Tell Me Who You Are

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.