Essentials of Hinduism - Bhagavad Gita - The Cosmic

Essentials of Hinduism

Bhagavad Gita

Chapter 11 - The Cosmic - Form Divine

It is hard for a mortal to cognize (comprehend by the Mind) at once the Entire Universe in one Reality, the Self. In the mass of things, there must be all the shapes and forms of all the things of this World at one and the same place and time. This is the concept of a Cosmic-Man. Having been provided a Divine-Eye by the Lord, Arjuna’s Mind was given enough freedom to move above within the space-limit of Krishna’s Divine-Form the entire Universe compressed and packed. This Chapter has been upheld by all as the highest philosophical literature in the world’s treasure-house of Sacred Books. Similar to the previous Chapter, an attempt is made below to condense several Stanzas of this Chapter to provide an overview of Krishna’s Cosmic-Form Divine.

In the Stanza 3, Arjuna says: O Supreme Lord! I wish to see (actually) Your Form Divine. Krishna did not transform Himself into the Cosmic Form, but, He helped Arjuna to make the necessary inward adjustments so that he could perceive what was there evidently in Krishna. The Lord hints at the most important and striking of them: Behold (observe) the Adityas, the Rudras, many wonders never seen before; the Whole Universe centers in One – including, the moving and the unmoving - now, Krishna says you are not able to observe Me with these your own eyes – I give you the Divine-Eye – having thus spoken, the great Lord of Yoga, Hari, showed to Partha His Supreme Form, as the Lord of the Universe.

A form He showed – with numerous mouths and eyes, with numerous wonderful sights, with numerous Divine ornaments, with numerous Divine weapons uplifted; wearing Divine garlands and apparel, all wonderful, Resplendent (splendid), Endless, facing all sides; Mighty Being (Great Soul) blazed like the splendor of thousand Suns simultaneously; there in the body of God of Gods Arjuna saw the Whole Universe resting in one, with all its infinite parts; he saw hosts of various classes of beings – Brahma, the Lord of Creation, seated on the Lotus, all the Rishis and celestial serpents; he saw the Lord of boundless form on every side, with manifold (multiple) arms, stomachs, mouths and eyes, neither the end, nor also the beginning; Lord with Crown, Club and Discus (disk); a mass of radiance shining everywhere, very hard to look at, blazing like fire and Sun, and incomprehensible.

Stanza 3:

Arjuna says: O Supreme Lord! As you have thus described yourself (Divine glories in the previous chapter), I wish to see (Actually) Your Form Divine, O Purushottama!

Stanza 5:

The Blessed Lord said: Behold, O Partha, forms of Me, by hundreds and thousands, of different sorts Divine, of various colors and shapes. Having said this, the Lord proceeds to show His Divine Form described in the beginning of this Chapter in detail.

Stanza 45:

Arjuna now prays to the Lord to resume His usual form and give up the terrifying aspects of the Transcendental (hard to understand form) and the Universal – I am delighted having seen what was never seen before; and my Mind is distressed with fear. Show me your previous form only, O God; have mercy, O God of Gods; O Abode of the Universe.

Stanza 49:

The Lord said: Be not afraid, nor bewildered on seeing such a terrible-Form of Mine as this; with your fear dispelled and with gladdened Heart; now see again this, My former form.

Stanza 54:

The Lord says further: By Single-Minded Devotion, can I, of this Form, be “known” and “seen” in Reality, and also ‘entered” into, O Arjuna! Regarding Devotion, Adi Sankara says: “No doubt, of the means available for liberating ourselves, the most substantial hardware is Bhakti; and identifying ourselves with the Self is called Bhakti”. The three stages of the Truth comes to man are indicated here when the Lord says, “TO KNOW (beginning of a Seeker’s Pilgrimage), TO SEE (intellectually understand the information gathered) AND TO ENTER (means to experience the Truth by Detachment from the false and Attachment to the Real).

This is the end of THE YOGA OF THE VISION OF THE UNIVERSAL FORM.

This article is a snippet from the Book Essentials of Hinduism, Authored by G.S Nilakantan. Hinduism for All is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.