Bhagavad-Gita As It Is
Page 70
The knowledge, strength and activities of the Supreme Personality are all transcendental. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9):
janma karma ca me divyam
evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ
tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma
naiti mām eti so ’rjuna
Whoever knows Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental body, activities and perfection, after quitting his body, returns to Him and doesn’t come back again to this miserable world. Therefore one should know that Kṛṣṇa’s activities are different from others. The best policy is to follow the principles of Kṛṣṇa; that will make one perfect. It is also stated that there is no one who is master of Kṛṣṇa; everyone is His servant. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi 5.142) confirms, ekale īśvara kṛṣṇa, āra saba bhṛtya: only Kṛṣṇa is God, and everyone else is His servant. Everyone is complying with His order. There is no one who can deny His order. Everyone is acting according to His direction, being under His superintendence. As stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, He is the cause of all causes.
TEXT 44
तस्मात्प्रणम्य प्रणिधाय कायं प्रसादये त्वामहमीशमीडयम् ।
पितेव पुत्रस्य सखेव सख्युः प्रियः प्रियायार्हसि देव सोढुम् ।। 44 ।।
tasmāt praṇamya praṇidhāya kāyaṁ
prasādaye tvām aham īśam īḍyam
piteva putrasya sakheva sakhyuḥ
priyaḥ priyāyārhasi deva soḍhum
tasmāt – therefore; praṇamya – offering obeisances; praṇidhāya – laying down; kāyam – the body; prasādaye – to beg mercy; tvām – unto You; aham – I; īśam – unto the Supreme Lord; īḍyam – worshipable; pitā iva – like a father; putrasya – with a son; sakhā iva – like a friend; sakhyuḥ – with a friend; priyaḥ – a lover; priyāyāḥ – with the dearmost; arhasi – You should; deva – my Lord; soḍhum – tolerate.
TRANSLATION
You are the Supreme Lord, to be worshiped by every living being. Thus I fall down to offer You my respectful obeisances and ask Your mercy. As a father tolerates the impudence of his son, a friend the impertinence of a friend, or a husband the familiarity of his wife, please tolerate the wrongs I may have done You.
PURPORT
Kṛṣṇa’s devotees relate to Kṛṣṇa in various relationships; one might treat Kṛṣṇa as a son, or one might treat Kṛṣṇa as a husband, as a friend, or as a master. Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna are related in friendship. As the father tolerates, or the husband or a master tolerates, so Kṛṣṇa tolerates.
TEXT 45
अदृष्टपूर्वं हृषितोऽस्मि दृष्ट्वा भयेन च प्रव्यथितं मनो मे ।
तदेव मे दर्शय देव रूपं प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास ।। 45 ।।
adṛṣṭa-pūrvaṁ hṛṣito ’smi dṛṣṭvā
bhayena ca pravyathitaṁ mano me
tad eva me darśaya deva rūpaṁ
prasīda deveśa jagan-nivāsa
adṛṣṭa-pūrvam – never seen before; hṛṣitaḥ – gladdened; asmi – I am; dṛṣṭvā – by seeing; bhayena – out of fear; ca – also; pravyathitam – perturbed; manaḥ – mind; me – my; tat – that; eva – certainly; me – unto me; darśaya – show; deva – O Lord; rūpam – the form; prasīda – just be gracious; deva-īśa – O Lord of lords; jagat-nivāsa – O refuge of the universe.
TRANSLATION
After seeing this universal form, which I have never seen before, I am gladdened, but at the same time my mind is disturbed with fear. Therefore please bestow Your grace upon me and reveal again Your form as the Personality of Godhead, O Lord of lords, O abode of the universe.
PURPORT
Arjuna is always in confidence with Kṛṣṇa because he is a very dear friend, and as a dear friend is gladdened by his friend’s opulence, Arjuna is very joyful to see that his friend Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and can show such a wonderful universal form. But at the same time, after seeing that universal form, he is afraid that he has committed so many offenses to Kṛṣṇa out of his unalloyed friendship. Thus his mind is disturbed out of fear, although he had no reason to fear. Arjuna therefore is asking Kṛṣṇa to show His Nārāyaṇa form, because He can assume any form. This universal form is material and temporary, as the material world is temporary. But in the Vaikuṇṭha planets He has His transcendental form with four hands as Nārāyaṇa. There are innumerable planets in the spiritual sky, and in each of them Kṛṣṇa is present by His plenary manifestations of different names. Thus Arjuna desired to see one of the forms manifest in the Vaikuṇṭha planets. Of course in each Vaikuṇṭha planet the form of Nārāyaṇa is four-handed, but the four hands hold different arrangements of symbols – the conchshell, mace, lotus and disc. According to the different hands these four things are held in, the Nārāyaṇas are variously named. All of these forms are one with Kṛṣṇa; therefore Arjuna requests to see His four-handed feature.
TEXT 46
किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रहस्तमिच्छामि त्वां द्रष्टुमहं तथैव ।
तेनैव रूपेण चतुर्भुजेन सहरत्रबाहो भव विश्वमूर्ते ।। 46 ।।
kirīṭinaṁ gadinaṁ cakra-hastam
icchāmi tvāṁ draṣṭum ahaṁ tathaiva
tenaiva rūpeṇa catur-bhujena
sahasra-bāho bhava viśva-mūrte
kirīṭinam – with helmet; gadinam – with club; cakra-hastam – disc in hand; icchāmi – I wish; tvām – You; draṣṭum – to see; aham – I; tathā eva – in that position; tena eva – in that; rūpeṇa – form; catuḥ-bhujena – four-handed; sahasra-bāho – O thousand-handed one; bhava – just become; viśva-mūrte – O universal form.
TRANSLATION
O universal form, O thousand-armed Lord, I wish to see You in Your four-armed form, with helmeted head and with club, wheel, conch and lotus flower in Your hands. I long to see You in that form.
PURPORT
In the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.39) it is stated, rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan: the Lord is eternally situated in hundreds and thousands of forms, and the main forms are those like Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Nārāyaṇa, etc. There are innumerable forms. But Arjuna knew that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead assuming His temporary universal form. He is now asking to see the form of Nārāyaṇa, a spiritual form. This verse establishes without any doubt the statement of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead and all other features originate from Him. He is not different from His plenary expansions, and He is God in any of His innumerable forms. In all of these forms He is fresh like a young man. That is the constant feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who knows Kṛṣṇa becomes free at once from all contamination of the material world.
TEXT 47
श्रीभगवानुवाच
मया प्रसन्नेन तवार्जुनेदं रूपं परं दर्शितमात्मयोगात् ।
तेजोमयं विश्वमनन्तमाद्यं यन्मे त्वदन्येन न दृष्टपूर्वम् ।। 47 ।।
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
mayā prasannena tavārjunedaṁ
rūpaṁ paraṁ darśitam ātma-yogāt
tejo-mayaṁ viśvam anantam ādyaṁ
yan me tvad anyena na dṛṣṭa-pūrvam
śrī-bhagavān uvāca – the Supreme Personality of Godhead said; mayā – by Me; prasannena – happily; tava – unto you; arjuna – O Arjuna;
idam – this; rūpam – form; param – transcendental; darśitam – shown; ātma-yogāt – by My internal potency; tejaḥ-mayam – full of effulgence; viśvam – the entire universe; anantam – unlimited; ādyam – original; yat – that which; me – My; tvat anyena – besides you; na dṛṣṭa-pūrvam – no one has previously seen.
TRANSLATION
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Arjuna, happily have I shown you, by My internal potency, this supreme universal form within the material world. No one before you has ever seen this primal form, unlimited and full of glaring effulgence.
PURPORT
Arjuna wanted to see the universal form of the Supreme Lord, so Lord Kṛṣṇa, out of His mercy upon His devotee Arjuna, showed His universal form, full of effulgence and opulence. This form was glaring like the sun, and its many faces were rapidly changing. Kṛṣṇa showed this form just to satisfy the desire of His friend Arjuna. This form was manifested by Kṛṣṇa through His internal potency, which is inconceivable by human speculation. No one had seen this universal form of the Lord before Arjuna, but because the form was shown to Arjuna, other devotees in the heavenly planets and in other planets in outer space could also see it. They had not seen it before, but because of Arjuna they were also able to see it. In other words, all the disciplic devotees of the Lord could see the universal form which was shown to Arjuna by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. Someone has commented that this form was shown to Duryodhana also when Kṛṣṇa went to Duryodhana to negotiate for peace. Unfortunately, Duryodhana did not accept the peace offer, but at that time Kṛṣṇa manifested some of His universal forms. But those forms are different from this one shown to Arjuna. It is clearly said that no one had ever seen this form before.
TEXT 48
न वेदयज्ञाध्ययनैर्न दानैर्न न च क्रियाभिर्न तपोभिरुग्रैः ।
एवंरूपः शक्य अहं नृलोके द्रष्टुं त्वदन्येन कुरुप्रवीर ।। 48 ।।
na veda-yajñādhyayanair na dānair
na ca kriyābhir na tapobhir ugraiḥ
evaṁ-rūpaḥ śakya ahaṁ nṛ-loke
draṣṭuṁ tvad anyena kuru-pravīra
na – never; veda-yajña – by sacrifice; adhyayanaiḥ – or Vedic study; na – never; dānaiḥ – by charity; na – never; ca – also; kriyābhiḥ – by pious activities; na – never; tapobhiḥ – by serious penances; ugraiḥ – severe; evam-rūpaḥ – in this form; śakyaḥ – can; aham – I; nṛ-loke – in this material world; draṣṭum – be seen; tvat – than you; anyena – by another; kuru-pravīra – O best among the Kuru warriors.
TRANSLATION
O best of the Kuru warriors, no one before you has ever seen this universal form of Mine, for neither by studying the Vedas, nor by performing sacrifices, nor by charity, nor by pious activities, nor by severe penances can I be seen in this form in the material world.
PURPORT
The divine vision in this connection should be clearly understood. Who can have divine vision? Divine means godly. Unless one attains the status of divinity as a demigod, he cannot have divine vision. And what is a demigod? It is stated in the Vedic scriptures that those who are devotees of Lord Viṣṇu are demigods (viṣṇu-bhaktaḥ smṛto daivaḥ). Those who are atheistic, i.e., who do not believe in Viṣṇu, or who recognize only the impersonal part of Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme, cannot have the divine vision. It is not possible to decry Kṛṣṇa and at the same time have the divine vision. One cannot have the divine vision without becoming divine. In other words, those who have divine vision can also see like Arjuna.
The Bhagavad-gītā gives the description of the universal form. Although this description was unknown to everyone before Arjuna, now one can have some idea of the viśva-rūpa after this incident. Those who are actually divine can see the universal form of the Lord. But one cannot be divine without being a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. The devotees, however, who are actually in the divine nature and who have divine vision, are not very much interested in seeing the universal form of the Lord. As described in the previous verse, Arjuna desired to see the four-handed form of Lord Kṛṣṇa as Viṣṇu, and he was actually afraid of the universal form.
In this verse there are some significant words, just like veda-yajñādhyayanaiḥ, which refers to studying Vedic literature and the subject matter of sacrificial regulations. Veda refers to all kinds of Vedic literature, such as the four Vedas (Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva) and the eighteen Purāṇas, the Upaniṣads and the Vedānta-sūtra. One can study these at home or anywhere else. Similarly, there are sūtras – Kalpa-sūtras and Mīmāṁsā-sūtras – for studying the method of sacrifice. Dānaiḥ refers to charity which is offered to a suitable party, such as those who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord – the brāhmaṇas and the Vaiṣṇavas. Similarly, “pious activities” refers to the agni-hotra and the prescribed duties of the different castes. And the voluntary acceptance of some bodily pains is called tapasya. So one can perform all these – can accept bodily penances, give charity, study the Vedas, etc. – but unless he is a devotee like Arjuna, it is not possible to see that universal form. Those who are impersonalists are also imagining that they are seeing the universal form of the Lord, but from Bhagavad-gītā we understand that the impersonalists are not devotees. Therefore they are unable to see the universal form of the Lord.
There are many persons who create incarnations. They falsely claim an ordinary human to be an incarnation, but this is all foolishness. We should follow the principles of Bhagavad-gītā, otherwise there is no possibility of attaining perfect spiritual knowledge. Although Bhagavad-gītā is considered the preliminary study of the science of God, still it is so perfect that it enables one to distinguish what is what. The followers of a pseudo incarnation may say that they have also seen the transcendental incarnation of God, the universal form, but that is unacceptable because it is clearly stated here that unless one becomes a devotee of Kṛṣṇa one cannot see the universal form of God. So one first of all has to become a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa; then he can claim that he can show the universal form of what he has seen. A devotee of Kṛṣṇa cannot accept false incarnations or followers of false incarnations.
TEXT 49
मा ते व्यथा मा च विमूढभावो दृष्ट्वा रूपं घोरमीदृङ्ममेदम् ।
व्यपेतभीः प्रीतमनाः पुनस्त्वं तदेव मे रूपमिदं प्रपश्य ।। 49 ।।
mā te vyathā mā ca vimūḍha-bhāvo
dṛṣṭvā rūpaṁ ghoram īdṛṅ mamedam
vyapeta-bhīḥ prīta-manāḥ punas tvaṁ
tad eva me rūpam idaṁ prapaśya
mā – let it not be; te – unto you; vyathā – trouble; mā – let it not be; ca – also; vimūḍha-bhāvaḥ – bewilderment; dṛṣṭvā – by seeing; rūpam – form; ghoram – horrible; īdṛk – as it is; mama – My; idam – this; vyapeta-bhīḥ – free from all fear; prīta-manāḥ – pleased in mind; punaḥ – again; tvam – you; tat – that; eva – thus; me – My; rūpam – form; idam – this; prapaśya – just see.
TRANSLATION
You have been perturbed and bewildered by seeing this horrible feature of Mine. Now let it be finished. My devotee, be free again from all disturbances. With a peaceful mind you can now see the form you desire.
PURPORT
In the beginning of Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna was worried about killing Bhīṣma and Droṇa, his worshipful grandfather and master. But Kṛṣṇa said that he need not be afraid of killing his grandfather. When the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra tried to disrobe Draupadī in the assembly of the Kurus, Bhīṣma and Droṇa were silent, and for such negligence of duty they should be killed. Kṛṣṇa showed His universal
form to Arjuna just to show him that these people were already killed for their unlawful action. That scene was shown to Arjuna because devotees are always peaceful and they cannot perform such horrible actions. The purpose of the revelation of the universal form was shown; now Arjuna wanted to see the four-armed form, and Kṛṣṇa showed him. A devotee is not much interested in the universal form, for it does not enable one to reciprocate loving feelings. Either a devotee wants to offer his respectful worshipful feelings, or he wants to see the two-handed Kṛṣṇa form so that he can reciprocate in loving service with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TEXT 50
संजय उवाच
इत्यर्जुनं वासुदेवस्तथोक्त्वा स्वकं रूपं दर्शयामास भूयः ।
आश्वासयामास च भीतमेनं भूत्वा पुनः सौम्यवपुर्महात्मा ।। 50 ।।
sañjaya uvāca
ity arjunaṁ vāsudevas tathoktvā
svakaṁ rūpaṁ darśayām āsa bhūyaḥ
āśvāsayām āsa ca bhītam enaṁ
bhūtvā punaḥ saumya-vapur mahātmā
sañjayaḥ uvāca – Sañjaya said; iti – thus; arjunam – unto Arjuna; vāsudevaḥ – Kṛṣṇa; tathā – in that way; uktvā – speaking; svakam – His own; rūpam – form; darśayām āsa – showed; bhūyaḥ – again; āśvāsayām āsa – encouraged; ca – also; bhītam – fearful; enam – him; bhūtvā – becoming; punaḥ – again; saumya-vapuḥ – the beautiful form; mahā-ātmā – the great one.
TRANSLATION
Sañjaya said to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, having spoken thus to Arjuna, displayed His real four-armed form and at last showed His two-armed form, thus encouraging the fearful Arjuna.