Through yourself—the Highest Man,
Benefactor of beings, Lord of beings,
God of Gods, universal master!
{15}
Tell me, please, leaving nothing out,
Your own divine manifestations,
Your immanent forms in the planets
You steep and inhabit.
{16}
How should I know you, yogi,
And always think of you?
What are your many ways of being many?
How do I think you, blessed one?
{17}
Speak of yourself in detail, Krishna,
Your immanence, your yoga.
The nectar never
Slakes my hearing.
{18}
The Blessed Lord said,
Listen! I will tell you
My own divine manifestations—
Only the main ones, Arjuna,
Since my extent is endless.
{19}
I am the atman, Arjuna,
In every creature, my seat the heart.
I, the beginning of beings,
Am their middle as well as their end.
{20}
Among Aditi’s sons, I am Vishnu,
Of lights, the sun, radiant.
I am Marici of the hurricanes.
Of night stars, I am the rabbit moon.
{21}
Of Vedas, I am Sama Veda,
And of the Devas, Indra.
Among the senses, I am the mind.
In creatures, I am sentience,
{22}
And I am Shiva of the Gods who roar.
Of spirits and fiends, I am the God of Money,
Of elemental Gods, the purifying Fire.
Of mountain peaks, I am Meru.
{23}
Partha, know me for the chief
Of priests, Brihaspati.
Of marshals, I am Skanda, God of War;
Of bodies of water, the ocean.
{24}
Of visionaries, I am Bhrigu,
Of sounds, the soul syllable Aum.
Of prayers, I am prayer’s repetition;
Of fixed things, Himalaya, home of snows.
{25}
Of all trees, I am the Sacred Fig;
Of godly seers, Narada,
Of heavenly musicians, Chitraratha,
And of perfected wise men, Kapila.
{26}
Of horses, I am Utchayshravus—
Know that I was born of nectar.
Of royal elephants, I am Airavata,
Of men, a King of men.
{27}
Of missiles, I am the lightning bolt;
Of cows, the wish-fulfilling Kamadhenu.
I am the God of desire, begetting.
Among the serpents, I am Vasuki;
{28}
Among the snakes, Ananta, endless;
Among seagoers, Varuna.
Of forefathers, I am Aryaman,
Of quellers, the God of death.
{29}
Of demons, I am Prahlada;
Of reckoners, I am Time.
Among the beasts, I am the King of Beasts,
Among the birds, Garuda.
{30}
Of scourers, I am the wind;
Of men who bear arms, Rama.
Among sea monsters, I am the crocodile.
I am the Ganga of rivers.
{31}
Creation’s start and end
And middle, Arjuna, I am:
Of sciences, the science of the atman,
Among logicians, inference.
{32}
Of letters, I am A,
Of compound words, the kenning.
I, alone indelible, am Time;
I am the Basis, my faces everywhere.
{33}
I am death, seizing all.
I am the genesis of futures.
Of women, I am Fame, Wealth, Speech,
Memory, Wit, Constancy, Forgiveness.
{34}
I am the Brihatsaman of chants,
I am the Gayatri of meters;
Of months, the ninth, the Deer’s Head;
Of seasons, spring, a mine of flowers.
{35}
I am the cunning in hustlers,
The brilliance in the brilliant.
The win is me, the grit is me.
I am the truth in what is true.
{36}
Of the Vrishnis, I am Krishna,
And of the sons of Pandu, Arjuna.
Of wise men, I am Vyasa,
Of poets, the poet Ushanas.
{37}
I am the ruler’s rod of rebuke,
The counsel of the conquest-keen.
I am the silence of secrets,
The knowledge of those in the know.
{38}
In every creature, Arjuna,
I am the seed.
Nothing that moves, nothing that doesn’t
Exists except through me.
{39}
There is no end to my divine
Manifestations, Arjuna.
I have proclaimed through these examples
My manifest sweep.
{40}
Whatever being is manifestly
Glorious and powerful:
Realize, in every case,
Its source is a share of my splendor.
{41}
Yet this multiplicity of knowledge….
Arjuna, what is it to you?
As I stand here, I’m sustaining
This whole world with one fraction of myself.
{42}
SESSION 11
Envision the Universal Form
Arjuna now presses Krishna for the most direct revelation, asking to see his friend in his Universal Form.
Krishna reveals himself—at first a little overhastily; he remembers that Arjuna will require a “divine eye” to see what he is being shown.
Once this eye is granted, Arjuna witnesses Krishna’s Universal Form. This form combines multiplicity and unity. He sees a vast hybrid of human bodies and celestial bodies (“the moon and the sun for your eyes”), a pictorial analogy that expresses how individual atmans and Brahman are really the same.
Arjuna’s emotions range from awe and wonder to terror, particularly when he sees the warriors around him, getting eaten up by enormous mouths. He asks the Form to speak to him.
The Form identifies itself as Time and exhorts Arjuna to fight.
Arjuna joins his palms, bows, and stutters praise. He also begs forgiveness for having treated Krishna as a human friend for so many years. His joy is mixed with terror, and he begs to see Krishna in the form he recognizes from before.
Krishna obliges and instructs Arjuna not to fear. Arjuna calms down. Krishna emphasizes, twice, that the usual religious behaviors—ritual sacrifices, charity, austerities—are not the way to access this vision. What is required is what Arjuna has: personal devotion.
Arjuna said,
Out of kindness to me
You’ve told me, in words, the highest
Secret, known as the metaself.
This delusion of mine has left me.
{1}
Beings, becoming and bygone,
As well as your imperishable greatness—
Krishna of the lotus eyes,
&n
bsp; I’ve heard you detail both to me.
{2}
The way you say you are, Highest
God, is how I wish
To see you, Highest
Man: in your divine form.
{3}
If you think it’s possible
For me to see that, God-
Prince of yoga, let me see
Your imperishable self.
{4}
The Blessed Lord said,
Look at me, Partha—forms,
A hundred, more, a thousandfold,
Divine multiplicities,
Multiple colors and shapes!
{5}
Look at the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras,
Two Ashvins, the Maruts, too—
Look at wonders, Arjuna,
Many never seen before!
{6}
Look now at the cosmos whole, at everything
That moves and everything that doesn’t,
In my body standing here as one
With whatever else you wish to see!
{7}
But you can’t see me
With this, your own eye….
I’ll give you a divine eye.
Look at my majestic yoga!
{8}
Sanjaya said,
Having said this, King,
Yoga’s great Lord Vishnu
Showed to Arjuna
His highest, his majestic Form.
{9}
Many a mouth and eye,
Many a glimpse of wonder,
Many divine decorations,
Divine the many weapons raised,
{10}
Divine the wreaths and clothes he wears,
Divine perfumes and oils,
Made of every marvel, God
Unending, facing everywhere at once!
{11}
If in the sky a thousand suns
Were all at once to rise,
Such radiance would match
The radiance of this mahatma!
{12}
The cosmos whole
Divided many ways
Arjuna saw there stand as one
In the body of the God of Gods!
{13}
Then, shot through with amazement,
Hair standing on end,
Arjuna, bowing his head to the God
And pressing his palms together, said,
{14}
Arjuna said,
I see the Gods, O God, in your body,
And every species of creature crowded together,
And Brahma the Lord in the lotus asana seated,
And all of the seers and celestial serpents!
{15}
With so many arms—bellies—mouths—eyes—
I see you in every direction—unending Form!
No end and no midpoint, I see no beginning to you,
Universal God, Universal Form!
{16}
You with your crown and your mace and your chakram,
Massive with brilliance and everywhere flaring!
I see you, though it is hard to see you, whole,
Your solar flares radiant beyond measure.
{17}
You are unchanging, the highest unknown,
You the highest treasury of all this,
You the imperishable guard of eternal dharma,
The everlasting human spirit: This is my belief.
{18}
No beginning, no middle, no end, infinite power
With infinite arms, the moon and the sun for your eyes—
I see you—your mouth the blaze that eats the offering,
Heating all this with your own brilliance.
{19}
You alone in every direction pervade
This space between the earth and heaven.
Seeing this marvelous, monstrous form of yours,
The three worlds, Mahatma, are trembling!
{20}
Over there, crowds of Gods enter you, some of them
Terrified, joining their palms as they hymn you.
Siddhas and visionaries praise you, abundant
With their praise, whole congregations saying Hail!
{21}
Rudras and Adityas, Vasus and Sadhyas,
Vishves and Ashvins, the Maruts, the Drinkers of Steam,
Crowds of Gandharvas, Yakshas, Siddhas, Asuras—
All behold you in astonishment.
{22}
Your mighty form—its many mouths and many eyes,
Its many mighty arms, many thighs and many feet,
Many bellies, many harrowing tusks—seeing this,
The worlds are shaking—so am I!
{23}
A multicolor blaze that touches the sky,
Mouths agape, and vast and blazing eyes—
I see you, and my inner self is shaking!
I find no calm or courage, Vishnu!
{24}
Seeing these harrowing tusks of yours
In mouths that resemble the fires of time,
I have lost my direction, I can’t get to shelter!
Lord God, home of the moving world, have mercy!
{25}
Over there…they enter you….Dhritarashtra’s sons,
All of them, along with crowds of earthly rulers,
Bhishma and Drona, and Karna, that son of a charioteer,
Together with ours…over there…even our main warriors….
{26}
Swiftly they enter your mouths
With those fearsome, those harrowing tusks!
Some of them I see with mashed heads
Stuck between your teeth!
{27}
As the rapids of several rivers
Run to the ocean, so
The heroes of the human world
Enter your flaming mouths.
{28}
As moths to their destruction swiftly swarming
Enter blazing flame,
The worlds to their destruction enter
Your mouths, too, swiftly swarming.
{29}
Your flaming mouths lick up and swallow
Planets whole on all sides. Vishnu,
Your fierce rays, filling this entire
Universe with brilliance, burn it up!
{30}
Tell me who you are, fearsome Form—
Namaste to you, best of Gods! Mercy!
I want to understand you, primordial one!
I just don’t understand your workings!
{31}
The Blessed Lord said,
I am Time. I make worlds die.
I have come here to annihilate worlds.
All these warriors, stationed in opposing ranks:
Even without you, they will cease to be.
{32}
So stand up. Get your glory.
Beat your enemies. Enjoy a thriving kingdom.
I have struck them down already.
Archer, simply be my instrument.
{33}
Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha,
Karna, and others, too. War heroes. Killed
By me. Now you kill. Do not tremble!
Fight! You’ll beat your rivals in the joy of battle!
{34}
Sanjaya said,
On hearing these words of Krishna’s,
The crown prince joined his palms, trembling,
And made another bow. Kneeling, he spoke
To Krishna in a terror-struck stutter.
{35}
Arjuna said,
The cosmos rejoices, Krishna, and rightly so,
Pleased to praise you. Rakshasas, fearful,
Run away in all directions. Crowds
Of perfected beings bow to you.
{36}
And why shouldn’t they bow to you, Mahatma?
Greater than Brahma, the first creator,
Lord God without end, the universe’s home,
Imperishable you, the being unbeing beyond!
{37}
You are the first Deva, the ancient human spirit,
The highest treasury of all the universe.
You are the knower, the unknown, the highest home.
You spread across the universe, your form unending.
{38}
You are Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, the rabbit moon,
Father of creatures, great-grandfather, you!
Namaste! Namaste! Make it a thousand times,
And once more, and again, namaste, namaste!
{39}
Namaste before and behind you!
Namaste, All, from all around!
Infinite valor, measureless power, you!
You complete it all. Therefore you are all.
{40}
Whenever—rashly, thinking you a friend—I’ve said,
“Hey, Krishna! Hey, son of Yadu! Hey, friend!”
Carelessly, or even if affectionately,
Not knowing the majesty of you,
{41}
And if I disrespected you—for the sake of a joke,
Or at play, or in bed, or sitting and dining,
Alone, or before the eyes of others—boundless, ever-
Enduring Krishna, I beg your forgiveness for that!
Godsong Page 9