure Bhakti.
The triple paths of Karma, Jnana ann Bhakti have
also been explained.
Now I shall tell thee of Jnana and Vairagya
Or abnegation from the angle of transcendental
knowledge,
Which will all the more confirm thy faith in
unalloyed devotion.
THE esoteric truth anent conception of the God-
head,
Which I explained to Brahma in the Bhagavatam,
Is that the knowledge about Me and My most secret
Love
Together with My transcendental Love and the
Means of realising them
Can only be acquired through My Grace.
Thereby I explained the fourfold truths regarding
Jnana or true knowledge,
Vijnana or transcendental esoteric knowledge,
Rahasya or the mystery of Love Divine
And Tadanga, the means of realising it.
If these four principles are not completely under-
stood,
The mystery of Love Divine is not unravelled.
I shall endow thee with such discernment
That thou shalt realise what My Divine Love is.
ONCE pure devotion is awakened in the heart,
A transcendental knowledge and a genuine
indifference
To objects that are adverse to My service,
And a spontaneous acceptance of all
That does support My cause, will follow soon ;
For pure devotion, transcendental knowledge
And genuine asceticism go hand in hand.
Know therefore these two latter principles
By practicisng a pure devotion.
O Son of Kunti ! this body is called Kshetra,
And he who is well versed in its faculties
Is known as Kshetrajna.
This body is called Kshetra, because it is the
germinating ground
Of that development which is the world-tree-
The field of carnal pleasure.
He who knows the nature of this body
Both in its conditioned and its freed state
Is a Kshetrajna or a Jiva-soul.
Conditioned, it identifies itself with the fallacious
ego
And vainly thinks itself enjoyer and possessor of
the world's phenomena;
Freed, it is no longer proud of worldly relativities.
IN considering Kshetra and Kshetrajna,
Thou must understand, Bharata ! these three
principles:
The Over-soul, the individual soul and Matter.
As every form enshrines an individual soul
As its Kshetrajna, so I am Iswara-
The Lord and the Supreme Knower or Kshetrajna
of the Universe.
I am Paramatma, the Primordial Knower of all
souls,
Of the various Kshetras as well as all the worlds.
Those who conceive of these three Principles-
God, soul and Matter,
By understanding Kshetra and Kshetrajna and the
Over-soul,
Are blessed with knowledge true,
And this knowledge is Vijnana.
THOU hearest now from Me, what Kshetra is,
What is its nature, its changes, whence it
comes,
Who is Kshetrajna, who and what are the powers
and functions of the Kshetrajna-
Jivatma or the soul, and Paramatma
Or the Over-soul.
TRUE conceptions of Kshetra and Kshetrajna
Have been described in many ways by sages
Like Vasistha in the Yoga-Scriptures;
And the Vedas by Vyasa;
And in the Smritis by the saints.
They have explaned them separately
And in distinctly different way;
The Brahma-sutras, aphorisms of the Vedanta,
Established them by reasoning as truths exact.
From those aphorisms of the sages and the saints,
The Vedas and the Vedanta, it is established that
the Kshetra
Is composed of twenty-four material principles.
These are the five great elements
Earth, water, fire, air and ether;
Ahankara or perverted ego, Buddhi or discrimi-
nation;
Avyakta or Pradhana-the Prakriti of triple qualities
Which is the cause of Mahattattwa, the female
principle in Nature;
The ten external organs of sense and action-
The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch,
Voice, hands, legs, anus and penis;
The mind or the internal organ of both sense and
action
And sight, sound, smell, taste, touch-
The five faculties of these five senses.
Knowing these twenty-four material principles,
Man can understand what is Kshetra and what its
functions are.
Note that Prakriti begets Mahattattwa,
Mahattattwa begets Ahankara,
And Ahankara begets Mahabhutas.
Desire, hatred, pleasures, pains
Are the effects of the five great elements or
Mahabhutas
And with the body are concerned ;
The perverted self or mind, patience and suchlike
qualities,
Are vitiations of the Kshetra,
Followed by birth, death, fear and hunger,
And therefore by Kshetra both the body and the
mind are meant.
NOW I will tell thee of twenty qualities of
character
Which the unwise think are twenty vitiations of
the Kshetra :
Defiance of arrogance and inoffensiveness,
Forbearance, coveting no honour, uprightness,
Services to the Preceptor, inward and outward
purity,
Steadfastness and self-control and absence of
egotism,
Aversion to objects of a sensual pleasure ,
Insight into the transcience and evils
Of birth, death, decrepitude, disease and sorrow,
Non-attachment to offspring, wife, home and
relatives,
Aloofness from the pleasures and the penalties of
family-life,
Equanimity at the approach of both desirable and
undesirable events,
Unflinching pure devotion unto Me,
Resorting to solitude and sacred places,
Avoiding places where the evil-minded live,
Constancy in morals and searching for salvations as
the desired end-
The unwise think these twenty traits
To be vitiations of the body and the mind.
But they are not corruptions of the Kshetra ;
They tend towards the knowledge Absolute.
They are antidotes to such corruption of these
twenty things;
Single-minded pure devotion unto Me alone
Stands foremost and must be adhered to;
The nineteen that remain contribute to devotion,
And purify the blemishes of earthly mind and body
And ultimately waken from its dream
The pure eternal heart within the soul,
Which is the seat of pure devotion.
Knowest thou these nineteen to be the throne of yet
another-
Bhakti or devotion, as the Queen.
This is all true and transcendental knowledge,
The rest is ignorance.
I have thus told thee of Kshetra
With its nature, pervertions and their antidotes,
And I have told thee of Kshetrajna,
Which is compounded of Jivatma and Paramatma,
And constitutes the secret Knower of the body.
I have explained to thee that knowledge
Of the Kshetra and Kshetrajna is called Vijnana.
Let Me now tell thee about the Knowable
That may be known by means of that Vijnana.
That Knowable without beginning,
Is a subordinate Principle to Me;
It is beyond the scope of gross and subtle sustances,
Beyond cause and effect,
And it is known as "Brahman".
When its true nature is perceived,
It leads man to the everlasting nectar of devotion
unto Me.
JUST as the sun's rays emanate from the sun,
So also Brahman, the Great,
Is but a reflection of My Glowing aspect.
Brahman* is the Receptacle of all beings,
In infinity from Brahma* to the smallest ant.
(* Brahman is the Negative Aspect of the Absolute Whole,
the Supreme Lord ; Brahma is only an individual soul with
deligated power to create the fourteen worlds or the Universe in
which we live-He is supposed to have four heads, having the
capacity to gauge the fourth dimension and is superior to ordi-
nary entities. Brahman is the highest of the four castes in
Hinduism ; Brahma is a follower of a Pantheistic sect in
Hinduism, started by Raja Rammohan Roy.)
That Being Infinite possesses an infinity of hands
and feet,
Of eyes and mouth, of heads and ears.
Thus does the Neuter-God Brahman exist,
Accomodating every entity within It.
Though that Great Principle, the Neuter-God,
Does manifest all mundane senses, it is Itself devoid
of such;
Ever detached from earthly relativities ;
Preserver of the world as Vishnu.
It is devoid of all worldly qualities,
Yet does posses six thousand qualities.*
(* Cf. Svetasvatara Upanishad 19)
That distinguish Him as Bhagavan.
THAT Great Principle. The Neuter-God exists as
Brahman,
Containing every object in Itself ;
And It lives as Paramatma in each atom.
Thus the He-God does exist both in and out of
every entity.
All the sentient and insentient worlds have emanated
from Him.
Inconceivable is He to human senses
For He is greater than the greatest,
And infinitely smaller than the smallest ;
He is simultaneously both near and far away.*
(* Cf. Isha Upanishad-"Tatdure tadwantike")
Undivided He remains though He may seem divided
In the diverse beings He exists within.
Though He exists in every individual Jiva
As the Unit-Purusha, Vishnu,
Yet He retains His Undivided Life
As the Great Aggregate-Parameswara-
The Lord Supreme of all the entities of all the
worlds together.
He is the Sustainer within sustenance,
Destroyer in destruction, and the Creator in creation
HE is the Master-Light of lights ;*
(* Cf. Katha Upanishad.)
He is beyond all darkness and is ever radiant ;
He is the Knowledge and the Knowable
In His Manifestive Form Divine
And He is the Object of that Khowledge ;
He lives as the Great Indweller of the hearts of all
things living.
Thus I have briefly told thee about Kshetra,
Jnana and Jneya or the Object of all knowledge,
Full understanding of these principles is called the
Knowledge Transcendental.
My devotees possessing Transcendental Knowledge
Attain the purest Prema-Bhakti.
Non-devotees deprive themselves of this Knowledge
Owing to their pointless wrangling
Over sect and the false notion of their oneness with
Brahman.
This Jnana is no less than solid rock on which the
Jiva,
Having realised his purest self and functions,
Builds up the shrine of his devout activities.
This will be more explicitly explained with
Purushottama.
I shall now tell thee the results
Of understanding Kshetra and Kshetrajna.
Three principles are noticed in the shackled lives
of Jiva-entities :
Prakriti, Purusha and Paramatma.
The Kshetra-that is the fleshy body composed of
all five elements,
The subtle form of mind, the perverted ego and the
buddhi-
Is Prakriti;
The Jiva is Purusha
Due to his enjoying mood in his conditioned state;
And Paramatma is My Immanent Manifestation
between these two.
Prakriti and Purusha are both eternal;
They existed even before the dawn of worldly time
and space,
Born of My Potencies which co-exist with My
Supreme Divinity
Within the spacious undivided spirit-time that is
eternity.
The Cosmic Power was dormant in Me ;
I made it manifest in worldly time
When to create the universe I willed.
The Jivas also are among My Potencies Eternal
For they have stepped into the realm of Cosmic
Potency
By turning their back upon Me,
On account of the misuse of their free will,
Submitting to the slavery of an enjoying mood,
Of mastering phenomena within the bounds of time
and space;
Albeit the Jivas are essentially all spiritual in their
unalloyed existence.
It was My Inward Potency that gave the Jivas
Their own Tatastha-Nature, or the oscillating
tendency
Upon the margin which offered them a free choice
To come to Me and be most lovingly attached to Me
and My service,
Or cast themselves within the bounds of earthly
limitations
To offer adulation unto Maya.
How an eternal spiritual entity could be enthralled
by Maya
Can never be determined by the human reason.
My inconceivable capacities transcend
The understanding of the human senses.
Know thou this however:
That the pervertions and the qualities of the conditioned Jivas
Are born of Matter coming into contact with Prakriti,
Those qualities and actions belong not to the Jivas
in their unalloyed existence.
MATERIAL causes and effects,
That is the bodies and enjoying mood of all
their senses,
Are of Prakriti.
Out of their perverted egotism,
Jivas derive their moods of pleasure and of pains
According to their vacillating tendency
Between the transcendental and the mundane.
The pure souls have no lording or enjoying mood,
But only when they misidentify themselves
With gross and subtle bodies born of Matter or
Prakriti
In their fettered state of life,
Do they adopt this attitude of mastering phenomena.
KARYA refers to the material body ;
Karana signifies the senses;
And Kartrittva the presiding deities of senses.
All these concern Prakriti, the Material Cause
Of these three factors, due to her contact with
Purusha
Who, as a fallen soul, enjoys the pleasures and the
pains
Which are the consequent effects.
Prakriti is the root of all effects and causes
And their agency, as well as of enjoyment.
She dominates the first three by her influence on
matter,
While Purusha, being spiritual, causes his enjoying
mood, in his perverted state.
Prakriti is the cause of all material effects
Within the changing Universe.
Purusha or Jiva misapprehending his identity
Causes the enjoyment or the suffering of these
effects,
While Purushottama is the Efficient, Final Cause
Of all the causes and effects.
WHEN Jiva misidentifies with physical and
subtle forms
Born of Prakriti-caused by his ignorance
Arising from his choice of lower worlds
When on the border-line of the ephemeral and the
eternal sphere-
He deems himself appreciator of effects oaused] by
Prakriti.
Jiva emanates from the Tatastha-Potency of the
Lord Supreme.
Tatastha-shakti is that potency existing on the
border-line
Between the Esoteric and the Exoteric Potencies,
Partaking of the influence of both.
A Jiva can thus make the right use of his free will
By following the trend of the Internal Potency
Leading to progressive service of the Lord,
Or by misusing the same will
He may be overpowered by Maya,
And thus forget his real nature.
He is thence ousted from his normal place within
the Transcendental Realm
And lodged within his tenement of clay;
Thenceforth does he enjoy or suffer on the wheel of
Karma,
Rising and falling.
He then becomes attached to gross and subtle forms,
Born of Prakriti, forgetting that his preference
Is only possible while his true nature sleeps.
He therefore undergoes a round of births and deaths
by force of Karma.
His pious deeds afford him righteous birth,
His sinful acts ensure his birth of evil womb.
Nor piety nor sin can help such fallen Jiva
Out of the relativities of earth.
JIVA is My companion ever ;
When he directs his mind and heart to Me,
He comes in closer contact with Me.
By nature, he is free to choose his inclination,
Of proceeding this way or that way from the border-
line.
By turning towards Me, he achieves the acme of
Jiva-life,
Endowed with My pure Love.
But when by adverse choice he enters the material
plane,
I, as his Eternal Comrade, accompany him as
Paramatma.
Within the person of the Jiva,
I am the Observer of his actions,
Existing nearest to him, yet apart from him.
I am his Approver and Preserver;
His sole Appreciator and his Saviour ;
To him I am forever Paramatma.
I am the Lord Supreme and the Supreme Purusha
of his person.
I am the Bestower of rewards
According to the actions done by him in his
conditioned state.
He who is conversant with these principles of the
Purusha-
Jivatma and Paramatma-which are beyond the
triple qualities,
And of Prakriti or the Cosmic Energy and her own
qualities,
Shall never undergo rebirths again
Though he may be in the material universe.
By My Grace, he turns his face towards Me
And reaches My Eternal Realm of Transcendental
Bliss.
THE fallen Jivas are divided into two groups
According to their spiritual endeavours-
Those who are averse to Me
And those who are addicted to My Love Divine.
Eccentric are they who are materialists, atheists
and sceptics ;
Agnostics and cold moralists-they do not turn
towards Me.
The selfless Karma-Yogins trust the Spiritual
Realm
And being honest seekers after Truth, they and My
Devotees
Have their inward vision turned towards Me.
Of these, the devotees stand foremost,
For they behold and meditate upon the Paramatma
On the transcendental plane beyond the limits of
the worldly plane
And reaching to the plane of pure self.
The Sankhya-Yogins, belonging to the second class,
seek the Godhead.
Knowing Prakriti and her twenty-four elements and
properties,
They recognise the twenty-fifth, the Jiva proper, to
be all spiritual,
And by degrees devote themselves to worship of
the Bhagavan,
The twenty-sixth Substance.
Even inferior to them are selfless Karma-Yogins,
Who dedicate the fruits of all their actions unto Me.
They thereby have the chance of being blessed
With inclination to My worship.
Sankhya, Astanga and selfless Karma-Yoga are
indirect and qualitative means
Resorted to by those respective Yogins, for realising
Paramatma.
The Jnana-Yogins realise the Godhead when the
goal of all their knowledge
Is the Transcendental Personality of God
And not emancipation from their worldly bondage.
Purest devotion alone leads man directly to
attainment
Of the God of All-Love and His Prema.
STILL lower in the scale than selfless Karma-
Yogins
Are those who, trusting on the next world,
Seek reality and gather knowledge of the Truth,
They hear from others.
They also attain to pure devotion
By being in the company of Sadhus or true devotees,
And listening to what they say of God.
Know thou, O best of the Bharatas !
All that is born among the mobile and immobile
To be the product of union of Kshetra and Purusha.
EVEN though the Lord Supreme exists as
Paramatma
Equally in every being-sentient and insentient,
He does not yield to changeability
Albeit those whom He pervades are mortal.
He who knows Paramatma thus,
Is rightly conversant with His Truth.
Submission to the lure of Maya or Prakriti
Has placed the fallen souls in diverse circumstances
and environments.
Amongst them, he who knows Me, by pure intuition
As Paramatma equally pervading every object,
Does not degrade his real self to depths of worldliness
Or yield to a corrupted mind.
He who beholds this can see his true self to be
unconcerned
In every action of his life and thus can say:
"It is Prakriti in the form of senses and body,
Who does all this and I, the pure self, do not
perform such Karma."
WHEN the truly wise, by spiritual vision
Perceives that differences in shape and
colour, size and form
Of mobile and immobile objects and their diversities
Merge into the same Prakriti only at the time of
universal cataclysm,
And that all manifest phenomena
Spring from the same and sole Prakriti at creation,
Then all his notions of material differences vanish.
He is then established in transcendence
And recognises that his spiritual nature
Is one with that of Brahman.
How such a Jiva, as observer, observes Paramatma,
The Observed, is told thee later on.
THUS permeated with the vision of Brahman,
Such Jiva then beholds that Paramatma is
Unchangeable,
Eternal and Primordial, and far beyond all Mayik
qualities.
Though He is the Monitor Indweller of the body,
Existing along with Jivatma, He is, unlike the
latter
Not implicated in the nature and the influence of
flesh.
A Brahman-realised Jiva then is not involved
In earth's affinities though he has knowledge o
them.
Just as ether is accesible to all parts owing to its
subtlety
Yet is not involved in any object,
So also Jiva, who has realised his nature
To be identical with that of Brahman,
Is not entangled by affections and influences of the
body,
Though he permeates the body, following the
Paramatma's nature.
O Bharata ! as the single sun illumines all this
world,
So does the knower of the Kshetra-
Body and Prakriti-reaveal the Kshetra.
The knower of the body as Kshetra is the Jivatma,
While the Knower of Prakriti as Kshetra is
Paramatma.
All the actions and effects of Cosmic Energy are
Kshetra.
Both spiritual entities-Jivatma and the Paramatma,
Are known as Kshetrajna.
He who perceives the difference between Kshetrajna
And Kshetra, with eyes of spiritual knowledge,
And knows the way to the emancipation from
phenomenal affinities,
Realises Bhagavan, Who is superior to both
Jivatma and Paramatma.
Showing posts with label The Geeta as a Chaitanyite reads it. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Geeta as a Chaitanyite reads it. Show all posts
“The Geeta: as a Chaitanyite reads it” by Tridandi Swami B.H. Bon, "Chapter Twelve : Unalloyed Devotion"
ARJUNA said, "O Krishna ! from all that Thou
hast told me until now,
I gather there are two ranks of Yogins:
The ones who worship Thee with an unflinching
love,
Engaging harmoniously in Thy service
All their mind and body and social activities;
The second who adopt a selfless Karma-Yoga,
Accepting physical and social functions
So far as they are in accordance with their Yoga
And worship by means of intuition
Thy non-manifested Negative Imperishable Aspect.
Now, tell me, pray, which of these are the better
Yogins?"
SREE Bhagavan replied: "Those who engage
their full attention
Upon Me with faith absolute and an unflinching
attachment
And pour their life into the perfect mould of un-
alloyed devotion
And everlasting service, are the best among the Yogins.
Bhakti beyond the triple qualities
Is thus superior to Karma, Jnana and Yoga.
These devotees are the highest Yogins.
Those who are self-controlled, tranquil and calm
Altruistic, and prone to worship My Eternal,
Indefinable, Unmanifested, Uniform, Non-differen-
tiated,
Indefinite and Attributeless Negative Aspect-
Brahman-
Find rest at last in Me
After experiencing a series of obstacles.
As there is no other One to worship but My Self,
In whatever form thou strivest to attain the
highest goal,
Thou shalt at last come unto Me,
If thou be sincere in thy endeavours.
THE difference between a Jnana-Yogin and a
Bhakti-Yogin
Is that the means adopted by the Bhakta
In the cultivation of devotion unto Me
Is realised to be identical
With the End, which is Love Divine,
While Jnana-Yogin's method negative
Leads him to the end of Jnana's path,
Which is the Non-distinct and Attributeless
Brahman-
My Negative Aspect; I am the Lord of Love Divine.
To a Bhakta, means and end are one,
While with a Jnanin they are two.
When the means is eternal,
The end attained by it is also eternal,
And therefore in devotion the Means and End are
both identical;
But when the means that leads man to the end,
Ceases when the end is realised,
As in the case of the Jnana-Yogins,
Then the end reached by such temporary means
Must also be ephemeral.
THE path of Jnana, then, is ultimately proved
Te be a source of troubles.
Those who dedicate devout and patient labour
With dry wisdom as their goal,
Find their endeavours end in the fruitless troubles
Like the toil of those who try to get substance out
of chaff.
Without devotion to the Godhead,
The striving after unity with Brahman
Ends in trouble and distress.
The principle of all negotiation
Is the antithesis of normal function,
For every conscious entity must ultimately forge a
link eternal
With God, by means of service and of godly love.
The negative attempt places no reliance upon God
And therefore is best at every spot with dangers.
Intelligence cannot be pure without devotion unto
God-
The Centre of all beings;
Those who with their imperfect mind
Pretend to think that they are free from limitations
of the world,
Are hurled down from the last step approaching
liberation
Back to this world of relativities.
JIVAS are eternal and sentient beings;
If they could merge into the attributeless
Brahman,
It would be self-annihilation.
Even when they realise their normal functions,
They find it difficult to rid themselves
Of the supremely false impression
That they themselves are none else but the Godhead.
For such a Jiva in the fleshy body
To meditate upon the Non-distinct Brahman
Brings him but misery both as to means and end.
A Jiva is a conscious and eternal entity
And has a spiritual form of its own.
The principle of non-differentiated Monism
Is therefore full of miseries.
Bhakti is the normal function of all souls.
Jnana, independent of it, is the root of the greatest evil.
Hence, the principle of an impersonal, inert and
all-pervasive worship,
Based on inductive reasoning, is not at all acceptible.
THE truest devotees perform their physical and
social duties
Completely in obedience to My devotion
And meditate upon My transcendental and eternal
Form with single-minded faith.
I soon deliver those, O Partha !
Whose hearts are absolutely true to Me,
From the ocean of chagrin which is this world, and
death.
By My grace do they attain to perfect freedom
From the bondage of the great illusion,
And when thus freed, I shield them
From the Non-distinct Monism which is really death
to them.
The helpless, hopeless. egotistic view of merging
into Brahman
Is the cause of ruin to all Jnanins.
CONCENTRATE thy mind upon My transcenden-
tal
And most lovely Form, and meditate on Me alone ;
Engage thy pure intelligence in My service ;
Establish thyself in the devotion of My Self
Supreme.
Thou shalt thereby without doubt attain to Prema,
The Divine Love, which is as pure as molten gold.
This is the highest end of all devotion.
If thou canst not concentrate the whole attention
on Me
Out of a natural and deep attachment to Me,
Then attempt, O Dahanjaya ! to follow the regular
way of practices
According to the Scriptures by curbing thy mind
From meddling with matter, in order to reach Me.
THERE are two ways to the attainment
Of the highest end of Prema, Love Divine :
One is the path of a normal, natural attachment for
the Lord
Without any forced attempt upon the seeker's part ;
The second is the path of regulated course of
practices
According to the dictates of the Scriptures.
The former is called Raga, the latter is known as
Vidhi.
Raganuga-Bhakti is the spontaneous and profound
attachment
That arises from a strong desire to love and serve
Krishna,
While Bhakti that is practised on the basis of a
faith unshaken,
Regulated by the Scriptures, is called Vidhi.
It is desirable for an ordinary individual,
Whose heart is not afire with a spontaneous love
for Krishna
To follow the path of Vidhi-Bhakti.
IF thou art unfit even for Vidhi or the other
grades of Bhakti,
Regulated by the Scriptures
Dedicate thou, then, all thine activities to Me.
Thou shouldst hear, chant, worship, make obeisan-
ces to Me,
Cleanse the Temple, cul flowers for My adoration.
In this way, thou shalt succeed
In gaining My affectionate eternal comradeship.
Thy mind will cling for ever to My transcendental
beauteous Form
As the Sree Krishna of All-love
Instead of giving its attention to phenomena of
earth.
If thou still fail to concentrate thine actions all to
Me,
Be self-possessed, give the results of all fruitive acts
to Me
By following the path of selfless Karma-Yoga, as
indicated in the Vedas.
SUCH a devotee is naturally free from malice ;
He does not envy even those who are deemed
enviable,
And he is a friend to all;
His heart is tender to those brothers who have gone
astray ;
He tries to render them a permanent and real good ;
He is indifferent to worldly matters
And is not proud of physical associations;
He looks on pleasure and pain alike without
concern;
Despite strong cause of provocation, he forbears.
Always content is he with whatever meagre
portion
Comes to him for his maintenance of body;
He is a devotee with firm determination
To achieve the Final End that he desires
And therefore is a steady Yogin;
He has a steadfast faith in Me
And is alert to gain My Prema or Love Divine.
A devotee who offers such a mind and heart to Me
is dear to Me.
A Shanta-devotee neither causes uneasiness
Nor suffers any caused by others;
He is not elated with attainments nor is he jealous
of another's gains;
He is free from wrath or fear, of any of the world's
events.
Such a devotee is dear to Me.
My devotee remaining unaffected by the world's
affairs,
Pure inwardly and out, active and alert;
Indifferent to all conflicting happenings,
Calm and tranquil in his judgement, and in mind,
Who does not seek the fruits of his devotion
Relying on My dispensation-
Such a devotee is dear to Me.
The devotee who never feels elated
By promises of worldly gain, or does not mourn at
such loss,
Who does not hanker after earth's achievements,
Who casts aside all benefits derived from good and
evil source
Virtue and vice, sin and piety-
Such a devotee is dear to Me.
He looks with kindly eye on friend and foe alike,
Not over-joyed is he when eulogised,
Nor sore distressed with disrespect.
He is indifferent to heat and cold, pleasure and pain;
Calm and tranquil is he in observation.
He is unmindful of praise and of abuse;
He is controlled in what he says, cool and collected
in temper;
He is content with little food and bare necessities;
Not anxious for a homely life and therefore not
attached to such affinities;
Such a devotee is also dear to me.
Those who, with firm faith and sincere devotion
unto Me,
Relish the nectar of these truths, related by Me,
From the beginning to the end of this discourse,
Are My true devotees and are exeedingly dear to
Me."
NOTE :-In the first three Chapters, selfless
Karma-Yoga is described as the means to salvation.
In the second six Chapters, Bhakti-Yoga is explained
to be the only means to the realisation of the Supreme
Lord. Bhakti is two-fold; esoteric and exoteric. In-
ward performance of Bhakti is done by remembrance
and meditation; and in the case of a neophyte's inabili-
ty to give undivided remembrance, he should attempt
earnest practices, and follow those who can. These
three inward practices of Bhakti are difficult for the
worldly to follow, while the spiritually intelligent and
those who are free from all offences are eligible to
practise them. The external practices of Bhakti by
way of hearing and chanting the Name of the
Godhead are easily open to all. The superitority of
these devotees who follow either or both of these in-
ward and outward practices of Bhakti-Yoga, is shown
in the second six Chapters. But when a neophyte is
not fit to control his mind and senses and worship the
Supreme Lord with a steadfast spontaneous attach-
ment or firm faith in Him, selfless Karma-Yoga, con-
secrated to the Godhead, is mentioned in the first six
Chapters, as inferior to unalloyed devotion.
In the absence of a spontaneous attachment and
the awakening of the soul's normal loving service to
the Lord Supreme, the practice of the regulated
Vidhi-Bhakti, as prescribed by the Scriptures is to be
followed, failing which the neophyte should then
strive after knowledge-Jnana-that leads him to the
realisation of his true self. When this is not possible,
he should meditate on such thoughts as "Thou art
That" "I am Brahman", as a means of acquiring
Jnana or wisdom relating to the pure self; and for
those who are unfit even for such meditation, Karma-
Yoga is preseribed. The fruit-seeking Karmins attain
peace by relinquishing all results of their actions. There
are two ways to the attainment of pure devotion; the
one is a direct way, the other is a gradual process.
Listening, chanting, meditating, service, worship,
adoration, self-surrendering to the Name, Form, Attri-
butes, the Transcendental Retinues or Hosts and
Deeds of the Lord Supreme, based on a spontaneous
and firm faith, is the direct method; while the gradual
course of general progress begins with the renunciation
of all fruitive acts; at the second stage the consecra-
tion of results of actions to the Godhead; at the third
stage, meditation and concentration following the
process of Astanga-yoga; fourthly, knowledge or Jnana
of one's true self; and lastly, the Vidhi-Bhakti or the
perfect knowledge of the eternal and transcendenta
Name, Form, Attributes and Activities of the Lord
Supreme.
Sadhana Bhakti is the only means to the attain-
ment of perfect and divine Love, This Bhakti-Yoga
has two phases; the inward one lies in the absolute
attachment to God; the external process is practised
by listening to and chanting the Name of God. The
inward practices of Bhakti-Yoga are either remem-
brance or concentration or inward attempts at such
concentration So, concentration of the mind in the
remembrance of the Lord is better knowledge or Jnana
and superior to practice. In the stage of practice, care
is taken to achieve meditation; but when concentration
of the mind and constancy of remembrance, which are
desired ends of practice, are attained, then meditation
naturally follows. Meditation is therefore superior to
mere Jnana. When meditation becomes steady, then
all hankering after celestial pleasures and salvation
are purged out of the heart. When the heart is thus
cleansed, all the senses find their real and perfect rest
in being wholly engaed in the service of Sree Krishna,
Who is the Lord of all senses, and Bhakti is awakened
to engage an individual soul in the loving service of
God. When formidable desires for either elevation or
Karma, salvation or Moksha, are finally alienated
from the heart of an individual soul, he attains a state
of mental peace, called Shanti.
This gradual course of Bhakti, when sincerely
followed, leads one to Krishna-Prema or Divine Love
-the summum bonum of all spiritual practices. Pure
Bhakti, devotion, is ever blissful and is the only positive
means to the realisation of the Highest End of spiritual
existence. This is the gist of the Chapter and of the
entire Geeta.
hast told me until now,
I gather there are two ranks of Yogins:
The ones who worship Thee with an unflinching
love,
Engaging harmoniously in Thy service
All their mind and body and social activities;
The second who adopt a selfless Karma-Yoga,
Accepting physical and social functions
So far as they are in accordance with their Yoga
And worship by means of intuition
Thy non-manifested Negative Imperishable Aspect.
Now, tell me, pray, which of these are the better
Yogins?"
SREE Bhagavan replied: "Those who engage
their full attention
Upon Me with faith absolute and an unflinching
attachment
And pour their life into the perfect mould of un-
alloyed devotion
And everlasting service, are the best among the Yogins.
Bhakti beyond the triple qualities
Is thus superior to Karma, Jnana and Yoga.
These devotees are the highest Yogins.
Those who are self-controlled, tranquil and calm
Altruistic, and prone to worship My Eternal,
Indefinable, Unmanifested, Uniform, Non-differen-
tiated,
Indefinite and Attributeless Negative Aspect-
Brahman-
Find rest at last in Me
After experiencing a series of obstacles.
As there is no other One to worship but My Self,
In whatever form thou strivest to attain the
highest goal,
Thou shalt at last come unto Me,
If thou be sincere in thy endeavours.
THE difference between a Jnana-Yogin and a
Bhakti-Yogin
Is that the means adopted by the Bhakta
In the cultivation of devotion unto Me
Is realised to be identical
With the End, which is Love Divine,
While Jnana-Yogin's method negative
Leads him to the end of Jnana's path,
Which is the Non-distinct and Attributeless
Brahman-
My Negative Aspect; I am the Lord of Love Divine.
To a Bhakta, means and end are one,
While with a Jnanin they are two.
When the means is eternal,
The end attained by it is also eternal,
And therefore in devotion the Means and End are
both identical;
But when the means that leads man to the end,
Ceases when the end is realised,
As in the case of the Jnana-Yogins,
Then the end reached by such temporary means
Must also be ephemeral.
THE path of Jnana, then, is ultimately proved
Te be a source of troubles.
Those who dedicate devout and patient labour
With dry wisdom as their goal,
Find their endeavours end in the fruitless troubles
Like the toil of those who try to get substance out
of chaff.
Without devotion to the Godhead,
The striving after unity with Brahman
Ends in trouble and distress.
The principle of all negotiation
Is the antithesis of normal function,
For every conscious entity must ultimately forge a
link eternal
With God, by means of service and of godly love.
The negative attempt places no reliance upon God
And therefore is best at every spot with dangers.
Intelligence cannot be pure without devotion unto
God-
The Centre of all beings;
Those who with their imperfect mind
Pretend to think that they are free from limitations
of the world,
Are hurled down from the last step approaching
liberation
Back to this world of relativities.
JIVAS are eternal and sentient beings;
If they could merge into the attributeless
Brahman,
It would be self-annihilation.
Even when they realise their normal functions,
They find it difficult to rid themselves
Of the supremely false impression
That they themselves are none else but the Godhead.
For such a Jiva in the fleshy body
To meditate upon the Non-distinct Brahman
Brings him but misery both as to means and end.
A Jiva is a conscious and eternal entity
And has a spiritual form of its own.
The principle of non-differentiated Monism
Is therefore full of miseries.
Bhakti is the normal function of all souls.
Jnana, independent of it, is the root of the greatest evil.
Hence, the principle of an impersonal, inert and
all-pervasive worship,
Based on inductive reasoning, is not at all acceptible.
THE truest devotees perform their physical and
social duties
Completely in obedience to My devotion
And meditate upon My transcendental and eternal
Form with single-minded faith.
I soon deliver those, O Partha !
Whose hearts are absolutely true to Me,
From the ocean of chagrin which is this world, and
death.
By My grace do they attain to perfect freedom
From the bondage of the great illusion,
And when thus freed, I shield them
From the Non-distinct Monism which is really death
to them.
The helpless, hopeless. egotistic view of merging
into Brahman
Is the cause of ruin to all Jnanins.
CONCENTRATE thy mind upon My transcenden-
tal
And most lovely Form, and meditate on Me alone ;
Engage thy pure intelligence in My service ;
Establish thyself in the devotion of My Self
Supreme.
Thou shalt thereby without doubt attain to Prema,
The Divine Love, which is as pure as molten gold.
This is the highest end of all devotion.
If thou canst not concentrate the whole attention
on Me
Out of a natural and deep attachment to Me,
Then attempt, O Dahanjaya ! to follow the regular
way of practices
According to the Scriptures by curbing thy mind
From meddling with matter, in order to reach Me.
THERE are two ways to the attainment
Of the highest end of Prema, Love Divine :
One is the path of a normal, natural attachment for
the Lord
Without any forced attempt upon the seeker's part ;
The second is the path of regulated course of
practices
According to the dictates of the Scriptures.
The former is called Raga, the latter is known as
Vidhi.
Raganuga-Bhakti is the spontaneous and profound
attachment
That arises from a strong desire to love and serve
Krishna,
While Bhakti that is practised on the basis of a
faith unshaken,
Regulated by the Scriptures, is called Vidhi.
It is desirable for an ordinary individual,
Whose heart is not afire with a spontaneous love
for Krishna
To follow the path of Vidhi-Bhakti.
IF thou art unfit even for Vidhi or the other
grades of Bhakti,
Regulated by the Scriptures
Dedicate thou, then, all thine activities to Me.
Thou shouldst hear, chant, worship, make obeisan-
ces to Me,
Cleanse the Temple, cul flowers for My adoration.
In this way, thou shalt succeed
In gaining My affectionate eternal comradeship.
Thy mind will cling for ever to My transcendental
beauteous Form
As the Sree Krishna of All-love
Instead of giving its attention to phenomena of
earth.
If thou still fail to concentrate thine actions all to
Me,
Be self-possessed, give the results of all fruitive acts
to Me
By following the path of selfless Karma-Yoga, as
indicated in the Vedas.
SUCH a devotee is naturally free from malice ;
He does not envy even those who are deemed
enviable,
And he is a friend to all;
His heart is tender to those brothers who have gone
astray ;
He tries to render them a permanent and real good ;
He is indifferent to worldly matters
And is not proud of physical associations;
He looks on pleasure and pain alike without
concern;
Despite strong cause of provocation, he forbears.
Always content is he with whatever meagre
portion
Comes to him for his maintenance of body;
He is a devotee with firm determination
To achieve the Final End that he desires
And therefore is a steady Yogin;
He has a steadfast faith in Me
And is alert to gain My Prema or Love Divine.
A devotee who offers such a mind and heart to Me
is dear to Me.
A Shanta-devotee neither causes uneasiness
Nor suffers any caused by others;
He is not elated with attainments nor is he jealous
of another's gains;
He is free from wrath or fear, of any of the world's
events.
Such a devotee is dear to Me.
My devotee remaining unaffected by the world's
affairs,
Pure inwardly and out, active and alert;
Indifferent to all conflicting happenings,
Calm and tranquil in his judgement, and in mind,
Who does not seek the fruits of his devotion
Relying on My dispensation-
Such a devotee is dear to Me.
The devotee who never feels elated
By promises of worldly gain, or does not mourn at
such loss,
Who does not hanker after earth's achievements,
Who casts aside all benefits derived from good and
evil source
Virtue and vice, sin and piety-
Such a devotee is dear to Me.
He looks with kindly eye on friend and foe alike,
Not over-joyed is he when eulogised,
Nor sore distressed with disrespect.
He is indifferent to heat and cold, pleasure and pain;
Calm and tranquil is he in observation.
He is unmindful of praise and of abuse;
He is controlled in what he says, cool and collected
in temper;
He is content with little food and bare necessities;
Not anxious for a homely life and therefore not
attached to such affinities;
Such a devotee is also dear to me.
Those who, with firm faith and sincere devotion
unto Me,
Relish the nectar of these truths, related by Me,
From the beginning to the end of this discourse,
Are My true devotees and are exeedingly dear to
Me."
NOTE :-In the first three Chapters, selfless
Karma-Yoga is described as the means to salvation.
In the second six Chapters, Bhakti-Yoga is explained
to be the only means to the realisation of the Supreme
Lord. Bhakti is two-fold; esoteric and exoteric. In-
ward performance of Bhakti is done by remembrance
and meditation; and in the case of a neophyte's inabili-
ty to give undivided remembrance, he should attempt
earnest practices, and follow those who can. These
three inward practices of Bhakti are difficult for the
worldly to follow, while the spiritually intelligent and
those who are free from all offences are eligible to
practise them. The external practices of Bhakti by
way of hearing and chanting the Name of the
Godhead are easily open to all. The superitority of
these devotees who follow either or both of these in-
ward and outward practices of Bhakti-Yoga, is shown
in the second six Chapters. But when a neophyte is
not fit to control his mind and senses and worship the
Supreme Lord with a steadfast spontaneous attach-
ment or firm faith in Him, selfless Karma-Yoga, con-
secrated to the Godhead, is mentioned in the first six
Chapters, as inferior to unalloyed devotion.
In the absence of a spontaneous attachment and
the awakening of the soul's normal loving service to
the Lord Supreme, the practice of the regulated
Vidhi-Bhakti, as prescribed by the Scriptures is to be
followed, failing which the neophyte should then
strive after knowledge-Jnana-that leads him to the
realisation of his true self. When this is not possible,
he should meditate on such thoughts as "Thou art
That" "I am Brahman", as a means of acquiring
Jnana or wisdom relating to the pure self; and for
those who are unfit even for such meditation, Karma-
Yoga is preseribed. The fruit-seeking Karmins attain
peace by relinquishing all results of their actions. There
are two ways to the attainment of pure devotion; the
one is a direct way, the other is a gradual process.
Listening, chanting, meditating, service, worship,
adoration, self-surrendering to the Name, Form, Attri-
butes, the Transcendental Retinues or Hosts and
Deeds of the Lord Supreme, based on a spontaneous
and firm faith, is the direct method; while the gradual
course of general progress begins with the renunciation
of all fruitive acts; at the second stage the consecra-
tion of results of actions to the Godhead; at the third
stage, meditation and concentration following the
process of Astanga-yoga; fourthly, knowledge or Jnana
of one's true self; and lastly, the Vidhi-Bhakti or the
perfect knowledge of the eternal and transcendenta
Name, Form, Attributes and Activities of the Lord
Supreme.
Sadhana Bhakti is the only means to the attain-
ment of perfect and divine Love, This Bhakti-Yoga
has two phases; the inward one lies in the absolute
attachment to God; the external process is practised
by listening to and chanting the Name of God. The
inward practices of Bhakti-Yoga are either remem-
brance or concentration or inward attempts at such
concentration So, concentration of the mind in the
remembrance of the Lord is better knowledge or Jnana
and superior to practice. In the stage of practice, care
is taken to achieve meditation; but when concentration
of the mind and constancy of remembrance, which are
desired ends of practice, are attained, then meditation
naturally follows. Meditation is therefore superior to
mere Jnana. When meditation becomes steady, then
all hankering after celestial pleasures and salvation
are purged out of the heart. When the heart is thus
cleansed, all the senses find their real and perfect rest
in being wholly engaed in the service of Sree Krishna,
Who is the Lord of all senses, and Bhakti is awakened
to engage an individual soul in the loving service of
God. When formidable desires for either elevation or
Karma, salvation or Moksha, are finally alienated
from the heart of an individual soul, he attains a state
of mental peace, called Shanti.
This gradual course of Bhakti, when sincerely
followed, leads one to Krishna-Prema or Divine Love
-the summum bonum of all spiritual practices. Pure
Bhakti, devotion, is ever blissful and is the only positive
means to the realisation of the Highest End of spiritual
existence. This is the gist of the Chapter and of the
entire Geeta.
“The Geeta: as a Chaitanyite reads it” by Tridandi Swami B.H. Bon, "Chapter Eleven : Sree Krishna's Lordly Grandeur"
ARJUNA said:
"My veil of ignorance is now withdrawn
By listening to these most secret truths
From Thine Own Holy Lips,
About Thy Transcendental Form.
In my abysmal ignorance I could conceive not of Thy
Spiritual Reality.
Now I have begun to understand Thou art for ever
Self-Effulgent,
Self-Revealed and that the highest Ideal of the
human form
As yet unseen, uncomprehended by the mind of man,
Is Thy Most Beauteous Spiritual Krishna-Form
And He is Thy Real Self;
The Viswarupa is but one of many cloaks or Partial
Manifestations.
Lord ! all objects exist in Thee,
And Thou dost exist in every object,
But Thou art not everything
Not every object is Thyself.
O Lotus-eyed ! I am acquainted now minutely
with Thine Aspects
Of creation and destruction
And of the excellence of Thine Own Way
The magnitude of which is boundless
Beyond the realm of human intellect.
O Lord Supreme ! I beg Thee, Purushottama !
To show me now Thy Lordly Form of Viswarupa,
In which Form Thou art Immanent.
I am an individual soul within this universe,
Albeit with identity
And cannot fully comprehend the actions of the
Over-soul,
Which are beyond my human understanding.
Though I am insignificant, I have been, by Thy
Grace, allowed
To understand a fragment of the truth
Anent Thy Real Self as Ever-Adolescent, Ever-
Beautiful Sree Krishna ;
But I am not yet fit to realise
Thy Lordly Aspect or Thy Majesty,
Both of which pass the comprehension of the
human brain.
Thou art my Lord and Lord of all the Yogas.
Thus if Thou deemest I should see,
Show me Thou, out of Thy super-worldly powers,
This Lordly Form of Thine."
SREE Bhagavan said: "O Son of Pritha !
Observe My Forms Majestic innumerable and
divine,
Of variegated colours in their thousands.
Behold, Bharata ! the Adityas and the Vasus,
The Rudras, the Marutas and the twin Aswinis;
Behold My many wonders;
None such have seen before.
Whatever sentient and insentient objects thou
may'st wish to see,
All are to be found in this My Lordly Grandeur.
Know, therefore, O Gudaklesha !
That all that and whatever more thou dost long to
see
Is only part of My Eternal Krishna-Form.
THOU art My devotee, and therefore thou canst
see
My Beautiful, Eternal and Divinest Krishna-Form
Apart from any mundane relativities with thy pure
eyes of soul,
Divine Love and devotion,
Free from the limits of all attributes.
But this My Lordly Form is not so independent
And it exists in harmony with Cosmic and the
Jiva-Worlds.
Therefore, Arjuna ! the pure eyes of Divine Love
for Me
Do not see this My Lordly Form;
Eyes that behold material forms are also rendered
incompetent
To see My Super-mundane Form.
The eye which has a certain colouring
Of quality intuitive yet not gross and material
Is called the eye divine;
I give thee that eye to behold My Lordly Viswarupa
Form."
SANJAYA said to Dhritarastra: "O King ! Thus
saying, Sree Hari,
Lord Supreme of all Yogas,
Showed to Arjuna the Superhuman Form,
Which was unique,
Unprecedented, and very strange,
Possessing many mouths, and eyes and many
wondrous sights,
With many ornaments divine and superhuman
weapons,
Wearing divine garlands and gorgeous clothes,
Anointed with divine perfumes,
All wonderful, most brilliant, and infinite;
And everywhere innumerable forms appeared.
If the blazing splendour of a thousand suns
Were suddenly to rise up together in the sky,
Even that would scarce compare
With the effulgent glory of that Viswarupa.
Then Arjuna saw innumerable worlds
Both as a unit and in their separate existences
Within the Body of the Lord.
Thus filled with wonder and mazement, and
bowing down his head,
Arjuna thus adderssed the Lord with folded hands."
ARJUNA said: "Lord I behold within Thy Body
All the gods, all hosts of individuals,
Brahma seated on the Lotus-seat,
Mahadeva, all the sages and the heavenly serpents.
Lord of the Universe ! O Viswarupa !
I see within Thee manifold arms and bodies,
Mouths, eyes and the all-pervading Ananta-rupa;
I see no beginning and no end of Thee.
Thy Form can hardly be beheld for its resplendence
Scintillating like a mass of brilliant lustre,
Of fire and sun, immeasurable
I behold Thee, head bedecked with crown and disk
in Thy hands-
Splendour suffused with a celestial glow.
THOU art Imperishable Truth That should be
known;
Thou art the Great Receptacleof this Universe;
Thou art Undying;
Protector of Sanatana Dharma-
Religion universal and eternal;
And Thou art the Ancient Personage.
Thou hast no beginning and no end;
Thy powers are infinite;
Thy two eyes are like shining suns;
Thy Face is all resplendency;
The universe Thou dost illuminate with Thine Own
Radiance.
Thou alone pervadest all existence betwixt the earth
and heaven;
I see Thine awe-inspiring Form;
O Great Soul ! all three worlds are trembling.
LOOK ! Those gods are encompassed by Thy Body;
Awe-struck people are extolling Thee
With hands joined palm to palm;
Great sages utter the Vedic Amen "Swasti",
Beholding Thee while chanting thoughtful hymns.
The Rudras, Adityas, Vasus, Sadhyayas, Viswadevas,
The twin Aswinis, Marutas, the manes, celestial
singers,
Yakshas, the gods and the Siddhas-
All are beholding Thee with great amazement.
O Mighty-Armed ! at this Thy awesome multiform,
The people of the worlds are trembling and so am I.
O Vishnu ! Who pervadest the universe !
Terror strikes my heart to see Thy wondrous Form
Touching the sky and shining with iridescent
colours;
And I cannot hold My peace and patience.
I am bewildered to see Thee like the universal
conflagration
At the break-up of the world.
I know not where lies my well-being,
O Lord ! Thou Shelter of the Universe !
Be Thou gracious unto Me.
ALL those sons of Dhritarastra with their allied
princess,
With Bhisma, Drona, Karna and the warriors of
our side
Are entering headlong into Thine avenging Mouth ;
Some of their heads are crushed between Thy fear-
some Teeth.
Just as the flowing currents of the river
Sweep down towards the sea to be swallowed by it,
So also are these heroes entering Thy flaming
Mouth to be exterminated.
Just as the moths flicker round the glowing flame to
merge with death,
So are the worlds fast entering into Thy Mouth to
perish.
O Vishnu ! Thou art putting all the worlds into Thy
flaming Mouth
Devouring them completely.
Thou hast dazzled the whole universe entire
With Thy brilliant splendour,
And art shining bright in all Thy glories.
Tell me, Deva ! why art Thou so terrifying !
I greet Thee; be Thou propitious !
I know not Thy ways ; I beg to know them all."
SREE Bhagavan said : "I am revealed now as the
Mighty Destroyer
Of these multitudes of men ;
I shall destroy all warriors, except you the Pandavas,
Arrayed in hostile armies.
In this destruction, the sole Agent am I, not thou.
When thou art not responsible for this destruction.
Thou must be ready to give battle
And enjoy an ever-lasting glory
And a prosperous kingdom as the result of victory.
By Me have they been slain already ;
Be thou but an intermediary of My Action,
O Savyasachi-shooter of arrows with both hands !
Already have I destroyed great Drona,
Bhisma. Jayadratha. Karna and the other heroes ;
Cast off thy fear, arise and fight ;
Thou wilt conquer thine enemies and come out
victorious."
SANJAYA said to Dhritarastra: "O King !
Having heard these words of the Divine Lord
Keshava,
Arjuna, trembling with fear,
Saluting Sree Krishna again and again with folded
hands,
And in a faltering voice began to say:"
ARJUNA said : "O Lord of all the senses !
Hearing about Thy glorious deeds,
The world becomes attached to Thee,
The demons fly in fear to every corner,
The saints make their obeisance unto Thee.
Great Soul ! Why should they not greet Thee,
Who art the Lord Supreme, the Primal Cause?
Thou art superior to Brahma, O Ananta !
O God of gods ! O Thou Abode of all the universe !
Thou art the Word Divine, Thou art Infallible-
Thou dost transcend all sentient and insentient
things in Nature.
Thou art the Primordial Eternal Being ;
Thou art the only Shelter of this Universe ;
Thou art the Knower and the Known ;
Thou art identical with Thine Transcendental
Realm
Which is beyond all qualities of Maya.
O Lord of Boundless Form !
By Thee everything is pervaded.
Thou art Vayu, Yama, Fire, Varuna,
Moon and the Creator Brahma;
Therefore do I bow to Thee a million times,
And hail Thee again and yet again.
HAIL to Thee on all sides ! O Lord of Power
Infinite !
Thou alone art Master of immeasurable strength-
All potencies pervadest Thou, O Lord !
Thou art the All in all.
Whatever I might have said from inadvertance
Or from love, addressing Thee in such familiar terms
As "Krishna !" "O Yadava !" "O Friend!"
Being ignorant of this Thy Greatness
And of Thy Glory, and merely looking on Thee as
my most loving Friend
Or in whatever way I might have shown some
disregard for Thee
In fun, at play, in sleep, at meals,
Before an assembly or while alone,
I crave Thee, O Achchyuta ! to forgive me all.
THOU art the Father, the Object of reverence
And the greatest Guru, Spiritual Master, of
this Universe ;
Far from superior, there is none equal unto Thee
In all three worlds. Thy greatness is unrivalled.
Thou art the Lord and Object of all worship.
I offer my humble obeisance to Thee
Imploring Thy forgiveness.
Thou and the normal soul have an inseprabale rela-
tionship
Of confidential love, as between Master and man,
Or parents and Child, or between the lover and the
Beloved.
Thou dost accept such confidential services
And loving homage from Thy servants, friends,
Parents ans consorts, and graciously forgive
The intimate expressions used towards Thee.
I am filled with wonder;
My curiosity is satisfied to see Thy Universal
Form
Of Viswarupa, Which was not seen before;
But this Form does not please the eyes and mind of
Thy devotees.
My mind is sore afflicted at this fearsome Form, O
Lord !
O God of gods ! Abode of the Universe !
Have mercy on Me and show me Thy All-Majestic
Four-armed Form of Vasudeva,
The son of Vasudeva-the Ocean of all grace.
Let me now see Thy Four-armed Form
With golden crown on head
And disk-conch-mace-lotus in Thy hands.
From that Form dost Thou manifest this Thousand-
armed
And Universal Form within the Cosmic world.
O Krishna ! now I have understood without a doubt
That Thy Sachchidananda Two-armed Krishna
Form
Eternally exists as the Loving Lord.
The Majestic Four-armed Form as Narayana
Is the Manifestation of Delight Supereral
Of Thy All-loving Two-armed Krishna-Form:
And when the universe is created,
Then from Thy Four-armed All-Majestic Narayana
Aspect
This All-Pervading Virata or Great Universal Form
does emanate.
My curiosity has been aroused a thousandfold
By virtue of this transcendental knowledge.
SREE Bhagavan said: "I have been pleased to show
thee
My Form Supreme belonging to the Cosmic Plane.
To none but thee have I before revealed
This boundless Primordial Lustrous Form.
O greatest hero among the Kurus !
None but thou alone in this world hast seen My
Viswarupa Form
Either by virtue of study of the Vedas or sacrifices,
Or largesses, or rituals, or practising severe auste-
rities.
Those who have reached the celestial region
And attained a godly life
Behold and meditate on My Viswarupa Form
By means of their godly eyes and godly mind;
Those who are ignorant and fettered worldlings
Can never see this Form;
But My devotees can pierce these gross and subtle
walls of ignorance and godliness
Of the mundane and celestial worlds by virtue of
My Grace.
They may transcend to My Eternal Realm
And be established in that spiritual plane.
Hence, they, like thyself, are not content
With My Universal Viswarupa Form,
Which is but a distant manifestation
Of My Majestic Aspect in the Cosmic Universe,
But yearn for the sight of My Eternal
All-Loving, All-Beautiful and Adolecsent Krishna
Form.
ONLY the ignorant think highly of My Viswarupa
Form;
But be thou not bewildered or afflicted by this
awful presence.
My devotees love peace and are affectionately fond
Of My All-beauteous Ever-adolescent Krishna-Form:
Thet therefore are aggrieved to see this terror-
striking Form.
I bless thee now, that thou mayst not be frightened
of My Viswarupa Presence;
My devotees have naught to do with Viswarupa on
the cosmic plane.
But thou art My friend, who came into the world
As an accessory to My Divine Deeds-
Thou shalt be an adjuct to My wishes and
activities;
It does not hence befit thee to be so affected.
Give up all fear and with a cheerful heart
Behold again My transcendental blissful Form."
SANJAYA said to Dhritarastra: "So saying, the
Lord Divine
Vasudeva withdrew His fearful Viswarupa Form
And showed Arjuna His Four-armed Narayana
Form
And then His Gentle, Loving, Two-armed Form of
Krishna-
Human in appearance, encouraging Arjuna with
sweet and hopeful words".
Seeing the Beauteous Loving Human Form of
Krishna Arjuna said,
"O Janardana ! I am now restored to peace of mind
And have regained devotion for Thee,
The normal function of my self,
In seeing Thy evergraceful Huma-Form."
SREE Bhagavan said: "Arjuna ! My Form which
thou didst see
Is not accessible to many;
Even the gods like Brahma, Rudra and the others
Are ever anxious to have a glimpse of My All-
beautiful, Magnetic Form.
If thou shouldst argue that how can this Form be
inaccessible
When I am seen apparently by many here on earth,
Then listen to the truth:
The relation between the observer and observed is
designated "observation,"
Which may be classified into three groups
According to the angle occupied by the observer.
The first is based on pure and complete conception
Of this transcendental knowledge;
The second but proceeds from ignorance;
The third reposes on empiricism and human logic
Drawn from inference within the bounds of time,
space and the three dimensions.
People who are infatuated by utter ignorance
Consider My eternal transcendental Human Form
To have been born of Maya and transitory;
They thereby are deprived of realising My true
Nature.
The pedants and the gods all falsely reason
This transcendental Form which is identical with
Me
And is the Form Eternal Which I use
When I make My Divine Descent into this worldly
plane
From My divine power and prerogative
Without submitting to the laws of Nature ;
Thus they are prone to think My All-pervading
Viswarupa-Form,
That manifests within the cosmic plane,
Or the negative and extra-cosmic, non-differentiated
Brahman,
To be My eternal Self! and regard My Human Form
As but a means of worship at the start.
But true devotees whose spiritual eyes are opened
By the genuine Preceptor with the spark of
transcendental knowledge
Know and see My Krishna-Form as the Supreme,
All-beautiful, and Transcendental, Ever-adolescent.
Therefore I say, Arjuna! that this spiritual complete
realisation
Of My Krishna-Form is not within the reach of
even gods.
Among the gods, Brahma and Siva are My devotees
And they aspire to this All-gentle Form.
Thou art My friend and devotee, and through My
Grace
Thou hast been made to realise the great supremacy
Of My eternal Form,
After having seen My Viswarupa Aspect.
NEITHER by the reading of the Vedas,
Nor by austerities nor by charities nor by sacrifice
Can I be seen in My eternal Human Form
As seen and realised by thee.
Arjuna ! it is by single-minded, undistracted devotion
only
That I can in this Form be seen and realised
transcendentally,
For that devotion, Parantapa !
Leads such a pure devotee into My perfect Realm
of Bliss.
He who does serve Me with integrity of heart,
Refrains from all fruitive Karma and dry Jnana
And cultivates a truly loving attitude towards Me,
And renders eternal good to all
By helping them in the awakening of their pure
selves
Which I deem unselfish service unto Me,
Attains Me as Sree Krishna in My Abode of Bliss.
"My veil of ignorance is now withdrawn
By listening to these most secret truths
From Thine Own Holy Lips,
About Thy Transcendental Form.
In my abysmal ignorance I could conceive not of Thy
Spiritual Reality.
Now I have begun to understand Thou art for ever
Self-Effulgent,
Self-Revealed and that the highest Ideal of the
human form
As yet unseen, uncomprehended by the mind of man,
Is Thy Most Beauteous Spiritual Krishna-Form
And He is Thy Real Self;
The Viswarupa is but one of many cloaks or Partial
Manifestations.
Lord ! all objects exist in Thee,
And Thou dost exist in every object,
But Thou art not everything
Not every object is Thyself.
O Lotus-eyed ! I am acquainted now minutely
with Thine Aspects
Of creation and destruction
And of the excellence of Thine Own Way
The magnitude of which is boundless
Beyond the realm of human intellect.
O Lord Supreme ! I beg Thee, Purushottama !
To show me now Thy Lordly Form of Viswarupa,
In which Form Thou art Immanent.
I am an individual soul within this universe,
Albeit with identity
And cannot fully comprehend the actions of the
Over-soul,
Which are beyond my human understanding.
Though I am insignificant, I have been, by Thy
Grace, allowed
To understand a fragment of the truth
Anent Thy Real Self as Ever-Adolescent, Ever-
Beautiful Sree Krishna ;
But I am not yet fit to realise
Thy Lordly Aspect or Thy Majesty,
Both of which pass the comprehension of the
human brain.
Thou art my Lord and Lord of all the Yogas.
Thus if Thou deemest I should see,
Show me Thou, out of Thy super-worldly powers,
This Lordly Form of Thine."
SREE Bhagavan said: "O Son of Pritha !
Observe My Forms Majestic innumerable and
divine,
Of variegated colours in their thousands.
Behold, Bharata ! the Adityas and the Vasus,
The Rudras, the Marutas and the twin Aswinis;
Behold My many wonders;
None such have seen before.
Whatever sentient and insentient objects thou
may'st wish to see,
All are to be found in this My Lordly Grandeur.
Know, therefore, O Gudaklesha !
That all that and whatever more thou dost long to
see
Is only part of My Eternal Krishna-Form.
THOU art My devotee, and therefore thou canst
see
My Beautiful, Eternal and Divinest Krishna-Form
Apart from any mundane relativities with thy pure
eyes of soul,
Divine Love and devotion,
Free from the limits of all attributes.
But this My Lordly Form is not so independent
And it exists in harmony with Cosmic and the
Jiva-Worlds.
Therefore, Arjuna ! the pure eyes of Divine Love
for Me
Do not see this My Lordly Form;
Eyes that behold material forms are also rendered
incompetent
To see My Super-mundane Form.
The eye which has a certain colouring
Of quality intuitive yet not gross and material
Is called the eye divine;
I give thee that eye to behold My Lordly Viswarupa
Form."
SANJAYA said to Dhritarastra: "O King ! Thus
saying, Sree Hari,
Lord Supreme of all Yogas,
Showed to Arjuna the Superhuman Form,
Which was unique,
Unprecedented, and very strange,
Possessing many mouths, and eyes and many
wondrous sights,
With many ornaments divine and superhuman
weapons,
Wearing divine garlands and gorgeous clothes,
Anointed with divine perfumes,
All wonderful, most brilliant, and infinite;
And everywhere innumerable forms appeared.
If the blazing splendour of a thousand suns
Were suddenly to rise up together in the sky,
Even that would scarce compare
With the effulgent glory of that Viswarupa.
Then Arjuna saw innumerable worlds
Both as a unit and in their separate existences
Within the Body of the Lord.
Thus filled with wonder and mazement, and
bowing down his head,
Arjuna thus adderssed the Lord with folded hands."
ARJUNA said: "Lord I behold within Thy Body
All the gods, all hosts of individuals,
Brahma seated on the Lotus-seat,
Mahadeva, all the sages and the heavenly serpents.
Lord of the Universe ! O Viswarupa !
I see within Thee manifold arms and bodies,
Mouths, eyes and the all-pervading Ananta-rupa;
I see no beginning and no end of Thee.
Thy Form can hardly be beheld for its resplendence
Scintillating like a mass of brilliant lustre,
Of fire and sun, immeasurable
I behold Thee, head bedecked with crown and disk
in Thy hands-
Splendour suffused with a celestial glow.
THOU art Imperishable Truth That should be
known;
Thou art the Great Receptacleof this Universe;
Thou art Undying;
Protector of Sanatana Dharma-
Religion universal and eternal;
And Thou art the Ancient Personage.
Thou hast no beginning and no end;
Thy powers are infinite;
Thy two eyes are like shining suns;
Thy Face is all resplendency;
The universe Thou dost illuminate with Thine Own
Radiance.
Thou alone pervadest all existence betwixt the earth
and heaven;
I see Thine awe-inspiring Form;
O Great Soul ! all three worlds are trembling.
LOOK ! Those gods are encompassed by Thy Body;
Awe-struck people are extolling Thee
With hands joined palm to palm;
Great sages utter the Vedic Amen "Swasti",
Beholding Thee while chanting thoughtful hymns.
The Rudras, Adityas, Vasus, Sadhyayas, Viswadevas,
The twin Aswinis, Marutas, the manes, celestial
singers,
Yakshas, the gods and the Siddhas-
All are beholding Thee with great amazement.
O Mighty-Armed ! at this Thy awesome multiform,
The people of the worlds are trembling and so am I.
O Vishnu ! Who pervadest the universe !
Terror strikes my heart to see Thy wondrous Form
Touching the sky and shining with iridescent
colours;
And I cannot hold My peace and patience.
I am bewildered to see Thee like the universal
conflagration
At the break-up of the world.
I know not where lies my well-being,
O Lord ! Thou Shelter of the Universe !
Be Thou gracious unto Me.
ALL those sons of Dhritarastra with their allied
princess,
With Bhisma, Drona, Karna and the warriors of
our side
Are entering headlong into Thine avenging Mouth ;
Some of their heads are crushed between Thy fear-
some Teeth.
Just as the flowing currents of the river
Sweep down towards the sea to be swallowed by it,
So also are these heroes entering Thy flaming
Mouth to be exterminated.
Just as the moths flicker round the glowing flame to
merge with death,
So are the worlds fast entering into Thy Mouth to
perish.
O Vishnu ! Thou art putting all the worlds into Thy
flaming Mouth
Devouring them completely.
Thou hast dazzled the whole universe entire
With Thy brilliant splendour,
And art shining bright in all Thy glories.
Tell me, Deva ! why art Thou so terrifying !
I greet Thee; be Thou propitious !
I know not Thy ways ; I beg to know them all."
SREE Bhagavan said : "I am revealed now as the
Mighty Destroyer
Of these multitudes of men ;
I shall destroy all warriors, except you the Pandavas,
Arrayed in hostile armies.
In this destruction, the sole Agent am I, not thou.
When thou art not responsible for this destruction.
Thou must be ready to give battle
And enjoy an ever-lasting glory
And a prosperous kingdom as the result of victory.
By Me have they been slain already ;
Be thou but an intermediary of My Action,
O Savyasachi-shooter of arrows with both hands !
Already have I destroyed great Drona,
Bhisma. Jayadratha. Karna and the other heroes ;
Cast off thy fear, arise and fight ;
Thou wilt conquer thine enemies and come out
victorious."
SANJAYA said to Dhritarastra: "O King !
Having heard these words of the Divine Lord
Keshava,
Arjuna, trembling with fear,
Saluting Sree Krishna again and again with folded
hands,
And in a faltering voice began to say:"
ARJUNA said : "O Lord of all the senses !
Hearing about Thy glorious deeds,
The world becomes attached to Thee,
The demons fly in fear to every corner,
The saints make their obeisance unto Thee.
Great Soul ! Why should they not greet Thee,
Who art the Lord Supreme, the Primal Cause?
Thou art superior to Brahma, O Ananta !
O God of gods ! O Thou Abode of all the universe !
Thou art the Word Divine, Thou art Infallible-
Thou dost transcend all sentient and insentient
things in Nature.
Thou art the Primordial Eternal Being ;
Thou art the only Shelter of this Universe ;
Thou art the Knower and the Known ;
Thou art identical with Thine Transcendental
Realm
Which is beyond all qualities of Maya.
O Lord of Boundless Form !
By Thee everything is pervaded.
Thou art Vayu, Yama, Fire, Varuna,
Moon and the Creator Brahma;
Therefore do I bow to Thee a million times,
And hail Thee again and yet again.
HAIL to Thee on all sides ! O Lord of Power
Infinite !
Thou alone art Master of immeasurable strength-
All potencies pervadest Thou, O Lord !
Thou art the All in all.
Whatever I might have said from inadvertance
Or from love, addressing Thee in such familiar terms
As "Krishna !" "O Yadava !" "O Friend!"
Being ignorant of this Thy Greatness
And of Thy Glory, and merely looking on Thee as
my most loving Friend
Or in whatever way I might have shown some
disregard for Thee
In fun, at play, in sleep, at meals,
Before an assembly or while alone,
I crave Thee, O Achchyuta ! to forgive me all.
THOU art the Father, the Object of reverence
And the greatest Guru, Spiritual Master, of
this Universe ;
Far from superior, there is none equal unto Thee
In all three worlds. Thy greatness is unrivalled.
Thou art the Lord and Object of all worship.
I offer my humble obeisance to Thee
Imploring Thy forgiveness.
Thou and the normal soul have an inseprabale rela-
tionship
Of confidential love, as between Master and man,
Or parents and Child, or between the lover and the
Beloved.
Thou dost accept such confidential services
And loving homage from Thy servants, friends,
Parents ans consorts, and graciously forgive
The intimate expressions used towards Thee.
I am filled with wonder;
My curiosity is satisfied to see Thy Universal
Form
Of Viswarupa, Which was not seen before;
But this Form does not please the eyes and mind of
Thy devotees.
My mind is sore afflicted at this fearsome Form, O
Lord !
O God of gods ! Abode of the Universe !
Have mercy on Me and show me Thy All-Majestic
Four-armed Form of Vasudeva,
The son of Vasudeva-the Ocean of all grace.
Let me now see Thy Four-armed Form
With golden crown on head
And disk-conch-mace-lotus in Thy hands.
From that Form dost Thou manifest this Thousand-
armed
And Universal Form within the Cosmic world.
O Krishna ! now I have understood without a doubt
That Thy Sachchidananda Two-armed Krishna
Form
Eternally exists as the Loving Lord.
The Majestic Four-armed Form as Narayana
Is the Manifestation of Delight Supereral
Of Thy All-loving Two-armed Krishna-Form:
And when the universe is created,
Then from Thy Four-armed All-Majestic Narayana
Aspect
This All-Pervading Virata or Great Universal Form
does emanate.
My curiosity has been aroused a thousandfold
By virtue of this transcendental knowledge.
SREE Bhagavan said: "I have been pleased to show
thee
My Form Supreme belonging to the Cosmic Plane.
To none but thee have I before revealed
This boundless Primordial Lustrous Form.
O greatest hero among the Kurus !
None but thou alone in this world hast seen My
Viswarupa Form
Either by virtue of study of the Vedas or sacrifices,
Or largesses, or rituals, or practising severe auste-
rities.
Those who have reached the celestial region
And attained a godly life
Behold and meditate on My Viswarupa Form
By means of their godly eyes and godly mind;
Those who are ignorant and fettered worldlings
Can never see this Form;
But My devotees can pierce these gross and subtle
walls of ignorance and godliness
Of the mundane and celestial worlds by virtue of
My Grace.
They may transcend to My Eternal Realm
And be established in that spiritual plane.
Hence, they, like thyself, are not content
With My Universal Viswarupa Form,
Which is but a distant manifestation
Of My Majestic Aspect in the Cosmic Universe,
But yearn for the sight of My Eternal
All-Loving, All-Beautiful and Adolecsent Krishna
Form.
ONLY the ignorant think highly of My Viswarupa
Form;
But be thou not bewildered or afflicted by this
awful presence.
My devotees love peace and are affectionately fond
Of My All-beauteous Ever-adolescent Krishna-Form:
Thet therefore are aggrieved to see this terror-
striking Form.
I bless thee now, that thou mayst not be frightened
of My Viswarupa Presence;
My devotees have naught to do with Viswarupa on
the cosmic plane.
But thou art My friend, who came into the world
As an accessory to My Divine Deeds-
Thou shalt be an adjuct to My wishes and
activities;
It does not hence befit thee to be so affected.
Give up all fear and with a cheerful heart
Behold again My transcendental blissful Form."
SANJAYA said to Dhritarastra: "So saying, the
Lord Divine
Vasudeva withdrew His fearful Viswarupa Form
And showed Arjuna His Four-armed Narayana
Form
And then His Gentle, Loving, Two-armed Form of
Krishna-
Human in appearance, encouraging Arjuna with
sweet and hopeful words".
Seeing the Beauteous Loving Human Form of
Krishna Arjuna said,
"O Janardana ! I am now restored to peace of mind
And have regained devotion for Thee,
The normal function of my self,
In seeing Thy evergraceful Huma-Form."
SREE Bhagavan said: "Arjuna ! My Form which
thou didst see
Is not accessible to many;
Even the gods like Brahma, Rudra and the others
Are ever anxious to have a glimpse of My All-
beautiful, Magnetic Form.
If thou shouldst argue that how can this Form be
inaccessible
When I am seen apparently by many here on earth,
Then listen to the truth:
The relation between the observer and observed is
designated "observation,"
Which may be classified into three groups
According to the angle occupied by the observer.
The first is based on pure and complete conception
Of this transcendental knowledge;
The second but proceeds from ignorance;
The third reposes on empiricism and human logic
Drawn from inference within the bounds of time,
space and the three dimensions.
People who are infatuated by utter ignorance
Consider My eternal transcendental Human Form
To have been born of Maya and transitory;
They thereby are deprived of realising My true
Nature.
The pedants and the gods all falsely reason
This transcendental Form which is identical with
Me
And is the Form Eternal Which I use
When I make My Divine Descent into this worldly
plane
From My divine power and prerogative
Without submitting to the laws of Nature ;
Thus they are prone to think My All-pervading
Viswarupa-Form,
That manifests within the cosmic plane,
Or the negative and extra-cosmic, non-differentiated
Brahman,
To be My eternal Self! and regard My Human Form
As but a means of worship at the start.
But true devotees whose spiritual eyes are opened
By the genuine Preceptor with the spark of
transcendental knowledge
Know and see My Krishna-Form as the Supreme,
All-beautiful, and Transcendental, Ever-adolescent.
Therefore I say, Arjuna! that this spiritual complete
realisation
Of My Krishna-Form is not within the reach of
even gods.
Among the gods, Brahma and Siva are My devotees
And they aspire to this All-gentle Form.
Thou art My friend and devotee, and through My
Grace
Thou hast been made to realise the great supremacy
Of My eternal Form,
After having seen My Viswarupa Aspect.
NEITHER by the reading of the Vedas,
Nor by austerities nor by charities nor by sacrifice
Can I be seen in My eternal Human Form
As seen and realised by thee.
Arjuna ! it is by single-minded, undistracted devotion
only
That I can in this Form be seen and realised
transcendentally,
For that devotion, Parantapa !
Leads such a pure devotee into My perfect Realm
of Bliss.
He who does serve Me with integrity of heart,
Refrains from all fruitive Karma and dry Jnana
And cultivates a truly loving attitude towards Me,
And renders eternal good to all
By helping them in the awakening of their pure
selves
Which I deem unselfish service unto Me,
Attains Me as Sree Krishna in My Abode of Bliss.
“The Geeta: as a Chaitanyite reads it” by Tridandi Swami B.H. Bon, "Chapter Ten : Superhuman Powers"
SREE Bhagavan said:
"O Mighty-armed ! Thou art My Beloved
And so, desiring thy well-being,
I shall now tell thee truths
Of greater weight than e'er before;listen to Me again.
I am the Primordial Cause of all the gods and sages;
Therefore can they not perceive the Suprehuman
Character
Of My Descent and Deeds
Upon the mundane plane in My Own Human Form.
The gods and sages all endeavour the truth to know
About Me, only through attempts empirical ;
Thereby, despite their strenous efforts to under-
stand Me,
Fail to go beyond the scope of time and space,
And therefore partially arrive at the Negative
Principle
Of the antepodes of all earthly qualities and actions.
THIS principle is, in their belief, non-manifest
and attributeless,
Formless and void of action.
They think this earthly wisdom to be the highest
thuth;
But the Highest Transcendental Truth is not
Brahman;
I am Ultimate Reality of all transcendence :
Ever Self-effulgent, and My Transcendental Poten-
cies are inconceivable by human minds;
I am possessed of all the perfect qualities;
My Form Divine transcends all limited conceptions;
I am the All-Existence, All-Knowledge and All-
Bliss.
WHEN My External Cosmic Energy reflects Me,
I am recognisable as Paramatma, or Iswara
Who is a partial manifestation of My Primordial
Absolute Self;
Brahman is only My indistinct, effulgent Aspect,
Inconceivable by human intellect
Owing to the influence of My Deluding Cosmic
Power.
So both these, My partial Aspects-
Paramatma and Brahman-
Are My analytical and synthetical manifestations
on the worldly plane.
Only on rare occasions, out of My Prerogative and
Power Divine
Do I descend into this world.
Failing to realise the capacities of My inconceivable
Internal Potency
Through the poor vehicle of their inductive reasoning,
Those gods and sages who are intellectually
developed,
And whom the mighty force of Maya threw into the
depths of ignorance,
Think this My Full Descent into the worldly plane
To be "Iswara" or "Paramatma",
And imagining that Brahman is greater than
Paramatma
They try to merge within that attributeless Neutre-
God.
But My true dovotees,
Who realise the pettiness of human intellect, and
reasoning
And that all their attempts by mere induction
Are insufficient to comprehend My Transcendental
Self,
Cultivate a pure devotion towards Me.
Thus moved by My compassion at their dedication
absolute,
I make Myself and My Most Beauteous Form
Apparent to their pure intelligence.
HE who knows Me, through My Grace,
To be the Lord Supreme of Lords of all the
universe,
And the First Source of all manifestations,
Is granted absolution from his sins
Arising from earthly experiences.
The knowers of the Scriptures fail to understand Me
Inspite of their penetrating intellect.
The reason is that Buddhi-the introspective
intelligence,
Which can discern the inner meaning,
Discriminating intelligence that can distinguish
between self and non-self,
Forgiveness, truthfulness. pleasure and pain,
Control of internal and external senses,
Calmness, birth, death, courage, non-malice,
equanimity,
Contentment, austerity, gifts, fame and shame-
All these are mental qualities of individuals.
Though I am the Primal Cause of all these qualities,
Yet I am distinct from all.
Nothing remains unknown when the Doctrine is
known
Of "inconceivable simultaneous existence of
difference and non-difference",
Otherwise known as Achintya Bhedabheda,
The Philosophy preached by Sree Krishna-Chai-
tanya,
As the substance and its properties like fire and heat
Are distinct yet non-distinct from one another,
So also I, the Lord Supreme,
And objects, qualities, and feelings of the universe,
Born of My Potency, though eternally inseparable,
Are yet distinct from Me.
MARICHI and seven other sages great,
Sanaka and his brothers,
The four sons of Brahma who were born before the
seven sages,
And Svayambhuva and the others-the fourteen
Manus-
All these were born of Hiranyagarbha
Who was empowered by Me.
This world was populated by their progeny and their
disciples.
He who is rightly acquainted with the knowledge
That My Transcendental Personality is the Highest
End of all
The Principles of Absolute Reality
And that I manifest My Aspects Supernatural
Through the vehicle of all My Potencies
That are as yet beyond conception,
And he who futher understands that Bhakti-Yoga
Is the summum bonum of all practices of all Yogas,
Does surely perform the greatest steadfast Yoga
Which leads him unto Me.
KNOW Me to be the Fountain Source of all
things spiritually and earthly;
Everything evolves from Me;
Thus knowing, those who worship Me with unalloy-
ed devotion, are the wise.
They are truly versed in Transcendental Knowledge
of Me:
The rest are ignorant.
The character of such unshaken devotees is this :
They have surrendered heart and soul to Me;
Exchanging mutual thoughts about their spiritual
life,
And they discourse about Me.
All devotees who meet together,
Enlighten one another as to My Nature,
Heighten each other's spiritual progress
And delight in ever-blissful talks about My Trans-
cendental Pastimes.
In their nascent stage of Bhakti and its practices,
They hear and chant My Holy Name
Knowing the bliss of true devotion;
And in their highest stage of spiritual illumination
And Love Divine, when their innate nature is fully
wakened,
They are entitled a blissful intercourse with Me
As Consort in My Love-Games
By following the Path spontaneous of Love Divine
That leads to Braja.
Those who worship Me most lovingly by following
this path,
I bless with transcendental knowledge
That helps them tread the way of Love Ecstatic
Which can alone conduct them unto Me
In Mine Own Realm of Perfect Bliss.
That helps them thread the way of Love Ecstatic
Which can alone conduct them unto Me
In Mine Own Realm of Perfect Bliss.
THE followers of Bhakti-Yoga
Cannot continue in ignorance.
Some people think that those who seek the Truth
By following the process of negation
In the manner: "This is not That, This is not That"
Are truly wise.
They think that rarest knowledge is not attainable
by Bhakti-Yoga
In which emotion is predominant !
Arjuna ! the truth is that knowledge of the Great
Reality
Can never be acquired by the very limited mentality
of poor individual souls
However highly trained their intellect may be.
With all their utmost striving
They will fail to realise the Highest Knowledge.
But if I be compassionate with them,
Then only by My Grace and by My Potency
My devotees who have endeared Me to their self
Are blessed with knowledge of My Transcendence.
My boundless mercy for them prompts Me to
appear
Within the shrine most holy of their hearts,
And to dispel the gloom of ignorance
That clouds their minds,
Caused by their contact with the worldly relativities.
Transcendental knowledge is to be attained
Only by practising devotion to Me
And not by disputations or pedantic arguments."
ARJUNA said: "O Lord ! the saints and holy sages
Narada and Ashita, Devala and Vyasa
Have said, and so hast thou
That Thine Own Form Divine is beautiful beyond
compare;
Thou art the Endless Knowledge Absolute:
Thou art the Highest Shelter of all objects;
Thou art supremely Holy
Since all sinners become forever purified by Thy
Divine Sight;
Thou art the Godhead, Primal Lord,
Unborn and All-Pervading, Eternal and Divine.
I believe all this that Thou hast told me, O Keshava
To be unchallengable truth.
Neither the gods nor demons know
Thine inconceivable Identity, my Lord Divine !
O Thou Supremest Lord of Lords !
Progenitor of all the Lords !
Protector of all sentient and insentient beings !
Godhead of all the gods !
O Ruler of the Universe !
Thou knowest Thyself by Thine Own Internal
Chit-Power.
By no heavenly or human reasoning can one
perceive the truth
Of how Thou dost Thy Transcendental Beautiful
Primordial Form reveal
Upon the earthly plane,
Without submitting to apotheotic falsities,
Or laws of earth's phenomena.
He alone whom Thou dost favour
Can know Thee and perceive Thy Ways.
BY Thy Grace alone I now see Thy True Nature
in my heart
And can observe Thee in appearance before mine
eyes;
I am blessed, O My Lord !
Tell me now without reserve
About Thy Superhuman and Divinest Glories
Which permeate the worlds.
O Mighty Lord of Yoga !
By what meditation shall I know Thee in Thine
Own True Form?
And what especial Form of Thine am I to meditate
upon?
Tell me again in detail, Janardan !
About Thy Yoga and Thy Superhuman Powers.
The more I drink the nectar of Thy discourse
On these transcendental truths,
The more my thirst for hearing them increases."
SREE Bhagavan said: "Thou noblest of the
Kurus !
There is no end to My Divine and Superhuman
Powers.
I shall, however, tell thee now
About some prominent among them :
O Conqueror of sleep ! O Gudakesha !
I have already told thee of My Real Person.
I shall now tell thee of My relative existence.
I am the life of all the universe;
I alone am the beginning, the centre and the end
of all things;
I am Vishnu among the twelve Aditya who are
Dhata,
Mitra, Arjama, Rudra, Varuna, Surya, Bhaga,
Vivaswana, Pusha, Savita, Twatsa and Vishnu;
Of the luminaries I am the Sun;
I am the Marichi among the deities of the wind;
Among the stars I am the Moon.
AMONG the Vedas I am the Sama-Veda;
I am Indra among the gods;
The Mind among the senses
The spiritual Cognitive Faculty in all living beings;
I am Sankara among the eleven Rudras
Who are: Aja, Ekapada, Ahibradhna,
Virupaksha, Sureswara, Jayanta, Vahurupa,
Trambaka, Aparajita, Vaivakshata and Sankara;
Among Yakshas- demi gods, attending on Kuvera,
I am the Lord of wealth and Rakshas, the demons,
I am Kuvera;
I am Pavaka, fire-god Agni, among the eight Vasus
Who are Apa, Dhruba, Soma, Dhara,
Anila, Pavaka, Pratyusa, Pravasha;
And among the mountains I am the Sumeru.
O Son of Pritha ! Know Me to be Brihaspati
Who is the chief among the house-hold priests;
I am Skanda among the generals,
Among the great sages I am Bhrigu
And the "OM" among the words;
Among the Yajnas I am the Japa-Yajna-
The chanting of the Name of Godhead and telling
of the beads;
I am the Himalayas among the immobile objects;
Of all the trees I am Aswattha;
And of the saints divine I am Narada;
Chitraratha am I among the Gandharvas, the chorus
in heaven;
I am St. Kapila among the saints
Performing austerities for a purposed end.
Know me to be Uchchaihsrava among the horses,
Born of nectar on the churning of the ocean ;
I am Airavata among the powerful elephants
And emperor among men.
AMONG the weapons I am the Thunderbolt,
The Kamadhenu among the cows;
I am Kandarpa the Progenitor;
Among the serpents I am Vasuki.
I am Ananta among the Nagas-
Demi-gods with human faces and serpent's tails;
Among the aquatics I am Varuna;
Aryama among the manes;
Among the dispensers of justice I am Yama.
Prahlada I am among the demons,
Kala among the controllers,
Lion among the beasts and among the birds I am
Garuda.
I am Pavana, the wind, among the swiftest objects;
Among the warriors I am Parasurama;
Makara-shark, I among the fishes,
And I am the Ganges among the streams.
OF the created objects I am, Arjuna !
Beginning, Centre and End.
Of learning I am the the Spiritual Knowledge
Of the individual souls and of the Over-soul.
I am the Determining factor among the passages
of words
That seek to establish the prima facie proposition
on the one side
And refute it on the other.
Of the alphabets I am the "A",
The Dwandwa among all compounds,
The Mahakala Rudra among the destroyers;
And I am Brahma among creators;
I am the all-seizing Death.
Among the future events I come into existence.
Among the women I am Glory, Beauty, Speech
As well as Memory, Intellect, Patience, Forgiveness
And others-the consorts of Dharma.
I am the Great Sama in the Sama-Veda;
Among the metres I am the Gayatri ;
The Agrahayana (November - December) am I
among the months,
And of seasons I am the Spring.
I am the Hazard of the gamblers,
The Valour of the chivalrous;
I am Victory and Effort among the persevering;
And I am the Strength of the strong.
Among the children of the family of Brishni,
I am Vasudeva or Valarama;
Dhananjaya am I of the Pandavas.
Among the Saints I am Veda-Vyasa,
And I am Sukracharya among the poets.
I am the Sceptre among the punishers;
Among those who seek victory I am Polity.
Of the secrets I am Silence ;
And I am the Wisdom of the wise,
I am that Seed from which all beings spring.
Arjuna ! no sentient or insentient object can ever
have existence without Me.
O Parantapa ! there is no end to My Divine
Supernatural Powers, of which I only mention
but a few to thee.
Whatever be endowed with majesty and might,
Excellence and splendour,
Know that to be part of My Superhuman grandeur
Born of the splendour of My External Power.
O Arjuna ! what value is this to thee to know about
My splendour?
By My Cosmic Energy which exercises influence
o'er all phenomena,
I permeate the universe as Paramatma Immanent.
My Potency possesses all capacities.
It is only with a particle of these capacities
That I enter every atom of the universe.
I have My relative existence in the world;
I exist as the all-Pervading Paramatma
Through the Agency of Cosmic Energy;
And in the Jiva-world, I am the Monitor Indwelling."
"O Mighty-armed ! Thou art My Beloved
And so, desiring thy well-being,
I shall now tell thee truths
Of greater weight than e'er before;listen to Me again.
I am the Primordial Cause of all the gods and sages;
Therefore can they not perceive the Suprehuman
Character
Of My Descent and Deeds
Upon the mundane plane in My Own Human Form.
The gods and sages all endeavour the truth to know
About Me, only through attempts empirical ;
Thereby, despite their strenous efforts to under-
stand Me,
Fail to go beyond the scope of time and space,
And therefore partially arrive at the Negative
Principle
Of the antepodes of all earthly qualities and actions.
THIS principle is, in their belief, non-manifest
and attributeless,
Formless and void of action.
They think this earthly wisdom to be the highest
thuth;
But the Highest Transcendental Truth is not
Brahman;
I am Ultimate Reality of all transcendence :
Ever Self-effulgent, and My Transcendental Poten-
cies are inconceivable by human minds;
I am possessed of all the perfect qualities;
My Form Divine transcends all limited conceptions;
I am the All-Existence, All-Knowledge and All-
Bliss.
WHEN My External Cosmic Energy reflects Me,
I am recognisable as Paramatma, or Iswara
Who is a partial manifestation of My Primordial
Absolute Self;
Brahman is only My indistinct, effulgent Aspect,
Inconceivable by human intellect
Owing to the influence of My Deluding Cosmic
Power.
So both these, My partial Aspects-
Paramatma and Brahman-
Are My analytical and synthetical manifestations
on the worldly plane.
Only on rare occasions, out of My Prerogative and
Power Divine
Do I descend into this world.
Failing to realise the capacities of My inconceivable
Internal Potency
Through the poor vehicle of their inductive reasoning,
Those gods and sages who are intellectually
developed,
And whom the mighty force of Maya threw into the
depths of ignorance,
Think this My Full Descent into the worldly plane
To be "Iswara" or "Paramatma",
And imagining that Brahman is greater than
Paramatma
They try to merge within that attributeless Neutre-
God.
But My true dovotees,
Who realise the pettiness of human intellect, and
reasoning
And that all their attempts by mere induction
Are insufficient to comprehend My Transcendental
Self,
Cultivate a pure devotion towards Me.
Thus moved by My compassion at their dedication
absolute,
I make Myself and My Most Beauteous Form
Apparent to their pure intelligence.
HE who knows Me, through My Grace,
To be the Lord Supreme of Lords of all the
universe,
And the First Source of all manifestations,
Is granted absolution from his sins
Arising from earthly experiences.
The knowers of the Scriptures fail to understand Me
Inspite of their penetrating intellect.
The reason is that Buddhi-the introspective
intelligence,
Which can discern the inner meaning,
Discriminating intelligence that can distinguish
between self and non-self,
Forgiveness, truthfulness. pleasure and pain,
Control of internal and external senses,
Calmness, birth, death, courage, non-malice,
equanimity,
Contentment, austerity, gifts, fame and shame-
All these are mental qualities of individuals.
Though I am the Primal Cause of all these qualities,
Yet I am distinct from all.
Nothing remains unknown when the Doctrine is
known
Of "inconceivable simultaneous existence of
difference and non-difference",
Otherwise known as Achintya Bhedabheda,
The Philosophy preached by Sree Krishna-Chai-
tanya,
As the substance and its properties like fire and heat
Are distinct yet non-distinct from one another,
So also I, the Lord Supreme,
And objects, qualities, and feelings of the universe,
Born of My Potency, though eternally inseparable,
Are yet distinct from Me.
MARICHI and seven other sages great,
Sanaka and his brothers,
The four sons of Brahma who were born before the
seven sages,
And Svayambhuva and the others-the fourteen
Manus-
All these were born of Hiranyagarbha
Who was empowered by Me.
This world was populated by their progeny and their
disciples.
He who is rightly acquainted with the knowledge
That My Transcendental Personality is the Highest
End of all
The Principles of Absolute Reality
And that I manifest My Aspects Supernatural
Through the vehicle of all My Potencies
That are as yet beyond conception,
And he who futher understands that Bhakti-Yoga
Is the summum bonum of all practices of all Yogas,
Does surely perform the greatest steadfast Yoga
Which leads him unto Me.
KNOW Me to be the Fountain Source of all
things spiritually and earthly;
Everything evolves from Me;
Thus knowing, those who worship Me with unalloy-
ed devotion, are the wise.
They are truly versed in Transcendental Knowledge
of Me:
The rest are ignorant.
The character of such unshaken devotees is this :
They have surrendered heart and soul to Me;
Exchanging mutual thoughts about their spiritual
life,
And they discourse about Me.
All devotees who meet together,
Enlighten one another as to My Nature,
Heighten each other's spiritual progress
And delight in ever-blissful talks about My Trans-
cendental Pastimes.
In their nascent stage of Bhakti and its practices,
They hear and chant My Holy Name
Knowing the bliss of true devotion;
And in their highest stage of spiritual illumination
And Love Divine, when their innate nature is fully
wakened,
They are entitled a blissful intercourse with Me
As Consort in My Love-Games
By following the Path spontaneous of Love Divine
That leads to Braja.
Those who worship Me most lovingly by following
this path,
I bless with transcendental knowledge
That helps them tread the way of Love Ecstatic
Which can alone conduct them unto Me
In Mine Own Realm of Perfect Bliss.
That helps them thread the way of Love Ecstatic
Which can alone conduct them unto Me
In Mine Own Realm of Perfect Bliss.
THE followers of Bhakti-Yoga
Cannot continue in ignorance.
Some people think that those who seek the Truth
By following the process of negation
In the manner: "This is not That, This is not That"
Are truly wise.
They think that rarest knowledge is not attainable
by Bhakti-Yoga
In which emotion is predominant !
Arjuna ! the truth is that knowledge of the Great
Reality
Can never be acquired by the very limited mentality
of poor individual souls
However highly trained their intellect may be.
With all their utmost striving
They will fail to realise the Highest Knowledge.
But if I be compassionate with them,
Then only by My Grace and by My Potency
My devotees who have endeared Me to their self
Are blessed with knowledge of My Transcendence.
My boundless mercy for them prompts Me to
appear
Within the shrine most holy of their hearts,
And to dispel the gloom of ignorance
That clouds their minds,
Caused by their contact with the worldly relativities.
Transcendental knowledge is to be attained
Only by practising devotion to Me
And not by disputations or pedantic arguments."
ARJUNA said: "O Lord ! the saints and holy sages
Narada and Ashita, Devala and Vyasa
Have said, and so hast thou
That Thine Own Form Divine is beautiful beyond
compare;
Thou art the Endless Knowledge Absolute:
Thou art the Highest Shelter of all objects;
Thou art supremely Holy
Since all sinners become forever purified by Thy
Divine Sight;
Thou art the Godhead, Primal Lord,
Unborn and All-Pervading, Eternal and Divine.
I believe all this that Thou hast told me, O Keshava
To be unchallengable truth.
Neither the gods nor demons know
Thine inconceivable Identity, my Lord Divine !
O Thou Supremest Lord of Lords !
Progenitor of all the Lords !
Protector of all sentient and insentient beings !
Godhead of all the gods !
O Ruler of the Universe !
Thou knowest Thyself by Thine Own Internal
Chit-Power.
By no heavenly or human reasoning can one
perceive the truth
Of how Thou dost Thy Transcendental Beautiful
Primordial Form reveal
Upon the earthly plane,
Without submitting to apotheotic falsities,
Or laws of earth's phenomena.
He alone whom Thou dost favour
Can know Thee and perceive Thy Ways.
BY Thy Grace alone I now see Thy True Nature
in my heart
And can observe Thee in appearance before mine
eyes;
I am blessed, O My Lord !
Tell me now without reserve
About Thy Superhuman and Divinest Glories
Which permeate the worlds.
O Mighty Lord of Yoga !
By what meditation shall I know Thee in Thine
Own True Form?
And what especial Form of Thine am I to meditate
upon?
Tell me again in detail, Janardan !
About Thy Yoga and Thy Superhuman Powers.
The more I drink the nectar of Thy discourse
On these transcendental truths,
The more my thirst for hearing them increases."
SREE Bhagavan said: "Thou noblest of the
Kurus !
There is no end to My Divine and Superhuman
Powers.
I shall, however, tell thee now
About some prominent among them :
O Conqueror of sleep ! O Gudakesha !
I have already told thee of My Real Person.
I shall now tell thee of My relative existence.
I am the life of all the universe;
I alone am the beginning, the centre and the end
of all things;
I am Vishnu among the twelve Aditya who are
Dhata,
Mitra, Arjama, Rudra, Varuna, Surya, Bhaga,
Vivaswana, Pusha, Savita, Twatsa and Vishnu;
Of the luminaries I am the Sun;
I am the Marichi among the deities of the wind;
Among the stars I am the Moon.
AMONG the Vedas I am the Sama-Veda;
I am Indra among the gods;
The Mind among the senses
The spiritual Cognitive Faculty in all living beings;
I am Sankara among the eleven Rudras
Who are: Aja, Ekapada, Ahibradhna,
Virupaksha, Sureswara, Jayanta, Vahurupa,
Trambaka, Aparajita, Vaivakshata and Sankara;
Among Yakshas- demi gods, attending on Kuvera,
I am the Lord of wealth and Rakshas, the demons,
I am Kuvera;
I am Pavaka, fire-god Agni, among the eight Vasus
Who are Apa, Dhruba, Soma, Dhara,
Anila, Pavaka, Pratyusa, Pravasha;
And among the mountains I am the Sumeru.
O Son of Pritha ! Know Me to be Brihaspati
Who is the chief among the house-hold priests;
I am Skanda among the generals,
Among the great sages I am Bhrigu
And the "OM" among the words;
Among the Yajnas I am the Japa-Yajna-
The chanting of the Name of Godhead and telling
of the beads;
I am the Himalayas among the immobile objects;
Of all the trees I am Aswattha;
And of the saints divine I am Narada;
Chitraratha am I among the Gandharvas, the chorus
in heaven;
I am St. Kapila among the saints
Performing austerities for a purposed end.
Know me to be Uchchaihsrava among the horses,
Born of nectar on the churning of the ocean ;
I am Airavata among the powerful elephants
And emperor among men.
AMONG the weapons I am the Thunderbolt,
The Kamadhenu among the cows;
I am Kandarpa the Progenitor;
Among the serpents I am Vasuki.
I am Ananta among the Nagas-
Demi-gods with human faces and serpent's tails;
Among the aquatics I am Varuna;
Aryama among the manes;
Among the dispensers of justice I am Yama.
Prahlada I am among the demons,
Kala among the controllers,
Lion among the beasts and among the birds I am
Garuda.
I am Pavana, the wind, among the swiftest objects;
Among the warriors I am Parasurama;
Makara-shark, I among the fishes,
And I am the Ganges among the streams.
OF the created objects I am, Arjuna !
Beginning, Centre and End.
Of learning I am the the Spiritual Knowledge
Of the individual souls and of the Over-soul.
I am the Determining factor among the passages
of words
That seek to establish the prima facie proposition
on the one side
And refute it on the other.
Of the alphabets I am the "A",
The Dwandwa among all compounds,
The Mahakala Rudra among the destroyers;
And I am Brahma among creators;
I am the all-seizing Death.
Among the future events I come into existence.
Among the women I am Glory, Beauty, Speech
As well as Memory, Intellect, Patience, Forgiveness
And others-the consorts of Dharma.
I am the Great Sama in the Sama-Veda;
Among the metres I am the Gayatri ;
The Agrahayana (November - December) am I
among the months,
And of seasons I am the Spring.
I am the Hazard of the gamblers,
The Valour of the chivalrous;
I am Victory and Effort among the persevering;
And I am the Strength of the strong.
Among the children of the family of Brishni,
I am Vasudeva or Valarama;
Dhananjaya am I of the Pandavas.
Among the Saints I am Veda-Vyasa,
And I am Sukracharya among the poets.
I am the Sceptre among the punishers;
Among those who seek victory I am Polity.
Of the secrets I am Silence ;
And I am the Wisdom of the wise,
I am that Seed from which all beings spring.
Arjuna ! no sentient or insentient object can ever
have existence without Me.
O Parantapa ! there is no end to My Divine
Supernatural Powers, of which I only mention
but a few to thee.
Whatever be endowed with majesty and might,
Excellence and splendour,
Know that to be part of My Superhuman grandeur
Born of the splendour of My External Power.
O Arjuna ! what value is this to thee to know about
My splendour?
By My Cosmic Energy which exercises influence
o'er all phenomena,
I permeate the universe as Paramatma Immanent.
My Potency possesses all capacities.
It is only with a particle of these capacities
That I enter every atom of the universe.
I have My relative existence in the world;
I exist as the all-Pervading Paramatma
Through the Agency of Cosmic Energy;
And in the Jiva-world, I am the Monitor Indwelling."
“The Geeta: as a Chaitanyite reads it” by Tridandi Swami B.H. Bon, "Chapter Nine : Esoteric Love Divine"
SREE Bhagavan said;
"Now I shall tell thee who art free from malice
The most secret truth about My Transendental
Knowledge and Love Divine.
Listen to this, Arjuna ! and rid thyself of every ill.
The knowledge pertaining to the soul
And its elevation is naturally secret;
But the devotional conception of My Sovereignty
Supreme
Is infinitely higher and more esoteric,
While the knowledge of Kevala-Bhakti,
Which I shall tell thee now
Is the most secret and esoteric.
He who knows this is freed for ever from the evils
Of the triple qualities
Which are impediment to pure devotion.
THIS knowledge is called Raja-Vidya, the Prince
of knowledge.
It is the most secret of all secret truths;
Most holy is this in character;
It leads to the veritable understanding
Of thine own true self as well as the Self Supreme.
By the performance of this Raja-Vidya
All other rites are fully practised;
It is the climax of all religions;
Easily accessible; free from the troubles due to
Karma and to Jnana;
And it transcendes the triple qualities of Maya.
Faith is the fundamental basis of this knowledge;
Because the love and pure devotion which is
essentially this knowledge,
First awakens in the heart of fallen souls as faith
in Me.
O thou destroyer of thine enemies !
Those whose faith and confidence in Me-
Which is the first step in the ladder of religious life,
Has not begun to spread,
Are unable to acquire this knowledge
And therefore are deprived of true attachment for
Me
And subsequently enter the whirlpool of this world.
I have no mundane form.
My Reality is Transcendental and Eternal
Beyond the comprehension of the human mind.
Thus in My Unmanifest Existence I do pervade
the universe,
And all sentient and insentient beings exist in
Me.
I dwell not in them as the clay lives in the pots
Or gold in golden bracelets.
It is not true that this world is a transformation of
My Self.
I am the Absolute Whole-
I am the Divinity possessed of all the potencies.
The world has emanated from Mine Own External
Potency which is its working agent;
Thus I am not concerned directly with phenomena
made manifest.
Though I am the Efficient Cause of all existences,
I, as the Absolute. am independent of My world's
concerns;
Albeit My universal Love and My Divine Compas-
sion encompass all My creatures.
When I say: "All beings exist in Me"
I do not mean they dwell within My Real Self,
But they exist in My External Cosmic Potency.
This is incomprehensible to human understanding.
Know then it as My super-human godly Power
Supreme.
Know also that the work of this My Potency is
after all My work
For I am the background of all Potencies,
Through whose agency I work.
Know Me hence as the Supporter, Indweller and
Preserver of all entities.
My real Self and My true Form are one
And therefore dissociated from worldly things
though all-pervading.
WORLDLY analogy is far below the level of an
explanation of such relativities.
They are beyond the present comprehension of all
fallen souls.
But to allow thee a clearer conception approaching
the truth
I tell thee here for thine own understanding.
The sky or ether is all-pervading;
In it the air, the minutest atoms and electrons are in motion.
Though the sky is the receptacle of every element
It is yet detached from all.
Likewise, though phenomena have all been caused
by Maya-Potency,
I am independent of them all,
As the sky is independent of the elements that
move in it.
O son of Kunti ! when a Kalpa expires,
All beings enter into My External Potency of triple
qualities,
And yet again when a new Kalpa dawns,
I bring them into being through the agency of that
same Potency.
THIS universe is subject to My External Potency.
Under the influence of this, all beings are
dependent
On the law of Karma, and therefore are subject to
rebirths and deaths.
I am the Self-willed, and through My Mayic Potency
Create them again and yet again.
But, O Dhanajaya ! those actions bind Me not.
I am detached from them and non-chalant.
Though unattached to earth's affairs
I am ever attached to spiritual bliss.
My Maya-the External Potency
And the Jiva-Potency-the Marginal Potency,
Help Me in My blissful attachments
And to cause the creation of material phenomena
and individual souls.
My Own Self is never thereby affected.
My Real Entity is transcendental.
Whatever is done within the sentient and insen-
tient worlds
By Marginal and Maya Potencies,
They therefore only help Me indirectly in My Spiri-
tual Occupations.
My personal aloofness from the world's affairs is
easily discernable.
O son of Kunti ! the Cosmic Energy belongs to
Me;
Acts under My direction;
Palpable is My predominance o'er her and all her
actions.
When I desire to manifest, My wishes I express
By glancing at her, and in response
She does create all mobile and immobile objects in
the atmosphere.
For this reason, there are births and rebirths,
And repeated cosmic changes,
My desires are carried out by my External Potency
While My Spiritual Occupations are conducted
By My Internal Ecstatic Energy.
Between the two, exists My Marginal or Jiva
Potency
From whom all individual souls do emanate.
FROM all that I have said, thou must conclude
That My Real Self is the complete embodiment
Of Sat-Chit-Ananda-All-Existence, All-Knowledge
and All-Bliss,
And that My Potencies work through My grace,
While I am independent of such action.
That I am manifest and seen by people in the
material world
Is also possible only by My Grace and My prerogative.
I am transcendental, hence above all mundane laws
Which do compel created beings.
I am by divine prerogative free to manifest My
Transcendental Self
Before the eyes of all the universe.
My coming thus unto the world
Would never make of Me an object of the cosmic
region.
I can and do maintain My Form Eternal and Divine
Both in the transcendental and the worldly planes.
It is but through Mine Own Exclusive Grace
That people of the world can see My Spiritual Form
Even in the worldly atmosphere
In special circumstances of Divine Descent.
To ascribe to Me that which is infinitesimal
Or the vastness of the non-manifest, is but confusion
Due to crippled understanding of the fallen souls,
Bound by Maya to the limitations of time and space.
My Nature Most Supreme is not in either of them.
On the other hand, My Real Form is transcendental
And for ever adolescent.
I am simultaneously greater than the greatest
In My All-comprising macroscopic Aspect,
And smaller than the smallest atom
In My All-pervading microscopic Aspect.
Comprehension of this My Real and Eternal Adoles-
cent Form
Is only possible by grace of My Ecstatic Potency,
Which otherwise is inconceivable to human minds.
The deluded ignorant can never understand how this
My godly Eternal Adolescent Figure can be mani-
fested in the world
Without being born like any human being
Influenced by the cosmic laws.
And they fallaciously imagine that I must accept
A human body in order to reveal Myself
In this world before the eyes of all.
They do not realise that I am the Supreme
Lord of all the macrocosm and the microcosm.
Thus infatuated by deceptive and empiric knowledge,
They impute a narrow view to My divine capacities
and Form,
Which the enlightened devotees regard and realise
to be Sat-Chit-Ananda.
IF thou wouldst know whence originates
This wrong and perverted perception,
Listen then to what I say.
Allured by a demoniac nature and lust and malice,
The ignorant and fallen are frustrated in their high
hopes of salvation;
And their penances of Karma and laborious studies
of the Scriptures
In quest of Jnana, bring them naught.
Their mind is then diverted into Karma in expecta-
tion of the fruits of pleasure's region;
They are thus debarred from purest knowledge
Owing to their fruitive acts.
When they are in search of knowledge,
The purity of knowledge is over-clouded
By mistaken theories of at-one-ness with Brahman,
the Great.
They then at this stage often think
That this My Transcendental Form is born of Maya
That I am but Iswara, a god, and therefore inferior
to Brahman !-
And when the heart is purified by worship,
An individual attains to Brahman, the End Supreme !
The result of such delusion is that their mentality,
So lustful and malicious,
Intensifies the darkness of their ignorance.
O Partha ! Blessed are those, who are possessed
of transcendental knowledge.
Resort they to My Potency Divine,
And being indifferent to fruitive actions' rind
And to the seed of dry wisdom which aims at union
with the Absolute,
They serve with all attention My All-blisful Form,
In which I now appear before thee,
And know Me to be primordial and everlasting.
Those great souls who possess this transcendental
knowledge
Ever chant the glories of My Name, My Form, My
Attributes,
My Entourage and My Activities
Which are identical with one another.
They do observe the nine methods of practices
devotional
By way of hearing, chanting, meditating,
Serving the Divine Feet, worshipping and praying,
Acting as a servant, friend and being self-dedicating.
In order to gain the blessed privilege of rendering
eternal services
Or unalloyed devotion to My Transcendental
Personality,
Perform they all their physical and mental,
Social and moral obligations
With steadfast dedication unto Me.
That their mind may not be alienated
From Me while performing these their worldly
duties,
Surrender they themselves to Me by following the
path of Bhakti-Yoga.
Just as a pauper calls at the doors of the opulent
Begging for the wherewithal to live
So My devotees keep constant company
With saints forever freed for practices devotional.
They learn from them with genuine intention
The process of the chanting of My Name,
How to surrender to Me and to read the
Scriptures in their truest light.
Strictly do they adhere to spiritual practices,
Vows and devotional worship.
They love to chant My Name incessantly
With yearnings for My endless loving service.
SO far in diverse ways I have explained to thee
The greatness and superiority of truest devotees
Over those four classes who do worship Me when
in distress
Or for want of wealth or out of intellectual Jnana-
interest.
Now I shall tell thee of three other classes
Who are inferior to the above.
The sages have designated them as Ahangrahopasaka,
Pratikopasaka and Viswarupopasaka.
Of these, the first group is superior to the other two.
In this, man rates himself as Godhead;
This is also a sort of Yajna,
In which I am but indirectly worshipped as in the
Non-differentiated Brahman.
Next come the Pratikopasaka,
Who realising they are different from Godhead,
Worship the minor gods Indra, Sun and others,
Knowing them to be superior entities
Qualified with glorious capacities from Me.
Worse than the Pratikopasaka are the wretched
Viswarupopasaka
Who worship the Aggregate Universe,
Fancying it to be the Body of the Godhead.
Such are the three classes who worship Me in
Jnana-Yajna,
Either as Brahman, with Whom they misidentify
themselves,
Or as one among the minor gods,
Or as the Aggregate Universe.
I am the Kratu-the Vedic sacrifices
Such as Agnistoma
Which are offered to the Fire-god;
I am the Yajna-the sacrificial rites
Such as Vaiswadeva of the henotheists;
I am the Scriptural Word-Swadha,
Uttered in offering oblations to the departed forbears;
I am the Medicinal Alleviation of all Sacrifices;
I am Myself the sacrificial butter poured in the holy
fire of Yajna;
I Myself the Holy Fire of Yajna and likewise the
offering itself;
I am the Father of both the unit and of the aggre-
gate worlds;
I am the Mother of the Universe for holding it
within My bosom;
I am the Supporter of the Universe providing it
with sustenance;
I am the Grandsire, being the Originator
Of the Brahma, Creator of the Universe;
I am the knowable Subject;
I am the sacred "OM" and the Vedas three :
Rik, Sama and Yajus;
I am the Highest End of all;
I am the Lord, Controller and Observer of all good
and evil,
The Abode, the Saviour from all danger, the
causeless Well-wisher;
I am the Origin, the Maintenance and Dissolution;
I am the Primal Cause eternal;
I am the Heat in summer and the Showers in the
rainy seasons;
I hold back water and send forth rain;
I am the Nectar of salvation, and I am the Death;
Arjuna, I am the gross and the subtle.
Knowing thou that all these and many more are My
Forms and My Names,
The third class of these worshippers yet worship Me
As the Viswa-Rupa-the Godhead
Whose Form is the Universe !
IF these three forms of worship are intinged with
true devotion unto Me,
Then those same worshippers by coming unto Me
as the Supreme Lord,
Can gradually grow more eligible for salvation
In the form of pure devotion,
Casting aside all stigma of their former impious
worship.
One who worships himself as the Godhead in
Ahangrahopasaka
May rid himself of this grave wrong
And merit blessing by cultivating unalloyed devotion.
Though the henotheists and the polytheists
misidentify the other gods with Me,
These errors may be rectified to understanding true
of My Supreme
And Transcendental Personality,
By their association with My truest devotees.
That woeful early misconception of the Immanent
God in Viswarupa-worship
May finally develop into a realisation
Of My Eternal Adolescent Transcendental Form
With their soul's awakening.
But if on the contrary these worshippers are more
inclind to Karma or to Jnana,
They are deprived of pure devotion-
The limpid spring of human well-being.
THE monists become entangled in the net of dry
polemic arguments
Of an illusory theory, owing to their errantry from
God-head.
The Pratika-worshippers become enmeshed within
the bonds of Karma,
Enjoined by the afore-said Vedas-
Rik, Sama and Yajus,
And having aquired the knowledge of the Vedas,
Are cleansed of sin
By drinking the Soma as the residue of their offer-
ings to diverse gods,
Thinking them to be My only different forms;
They worship Me thus inditrectly by making
sacrifices
And pray for the celestial pleasures
Which they enjoy in Heaven after death-
The realm of the gods,
Attainable by dint of pious acts.
AFTER enjoying the wide range of celestial
pleasures
In the Kingdom of the gods, as a result of piety
They must again return to this poor mortal world
When Heaven's term expires.
The seekers of reward of Karma,
Enraptured by the nectar of the Vedas,
Are hurled into the vortex of births and deaths
time after time.
DO not believe, Arjuna ! that the followers of the
Vedas enjoy the pleasures,
And that My devotees do suffer pains.
My devotees think ever of Me alone with firm
fidelity;
Accepting all those objects
Which are not detrimental to their love of Me.
Absolutely selfless these worshippers are,
And offer all they have to Me alone.
I therefore send them all that they may need
And foster them with tender care.
Though there is a similarity in the phenomenal
acceptances of things
Between My devotees and lesser Karmins,
Yet a great gulf exists
Between the fundamental objects of their aim in
life
My devotees surrender all to Me,
And since they do not ask for anything from Me,
I grant them all without request and I maintain them.
Despite their temporal enjoyments,
My devotees are ultimately blessed with Bliss
Eternal.
The pious Karmins. on the contrary, though they
experience celestial joys
Must come again into this world of sorrow
And have to move within the cycle of their Karma.
They have no lasting happiness.
Though I am aloof from all things,
Yet I feel a great delight
In helping devotees out of My tender love for them.
In thus accepting My relief
They are not guilty of offence
For they ask naught of Me.
I am indeed the Lord Supreme of All-Being,
All-Intelligence, and All-Bliss.
There is none else superior or equal to Me-
No god is independent of Me.
I am the Reality Eternal beyond the bounds of time
and space.
Some worship the Sun and other gods ;
In this cosmic region the fallen souls
Worship My various forms of diverse and specific
powers,
Which reflected in Maya,
Are thought to be forms of independent gods.
But on deliberation it is found
That those gods are distant indirect manifesta-
tions
Of My different powers, reflected through the Maya
And are thus entirely dependent upon Me.
Those who worship them as such
With clear conception of their real nature
As well as of My Transcendental and Supreme
Reality
Are on the right path, and are eligible
To make great progress in their spiritual march;
But those who worship these gods ardently
Thinking them to be eternal and as independent of
Me,
Worship them without authority.
They are thus deprived of the eternal and the
highest End.
I am the sole Enjoyer and Lord of all the sacrifices,
Those who worship other gods as independent of
Me
Are called polytheists or henotheists;
They ignore the truth about Me.
Therefore they degrade themselves, departing from
Truth Absolute.
If the Sun and other gods they worship as emana-
tions of My power,
They may attain to bliss at last.
Those who worship any other god as Godhead,
Attain the non-reality of that especial god
Which is the object of their adoration.
The votaries of the deceased ancestors go to their
transitory realm;
But those who worship Me the Ever-living Reality,
Realise Me on the great Plane of Transcendence
With increasing perfect bliss.
I am impartial in bestowing fruits on men
According to their deeds-
My law inviolable is dispensation of reward
Resulting from man's actions.
WHATEVER My devotees of loving heart and
cleanly body offer Me
Out of a naturally loving attitude towards Me-
Be it a leaf, or a flower or a fruit or water-
I accept with great affection,
Poor though the offering may seem to be;
But I refuse the richest offerings
When these are made to Me with importunity
And not with faith and love.
O son of Kunti ! I have explained to thee
How four classes of people gradually qualify
For the life devotional :
The sore distressed, enquirers after truth,
The seekers of favour and the wise;
Before they step into the Realm of Bhakti,
Their worship takes three different forms :
Monism, henotheism and pantheism.
I have likewise explained to thee
How at the threshold of Bhakti or practices
devotional
An individual resorts to four preliminary stages:
Fruitive Karma, selfless Karma-Yoga, Jnana-Yoga
And Astanga-Yoga in relation to the world.
Having said all that,
I have at last informed thee of the nature of pure
Bhakti.
Now, O Arjuna ! determine thou accordingly thine
own position.
THOU art a hero of righteousness
And hast come into the world along with Me
To add harmonious development to My
Transcendental Occupations.
Thou canst not therefore be regarded
As one among the neutral or fruit-seeking devotees.
Devotion mixed with selfless Karma and Jnana
Should therefore be observed by thee.
The duty thus incumbent on thee is:
Whatever thou seest, whatever thou mayst enjoy,
Whatever sacrifice or penance and austerities thou
mayst observe-
Consecrate them one and all to Me.
Worldly minded men perform their work with other
motives;
When their purpose has been served,
They finally and formally present their actions
unto Me.
All that I rate as nothing.
Thou, on the other hand, dedicating thine actions
unto Me
From the beginning, perform them as a matter of
devotion.
Thou shalt thereby free thyself from bondage of all
good and evil
Resulting from thy Karma, and from fighting in
this battle;
Equipped thou with the spirit of renunciation
By relinqishing thine actions unto Me,
Thou shalt be blessed with loving service to My
Form Divine.
ONE mystery with Me is that I treat all equally-
None is an object of hatred of or special love
to Me-
This is the general law with Me.
I am beyond all mundane relativities.
But it is My special feature
That I love and am attached to those
Who are attached to Me and
Serve Me lovingly and devotedly.
He who worships Me with single-minded faith, and
none else,
Should be regarded as a saint or sadhu,
Because his resolution is a perfect one,
Even though he pursues 'undesirable habits.'
"UNDESIRABLE habits" must be rightly
understood.
The manners and demeanour of a fallen soul
Are twofold-relative and truly personal.
All conduct of life such as cleanliness and piety
And all those habits respecting healthy and
nutritious diet
And activities providing wants-
All things that are conducive
To the furtherance of mental, physical and social
growth, are relative;
While habits of the function of loving service to Me,
Which is innate in every pure soul, is personal.
This is known as one-pointed unalloyed devotion.
In the engrossed state of existence,
The Kevala-Bhakti of an individual maintains a link
With the relative conduct of his life.
Even when undeviated true and single-minded love
Be awakened in a fallen soul, his habits relative
Will still continue while he inhabits the mortal coil.
But with the flash of pure devotion,
The wrong propensities are soon dispelled.
Worldly attachment will relax in just proportion to
increasing love for Me.
As long as worldly predelictions be not burnt out to
the root,
Mundane appetites may sometimes force the bounds
of decency in life.
But such profanities are curbed ere long
By loving devotion shown to Me.
THE effort of those who have climbed the steps
Of pure devotion are wholesome and praise-
worthy.
If mortal turpitude should creep into the life of such
a saint,
It would soon be rectified by cultivating the attitude
devout
Which cannot be contaminated or destroyed by
temporary violation.
Because of his past immoral habits,
A genuine devotee, should not be classified with
the non-devotees ;
With the awakening of unflinching love for Me
Transgressions of the past shall be obliterated by My
grace;
Such a person should not then be scorned as a great
sinner,
But be revered as a saint.
O Son of Kunti !
Be thou assured then of My promise
That My devotee possessing steadfast love for Me
Shall never know perdition.
The natural shortcomings due to birth
As well as elements ungodly in his character
Will be dispelled by fires of his immaculate
devotion.
Ere long he will attain most perfect and abiding bliss
By following the path of unalloyed devotion
And practising the normal ways
That are the innate functions of the pure soul,
Carefully avoiding those of either pious or the sinful
Karmins
Or the abnegations of the Jnanins.
Promise Me, therefore, O Arjuna ! that My devotee
is not to be destroyed;
Thy promises shall be observed more strictly even
than Mine Own,
For I may break My promes for the sake of devotees,
But the promises by them are never unredeemed.
O Son of Pritha ! Even the wild barbarians,
The fallen women, the Vaishya-Sudras and
other lower castes
May soon attain the highest bliss when they
completely
And unflinchingly resort to Me with firm devotion.
Restrictions of caste and creed, colour or community
Are no barrier on the Path of Bhakti.
When the savage and the low-born are thus entitled
To lead a life of pure devotion
And all their evil habits and sinful life
Do not prevent their spiritual progress,
What wonder then, that obstacles of piety
Following from worldly noble actions,
Of the higher castes,
The pious Brahmins and the holy royal sages,
May soon be overcome,
By wakening the innate normal conduct of the soul?
BOTH sin and piety are undesirable,
But they submit to true devotion.
Hence practise, O Arjuna ! unstinted loyalty to Me,
The Lord Supreme, whilst thou as pilgrim
Passest through this transitory and blissless world.
Engage thy body in thoughts of Me ;
Employ thy body in devoutest service unto Me ;
Offer thine obeisances to Me ;
Thus being absorbed in meditation and most
constantly attached to Me,
Thou shalt attain Me, the Lord Supreme,
Even after all thy present duties
Such as fighting are performed."
"Now I shall tell thee who art free from malice
The most secret truth about My Transendental
Knowledge and Love Divine.
Listen to this, Arjuna ! and rid thyself of every ill.
The knowledge pertaining to the soul
And its elevation is naturally secret;
But the devotional conception of My Sovereignty
Supreme
Is infinitely higher and more esoteric,
While the knowledge of Kevala-Bhakti,
Which I shall tell thee now
Is the most secret and esoteric.
He who knows this is freed for ever from the evils
Of the triple qualities
Which are impediment to pure devotion.
THIS knowledge is called Raja-Vidya, the Prince
of knowledge.
It is the most secret of all secret truths;
Most holy is this in character;
It leads to the veritable understanding
Of thine own true self as well as the Self Supreme.
By the performance of this Raja-Vidya
All other rites are fully practised;
It is the climax of all religions;
Easily accessible; free from the troubles due to
Karma and to Jnana;
And it transcendes the triple qualities of Maya.
Faith is the fundamental basis of this knowledge;
Because the love and pure devotion which is
essentially this knowledge,
First awakens in the heart of fallen souls as faith
in Me.
O thou destroyer of thine enemies !
Those whose faith and confidence in Me-
Which is the first step in the ladder of religious life,
Has not begun to spread,
Are unable to acquire this knowledge
And therefore are deprived of true attachment for
Me
And subsequently enter the whirlpool of this world.
I have no mundane form.
My Reality is Transcendental and Eternal
Beyond the comprehension of the human mind.
Thus in My Unmanifest Existence I do pervade
the universe,
And all sentient and insentient beings exist in
Me.
I dwell not in them as the clay lives in the pots
Or gold in golden bracelets.
It is not true that this world is a transformation of
My Self.
I am the Absolute Whole-
I am the Divinity possessed of all the potencies.
The world has emanated from Mine Own External
Potency which is its working agent;
Thus I am not concerned directly with phenomena
made manifest.
Though I am the Efficient Cause of all existences,
I, as the Absolute. am independent of My world's
concerns;
Albeit My universal Love and My Divine Compas-
sion encompass all My creatures.
When I say: "All beings exist in Me"
I do not mean they dwell within My Real Self,
But they exist in My External Cosmic Potency.
This is incomprehensible to human understanding.
Know then it as My super-human godly Power
Supreme.
Know also that the work of this My Potency is
after all My work
For I am the background of all Potencies,
Through whose agency I work.
Know Me hence as the Supporter, Indweller and
Preserver of all entities.
My real Self and My true Form are one
And therefore dissociated from worldly things
though all-pervading.
WORLDLY analogy is far below the level of an
explanation of such relativities.
They are beyond the present comprehension of all
fallen souls.
But to allow thee a clearer conception approaching
the truth
I tell thee here for thine own understanding.
The sky or ether is all-pervading;
In it the air, the minutest atoms and electrons are in motion.
Though the sky is the receptacle of every element
It is yet detached from all.
Likewise, though phenomena have all been caused
by Maya-Potency,
I am independent of them all,
As the sky is independent of the elements that
move in it.
O son of Kunti ! when a Kalpa expires,
All beings enter into My External Potency of triple
qualities,
And yet again when a new Kalpa dawns,
I bring them into being through the agency of that
same Potency.
THIS universe is subject to My External Potency.
Under the influence of this, all beings are
dependent
On the law of Karma, and therefore are subject to
rebirths and deaths.
I am the Self-willed, and through My Mayic Potency
Create them again and yet again.
But, O Dhanajaya ! those actions bind Me not.
I am detached from them and non-chalant.
Though unattached to earth's affairs
I am ever attached to spiritual bliss.
My Maya-the External Potency
And the Jiva-Potency-the Marginal Potency,
Help Me in My blissful attachments
And to cause the creation of material phenomena
and individual souls.
My Own Self is never thereby affected.
My Real Entity is transcendental.
Whatever is done within the sentient and insen-
tient worlds
By Marginal and Maya Potencies,
They therefore only help Me indirectly in My Spiri-
tual Occupations.
My personal aloofness from the world's affairs is
easily discernable.
O son of Kunti ! the Cosmic Energy belongs to
Me;
Acts under My direction;
Palpable is My predominance o'er her and all her
actions.
When I desire to manifest, My wishes I express
By glancing at her, and in response
She does create all mobile and immobile objects in
the atmosphere.
For this reason, there are births and rebirths,
And repeated cosmic changes,
My desires are carried out by my External Potency
While My Spiritual Occupations are conducted
By My Internal Ecstatic Energy.
Between the two, exists My Marginal or Jiva
Potency
From whom all individual souls do emanate.
FROM all that I have said, thou must conclude
That My Real Self is the complete embodiment
Of Sat-Chit-Ananda-All-Existence, All-Knowledge
and All-Bliss,
And that My Potencies work through My grace,
While I am independent of such action.
That I am manifest and seen by people in the
material world
Is also possible only by My Grace and My prerogative.
I am transcendental, hence above all mundane laws
Which do compel created beings.
I am by divine prerogative free to manifest My
Transcendental Self
Before the eyes of all the universe.
My coming thus unto the world
Would never make of Me an object of the cosmic
region.
I can and do maintain My Form Eternal and Divine
Both in the transcendental and the worldly planes.
It is but through Mine Own Exclusive Grace
That people of the world can see My Spiritual Form
Even in the worldly atmosphere
In special circumstances of Divine Descent.
To ascribe to Me that which is infinitesimal
Or the vastness of the non-manifest, is but confusion
Due to crippled understanding of the fallen souls,
Bound by Maya to the limitations of time and space.
My Nature Most Supreme is not in either of them.
On the other hand, My Real Form is transcendental
And for ever adolescent.
I am simultaneously greater than the greatest
In My All-comprising macroscopic Aspect,
And smaller than the smallest atom
In My All-pervading microscopic Aspect.
Comprehension of this My Real and Eternal Adoles-
cent Form
Is only possible by grace of My Ecstatic Potency,
Which otherwise is inconceivable to human minds.
The deluded ignorant can never understand how this
My godly Eternal Adolescent Figure can be mani-
fested in the world
Without being born like any human being
Influenced by the cosmic laws.
And they fallaciously imagine that I must accept
A human body in order to reveal Myself
In this world before the eyes of all.
They do not realise that I am the Supreme
Lord of all the macrocosm and the microcosm.
Thus infatuated by deceptive and empiric knowledge,
They impute a narrow view to My divine capacities
and Form,
Which the enlightened devotees regard and realise
to be Sat-Chit-Ananda.
IF thou wouldst know whence originates
This wrong and perverted perception,
Listen then to what I say.
Allured by a demoniac nature and lust and malice,
The ignorant and fallen are frustrated in their high
hopes of salvation;
And their penances of Karma and laborious studies
of the Scriptures
In quest of Jnana, bring them naught.
Their mind is then diverted into Karma in expecta-
tion of the fruits of pleasure's region;
They are thus debarred from purest knowledge
Owing to their fruitive acts.
When they are in search of knowledge,
The purity of knowledge is over-clouded
By mistaken theories of at-one-ness with Brahman,
the Great.
They then at this stage often think
That this My Transcendental Form is born of Maya
That I am but Iswara, a god, and therefore inferior
to Brahman !-
And when the heart is purified by worship,
An individual attains to Brahman, the End Supreme !
The result of such delusion is that their mentality,
So lustful and malicious,
Intensifies the darkness of their ignorance.
O Partha ! Blessed are those, who are possessed
of transcendental knowledge.
Resort they to My Potency Divine,
And being indifferent to fruitive actions' rind
And to the seed of dry wisdom which aims at union
with the Absolute,
They serve with all attention My All-blisful Form,
In which I now appear before thee,
And know Me to be primordial and everlasting.
Those great souls who possess this transcendental
knowledge
Ever chant the glories of My Name, My Form, My
Attributes,
My Entourage and My Activities
Which are identical with one another.
They do observe the nine methods of practices
devotional
By way of hearing, chanting, meditating,
Serving the Divine Feet, worshipping and praying,
Acting as a servant, friend and being self-dedicating.
In order to gain the blessed privilege of rendering
eternal services
Or unalloyed devotion to My Transcendental
Personality,
Perform they all their physical and mental,
Social and moral obligations
With steadfast dedication unto Me.
That their mind may not be alienated
From Me while performing these their worldly
duties,
Surrender they themselves to Me by following the
path of Bhakti-Yoga.
Just as a pauper calls at the doors of the opulent
Begging for the wherewithal to live
So My devotees keep constant company
With saints forever freed for practices devotional.
They learn from them with genuine intention
The process of the chanting of My Name,
How to surrender to Me and to read the
Scriptures in their truest light.
Strictly do they adhere to spiritual practices,
Vows and devotional worship.
They love to chant My Name incessantly
With yearnings for My endless loving service.
SO far in diverse ways I have explained to thee
The greatness and superiority of truest devotees
Over those four classes who do worship Me when
in distress
Or for want of wealth or out of intellectual Jnana-
interest.
Now I shall tell thee of three other classes
Who are inferior to the above.
The sages have designated them as Ahangrahopasaka,
Pratikopasaka and Viswarupopasaka.
Of these, the first group is superior to the other two.
In this, man rates himself as Godhead;
This is also a sort of Yajna,
In which I am but indirectly worshipped as in the
Non-differentiated Brahman.
Next come the Pratikopasaka,
Who realising they are different from Godhead,
Worship the minor gods Indra, Sun and others,
Knowing them to be superior entities
Qualified with glorious capacities from Me.
Worse than the Pratikopasaka are the wretched
Viswarupopasaka
Who worship the Aggregate Universe,
Fancying it to be the Body of the Godhead.
Such are the three classes who worship Me in
Jnana-Yajna,
Either as Brahman, with Whom they misidentify
themselves,
Or as one among the minor gods,
Or as the Aggregate Universe.
I am the Kratu-the Vedic sacrifices
Such as Agnistoma
Which are offered to the Fire-god;
I am the Yajna-the sacrificial rites
Such as Vaiswadeva of the henotheists;
I am the Scriptural Word-Swadha,
Uttered in offering oblations to the departed forbears;
I am the Medicinal Alleviation of all Sacrifices;
I am Myself the sacrificial butter poured in the holy
fire of Yajna;
I Myself the Holy Fire of Yajna and likewise the
offering itself;
I am the Father of both the unit and of the aggre-
gate worlds;
I am the Mother of the Universe for holding it
within My bosom;
I am the Supporter of the Universe providing it
with sustenance;
I am the Grandsire, being the Originator
Of the Brahma, Creator of the Universe;
I am the knowable Subject;
I am the sacred "OM" and the Vedas three :
Rik, Sama and Yajus;
I am the Highest End of all;
I am the Lord, Controller and Observer of all good
and evil,
The Abode, the Saviour from all danger, the
causeless Well-wisher;
I am the Origin, the Maintenance and Dissolution;
I am the Primal Cause eternal;
I am the Heat in summer and the Showers in the
rainy seasons;
I hold back water and send forth rain;
I am the Nectar of salvation, and I am the Death;
Arjuna, I am the gross and the subtle.
Knowing thou that all these and many more are My
Forms and My Names,
The third class of these worshippers yet worship Me
As the Viswa-Rupa-the Godhead
Whose Form is the Universe !
IF these three forms of worship are intinged with
true devotion unto Me,
Then those same worshippers by coming unto Me
as the Supreme Lord,
Can gradually grow more eligible for salvation
In the form of pure devotion,
Casting aside all stigma of their former impious
worship.
One who worships himself as the Godhead in
Ahangrahopasaka
May rid himself of this grave wrong
And merit blessing by cultivating unalloyed devotion.
Though the henotheists and the polytheists
misidentify the other gods with Me,
These errors may be rectified to understanding true
of My Supreme
And Transcendental Personality,
By their association with My truest devotees.
That woeful early misconception of the Immanent
God in Viswarupa-worship
May finally develop into a realisation
Of My Eternal Adolescent Transcendental Form
With their soul's awakening.
But if on the contrary these worshippers are more
inclind to Karma or to Jnana,
They are deprived of pure devotion-
The limpid spring of human well-being.
THE monists become entangled in the net of dry
polemic arguments
Of an illusory theory, owing to their errantry from
God-head.
The Pratika-worshippers become enmeshed within
the bonds of Karma,
Enjoined by the afore-said Vedas-
Rik, Sama and Yajus,
And having aquired the knowledge of the Vedas,
Are cleansed of sin
By drinking the Soma as the residue of their offer-
ings to diverse gods,
Thinking them to be My only different forms;
They worship Me thus inditrectly by making
sacrifices
And pray for the celestial pleasures
Which they enjoy in Heaven after death-
The realm of the gods,
Attainable by dint of pious acts.
AFTER enjoying the wide range of celestial
pleasures
In the Kingdom of the gods, as a result of piety
They must again return to this poor mortal world
When Heaven's term expires.
The seekers of reward of Karma,
Enraptured by the nectar of the Vedas,
Are hurled into the vortex of births and deaths
time after time.
DO not believe, Arjuna ! that the followers of the
Vedas enjoy the pleasures,
And that My devotees do suffer pains.
My devotees think ever of Me alone with firm
fidelity;
Accepting all those objects
Which are not detrimental to their love of Me.
Absolutely selfless these worshippers are,
And offer all they have to Me alone.
I therefore send them all that they may need
And foster them with tender care.
Though there is a similarity in the phenomenal
acceptances of things
Between My devotees and lesser Karmins,
Yet a great gulf exists
Between the fundamental objects of their aim in
life
My devotees surrender all to Me,
And since they do not ask for anything from Me,
I grant them all without request and I maintain them.
Despite their temporal enjoyments,
My devotees are ultimately blessed with Bliss
Eternal.
The pious Karmins. on the contrary, though they
experience celestial joys
Must come again into this world of sorrow
And have to move within the cycle of their Karma.
They have no lasting happiness.
Though I am aloof from all things,
Yet I feel a great delight
In helping devotees out of My tender love for them.
In thus accepting My relief
They are not guilty of offence
For they ask naught of Me.
I am indeed the Lord Supreme of All-Being,
All-Intelligence, and All-Bliss.
There is none else superior or equal to Me-
No god is independent of Me.
I am the Reality Eternal beyond the bounds of time
and space.
Some worship the Sun and other gods ;
In this cosmic region the fallen souls
Worship My various forms of diverse and specific
powers,
Which reflected in Maya,
Are thought to be forms of independent gods.
But on deliberation it is found
That those gods are distant indirect manifesta-
tions
Of My different powers, reflected through the Maya
And are thus entirely dependent upon Me.
Those who worship them as such
With clear conception of their real nature
As well as of My Transcendental and Supreme
Reality
Are on the right path, and are eligible
To make great progress in their spiritual march;
But those who worship these gods ardently
Thinking them to be eternal and as independent of
Me,
Worship them without authority.
They are thus deprived of the eternal and the
highest End.
I am the sole Enjoyer and Lord of all the sacrifices,
Those who worship other gods as independent of
Me
Are called polytheists or henotheists;
They ignore the truth about Me.
Therefore they degrade themselves, departing from
Truth Absolute.
If the Sun and other gods they worship as emana-
tions of My power,
They may attain to bliss at last.
Those who worship any other god as Godhead,
Attain the non-reality of that especial god
Which is the object of their adoration.
The votaries of the deceased ancestors go to their
transitory realm;
But those who worship Me the Ever-living Reality,
Realise Me on the great Plane of Transcendence
With increasing perfect bliss.
I am impartial in bestowing fruits on men
According to their deeds-
My law inviolable is dispensation of reward
Resulting from man's actions.
WHATEVER My devotees of loving heart and
cleanly body offer Me
Out of a naturally loving attitude towards Me-
Be it a leaf, or a flower or a fruit or water-
I accept with great affection,
Poor though the offering may seem to be;
But I refuse the richest offerings
When these are made to Me with importunity
And not with faith and love.
O son of Kunti ! I have explained to thee
How four classes of people gradually qualify
For the life devotional :
The sore distressed, enquirers after truth,
The seekers of favour and the wise;
Before they step into the Realm of Bhakti,
Their worship takes three different forms :
Monism, henotheism and pantheism.
I have likewise explained to thee
How at the threshold of Bhakti or practices
devotional
An individual resorts to four preliminary stages:
Fruitive Karma, selfless Karma-Yoga, Jnana-Yoga
And Astanga-Yoga in relation to the world.
Having said all that,
I have at last informed thee of the nature of pure
Bhakti.
Now, O Arjuna ! determine thou accordingly thine
own position.
THOU art a hero of righteousness
And hast come into the world along with Me
To add harmonious development to My
Transcendental Occupations.
Thou canst not therefore be regarded
As one among the neutral or fruit-seeking devotees.
Devotion mixed with selfless Karma and Jnana
Should therefore be observed by thee.
The duty thus incumbent on thee is:
Whatever thou seest, whatever thou mayst enjoy,
Whatever sacrifice or penance and austerities thou
mayst observe-
Consecrate them one and all to Me.
Worldly minded men perform their work with other
motives;
When their purpose has been served,
They finally and formally present their actions
unto Me.
All that I rate as nothing.
Thou, on the other hand, dedicating thine actions
unto Me
From the beginning, perform them as a matter of
devotion.
Thou shalt thereby free thyself from bondage of all
good and evil
Resulting from thy Karma, and from fighting in
this battle;
Equipped thou with the spirit of renunciation
By relinqishing thine actions unto Me,
Thou shalt be blessed with loving service to My
Form Divine.
ONE mystery with Me is that I treat all equally-
None is an object of hatred of or special love
to Me-
This is the general law with Me.
I am beyond all mundane relativities.
But it is My special feature
That I love and am attached to those
Who are attached to Me and
Serve Me lovingly and devotedly.
He who worships Me with single-minded faith, and
none else,
Should be regarded as a saint or sadhu,
Because his resolution is a perfect one,
Even though he pursues 'undesirable habits.'
"UNDESIRABLE habits" must be rightly
understood.
The manners and demeanour of a fallen soul
Are twofold-relative and truly personal.
All conduct of life such as cleanliness and piety
And all those habits respecting healthy and
nutritious diet
And activities providing wants-
All things that are conducive
To the furtherance of mental, physical and social
growth, are relative;
While habits of the function of loving service to Me,
Which is innate in every pure soul, is personal.
This is known as one-pointed unalloyed devotion.
In the engrossed state of existence,
The Kevala-Bhakti of an individual maintains a link
With the relative conduct of his life.
Even when undeviated true and single-minded love
Be awakened in a fallen soul, his habits relative
Will still continue while he inhabits the mortal coil.
But with the flash of pure devotion,
The wrong propensities are soon dispelled.
Worldly attachment will relax in just proportion to
increasing love for Me.
As long as worldly predelictions be not burnt out to
the root,
Mundane appetites may sometimes force the bounds
of decency in life.
But such profanities are curbed ere long
By loving devotion shown to Me.
THE effort of those who have climbed the steps
Of pure devotion are wholesome and praise-
worthy.
If mortal turpitude should creep into the life of such
a saint,
It would soon be rectified by cultivating the attitude
devout
Which cannot be contaminated or destroyed by
temporary violation.
Because of his past immoral habits,
A genuine devotee, should not be classified with
the non-devotees ;
With the awakening of unflinching love for Me
Transgressions of the past shall be obliterated by My
grace;
Such a person should not then be scorned as a great
sinner,
But be revered as a saint.
O Son of Kunti !
Be thou assured then of My promise
That My devotee possessing steadfast love for Me
Shall never know perdition.
The natural shortcomings due to birth
As well as elements ungodly in his character
Will be dispelled by fires of his immaculate
devotion.
Ere long he will attain most perfect and abiding bliss
By following the path of unalloyed devotion
And practising the normal ways
That are the innate functions of the pure soul,
Carefully avoiding those of either pious or the sinful
Karmins
Or the abnegations of the Jnanins.
Promise Me, therefore, O Arjuna ! that My devotee
is not to be destroyed;
Thy promises shall be observed more strictly even
than Mine Own,
For I may break My promes for the sake of devotees,
But the promises by them are never unredeemed.
O Son of Pritha ! Even the wild barbarians,
The fallen women, the Vaishya-Sudras and
other lower castes
May soon attain the highest bliss when they
completely
And unflinchingly resort to Me with firm devotion.
Restrictions of caste and creed, colour or community
Are no barrier on the Path of Bhakti.
When the savage and the low-born are thus entitled
To lead a life of pure devotion
And all their evil habits and sinful life
Do not prevent their spiritual progress,
What wonder then, that obstacles of piety
Following from worldly noble actions,
Of the higher castes,
The pious Brahmins and the holy royal sages,
May soon be overcome,
By wakening the innate normal conduct of the soul?
BOTH sin and piety are undesirable,
But they submit to true devotion.
Hence practise, O Arjuna ! unstinted loyalty to Me,
The Lord Supreme, whilst thou as pilgrim
Passest through this transitory and blissless world.
Engage thy body in thoughts of Me ;
Employ thy body in devoutest service unto Me ;
Offer thine obeisances to Me ;
Thus being absorbed in meditation and most
constantly attached to Me,
Thou shalt attain Me, the Lord Supreme,
Even after all thy present duties
Such as fighting are performed."
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