Monthly Archives: December 2017

The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10:  The Path of Divine Manifestations

Bhagavad Gita, Philosophy, Reflections

The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10:

The Path of Divine Manifestations

Shri Krishna Said, “O Arjuna! Because you are eager to listen to my words, I will tell you more profound thoughts which will be beneficial to you.

The devas and great sages do not know My Origin because I (as Brahman) am their ultimate cause.

One who knows Me in essence as Birthless, Beginningless, and the Lord of the Universe, becomes free from all sin (bondage).

From Me alone arise the following attributes and various states of mind in all beings: (1) intelligence (2) knowledge (3) ability not to get deluded (4) forgiveness (5) truth (6) control of the senses (7) control of the mind (8) joy and sorrow (9) birth and death (10) fear and fearlessness (11) non-violence (12) equanimity (13) contentment (14) austerity (15) charity, and (16) fame and infamy.

From My resolve, seven great Rishis and four Manus of ancient time were born, endowed with My Power. All beings are their progeny.

There is no doubt that one who knows in essence “My Divine Manifestations” and “My Yogic Power” will be firmly established in unwavering devotion.

Wise people truly understand that “I (Brahman) am the cause of the creation of the Universe and by Me alone the whole world functions.” That is why they worship Me with the fullness of their hearts.

Having filled their minds with My thoughts, surrendering their life unto Me, they talk among themselves about My glories and enlighten each other. Thus, they take delight and satisfaction in talking about Me.

I give Buddhi Yoga (a path of discrimination and renunciation) to those who are ever devoted to Me and who worship Me with love. Through this Buddhi Yoga, they realize Me.

Out of compassion, I, the one who resides in their hearts, remove the darkness of their ignorance by the light of a lamp of knowledge.”

Arjuna Said, “O Krishna! You are the Supreme Brahman, Supreme abode, and the Purest of the pure. All Rishis call You as the Supreme Self, Eternal, the Self-Effulgent, God of gods, the Birth-less, and the Omnipresent. The Devarshi Narada, Rishis Asit and Deval, and Maharshi Vyasa also have proclaimed You the same. You also said the same unto me.

Whatever You told me, I believe it to be true. Neither devas nor danavas know Your divine nature.

O the Creator and the Lord of all being, God of all gods, and the Supreme Purusha! Only You know Your own Divine Nature. Only You can fully describe Your Divine Manifestations whereby You pervade all the worlds and abide in them.

O Yogeshwar (Krishna)! How should I think of You to realize You? What are the various aspects or objects through which I can meditate on You? Please tell me in detail about Your Yogic Power and Divine Manifestations. My desire never gets fulfilled to listen to Your nectar-like words.”

Shri Krishna said, “My Divine Manifestations are infinite. So, I will tell you only a few of My major manifestations.

(1) I am the Atman dwelling in the hearts of all beings. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings.

(2) I am Vishnu among Adityas.

(3) I am the Sun among the bright objects

(4) I am Marichi among the wind-gods

(5) I am the Moon among the Nakshatras.

(6) I am the Sama Veda among the Vedas.

(7) I am Vasava (Indra) among the Devas.

(8) I am the Mind among all the senses.

(9) I am the Consciousness among the beings.

(10) I am Shankar among the Rudras.

(11) I am Kuber among the Yakshas and Rakshashas.

(12) I am Agni among the eight Vasus.

(13) I am Sumeru among the mountains.

(14) I am Bruhaspati among the priests.

(15) I am Skanda among all the army generals.

(16) I am the Ocean among all the reservoirs.

(17) I am Bhrugu among all the great Rishis.

(18) I am the monosyllable Om among all the words.

(19) I am Japa Yajna among all the Yajnas.

(20) I am Himalaya among all the immovable objects.

(21) I am the Ashwatha tree among all the trees.

(22) I am Narada among all the Devarshis.

(23) I am Chitraratha among all the Gandharvas.

(24) I am Kapil Muni among all the Siddhas.

(25) I am the horse Uchchaishravasa among all horses. Uchchaishravasa was born with the nectar during the churning of the ocean.

(26) I am Gajendra among all elephants.

(27) I am the King among all human beings.

(28) I am the Vajra among all the weapons.

(29) I am the cow Kamadhuk among all the cows.

(30) I am Kandarpa, the Lord of Lust, which is the cause of progeny.

(31) I am Vasuki among all snakes.

(32) I am Shesh Naga among the Nagas (half-human and half-cobras).

(33) I am Varuna among the creatures dwelling in the water.

(34) I am Aryama among the Pitrus.

(35) I am Lord Yama among the controllers.

(36) I am Prahlada among the demons.

(37) I am the Time among the measures.

(38) I am the Lion among the animals.

(39) I am Garuda among the birds.

(40) I am the Wind among the purifiers.

(41) I am Lord Rama among the warriors.

(42) I am the Shark among the fishes.

(43) I am Ganga among the rivers.

(44) I am the beginning, the middle and the end of the universe.

(45) I am the Knowledge of the Self among all the branches of knowledge.

(46) I am the decision-making discussion among all the discussions.

(47) I am the Sanskrit Letter “A” among all the letters.

(48) I am the Sanskrit Sandhi “Dwanda” among all the Sanskrit Sandhis.

(49) I am the Infinite Time.

(50) I am the Nourisher of all and My faces are in all directions.

(51) I am all-seizing Death.

(52) I am the cause of everyone’s birth (another interpretation-I am the cause of prosperity).

(53) I am the seven known virtues, namely Fame, Prosperity, Speech, Memory, Intelligence, Tenacity, and Forgiveness.  (These are Sanskrit female-gender virtues.)

(54)  I am the Brihat-Saman among the Saman hymns.

(55) I am Gayatri among the meters.

(56) I am Margashirsha among the months.

(57) I am the Flowery Spring among the seasons.

(58) I am the Gambling of the cheats.

(59) I am the Vigor of vigorous people.

(60) I am the Victory of victorious people.

(61) I am the Effort of active people.

(62) I am the Goodness in good people.

(63) I am Vasudeva among the Yadavas.

(64) I am Arjuna among the Pandavas.

(65) I am Vyasa among the sages.

(66) I am Ushana among the seers.

(67) I am the rod of those who chastise.

(68) I am Statesmanship among the people who wish to win.

(69) I am the Silence among secrets.

(70) I am the Knowledge among the knowers.

(71) I am the seed of all beings.  No moving or un-moving being can exist without Me.

My Divine Manifestations are infinite. I just told you a few of them.

Know that whatever is glorious, or prosperous, or powerful, it is the manifestation of a fraction of My Divine Manifestation.

What more can I tell you – with a fraction of My Divine Power, I support this whole universe.

Thus, in the Bhagavad Gita— the essence of the Upanishads, the science of Brahman, the scripture of Yoga, and the dialogue between Shri Krishna and Arjuna— ends the Tenth Chapter, entitled “The Path of Divine Manifestations.”

Om Tat Sat.

(Thanks to Sonali Tatapudy for editing this post.)

Laugh and Learn – 16

Laugh and Learn, Reflections

New Way of Fishing

The following post is based on a story I had heard from Swami Adiswarananda, the Spiritual Leader of the Ramakrishna Vivekananda Center in New York from 1973 to 2007.

In cities like New York, all ideas fly. If anyone has some new idea to sell, there are customers to buy that idea.

On the bank of the Hudson River where fishing is allowed, a person put up a sign:

New Way of Fishing!

For $100 only, learn a faster way of fishing.

No need to spend money on rods and baits!

John was walking around the bank of the Hudson River. He saw a few people fishing. He thought that he should have brought his fishing rod. Then, he could have spent time fishing. He walked a little distance and saw this sign advertising a new way of fishing. He smiled and thought to himself, “Wow! My thought has power. I thought of fishing, I do not have any fishing rods, and here is a man telling me how to fish without a fishing rod. Let me learn something new and have a good time.”

John approached the man and asked him, “How can one fish without a fishing rod?” The man said, “In New York, everything has a cost. Give me $100 and I will show you how to fish without a fishing rod.” John was thinking whether he should spend $100 or not. He thought $100 is too much to learn this new way of fishing.

He walked away from the man. But, he was thinking, “Everything in New York is expensive. Compared to all other prices, $100 for a new idea is cheap. Maybe I will learn this new way and show off to my friends. Perhaps I can teach this trick to a few others and either get my money back or maybe earn more. It is good that I withdrew a couple of hundred dollars from the ATM a few hours ago.”

John came back to the guy. He gave him a $100 bill and asked him to teach him the new way of fishing.

The guy said, “See, you have to buy a powerful mirror like this.” He showed him the mirror. Then, he continued, “Reflect the rays of the sun from the mirror to the group of fish or an individual fish. The fish will be blinded by the rays of the sun and will stop moving. At that time, you can go and catch the fish. See, it is so easy. You do not need a rod or bait.”

John was puzzled. He was not sure whether he was learning a new way of fishing or if he was being tricked. He gathered courage and asked him, “How many fish have you caught so far with this new method?”

The guy said, “You are the fifth one!” 🙂 🙂 🙂

———————————————————————

Reflections: 

 Beware of the people who are trying to teach us short cuts or new ways to avoid the necessary work involved in achieving something important. There may be a few genuine cases in which short-cuts or new ways may help us. But, most of the time these are gimmicks.

Surely, we have to keep learning new ways. But, we should not get cheated by greedy or shrewd people who take advantage of the simple-minded. There is no substitute for hard work. I really like Thomas A. Edison’s famous quote, “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” He also said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to success is always to try just one more time.”

There are no shortcuts in the spiritual path. We have to follow the paths which have been described by the Saints and Sages who have realized the highest Truth. Swami Adiswarananda said that no one mimics the dirt (meaning creates fake dirt), but many people create fake gold because gold is expensive.  Thus, there are many people who have tried and are still trying to create shortcuts or new ways to realize the highest Truth since spirituality is the most important part of our lives. But, almost all of them try to drag spirituality either to sense pleasures or to social entertainment or to develop schemes to make money or to earn position and power. Genuine spiritual teachers will ask us to go through the unavoidable hardships (austerities) of spiritual practices and will never compromise the ultimate Truth.

Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita said, “Help thyself by thyself. You are your greatest friend and you are your enemy. One who has attained self-control is one’s own friend and one who lacks self-control is one’s own enemy.” (Bhagavad Gita 6.5 and 6.6)

Shri Krishna emphasizes on self-efforts and says, “With firm determination, lift up the mind systematically and steadily from the body-mind and its related world with the help of the intellect, and focus it on the Atman (one’s true identity). Then, do not think of anything else.” (Bhagavad Gita 6.25). He further said, “If the restless and unsteady mind runs towards the body-mind and the objects of the world, then bring it back from these objects and again focus it on to the Atman.” (Bhagavad Gita 6.26).

Thus, there is no short-cut in spiritual path. We can take help from outside, but ultimately we have to do the required spiritual practice to uplift our self from the lesser truth to the higher truth.

(Thanks to Pallavi Tatapudy for editing this post and Viraj Khetani for the illustration.)