1. Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by Nithyananda - Chapter 11 - Krishna - the Cosmic Window

In this series, a young enlightened Master, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM comments on the Bhagavad Gita.

Many hundreds of commentaries of the Gita have been written over the years. The earliest commentaries were by the great spiritual masters such as Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva, some thousand years ago. In recent times, great masters such as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Ramana Maharishi have spoken from the Gita extensively. Many others have written volumes on this great scripture.

THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita is not just a literary translation and a simple explanation of that translation. He takes the reader through a world tour while talking about each verse. It is believed that each verse of the Gita has seven levels of meaning. What is commonly rendered is the first level meaning. Here, an enlightened master takes us beyond the common into the uncommon, with equal ease and simplicity.

To read THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's commentary on the Gita is to obtain an insight that is rare. It is not mere reading; it is an experience; it is a meditation.

Sankara, the great master philosopher said:

'A little reading of the Gita, a drop of Ganga water to drink, remembering Krishna once in a while, all this will ensure that you have no problems with the God of Death.'

Editors of these volumes of Bhagavad Gita have expanded upon the original discourses delivered by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM through further discussions with Him. For ease of understanding for English speaking readers, and to cater to their academic interest, the original Sanskrit verses in their English translation have been included as an appendix in this book.

This reading is meant to help every individual in daily life as well as in the endeavor to realize the Ultimate Truth. It creates every possibility to attain nithyananda, eternal bliss!

BhagavadGita

11.1 Arjuna says: O Lord! By listening to Your wisdom on the supreme secret of Existence and Your glory, I feel that my delusion has disappeared.

11.2 O Krishna! I have heard from You about the creation and destruction of all beings,

Also Your inexhaustible greatness.

11.5 Bhagavan said:

O Partha, behold My hundreds and thousands of forms,

Of different divine sorts, of various colors and shapes.

11.9 Sanjaya said:

O King, having spoken thus, the great Lord of Yoga, Krishna, showed to Arjuna His supreme Cosmic Form,

11.10 Numerous mouths and eyes, with numerous wonderful sights, numerous divine ornaments, with numerous divine weapons uplifted,

11.11 Arjuna saw this Universal Form wearing divine garlands and clothing, anointed with celestial fragrances, wonderful, resplendent, endless, with faces on all sides.

11.12 If the splendor of a thousand suns were to blaze all together in the sky, it would be like the splendor of that mighty Being.

11.13 There, in the body of the God of Gods, the Pandava then saw the whole universe resting in One, with all its infinite parts.

11.14 Dhananjaya, filled with wonder, his hair standing on end, then bowed his head to the God and spoke with joined palms.

These verses show the unlimited, never-ending, wonderful, all-pervading nature of the Lord.

Ramakrishna says that when he experienced the Form, the Cosmic Consciousness, he could not pluck a single flower from a plant because he felt that all the plants were garlands offered to rajapurusha, God.

Anyone who has had this experience is reborn. At one level this experience is one of boundarilessness. The body expands to fill everything. The entire universe is part of the body. There is no separation of the individual and the whole. The whole is part and the part is whole. At another level the whole universe exists within you. You are everything that you see around you. The grass outside the hut, the dog in the distance, the tree beyond, every single entity, animate and inanimate, resonates within you, as a part of you.

When I tell my healers not to eat meat, it is not based on any theory that only animals have body, mind and spirit, and therefore it is a sin to kill and eat them. I say it because from my experience the energy of dead animals, meat, is not conducive to the energy of healing, that's all. There is no morality involved here. By such logic, are carnivorous animals sinners? Of course not!

There is life in everything around us, every single thing, be it a rock, be it earth, be it a tree or an insect or animal. We share the same energy with them, they with us. When one experiences Cosmic Consciousness, collective consciousness, one realizes that we are all interconnected. We are all one.

In that mood, plucking a flower hurts. A wild animal responds peacefully to your presence. There is no violence in Cosmic Consciousness. There is only acceptance and inclusion.

This is what Arjuna saw in the universal form, an unlimited number of mouths, eyes and wonderful visions. The form was decorated with many celestial ornaments and bore many divine upraised weapons. He wore celestial garlands and garments. Many divine scents were smeared all over His body. All was wondrous, brilliant, unlimited, all-expanding.

Here he sees unlimited number of mouths and eyes in Krishna. Now Arjuna sees 360 degrees in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. He sees the whole universe, all the people on the battlefield; all of them in Krishna, as the Universal Consciousness. He sees the Whole as his own Being.

There is no boundary to Krishna's Universal Form. The word Vishnu, which is his real form, means one who expands infinitely. The splendor that Sanjaya talks about is beyond anything the mind can comprehend, because it is the source of all splendor.

Notice, it is Sanjaya speaking these words, not Arjuna. Sanjaya is far from the battlefield and has been given the power to see what happens on the battlefield so that he can describe the events to his king Dhritarashtra. Now Sanjaya has the unbelievable fortune of witnessing the Divine Form of Krishna. Though Krishna says that this form is being shown only to Arjuna, by default Sanjaya has the great fortune to witness and participate in this vision.

Arjuna is awestruck and is in silence. He is yet to speak. What he has witnessed is beyond anything that he could have imagined or asked for. But the silence is a very active silence. It is a silence in which he experiences the Truth of Krishna. It is a silence in which he is actively participating in the process and is being immersed.

Those who wish to understand this logically, through their mind, are unfortunate. They just cannot. Even as the expression of an experience, this is beyond logic and rationale. In Tamil there is a proverb concerning such experiences. It says those who experience do not talk. Those who talk have not experienced.

In the vast majority of cases it is true; but this is one of the exceptions. What is experienced is being expressed for the benefit of humanity. It is being expressed to give hope to the rest of humanity that it too can experience what Arjuna experienced with the grace of God.

Such an experience need not be confined to one religion or another. Arjuna perceives Krishna's Divine Form up to this point in time in a way that is familiar to him. Krishna is taking him in steps to provide him some comfort. A person of another religion may experience the Divine Form of the formless energy in a different manner. The Ultimate Energy behind and beyond both will be the same.

Sanjaya then summarizes Arjuna's reaction to the Divine Form of Krishna in the last few verses. Arjuna is still silent and it is Sanjaya who describes what happens.

What Arjuna saw was beyond his understanding. Wherever he looked was Krishna; Krishna in many forms, many shapes, many non-forms and non-shapes. There are no words to describe what Arjuna saw. How does one describe what is beyond the mind, beyond logic, beyond words, beyond all comprehension?

In the body of the Supreme Lord, Arjuna saw the whole Universe divided in different ways and at the same time united in one form. The Universe is divided into many parts such as the sun, moon, earth, planets and other bodies in space. Here he sees all of them as one form. You need to understand this description, which is so beautiful. Later we shall enter into a meditation and pray to the Parabrahma Krishna to give us all a glimpse of what Arjuna received.

Arjuna is able to see the whole and at the same time all the parts. Even the word hologram that we now so commonly use to describe the totality of something preserved in a fragment does no justice to Arjuna's vision. In a hologram, one needs to make the effort to see the whole in the fragment. In this divine vision granted to Arjuna, the whole existed with the part, with no separation, no discontinuity. The whole was part and the part was whole.

Of all the people in the battlefield of Kurukshetra, only Arjuna had this great fortune to behold the Cosmic Vision of Krishna. Only he was granted the boon of divine vision to see the entire universe within Krishna. The vision that Arjuna beheld enveloped him completely. He was, in fact, part of that vision. He was the observer and yet part of what was being observed. In addition, he was the experience of that observation as well.

Arjuna and Krishna grew up together from childhood. Krishna's sister Subhadra was Arjuna's wife. They had a deep relationship as friends. In this one moment, that relationship was redefined.

11.15 Arjuna said;

O God, I see all the gods in Your body and many types of beings.

Brahma, the Lord of creation, seated on the lotus, all the sages and celestial serpents.

11.16 I see Your infinite form on every side, with many arms, stomachs, mouths and eyes;

Neither the end, nor the middle nor the beginning do I see, O Lord of the Universe, O Cosmic Form.

11.17 I see You with crown, club and discus; a mass of radiance shining everywhere,

Difficult to look at, blazing all round like the burning fire and Sun in infinite brilliance.

11.18 You are the imperishable; the Supreme Being worthy to be known. You are the great treasure house of this universe.

You are the imperishable Protector of the eternal order. I believe You are the eternal Being.

11.19 I see You without a beginning, middle or end, infinite in power and with many arms,

The Sun and the Moon being Your eyes, the blazing fire your mouth, the whole universe scorched by Your radiance.

11.20 This space between earth and the heavens and everything is filled by You alone.

O Great Being, having seen Your wonderful and terrible form, the three worlds tremble with fear.

11.21 Many celestials enter into You; some praise You in fear with folded hands;

Many great Masters and sages hail and adore You.

11.25 Having seen your fearsome mouths with blazing tusks like the fire of the end of the Universe,

I know not the four directions nor do I find peace. O Lord of the Deva, O Refuge of the Universe, be gracious.

11.26 All the sons of Dritharashtra with many kings of the earth, Bhishma, Drona, the son of the charioteer, Karna, with our warrior chieftains.

11.27 Into Your mouths with terrible tusks, fearful to behold, they enter.

Some are seen caught in the gaps between the tusks and their heads crushed.

11.28 Even as many torrents of rivers flow towards the ocean,

so too these warriors in the world of men enter Your flaming mouths.

11.29 Just as moths hurriedly rush into the fire for their own destruction,

So too these creatures rush hastily into Your mouths of destruction.

11.30 Swallowing all worlds on every side with Your flaming mouths, You lick in enjoyment.

O Vishnu, Your fierce rays are burning, filling the whole world with radiance.

11.31 Tell me who You are, so fierce in form; salutations to You, O Supreme; have mercy.

Indeed I know not Your purpose, but I desire to know You, the Original Being.

In these verses Arjuna expresses his discomfort.

Arjuna says earlier:

'I see O Lord! All the manifestations of Shiva, Aditya, Vasu and Vishwadeva, Ashvin, Marut, Gandharva, the forefathers, Yaksha, Asura and all the celestial beings and demi-gods, all rolled in You in wonder, all part of Your Cosmic Consciousness. Whatever You are is Divine Energy. O Mighty Armed One, all the planets with all the demi-gods are disturbed, shaken by Your Form with many faces, eyes, arms, legs, thighs and bellies and Your many terrible teeth. As they are disturbed, so am I.'

Now he slowly comes down. From this verse we should say, 'Arjuna uvaacha!' It is no longer the divine state that Arjuna talks from. The moment he started feeling fear, he descended to his normal state. You should understand that it is only your fear that separates you from Cosmic Consciousness.

Let me tell you one more incident in my life.

Some time after enlightenment, I was sitting in a forest in Tamil Nadu. There was a big snake lying just next to me. I had my eyes open but was in the Universal Consciousness, in a meditative mood. Several hours must have passed before I came out of my meditative state and the first thought that came to my mind was the snake! As long as I was in the meditative state, I did not think of the snake. You will be surprised that as soon as the thought of the snake came to my mind, the snake began to realize that I was a man! It looked up, put down its head and moved away. The fear in me triggered the fear in the snake.

The universe responds to you. Cosmic Energy responds to you.

Likewise, when Arjuna says, 'So am I', that he is frightened, he becomes Arjuna, the man.

There are two things that make you a human – the instinct to possess and the instinct to survive. The instinct to survive arises out of fear, from the Swadishthana chakra, and the instinct to possess comes out of greed, from the Muladhara chakra. This sums it up. Here the instinct to survive has appeared and he has become Arjuna, the man. We do not understand that when we drop the instinct to survive, we become Krishna; we exist forever. We become Bhagavan, the Universal Consciousness. But most often, we hold onto the instinct to survive. Now Arjuna slowly comes down and becomes Arjuna, the man.

Arjuna exclaims: 'I see all the sons of Dritharashtra along with their allied kings, Bhishma, Drona, Karna and other chief soldiers rushing into Your fearful mouths. I see some trapped with their heads smashed between Your teeth, ground into nothing.'

He describes the whole scene. He sees the heavy losses on both sides; his own side, his warriors and generals, but even heavier losses on the other side, including Bhishma who is invincible, Drona and Karna who are unconquerable. By inference he sees his own victory in the end.

In the beginning Arjuna sees what he wished to see. He sees what he believes to be the Cosmic Form of the great Vishnu in His traditional attire and weapons, surrounded by gods and sages. The form changed suddenly into a terrifying one of Death, all-consuming and terror-inspiring, to which the entire Universe bowed down in fear.

From this macro perspective, Arjuna comes down to see the same destruction being played out at the level of the battlefield at Kurukshetra. His enemies, the great warriors arrayed against him in battle, fly into the gaping mouth of destruction like moths into fire. Arjuna sees with convincing reality the destruction of all the great warriors who would have been expected to give him trouble.

However, this scene does not fill him with peace and comfort. Arjuna is terrified at this vision of destruction. The destruction of those whom he perceives as his mortal enemies leaves him with no comfort.

The truth is that Arjuna is not in control. He has no clue about what is happening to him and around him. He is in the presence of a primal force before which all that is obvious is his own insignificance. Victory and defeat seem to make no difference. The vision of destruction implies that he too is mortal. Arjuna is terrified.

'Who are You?', asks Arjuna plaintively. 'What are You here for? What are You doing? You are so fierce. You are not the Form I asked for. There seems to be some mistake!'

'I see men disappearing into You as rivers rush into the mighty oceans. Like moths rushing into fire I see creatures speed into destruction within You.

'You are not the compassionate Lord whose glories I heard from You. You are not who I thought You were. I needed You to comfort me. Instead, You terrify me.

'Have mercy upon me.'

Death is the ultimate fear. Even the great warrior Arjuna trembles when faced with the scepter of death. It is not that Arjuna is not aware of the inevitability of death or the nature of death. For a long time now Krishna has been educating Arjuna on the perishability of the body-mind and the imperishability of the spirit. Arjuna has fully understood. Yet, Arjuna is petrified.

What is Arjuna so afraid of?

For one thing, Arjuna does not expect the Cosmic form of Krishna to be anything but loving and compassionate. He has already framed Krishna is his own template, the picture that he wants Him to be. Krishna can be the friend, the Master, the beloved, the child and the mother and all combined. In every one of these moods, in each bhava, Krishna is still lovable, still reachable.

However, in the form that Krishna has presented now, the all-devouring monster as it were, Arjuna is unable to comprehend any aspect of Krishna that he has known. This is a terrifying apparition, one that is horrifyingly real.

What he does not expect, what his mind cannot comprehend, what does not fall in line with his samskara of beliefs and values, evokes great fear.

For the first time, Arjuna realizes that the Master cannot be predicted. He now knows that the Master cannot be put in a frame. The primal energy that the Master is has to be experienced in whatever manner it is presented, without expectations and fears.

Nature and Existence are neither cruel nor kind. The very term 'compassion' has a different meaning in the Cosmic dictionary. It is not the sympathy offered by each of us to another with or without any real feeling. It is not kindness. It is not the desire to be doing 'good,' whatever that looks like to us. True compassion is the result of experiencing that we are one with all of existence. There is no 'other'.

There is neither the feeling of wishing to do good, nor 'not good'. In the deepest spiritual sense, nothing is good or bad. Everything just is. That is why death is the great leveler. Death does not differentiate. That is why the Hindu God of Death, Yama, is also the God of Justice. He is impartial. No one expects Yama to be kind or to play favorites. Because he is impartial, he evokes fear. Because he cannot be influenced, he terrifies.

That is why, when people start questioning the purpose of Nature when thousands and millions die in natural calamities, there can be no answer. Such is Nature. Nature is not kind, which is our dictionary meaning, our interpretation of compassion. Nature is inscrutable and unpredictable and impartial in the Cosmic sense of compassion.

Why should a ten-year-old child die while the ninetyyear-old grandfather lives on? Why not? What do we know about the cosmic cycle of life and death other than the limited attachments we form and the emotions we feel?

Sometime ago I was asked to heal an autistic child in the USA. When I laid my hands on the child, the child spoke to me in crude Tamil telling me to take my hands off. The parents knew no Tamil. I asked the child why he did not wish to be cured. He said that the reason he was born autistic is because he did not wish to take any responsibility in this life.

I asked whether this was fair to his loving parents, who suffered as a result. The being said, 'That is why I chose them, because they are so caring and would not discard me. Now leave me in peace.'

Many choose chronic and incurable diseases in this life to reach a Master. Many of my disciples first came to me for healing, after all else had failed. For many births, their spirits have sought to meet a Master in their quest for realization, and finally the spirit decides that the way to succeed is to be attached to a near-fatal disease.

What we see is often not as it appears. The life that we lead is another drama. Only when the projection lamp is switched off do we see the screen. Until then we laugh and cry with the actors on the screen, not aware that it is all a play. When the lamp of life is switched off, we reach another plane where we see the game that we played for what it was. Until then, we too laugh, cry, shout and fight.

It is so easy to fall in love with a handsome Master. Krishna is the most beautiful of all the gods. He is so easy to fall in love with. To fall in love with a terrifying Kali or an impassive Shiva is far more difficult. When you do, you expect the form to be different too. You need to be a Ramakrishna to accept and love Mother Kali who dances on dead bodies. You need to be a Shankara to fall in tune with Shiva who is forever in silent contemplation.

But anyone can love Krishna, and everyone does. No one expects Krishna to turn terrifying. So when Krishna presents another form to Arjuna, the ground literally slips from under Arjuna's feet. He has no support. He does not know where to turn for help.

So Arjuna pleads, 'Please have mercy upon me. Tell me who You are. Tell me why You are here. I would like to know. I bow down to You.'

Question: Master, How can this happen? When we talk about an ishta devata, a favorite deity, it is someone we can relate to. How can we relate to a terrifying form?

Yes, you are right. The reason you pray to a form instead of the formless is because you can identify with the form. You can identify with the form only when you are comfortable with it. You can fall in love with an ishta devata only when the favorite deity is lovable.

Please understand, however, that this is a beginner's state. It is only in the beginning that you need this comfort, this attraction from the form, to fall in tune. As your awareness grows the form has to be dropped. That is why time and again I remind my disciples to drop all forms, including my own, in their meditations.

Arjuna is beyond the beginner's stage. He is an evolved spirit, who seeks to see the Master in His true form. The Master therefore shows him His true form.

Poets describe nature as beautiful, wondrous, miraculous, captivating and blissful. Yes, nature is all that. But, nature is also earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, cyclones and other such terrifying phenomena in which thousands of lives are lost. How many poets write about all that? Even if they did, how many people would want to read about all that?

You would say, 'We have enough of all these tragedies, why should we focus more on them?' For most of you, there is a clear distinction between what is pleasant and what is discomforting. You wish to see what you find pleasant. You wish to change what is not pleasant into what is pleasant. Unfortunately, nature does not agree. Nature is what it is, take it or leave it.

Krishna is Nature, He is Existence, and He is the Universe. He is not one-dimensional. He is multidimensional. Arjuna asked for the Truth. Krishna showed him the Truth.

If you are uncomfortable with the Truth, you can stay at the level where it is make-believe, and be comfortable. I tell people who come to me:

'You have a choice. You can be gazers who are happy to look at My Form and be happy. To those people, I shall give eye candy and brain candy. You can then go away happy. You can keep My picture, do whatever you want to that picture, feel happy. There is nothing wrong with that. But, don't think you are looking at Truth.

'If you wish to know the Truth, come closer and be open. You should then be prepared to undergo surgery. I shall become the surgeon, and there will be no more candies. Depending on what is needed to dissolve your ego, I may burn you; I may make you do things that normally you would avoid as being unpleasant.

'This is your choice. There is no compulsion, no force. To Me it makes no difference what you choose. What makes you happy is what I respond to. However, once you choose to come close, do not run away when things get hot. It is like running away from the operating table. It is dangerous.'

Arjuna received what he asked for. Arjuna was not asking for the beautiful form of his ishta devata. He wanted to know the Real Form of Krishna, the Parabrahma Krishna. Of course, he did not know what to expect. That Form is rarely revealed. When he perceived one part of that Form, it was so terrifying that Arjuna, the greatest of all warriors, could not bear to look at it. It was so totally different from all that he had expected to see.

Existence is full of opposites. In the material world of existence one cannot see one attribute without experiencing its opposite. There is no good without evil. There is no love without hate. There is no courage without fear. There is no faith without doubt. It is only when you see both sides, both opposing attributes, and become comfortable with the truth of these opposing attributes, that you can go beyond both, transcend both and treat both the same way.

In the spiritual world, I have often said, there is no right or wrong. There is just IS. What happens is what happens. There is no sinner and there is no saint. Put in another way, sinners and saints are the same. There can be no Krishna without a Kamsa or Shishupala. There can be no Rama without Ravana.

A piece of mythology:

Jaya and Vijaya were the gatekeepers of Vishnu in Vaikuntha. Once they barred a rishi from entering and disturbing Vishnu. The angry rishi cursed them

to be born as humans. When they pleaded to Vishnu to remove the curse, He said He could only modify it. Vishnu offered them a choice: to be born as His enemies for a few births and then return to Vaikuntha, or to be born as His devotees for many births before they could return.

Jaya and Vijaya chose the first option. It is said they were born as enemies of Vishnu's incarnations upon earth, as Shishupala and Kamsa, as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakasipu, as Ravana and Kumbhakarna etc. They wanted to be back with Vishnu as soon as possible, and they knew it made no difference whether they were perceived as enemies or as devotees. In fact, as the enemy, Vishnu remained in their hearts far more intensely than in the case of any devotee.

This understanding can only happen when you see both the seemingly opposing attributes and become aware that they are in essence the same. You need to understand that it is your perception that makes them seem different and opposing. What is good for one person may be bad for another. What one person loves, another may hate. When you go beyond the subjective element of perception and witness the event or object without attachment, the differentiation disappears.

Arjuna is on his way to this understanding. If you immerse yourself in this chapter's inner meaning, you too will understand that to be able to see the formless you first need to see the form and then go beyond that form.

Part 3: Bhagavad Gita, Commentary by THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM - Chapter 11 - Krishna - the Cosmic Window_English_part_3.md

In that process the form may not be the form that you are used to, or even the form that you wish to see.

Q: In what way are your teachings different from other great Masters? You have said not to renounce what we already have. Many interpret the scriptures to mean that we must give up all our worldly possessions. I am confused.

It is good to be confused. Only an enlightened person and an idiot are never confused! So this is your natural state!

What I say and what the scriptures say are the same. What the scriptures say and what Krishna repeats again and again in the Bhagavad Gita, is to renounce the desire for the outcome of actions. Never once does He say, 'Renounce all actions; go and sit in the forests or the mountains and keep your eyes closed.'

Again and again He tells you to do what is right, do your dharma, do whatever are your prescribed duties based on your prarabdha karma.

I say the same thing to you but in words that may make more sense in today's greed-filled atmosphere. There is a huge difference between Krishna's age and today. People still respected scriptural injunctions then. They believed in spiritual progress for personal transformation, and not because of greed and fear.

Now we are filled with cerebral pollution from the media and from all around us. Everyone is an expert on everything. We are not ready to give up anything, yet would like to have everything. Krishna's sayings will have very few takers today, unless they get the basic understanding.

I tell you that you need not renounce anything at all. That is true. Please do not even think of giving up anything that you have. Enjoy what you have. Enjoy your wealth, your car, your home, your sound system, your holidays, your work and everything that materially fills your life. Enjoy your relationships; your wife, children, family and friends. Enjoy all this. But give up your fantasies. Stop salivating for what your neighbor has, your friend owns, or something that someone you see around you enjoys. These are not your possessions. These are your fantasies.

These fantasies prevent you from enjoying what you now have. So, I say to you, do not renounce anything that you now have; but give up, renounce all the fantasies about what you don't have. What causes you suffering is your desire for what you do not have. They are your fantasies about what you think you want to have. Drop these and you will be fine, you will be happy.

Scriptures, especially Hindu scriptures, are the outcome of the experience of enlightened Masters. They are never wrong. But it is not easy to understand them because you live in another time, another space. You need a dictionary. I am your dictionary!

Do Not Be Afraid

11.32 Sri Bhagavan said:

I am the mighty world-destroying Time, I am now destroying the worlds.

Even without you, none of the warriors standing in the hostile armies shall live.

11.33 Get up and gain glory. Conquer the enemies and enjoy the prosperous kingdom.

I have slain all these warriors; you are a mere instrument, Arjuna.

11.34 Drona, Bheeshma, Jayadratha, Karna and other brave warriors have already been slain by Me; destroy them.

11.41 Whatever I have rashly said from carelessness or love, addressing You as Krishna, Yadava, my Friend

Regarding You merely as a friend, unaware of this greatness of Yours.

11.42 In whatever way I may have insulted You in fun, while at play, resting, sitting or at meals,

When alone with You or in company, O Achuta, O Immeasurable One, I implore You to forgive me.

11.43 You are the Father of this world, moving and unmoving. You are to be adored by this world. You

are the greatest Guru; there is none who exists equal to You.

O Being of unequalled power, how then can there be another, superior to You in the three worlds?

11.44 Therefore, bowing down, I prostrate my body before You and crave Your forgiveness, adorable Lord.

Even as a father forgives his son, a friend his friend, a lover his beloved, You should, O Deva, forgive me.

Arjuna is afraid again. Having seen what he has seen and understanding the unlimitedness of Krishna's form, he remembers that all this while he had treated Krishna like a friend, so casually. Remorse fills his being.

Arjuna's worry is not fear of any reprisal, now that he knows who Krishna is. It is guilt that bothers him.

'I called You by Your caste name, Yadava,' Arjuna cries out, 'I called You, 'Hey, friend, Hey, Krishna'. I knew not Whom I was addressing, Whom I was dealing with. Please forgive me.'

'How could I have done this? Please forgive me for the love I had for You that made me careless in addressing You. Bear with me; forgive me as a father would a son, a lover his beloved and a friend, his mate.

A small story:

With great sincerity and seriousness a devotee of Shiva offered prayers to Shiva's idol at his home altar every day for many years. He had no thought

other than Shiva, and all he desired was to have Shiva's vision, His darshan one day.

Since nothing happened year after year and he was getting old, the devotee gave Shiva an ultimatum. 'Either you appear before me or I will seek an alternative. Before I die I need to have the Lord's darshan so that I may be liberated.'

Shiva still made no appearance.

After a few days the devotee bought and installed an idol of Vishnu at his altar, replacing Shiva. But he did not have the heart to throw Shiva away, and merely moved Him to one corner, telling Him, 'See, I waited all this while patiently; all this is Your fault.'

The next morning, he lit incense as usual and placed it before the altar, this time in front of the idol of Vishnu. To his irritation he found that the incense smoke was drifting towards the corner where he had cast out Shiva. 'You need no incense!' he cried out, and pinched the nose of the idol to prevent it from smelling the incense.

The next moment he felt Shiva standing in front of him, smiling. The devotee was overcome with deep guilt and overwhelming emotion. 'Lord!' he cried, 'All these years I prayed to You without fail and You never appeared to me. Today, when I cast You out and pinched Your nose You gave me darshan. Why?'

Shiva said: 'It is only today that I became real to you. That is why I came to you now.'

As his friend, Krishna was the reality to Arjuna. He took liberties with his friend because He was so real to him. But his updated intelligence of Krishna's Cosmic Form shook him up so badly that he was now consumed by guilt. It was because of the intense devotion that Arjuna had for Krishna, that Krishna gave him the invaluable gift of His divine form. Had Krishna not considered him worthy, Arjuna would not have seen his Cosmic Form.

All our life, guilt rules us from our past. Whatever we do at a point in time, we do with the intelligence available to us at that point in time. At a later point in time, we look back and remember with the additional knowledge that we have gained since then. Often, what we did before seems wrong to us and we feel guilty.

There is no greater sin than carrying such guilt. What we did was not sinful; to carry the guilt with us is sinful. When we drop the guilt and move on with awareness, a deep imprint is made within us which is far more powerful than carrying the guilt. The guilt dropped brings a far greater awareness of what not to do again.

Arjuna is demonstrating to the rest of us the power of guilt; in this case guilt that seems to arise from the deepest of love. In one sense he does not wish to carry that guilt with him. He drops it in front of his friend, Lord and Master saying, 'Forgive me.'

Fear concerns the future. We can never be afraid of the past; it is dead and gone. Guilt and remorse plague us from the past. Every single thing that we did could have been done differently. We need not have done it or we could have done it differently. One by one these negativities pour out of Arjuna and he is getting cleansed in the presence of the Master.

Question: You said that one of the five bhavas, moods, in which one approaches a Master or ishta devata is sakha bhava or friendship. Why then is Arjuna afraid of having expressed that friendship?

Arjuna is in fact one of the greatest examples of sakha bhava, friendship relationship between Master and disciple. It is the immediate effect of realizing the true nature of Krishna, especially in virata roopa, that terrifies him, that makes Arjuna afraid.

Sakha bhava is not a relationship of equals. A disciple cannot be equal to a Master. Even when a disciple becomes enlightened and in that sense at the same level as the Master, the mood of the disciple would be one of sheer gratitude. It is after enlightenment that a disciple realizes the true nature of the Master and the real Master-disciple relationship flowers. The disciple imbibes the nature of his Master, he communes with the Master and this is how the lineage of great Masters is sustained.

Friendship is not a permanent relationship. It is not a biological relationship as between a mother and child. It is not a contractual relationship as between husband and wife. It need not be the being-level relationship as between lovers. It can be a societal relationship born out of convenience and comfort. As with all societal relationships it can change.

Friends become enemies. We cannot truly have an enemy who has not formerly been a friend. There is a greater chance of two very good friends becoming hateful enemies rather than two unrelated people. Unfulfilled expectations between friends create far bigger problems and far deeper enmity than between those who have not developed bonds of friendship. If a stranger cheats us, we may accept it or take action as is appropriate. There is no great emotion involved except perhaps anger at being taken for a ride.

When someone we consider a friend does something we consider disloyal, all hell breaks loose. We may even want to destroy that person. In addition to anger there are a host of other emotions that crowd us: pain, grief, depression, regret, guilt and so on. We can go through a state of mourning, passing from anger to depression to final acceptance or we can move to a mode of deep vengeance. Disloyalty from a friend can corrode us as no enmity can.

It is also possible that those we consider enemies may turn out to be friends. This may not happen as often as friends turn into enemies, but with proper conditioning of the mind this can happen. As I mentioned earlier, when I enquire of potential healers ready to be initiated to think of enemies wanting to be healed by them, most answer that they cannot think of anyone as an enemy. The THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM Spurana Program or LBP 2 that they attend before the Healers' Initiation does a good job of

destroying their samskaras, their negative conditioning, by removing all negativities including enmity. Check with any THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM Healer and they will confirm this.

In true sakha bhava, everyone is a friend, not just the Master. One turns non-judgmental and respects everyone around as an expression of divinity. In one sense this is the problem that Arjuna has in waging war with his clansmen, who are his enemies. As an extension of his sakha bhava relationship with Krishna, he finds it difficult to hate them enough to fight and kill them. He gives many reasons but these reasons are excuses.

Arjuna is no coward. He is the greatest warrior. Killing is second nature to him. But destroying a friend is not. His innate devotion to Krishna extends to the Kauravas and he finds it difficult to keep this friendship feeling aside on the battlefield.

In these verses, Arjuna also expresses the fear that his mode of friendship may have been tinged with dislike or enmity or anger at some point in time. Though he seeks forgiveness for having called Krishna his friend or a Yadava, etc., these are not really good reasons for a good friend to apologize, even if the friend turns out to be God.

However, if Arjuna has some hidden fear that at some point the friendship may have turned into feelings of enmity, even if unconsciously, he has reason to worry and seek forgiveness.

There are many real life incidents when people have helped others without knowing who they are. It is said that once the owner of a major hotel group, who liked to travel incognito, visited one of his smaller hotels. The bell boy, not knowing who he was, but concerned about this old person walking in on a wintry night without adequate warm clothing, went out of his way to help him and make him feel comfortable. The ending is obvious. The bellboy was promoted and eventually became the Head of the hotel group.

But imagine the state of the bellboy once he learns that the old man he met was the big boss, but he has not been rewarded yet for his Good Samaritan act. He would have been filled with worries about what mistakes he might have committed. The help he provided would have been at the back of his mind. The danger of his losing his job in case he had goofed up would have been paramount.

Such was Arjuna's state. He doesn't know yet where he stands. Krishna has revealed Himself as the Supreme God to him. Arjuna knows at the back of his mind that he had not always had noble thoughts about Krishna. This is how we all treat God as well. As long as God provides us with what we want, we worship him. The moment our requests don't get fulfilled, the Divine becomes a stone idol. It is the same with a Master. If you get healed, if you prosper, the Master is good. If not, what good is the Master? Prayers turn to insults and curses.

Arjuna is in transition. He represents the person who is about to move from the intellectual seeker level to the devotee and disciple stage. In fact, he has already moved

after the vision. There is no longer any doubt in him about Krishna's identity. Until Krishna showed him His divine form, it was theory to Arjuna. Now after the vision, it is completely real. He has moved from sakha bhava, friendship, to maha bhava, an enlightened relationship. It is this transition that brings out the residual guilt in him.

Your Familiar Form

11.45 After seeing this Form which I have never seen before I am filled with gladness but at the same time I am disturbed by fear.

Please bestow Your grace upon me and show me Your form as the Supreme Personality, O Lord of Lords, O Refuge of the Universe.

11.46 O thousand armed Universal Form! I wish to see Your Form with crown, four- armed with mace, disc in Your hand.

I yearn to see You in that Form.

Arjuna now makes his final plea in these verses.

'Show me Your Form that I am familiar with,' he says, 'the One that I am comfortable with. I am grateful and overwhelmed by the visions that You have shown me, but what I am comfortable with is Your four-handed Form holding the discus and mace, as the Protector of the Universe. I am not comfortable, I am indeed fearful of the terrifying Form of You as the Destroyer, however real it may be.'

All of us are in the same situation as Arjuna. We all have fixed ideas of what divinity is, what motherhood is, what love is and what friendship is. Divinity is benign, comforting, protecting, nurturing, forgiving and all that is sweet and nice. So are motherhood, love and friendship.

Existence does not work that way. Existence does not differentiate between good and bad, between beautiful and ugly. It is we who make judgments and create emotions within us to promote those judgments.

In the Vishnu Sahasranama, which is recited by Bhishma as he lies awaiting his liberation, he describes Vishnu as 'shantakaram bhujaga shayanam padmanabham suresham'. 'Peaceful, emanating bliss…' is how Vishnu, whose incarnation Krishna is, is described. Just the very words bring to us so much peace and calmness, yes?

If instead, Bhishma had used words to describe the fearsome attributes of Vishnu such as:

'frightful destroyer, with burning mouths…' and so on, how many would recite the Sahasranama? It is a different matter that most people who go through the motions of reading and reciting the thousand names of Vishnu do not understand a word of what they are saying! So they are safe, whatever Bhishma may have said.

But if you do understand what the words mean, and if you are not in equilibrium, you will be disturbed. These words, understood to be negative by your logical mind, will create severe emotional turbulence within you.

A yogi is one who has passed beyond these turbulences. He understands that the Divine is without attributes, neither peaceful and comforting, nor fearful and terrifying. These manifestations are also illusions. Beyond and behind these apparent manifestations, Divinity just is. It is beyond the three gunas, it is beyond mind-body and spirit.

Arjuna at this point in time is yet to reach this stage. He still seeks the safety and comfort of the four-handed Divine Protector that he is used to, rather than the terrifying mahakala.

When we realize that both are masks of the Divine, that neither is His true Self and that both are His true Self, then and only then are we rid of illusions, and are liberated.

paarthaaya pratibodhitaam bhagavataa naaraayanena svayam / vyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratam advaitaamrutavarshineem bhagavateem ashtaadsaadhyaayineem amba tvaamanusandadhaami bhagavadgeete bhavadveshineem

Om paarthaaya pratibodhitaam bhagavataa naaraayanena svayam Vyaasena grathitaam puraanamuninaa madhye mahaabhaaratam Advaitaamrutavarshineem Bhagavateem ashtaadsaadhyaayineem Amba tvaamanusandadhaami bhagavadgeete bhavadveshineem

OM, I meditate upon you, Bhagavad Gita the affectionate Mother, the Divine Mother showering the nectar of non duality and destroying rebirth, (who was) incorporated into the Mahaabhaarata of eighteen chapters by sage Vyasa, the author of the Puraanaas, and imparted to Arjuna by Lord Narayana, Himself.

vasaudovasautM dovaM kmsacaaNaUrmad-nama\ dovakIprmaanandM kRYNaM vando jagad\gauruM

Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Chaanura Mardanam Devakee Paramaanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum

I salute you Lord Krishna, Teacher to the world, son of Vasudeva and Supreme bliss of Devaki, Destroyer of Kamsa and Chaanura.