Commentary on the Bhagavadgita

by Swami Krishnananda

Etac chrutva vachanam kesavasya krtanjalir vepamanah kiriti, namaskrtva bhuya evaha krshnam sagadgadam bhitabhitah pranamya (11.35): Sanjaya says, “After having heard these frightening words from this Mysterious Being gazing at him, Arjuna speaks once again in tremor, joy and fright combined. Frightened to the core, with choked words, prostrating himself again and again before this Mighty Being, trembling, fear-struck, Arjuna speaks these words once again.”

Sthane hrshikesa tava prakirtya jagat prahrshy atyanurajyate cha, rakshamsi bhitani diso dravanti sarve namasyanti cha siddha-sanghah (11.36): “There is no wonder that all the worlds are rushing into You, because You said You are the Time Spirit come to destroy all things. The world is happy and unhappy at the same time. It is happy because it has Your vision. It is unhappy because it is going to be destroyed by You. All the Rakshasas – some of them are running away from You in fright, some are entering into You, to their doom.”

Kasmac ca te na nameran mahatman gariyase brahmano’py adi-kartre (11.37): “Why should they not prostrate themselves before You, O Lord of lords?  You are the Might of all mights, the ruler of all the worlds, and the dispenser of the justice to everybody that is created. The creator of the world, Brahma, is nowhere near You. You are superior to that Brahma, the creator, because You are the creator of even the creator, Brahma himself. Ananta: O Infinite one! Devesa: O Lord of lords! God of gods! Jagan-nivasa: O Abode of the universe! Tvam aksharam: Thou art the Imperishable Eternal. Sad-asat: You are existence and non-existence. Tat-param yat: You are something more than that. I see You as the existence of all things, the non-existence of all things, and something beyond all concepts of existence and non-existence. Transcendent Eternity Thou art.”

Tvam adi-devah (11.38): “The Original Ancient one, the God of gods, Thou art.” Purushah puranas: “The ancient Purusha, Purushottama, Narayana.” Tvam asya visvasya param nidhanam: “The very support and life-breath of this universe, Thou art. Who can know You except Yourself?” Vettasi vedyam cha param cha dhama: “Thou knowest everything – whatever is to be known – because in Thy knowing Thyself, everything has already been known. The Supreme Abode is already attained in the vision of Thy Great form. Thou art all things, spreading Thyself everywhere, O Visva, Anantarupa, O all-formed one!” Tvaya tatam visvam: “Thou hast spread Thyself everywhere in all space and time.”

Vayur yamo’gnir varunah sasankah prajapatis tvam prapitamahas cha (11.39): “Thou art Vayu, Thou art Yama, Thou art Agni, Thou art Varuna, Thou art Moon, Thou art Prajapati, Thou art the grandfather of the gods, the supreme Brahma himself. Thou art not merely Pitamaha, grandfather; Thou art also great-grandfather.” Namo Namaste: “What can I say except prostrations to You.” Sahasra-krtvah: “A thousand prostrations to You. Myriad prostrations to You.” Punas cha bhuyah: “Again and again, I prostrate myself before You.” Namo Namaste: “Again, prostrations. How many times I can say I prostrate myself before You? Prostrations! Prostrations! Prostrations!” Sahasranama: “One thousand times I prostrate myself before Thee. Infinite times I prostrate myself before Thee. I have nothing. I am not capable of doing anything else except to surrender myself and plead inability to understand Thee, and place myself at Thy disposal. Prostrations!”

Anantavirya (11.40): “O infinitely powerful one! From all sides I prostrate, not only in the front.” Sarvata eva: “From all sides.” Anantavirya: “O All! From all sides I offer my prostrations.” Amitavikramastvam: “O all-powerful one! Thy power nobody can measure. Immeasurable power is Thine.” Sarvam samapnoshi tato’si sarvah: “Being all things Thyself, Thou includes within Thyself all things.”

“What a mistake I have committed by calling You a friend once upon a time. O Krishna! O Yadava! O dear one! Did I not refer to You with those words? I am frightened to see that You are something else altogether. I thought You were a friend of mine. In humorous moods during our times together, at all times, sometimes in joke, sometimes in sarcasm, I have disrespected You, O Lord. I thought you are a human being, and I called you friend, I called you Krishna, I called you Yadava. When we were sitting together, when we were reclining together, when we were eating together, when we were walking together, I addressed You as my friend. Please forgive me for this mistake that I have committed. I did not know who You are. Sometimes when I was alone with You, I spoke to You in a disrespectful manner. Sometimes I spoke to You in a disrespectful manner even before other people, thinking that You are my best friend and I can take liberties with You; I did that. Now I feel Thou art something else. Will You kindly forgive me for this error that I have committed under the impression that You were a friend, a human being like me. Thou art something else, O Eternal One!” Eko’thavapy achyuta tat-samaksham tat kshamaye tvam aham aprameyam (11.42): “Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me! Pardon me for this mistake that I have committed in imagining that You are a human form.”

Pitasi lokasya characharasya (11.43): “Thou art the father of all creation. Thou art the most adorable of all beings.” Sa esha purveshamapi guruh: “Thou art the Guru of all gurus.” Tvam asya pujyas cha gurur gariyan: “The Guru of all the millions of gurus in the world.” Na tvat-samo’sti abhyadhikah: “Nobody is equal to Thee.” Kuto’nyo: “Nobody can be outside Thee.” Loka-traye: “In all the three worlds, who can there be, except You?” Apratima-prabhava: “O Glorious One, incomparably great and puissant.”

Tasmat pranamya pranidhaya kayam prasadaye tvam aham isam idyam, piteva putrasya sakheva sakhyuh priyah priyayarhasi deva sodhum (11.44): “Therefore, I once again prostrate myself before Thee. I offer my entire being to thee. Sashtanga namaskara I do, offering myself entirely at Thy disposal. In humble surrender through sashtanga pranama, I beseech Thee to be gracious, kind, and merciful. As a father would forgive a son, as a friend would forgive a friend, as a dear one, a beloved one, would forgive a beloved one, so I request Thee to forgive me and bear with me.” The character of forgiveness is mentioned in three degrees. A father’s forgiveness, a friend’s forgiveness and the beloved’s forgiveness are the three different categories. “In all the three categories I beseech Thee.”

Adrshta-purvam hrshito’smi drshtva bhayena cha pravyathitam mano me, tad eva me darsaya deva rupam, prasida devesa jagan-nivasa (11.45): “In fear, my mind is not able to even think, because this is something which I have never seen up to this time. I am happy and elated, I am in a state of ecstasy, but fear-struck at the same time. Will You kindly come down and show Your original form as Sri Krishna, my old, old, friend? Enough of this terrible form! I am fear-struck. Therefore, I request You to come down to the original level.”

Kiritinam gadinam cakara-hastam (11.46): “Please bless me; be gracious. I would like to see You once again with the diadem of that beloved, beautiful, grand, majestic, attractive Sri Krishna, with four hands holding the sankha, chakra, gadha and padma. I cannot bear this vision any more. Grand and great as it may be, enough of it! I shall have my old, dear friend Sri Krishna, and not this Visvarupa any longer.”

Sri bhagavan uvaca: Maya prasannena tavarjunedam rupam param darsitam atma-yogat, tejomayam visvam anantam adyam yan me tvad-anyena na drshta-purvam (11.47): Sri Bhagavan replies, “With great compassion I have shown this form to you. With the power of My Universal Selfhood, I have manifested Myself for your welfare. Because you wanted to see Me in this form – because you are My beloved, you are dear to Me – therefore, I have shown this form to you. This great, wondrous Light, the Light of all lights, the Universal Reality, the Endless, the Origin – nobody has seen this kind of vision up to this time. This is something very strange, that in all creation nobody has seen this vision of Virat. This is the first time that someone is beholding it, O Arjuna. You are blessed.”

Na veda-yajnadhyayanair na danair na ca kriyabhir na tapobhir ugraih, evam rupah sakya aham nrloke drastum tvad-anyena kuru-pravira: (11.48): “This form, this Virat svarupa, this Vaisvanara tattva, this Universal Spirit, in which form you have beheld Me – this cannot be beheld by any kind of ritual, by study of the Vedas, by teaching, by charity, by ritualistic performances, by tapas or austerity of any kind. Whatever be the intensity and ferocity of that tapas, nothing of the kind can touch Me.”

Human action cannot touch Eternity, because all action is in the process of time. All action is in space and in time. This Eternal terror which was beheld by Arjuna is not in space, not in time. Therefore, our studies of the Vedas, our tapasyas, our charities, our philanthropies, our deeds – whatever their merit, they are, after all, like performances in the dream world. When we wake up, the merits of all our good deeds in dream disappear. Similarly, in the quality of the perception of the Supreme Being, actions of the human being in the world of space and time bear no relevance. No action which is conditioned by time can take us to the Unconditioned Reality, which is not in time. Nahyadhruvaih prapyate dhruvam tat: Imperishable, Eternal Reality cannot be contacted through the instrumentality of perishable deeds. Actions, deeds that we perform in this world have a beginning and an end. They are not eternal. How could we have the vision of that Eternal, contact with the Eternal or attain realisation of that Eternal, which is timeless, when the instruments that we are using for that purpose are in time?

“Nobody can behold this form. Do not be frightened. Do not be deluded. Be up and doing. Why are you afraid of seeing Me? Be happy that you have beheld Me. I look terrific because I am a terror to the egos of individuals.” Who is saying, “I am afraid”? It is the ego of Arjuna that is saying that. The ego of Arjuna has not melted. It is frightened, as we are frightened to touch the oceanic waves. We are afraid to touch the elephant’s body because of our ego that gets humiliated immediately and feels that it is no more.

The Eternal is death to everything that is in time. Therefore, God looks a terrific being to all that is afraid of death, because God is the death of all death – mrtyoh mrtyuh. God is called mrtyoh mrtyuh, the death of death. Therefore, “Knowing this truth of Mine, be not bewildered. Don’t say ‘I am afraid’. There is nothing here to be afraid of.” Vyapetabhih (11.49): “Be fearless.” Pritamanah: “Be pleased, and be subdued in your mind.” Punastvam tadeva me rupamidam prapasya: “All right, here I am as the Yadava Krishna. Do you see me?”

In one moment of that stupendous vision, the world vanished before Arjuna. The fourteen worlds of the entire creation melted down into the liquid of the flame of the Eternal Godhead. Unable to behold it for a long time, he beseeches the Lord to come down to the original human form.  This request is granted, and Sri Krishna is standing there as before – with a whip in his hand, grooming the horses.

Ity arjunam vasudevas tathoktva svakam rupam darsayamasa bhuyah (11.50): Sanjaya speaks. “Having said this, the beautiful, charming, mighty Krishna of Dvaraka is now standing before Arjuna once again. Patting him on the back, he says, ‘How are you? All is well with you?’”