The Blessed Lord said: 1. Again, O mighty-armed, listen to My Supreme word; which I, wishing our welfare, will declare to you, who delight in hearing me.

The trembling man of indecision whom we met in Arjuna in the first chapter of the Geeta, has by now developed an almost incomparable inward equipoise. This inward peace that comes from an intelligent study of the Hindu philosophy is vividly brought out in the opening stanza of this chapter when Lord Krishna himself describes his disciple Arjuna, as one "WHO IS DELIGHTED" with what he has heard so far. No teacher can feel sufficiently inspired to continue his discourses unless his students nourish his enthusiasm with interested 'listening'. As one understands more and more the implications of the philosophy of Vedanta, one cannot but come to feel an inward glow of peace and satisfaction. The Lord of the Geeta gets encouraged to expound his philosophy more exhaustively with a revived appetite. "AGAIN HEAR MY SUPREME WORD, WHICH I WILL DECLARE, BECAUSE I DESIRE YOUR WELFARE."

Here Arjuna is addressed as "Mighty-armed" which is a reminder to the Pandava that he should be a hero in his inner life to carve out of his present, a kingdom of divine joy, which is his real heritage! It is evident that the Lord's discourse is not upon any secular subject, but it is upon the greater possibilities in man, and on how man can rediscover them in himself; for, it is said that Arjuna should listen "TO MY SUPREME WORD, WHICH I, WISHING YOUR (SPIRITUAL) WELFARE (HITAM) WILL NOW DECLARE." WHY THE LORD HAS DECIDED TO CONTINUE HIS DISCOURSES IS NOW EXPLAINED:

2. Neither the hosts of heaven, nor great RISHIS know My origin; for, in every way, I am the source of all the DEVAS and the RISHIS. Whenever we cannot gather knowledge from direct experience, we gather it from those who are supposed to know about it. Even this indirect method of self-education is not available in Brahma-Vidya, because, as the Lord says

"NEITHER THE HOSTS OF HEAVEN NOR THE SEERS KNOW MY ORIGIN." Later on (Ibid. X-5) we will have occasion to understand what actually the Lord means by the term the "great seers." It is not the Men-of-Wisdom, explained in our mythology, the Seven great Rishis starting with Bhrigu and ending with Vasishtha. The following is a philosophical explanation of the "Seven Seers." When the Infinite is seemingly identified with the Total- intellect, or Cosmic-intellect (Mahat), and develops thereby an ego-centric personality of Its own (Ahamkara), It projects Itself, for Its own joy-transactions, as a world of sense objects. These sense objects are called the five tanmatras. The 'Mahat', the 'Ahamkara' and the five 'tanmatras' together constitute the Seven Rishis personified in the Puranas under different names. These Seven Rishis together represent the intellectual and the mental life of man, the EFFICIENT and MATERIAL causes for all creation. Devas do not literally mean the hosts of heaven; the word Deva rises from its rot, meaning, 'to illumine'. The Devas, therefore, are the "sense organs" which illumine for us the world-of-objects for our innumerable experiences. It is, therefore, clear that the Self, the Pure Consciousness, is "THE SOURCE OF ALL THE DEVAS AND THE GREAT RISHIS," meaning that the Conscious Principle is the substratum for both the physical and mind-intellect life in each one of us. Even though they are thus sustaining themselves in Truth, they cannot 'KNOW MY ORIGIN.'

So the Consciousness, being the very SUBJECTIVE-Truth in us, can never become an OBJECT-of-perception for the sense organs, or an OBJECT-of-feeling for the mind, or an OBJECT-of-knowing for the intellect. IS IT THEN TRUE THAT NOBODY CAN COME TO KNOW AND REALISE THE SELF, WHICH IS THE ORIGIN FOR OUR PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE? TO DISPEL THIS FEAR IT IS SAID:

3. He who amongst the mortals, knows Me as unborn and beginningless, as the great Lord of the worlds, is undeluded and is liberated from all sins.

HE WHO KNOWS ME --- Not merely knowing in an emotional sweep, or even an intellectual comprehension, but it is a true and full spiritual apprehension, which comes to one during moments of one's intimate identification with the Self. The Self is to be realised as UNBORN, BEGINNINGLESS, THE GREAT LORD OF ALL THE WORLDS." These three terms, each pregnant with suggestions to those who know a little of the ancient traditions in the Hindu philosophical thought, are generally meaningless to the uninitiated. The world-of- matter is the realm of finitude, where, each being, or thing, or experience, has a beginning and an end, a birth and a death.

The Infinite cannot ever be born, inasmuch as It never expresses as Itself in any of the finite manifestations. The ghost is born, and therefore, it must also die; but it cannot be said either that the post has given birth to the ghost, or that the post has come to be born out of the ghost. The post was, is, and shall ever be. The Self is Eternal, and therefore, It is birthless; everything else is born in the Self, exists in the Self, and when all things are totally destroyed, they end in the Self. The waves are born out of the ocean but the ocean is birthless. Every wave, every manifestation, has a beginning, an existence, and an end. But the essence cannot have a beginning, and therefore, in this stanza here, the Self is qualified as 'BEGINNINGLESS.' THE LORD OF ALL THE WORLDS

(Sarva-loka- maheshwarah) --- The term 'loka' is one of the Sanskrit words which has a vast range of implications which are ignored generally by the translators who render it as the 'world.' 'Loka' comes from a root meaning 'to experience,' and therefore, the world should, in its full import, mean 'a field for experiencing.' In this sense, we make use of the word 'loka' even in ordinary, everyday usage: 'the WORLD of the rich,' 'the WORLD of the under-dog,' 'the WORLD of the poets,' etc. In its ampler meaning, the Universe, indicated by the word 'loka,' is not only the physical world experienced by our physical equipments, but it also includes the world of feelings and the world of ideas recognised, reacted upon and experienced by all of us in our lives. Thus, my 'loka' is the "field of experiences" that I revel in at all levels of my body, my mind and my intellect --- and it is evident that these experiences can never be mine unless I am constantly aware of them. This Essential Factor, pure Awareness or Consciousness, without which I am dead to the world, with which I perceive the world and live in it actively, should necessarily be the Presiding Chieftain that rules with His Grace, my 'loka.' The Self being the same everywhere, the Atman that rules my world is the Atman that rules the worlds of all individuals. The entire universe is the sum total of the worlds of experience of each individual, and evidently, the 'ruler' that governs the entire Universe must necessarily be the Absolute Self Itself. The term 'the Lord of the worlds' is to be rightly understood thus. The Lord is not a "tyrant over life" or "a Sultan of the skies," or an

"Autocrat who rules over our world." The Self is the Lord of our experiences, just as the Sun, in the same fashion, is the Lord of our daytime world. HE WHO KNOWS ME AS BIRTHLESS, BEGINNINGLESS AND AS THE GREAT LORD OF THE WORLDS, ends his delusion. In and through the grinning ghost that frightened me, I gain a glimpse of the wayside lamp-post, and forthwith, I go beyond my delusion and find myself released from every fear. In Hinduism, the concept of sin is not a frightening picture of some horrid inevitability. Man is not punished FOR his sins but he is punished BY his sins. Sin is a self-insulting act arising out of a misunderstanding in the sinner as to his own identity. When one wanders away from one's own Real Nature as the Self, identifies oneself with the happenings of the world and behaves as a mass of repulsive flesh, or a bundle of throbbing emotions, or a pack of ideas, one is in a manner, dishonouring one's Godly dignity and divine status, the One-without-a-second. Such acts and thoughts chain a person down to a pursuit of the low pleasures only, never allowing him to rise above and climb the higher peaks of real Perfection. On re-discovering the nature of the Self and gaining thereby a perfect, and complete identification with the Self, he can no longer perpetrate any more of his past 'sins.' The 'sins' in us are the carbuncles from which we suffer the pains of our limitations and the sorrows of our bondage. The moment we understand and live in the realisation that the Self is unborn and beginningless, and that It is not concerned with decaying and perishable matter, we have gained all that has to be gained, and known all that has to be known. Such an individual of True Realisation becomes himself the "Lord-of-the- worlds." HOW IS THE SELF THE LORD OF THE WORLD?

4. Intellect, wisdom, non-delusion, forgiveness, truth, self- restraint, calmness, happiness, pain, birth or death, fear and also fearlessness, . . .

5. Non-injury, equanimity, contentment, austerity, beneficence, fame, infamy --- all these different kinds of "qualities-of-beings" arise from Me alone.

Continuing the general idea that the Lord is the MATERIAL cause as well as the EFFICIENT cause of the world-of-plurality within and without an individual, Krishna is enumerating in these two stanzas the various qualities expressed by the mind-and-intellect of man. Ordinarily, when we talk of Creation, we are apt to mean only the world of physical forms. All the said qualities indicate a larger comprehensiveness of the term 'Creation,' and clearly indicate that it means also our mental and our intellectual lives. Again, men and beings are usually classified under these qualities, and each individual is bound up with his own mental qualities. As the mind, so the man. It is to be noted that here only the POSITIVE qualities are enumerated. Following the traditional style of Sanskrit commentators, we can interpret the second conjunction, the indeclinable 'cha,' as denoting the opposite of these qualities also. However, the Lord is directly mentioning only the positive qualities inasmuch as, in a man who has these noble qualities, his essential divinity will be more available for perception. These different types of emotions and thoughts, which provide for each individual different patterns of life, and whip him forward to act and live in the external world accordingly --- all arise from "ME ALONE." Whether the ghost be pleasantly smiling, or angrily grinning, or vengefully threatening, its smiles, grins and threats are all qualities that have no other substratum than the post. If the Pure Awareness were not there to illumine all the qualities in the bosom, they would have no existence for us. These qualities are almost a complete classification of the entire world-of-beings and their fields of experiences, and therefore, as Shankara observes, we can consider these two stanzas as an exhaustive commentary upon the Self's status as the Lord of the worlds (Sarva-loka-maheshwarah).

6. The seven great RISHIS, the ancient four and also the MANUS, possessed of powers like Me, were born of (My) mind; from them are these creatures in the world (originated and sustained) .

The idea which was hinted at in the second stanza is being taken up here to prove how the Seven Seers, the four Kumaras, and the fourteen Manus, are all born out of the

Lord's own mind, and they together constitute the MATERIAL and the EFFICIENT causes of the world, since it is stated here "FROM THEM ARE THESE CREATURES IN THE WORLD" born. THE SEVEN RISHIS --- The personified representation of the Seven Seers, as found in the Puranas, when understood

"subjectively," are nothing but one's intellect, ego and the five sense stimuli, which, together, constitute the world experienced by each one of us (X-2). Subjectively analysed, it is very easy for us to perceive the implication of this allegory provided by the Seven-Rishis picture. We know that when thoughts rise in us, they, in their individual manifestations, are incapable of disturbing us. At a certain moment, some desire in us gets concentrated, and, identifying with it, we maintain it in a steady stream of dynamic thoughts. Thus dynamised, the initial thought becomes mighty and powerful enough to destroy our peace and tranquillity, and projecting itself, creates the perceptions of and our reactions to the world of the five sense objects. The thought-stream and its projections together supply us with both the MATERIAL and the EFFICIENT causes for our own tiny world of joys and sorrows, victories and failures, yearning and fulfilments. THE FOUR ANCIENTS AND THE MANUS --- Sri Shankaracharya, in his commentary, reads the stanza as 'THE ANCIENTS, AND THE FOUR MANUS,' in the context of a subjective analysis, which is recommended and ably supported by the next line, wherein the Lord says that all of them are children of "MY MIND." It is described in the Puranas, the Brahmaji, the Creator, at the very beginning of Creation, produced out of his own mind four eternal boys (Kumaras), Sanatkumaara, Sanaka, Sanatana, and Sanandana. The creator in us is the life in us functioning through an 'urge-to-create' in any field. Whenever the creative urge expresses itself immediately the factors constituting the subtle-body (Antahkarana) express themselves and function in full vigour. When the Creator of the whole Universe comes under the 'urge-to- express,' he has to maintain a constant Sankalpa, which immediately produces a channel of "constant thoughts" creating the stuff for the 'inner-instruments.' This 'bundle of thoughts,' flowing constantly, functions as the mind, intellect, ego, and chit. These four factors, comprising the total inner-instrument, are represented by the Eternal Boys of Wisdom, born out of the mind of the Creator, at the very beginning of his creative activity. Thus, in one and the same stanza, the macrocosmic (Samashti) and the microcosmic (Vyashti) causes of Creation have been indicated. Macrocosmically, the Total- intellect (Mahat), ego (Ahamkara), and the five rudimentary sense objects (tanmatras) supply the causes for the projection of the world and its sustenance, while microcosmically the 'creative-urge' in us gets fulfilled through the intervention and play of our inner equipment constituted of the intellect, mind, ego and chit. The Seven Seers and the Four Ancients together indicate, thus, both the efficient and the material causes of the macrocosmic and microcosmic worlds created. WHY SHOULD ONE UNDERSTAND THESE IMPLICATIONS OF CREATION FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COSMIC MINDS?... LISTEN:

7. He, who in truth knows these manifold manifestations of My being (Macrocosm) , and (this) YOGA -power of Mine (Microcosm) , becomes established in the "tremorless -YOGA " ; there is no doubt about it.

"He, who in reality knows these two, My Vibhuti and My Yoga," gets established in the realisation of the Supreme. We find that the terms Vibhuti and Yoga, which appear in this stanza, are invariably translated as "Manifold manifestation of beings" (Vibhuti) and "My power" (Yoga). In effect, although these translations are true, they are not efficient enough to convey the subtle and the brilliant connection between the statement and what has been indicated in the previous stanza. Macrocosmic projection of a created Universe, through the intervention of the

"Seven Seers," is the Absolute's own Vibhuti, while the microcosmic experience of a limited world, through the intervention of the mind-born "Four Ancient Kumaras," is the Divine Yoga of the Self in each one of us. Since the Self, presiding over the destinies of the individual, is Itself the Absolute that forms the substratum for the entire Universe, he who realises both the Vibhuti and the Yoga as divine expressions of the Eternal, realises the Infinite. That this understanding of the macrocosm and its influence upon the play-of-life in the field of plurality should not be merely a professor's book-knowledge, is indicated here, when Krishna insists that the seeker must know it "in reality" (Tattwatah). This means that the above- mentioned knowledge is to be realised in a subjective experience, and intuitively lived, as "I am the Self."

"When I play through the 'Seven Seers' I PAINT the Universe, and when I play through the 'Four Ancients' I LIVE the tearful life of an individual." It is not then very difficult for us to feel the appropriateness of the statement in the last stanza that the Rishis, Ancients and the Manus, all "WERE BORN OF MIND." When the Self, therefore, detaches Itself from both the INDIVIDUAL-mind and the COSMIC-mind, It comes to revel in all Its Absolute glory. Identifying Itself with the COSMIC-mind It becomes the Creator (Ishwara) CREATING THE UNIVERSE, and identifying with the individual-mind It becomes the limited ego (Jiva), SUFFERING THE LIMITED WORLD. To know this implication and to live up to this is the TREMORLESS-Yoga" --- wherein a permanent and steady establishment in the experience of the Self is assured. As at many points earlier, Vyasa is making his Divine mouthpiece use the sacred word Yoga in a familiar and a daringly novel context, so that the awe and dread which had gathered round this blessed term may disappear. The

"TREMORLESS-YOGA" is as novel as the various definitions of Yoga given earlier in different verses of the Geeta --- the one, single, irreplaceable Bible-of-revolt in all Hindu renaissance movements. WHAT EXACTLY IS THE TECHNIQUE BY WHICH WE CAN GET OURSELVES ESTABLISHED STEADILY AND PERMANENTLY IN THE UNBROKEN EXPERIENCE OF THE INFINITE AS OUR OWN REAL NATURE?... LISTEN:

8. I am the Source of All; from Me everything evolves; understanding thus, the "wise, " endowed with 'loving consciousness' worship Me.

The difference between the microcosm and the macrocosm is the difference in the equipments through which the same Truth, the Eternal and the All-perfect, expresses. When life surges through the Cosmic-Mind, It (Ishwara) comes to project out the entire Universe-of- plurality; and when the same Infinite expresses through an individual-mind, it (Jiva) projects out the individual- world. In both these manifestations --- the God-principle (Ishwara) and the individual ego (Jiva) --- the Essence is one and the same, just as, for the manifestation of light-in- the-bulb and heat-in-the-heater, the energy is one and the same, i. e., electricity. In electricity, considered as pure energy, there is neither light nor heat. In the same way, in the Pure Self, in its Essential Nature, there is neither the God nor the ego. He who realises this "IN REALITY," we are told, will become established in the Supreme Awareness through the "TREMORLESS-YOGA." We prepare a ball of mud of the required plasticity from a sample of mud after kneading it properly with water. The ball of mud is next put on the potter's wheel and roughly shaped. In the third stage, the pot is finished, dried and polished. And in the fourth stage, the pots so made are baked and painted. The mud can certainly insist that it is the 'origin and essence' of the pot, and that it is only in the mud that the four stages of the pot's evolution had taken place and are never divorced from it. This is true for all mud-pots at all times; none of them has any existence, growth, or development, without the mud which is the sustaining material in all of them. So too, the same Principle in its different manifestations becomes Ishwara and Jiva. An individual, whose intellect is soaked with discriminative awareness --- of the subtle difference between the cosmic and the individual --- is alone capable of turning his mind away from the created world-of- objects, and towards the one and the same Subjective Reality, both in the Creator and in himself. The attitude of a mind successfully employing itself in this inward quest is being indicated here by the pregnant term "with loving consciousness" (Bhaava samanvitah). Love, or devotion, is measured by the capacity of the lover to identify himself with the beloved. In short, love is fulfilled when identification is complete, and when the devotee is capable of experiencing in himself that he is none other than the Infinite Self which, functioning through the Cosmic-mind, plays the part of the Ishwara, the Creator, and, which, when functioning through an individual-mind-intellect equipment, behaves as though It is the Jiva, the limited ego. What has been asserted courageously in the previous stanza has been systematically developed here into a technique by which the above-mentioned experience can be brought within the intimate personal comprehension of every student.

9. With their minds wholly resting in Me, with their senses absorbed in Me, enlightening one another, and ever speaking of Me, they are satisfied and delighted.

WITH A MIND WHOLLY TURNED TO ME (Mat-chittah) --- Only with a kind completely integrated into steady single-pointedness can the seeker meditate efficiently upon the Supreme. Single-pointedness is lost if the mind is entertaining more than one idea. To remember electricity in all the bulbs, fans and heaters involves no deliberate effort; it is the very nature of our knowledge about it. To remember that all mud-pots are made of mud, we need not strain ourselves. Similarly, once the intellect is soaked with a convincing realisation that the Essence behind the God-principle (Ishwara) and the individual ego (Jiva) is one and the same, whatever feelings may arise in the mind or whatever thoughts may arise in the intellect, it is not very difficult for the Truth-seeker to remain constantly aware of the Conscious Principle behind them all and this constant "awareness of the Self" is indicated here by the term 'Mat-chittah.' WITH THEIR SENSES ABSORBED IN ME (Mat-gata- pranah) --- The term Prana is not to be translated merely as

"Vital-air"; it constitutes the five different manifestations of life available for recognition in any living body. Here, however, the term Prana is used mainly to indicate the five sense organs. These organs of perception are the only peep-windows through which the mind wanders out and the world-of-objects enters the mind on its return to the bosom. Vedanta never asks the seekers to retire, or to run away as fugitives, from the fields of sense objects --- which can never be possible as long as we are alive. The path of intellectual pursuit is the path of discrimination, a process through which we can so regulate and train our thoughts that, at the impact of any object of the world, it is immediately reminded of the Eternal Consciousness, without which the object would not have been illumined for the mind's experience.

DISCUSSING WITH ONE ANOTHER --- When students with a common intellectual interest come together and discuss among themselves their pet subject, they not only crystallise their knowledge, but often achieve a reassuring degree of confident knowledge in place of what was till then some stray information gathered from silent books. This technique of common discussion has been tirelessly emphasised in Vedanta in its very definition of Brahma- Vidya where it upholds it as one of its most important limbs of sadhana. A true seeker is he who maintains in himself a constant remembrance of the Conscious Principle in him --- whatever be the activities of the mind, or of the sense organs. He maintains this channel of thinking steadily through mutual discussions on, and a constant seeking of, the Atman. Such seekers ultimately experience a scintillating joy lubricating life's wheels as they roll along their stony path. In the Upanishads the same idea has been beautifully put by using a similar pair of words, 'sports' (kreedami) and 'revels' (ramanti). Here, however, the former word is replaced by an equally efficient term to indicate the meaning (tushyanti). Even while walking the path-of-perfection, Lord Krishna asserts that the seekers on the "path-of-discrimination" will come to experience and live a sense of

"CONTENTMENT AND DELIGHT." These two provide the healthy mental attitude, generating the required inward atmosphere in which spiritual progress can be guaranteed. The discontented, ever-mourning seekers, painting a miserable picture of mental stagnation and intellectual destitution, are not the blessed ones who will gain easy entry into the portals of joyless joy and silent laughter, the Eternal Goal to be realised. HAVING REACHED THIS STAGE OF PROGRESS IN THEIR MARCH, FROM WHERE DO THE SEEKERS GET GUIDANCE AND STRENGTH TO FULFIL THEIR PILGRIMAGE?... LISTEN:

10. To the ever-steadfast, worshipping Me with love, I give the

"BUDDHI YOGA, " by which they come to Me. Withdrawal of one's identifications with the perceived world-of-objects, or the world-of-thoughts, or the world- of-ideas, can be successful only when one has discovered in oneself some other all-consuming thought to serve as an efficient substitute, yielding a satisfactory quota of absorbing happiness. The Bliss-Absolute-Self has enough captivating charm to engage the human attention entirely, and therefore, to the extent to which an individual gets attached to the Truth, to that extent he gains detachment from the painful embrace of the false. This Vedantic Truth is indicated, when Lord Krishna, as though in one and the same breath, states

"AND SERVING ME WITH AFFECTION, INVOKING ME WITH AFFECTIONATE DEVOTION."

We have already indicated that love means identification. To the extent the ego identifies with the Self, to that extent is one a devotee of the Truth, and when one becomes steadfast in It, one comes really to invoke (Bhaja) the divinity that is now dormant in the bosom. To those individuals, who are steadily contemplating upon the Self in an atmosphere of love, delight and contentment, identifying themselves with the Infinite --- to them the Lord promises, "I give that 'Buddhi yoga' BY WHICH THEY CAN COME UNTO ME." This term Buddhi yoga already mentioned earlier (II-39) has been described as "the right knowledge gained through meditation upon the Infinite Nature of the Self." In the context of its use here, we may say that a devotee striving diligently, as explained above, will be blessed with "AN INTELLECTUAL CONTACT WITH, OR OMPREHENSION OF" Reality. No doubt, we do not mean that the intellect can comprehend the Infinite. We are merely borrowing a familiar phrase from the realm of finite experiences. As long as what we have comprehended intellectually is not contradicted by any other different comprehension, we are capable of experiencing what we have comprehended, beyond all traces of doubt. Similarly, the power of an intuitive awareness of Reality comes only to such seekers in whom the maturity of a steady and continued contemplation upon the Self has come about.

When, through the above process of bringing the mind to quietude, a meditator has succeeded in arresting the mind's agitations (Vikshepa), and has consequently lifted the veiling (Avarana) from his intellect, he comes to the State of Transcendental Experience (Samadhi), which is the fulfilment of Buddhi yoga. THROUGH THIS "BUDDHI YOGA" WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE LORD PROVIDE FOR THE SEEKER?... LISTEN:

11. Out of mere compassion for them, I, dwelling within their hearts, destroy the darkness born of ignorance by the luminous Lamp-of-Knowledge.

A thing existing in the outside world may sometimes be veiled from our perception because we need certain favourable conditions for its full perception. In order to hear a sound, the sound produced must have the necessary frequency and the sound waves must also reach the ear-drum of the listener. Similarly, it is not sufficient that an object be in front of the eyes to give us the perception of it; it must be bathed in a beam of light, and only then can the eyes recognise it. If I am groping in the darkness for a key that is on my table, and somebody switches the light on, I can say that he, with his kindly act, has brought me to the key. It is absurd to assume that the light has CREATED the key.

Following this analogy, the Self that is already existing in us, now ducking, as it were, behind conditions not favourable for its cognition, gets unveiled when these unfavourable conditions are removed. This negative atmosphere in our bosom that screens the Self is indicated here by the term

"THE DARKNESS BORN OF IGNORANCE." Even in the darkness of ignorance, remember, the Self is abiding; only it is not available for our intimate subjective experience. When the seekers who have established themselves in the above-mentioned

"constant awareness of the Supreme," master the Buddhi yoga, they become fit for the final experience of their real identity with the Self. Earlier, we mentioned that Buddhi yoga amounts to the Samadhi-experience, even though there is yet a thin film of ego-centric experience-of-Bliss. In this stanza, we have a description of how, from the Savikalpa, the seeker is transported, unaware, as though by the intervention of some Divine Grace, into the consummate Nirvikalpa experience of the Infinite. In fact, upto the Savikalpa alone is the realm of conscious self-effort, and even the Buddhi yoga comes "from above" --- meaning, it comes not as a result of any deliberate action, but is a spontaneous

"partial revelation" when the density of the mist between the ego and the Self is thinned. The final phase experienced when the mist of ignorance is completely lifted is Self-revelation which comes in Its own Light.

A radium-dialled watch is kept on the table in a dark room. In the enveloping darkness I am searching for the watch. As I remove the various papers and books that have accumulated on the table, suddenly I come to recognise, by its own light, the watch so earnestly sought. The self-effulgent Truth, when hidden behind the fumes of ignorance, may, for the time being, appear as though non-existent. When the enveloping ignorance is removed, Its own Self-effulgence is sufficient to illumine it. When the "DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE IS DESTROYED BY THE LUMINOUS LAMP-OF KNOWLEDGE,' the Self stands revealed in its own glory as THE One-without-a- second, All-pervading, and All-full. This act of Self- revelation is undertaken and performed by the Lord, the Self, who ever "ABIDES IN THE HEART OF HIS VERY DEVOTEES." This kindly act of revealing the Self is undertaken "in a spirit of compassion" --- in fact, towards Itself. When I am tired of walking, I sit on the roadside in my pilgrimage --- out of compassion for myself. This compassion cannot be directly invoked unless the seeker pays the price for it. In day-time, when I open the windows of my room, the sunlight, "out of compassion," illumines the room for me; and, we know that the sunlight has neither the freedom to withdraw this compassion so long as the windows are open, nor has it the capacity to show its compassion before the windows are opened. In short, the sunlight is invoked the moment, the object which obstructs the sunlight is removed.

Similarly, when a seeker, through the above-mentioned processes, comes to deserve Buddhi yoga, and practises it diligently, he succeeds in removing from himself all the veils of ignorance which are nothing but his own mental agitations caused by the cloudiness of his intellect. The self-effulgent Self then spontaneously reveals Itself, in Its own light. Lightning needs no other light to illumine it when it passes from one mass of clouds to the neighbouring clouds. The instruction-portion for the highest vocation in life, viz., self-development and Self-realisation, concludes here, and yet, Arjuna is not satisfied, and is raising his doubt here requesting the Lord to help him gain a confirmation through actual experience. HAVING HEARD THUS BOTH THE VIBHUTI AND YOGA OF THE LORD, DESCRIBED SO ELABORATELY IN THE FORE-RUNNING VERSES, ARJUNA ASKS:

Arjuna said: 12. You are the Supreme BRAHMAN, the Supreme Abode, the Supreme Purifier, Eternal, Divine PURUSHA, the God of all gods, Unborn, Omnipresent.

13. All the RISHIS have thus declared You, as also the DEVA- RISHI Narada, so also Asita, Devala and Vyasa; and now the same You Yourself say to me.

Arjuna confesses that he had already been taught, through the Vedic passages, that the great seers of old had indicated the INFINITE, the ETERNAL, through suggestive phraseologies, such as "THE SUPREME BRAHMAN, THE SUPREME ABODE, THE SUPREME PURIFIER, THE ETERNAL BRAHMAN, THE SELF- LUMINOUS PURUSHA, THE FIRST DEVA, THE BIRTHLESS AND THE ALL-PERVADING." In all these cases he had heard them only as attributes of the Truth. So when he heard in his own presence, the same phrases used by Krishna, in the first person singular, he, the son of Kunti, feels lost, not knowing how to comprehend that Krishna, his charioteer, is the Source of the Whole Universe! A practical man-of-the-world as Arjuna was, he needed more data, and we shall discover that in order to satisfy this demand, Krishna supplies enough information in this very same chapter. But, instead of satisfying Arjuna, it only sharpens his curiosity and compels him to demand from Krishna an experimental demonstration, which also is provided by Krishna in the following chapter (Chapter XI). The ancient seers mentioned here, "Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa," cannot be very familiar to the students of the Upanishads. Vyasa, perhaps, deliberately quotes these Rishis mentioned in his Puranas.

Arjuna acknowledged and recognised these phrases, indicating the attributes of the Lord, only as empty and purposeless words, though they had come from accepted great teachers. His actual surprise was clearly expressed in his words "SO ALSO YOU YOURSELF REPEAT TO ME." Here the occasion for Arjuna's staggering confusion was, how his own contemporary, Lord Krishna --- a living creature standing right in front of him, whom he knew all these years, and was even related to --- could Himself be the Infinite, the Supreme, the Birthless, and the All- pervading. Arjuna looks at Krishna with his physical eyes and he sees only Krishna's physical structure. Krishna has been declaring Himself as the pure Self throughout the Geeta and not as a living member of the society. "Sri Krishna Paramatman" is the teacher in the Geeta and not the son of Vasudeva, or the lover of the gopis. Arjuna could not comprehend 'Krishna-the-Spirit,' in his pre-occupation with 'Krishna-the-friend,' 'Krishna-the-lover,' 'Krishna-the- dependable man of intellect and diplomacy.' Hence the Pandava prince's wonderment and confusion. THE FOLLOWING IS GIVEN TO BRING OUT CLEARLY THE ATTITUDE OF THE SEEKER IN ARJUNA WHEN HE ASKS THIS QUESTION:

14. I believe all this that You say to me as true, O Keshava; verily, O Blessed Lord, neither the DEVAS nor the DANAVAS know Your manifestation (identity) .

Here Arjuna exposes himself and expresses his unfaltering faith in his teacher and confesses "I REGARD ALL THAT YOU SAY TO ME AS TRUTH." 'Keshava' is "one who removes all sorrows of those who have surrendered to him." Even though he accepts as truth all that Krishna says, he cannot comprehend the significance of the Lord's declarations. In short, Arjuna admits here that his heart is satisfied and is overflowing with faith and belief but his intellect is starved and thirsty. The thirst-to-know, under which the famished personality of Arjuna groans, is echoed in the second half of the second line, when he admits that "NEITHER THE DEVAS NOR THE DANAVAS KNOW YOUR PERSONALITY." The 'Danavas' are the sons of Danu, and frequently challenge the heaven, obstruct the sacrifices, and lead generally in undivine life. 'Devas' are highly sensitive denizens of the heaven who are described in the Puranas as persons who have subtler perceptions, stronger emotions and mightier intellectual comprehensions than the mortals have. Subjectively, 'Devas' stand for the nobler and the higher comprehensions in us, and the 'Danavas' for the hosts of negative urges. Arjuna, the son of Kunti, is expressing his despair that the IDENTITY of the Self can be fixed up neither by the subtlest and the noblest of our perceptions, nor can we apprehend this Self through our 'Danava'-like challenge to possess, to acquire, to investigate and to know. Neither the good in us can embrace the Truth, nor can the bad in us challenge and bring up the Truth as an opposing force right in front of us. There are only two methods of meeting another being or thing; either as a friend or as a foe, either as something that we like or as something that we abhor. In neither way can we come to apprehend the individuality, the total personality (Vyakti) of the Self --- It being the subject, both in Its expression as an individual (Yoga) and in Its expansion as the cosmic (Vibhuti). IF NONE CAN KNOW THE TRUTH, WHY IS ARJUNA ASKING KRISHNA TO EXPLAIN? WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SPECIAL QUALITY THAT ENABLES HIM TO EXPLAIN THAT WHICH NONE ELSE CAN EVEN KNOW?

15. Verily, You Yourself know Yourself by Yourself, O

PURUSHOTTAMA (Supreme PURUSHA) , O Source of

beings, O Lord of beings, O God of gods, O Ruler of the world.

This stanza indicates how Krishna is capable of explaining the Supreme which is not known by the denizens of the heaven or the hoards of the other kingdom. The Self is, of course, not known as an 'object' through the intervention of our instruments of knowing, nor can It be apprehended as the 'subject' --- either through the best, or the worst in us. But, at the same time, the Self being Awareness, It in Itself is Knowledge --- and to 'know' Knowledge, no other knowledge is needed. Therefore, it is said by Arjuna "YOU YOURSELF KNOW YOURSELF BY YOURSELF." In the Sankhyan philosophy, the Spark-of-Life in each individual is called the Purusha, in Whose presence, the matter-envelopments constituting Prakriti, become vitalised. Here Krishna is addressed as 'Purushottama' meaning "the Self of all selves, the One-without-a-second." In the Geeta, the term Purushottama is sometimes used as the 'most glorious of men' and sometimes in the purely technical usage as the "Supreme Self." Lord Krishna is now being recognised and glorified by Arjuna as the Pure Brahman, when he addresses Him as

"THE SOURCE OF BEINGS, THE LORD OF BEINGS, THE DEVA OF DEVAS, AND THE RULER OF THE WORLD." The essential stuff in any object is the ruler and maintainer of its qualities. The quality of gold rules over all the qualities of various gold ornaments whatever their shape, design, polish, etc. More than this is the controlling and the ruling power of the Consciousness in our lives, inasmuch as, without Consciousness, we know nothing, can do nothing. An awareness or knowledge of a thing or an event is possible only when the mental and intellectual disturbances caused by it are illumined by the Pure Consciousness.

AFTER THE ABOVE INTRODUCTORY WORDS, EXPRESSING HIS SENSE OF WONDER, REVERENCE, AND DEVOTION, ARJUNA IS NOW EXPRESSING DIRECTLY HIS INTELLECTUAL DEMAND TO THE LORD:

16. You should indeed, without reserve, tell me of Your Divine glories by which You exist pervading all these worlds.

The Prince is convinced that the Lord is the Essence without which the multiple world cannot exist. At the same time, when he looks out into the world through his familiar instruments of the intellect, mind and body, he recognises nothing but ideas, feelings and objects; and they are anything but divine. When a building is illuminated on a ceremonial occasion, we see many points of light emanating from the innumerable coloured bulbs of varying intensity, but, when we are told that all of them are sustained and fed by the same electricity, it would be quite natural for the ignorant to demand that he be shown the electricity in each of its manifestations! As the Cosmic-man (Ishwara), the Lord is both Transcendental (Vibhuti), and Immanent (Yoga), in all names and forms that constitute Samsara. This can be felt by a heart of faith but cannot be comprehended by the intellect, even if it be sharp. Naturally, Arjuna asked Krishna for an exhaustive discourse upon "YOUR COSMIC-GLORY, VIBHUTI, BY

WHICH, FILLING ALL THESE WORLDS, YOU EXIST." Arjuna, being a man-of-action and supremely practical- minded, wanted to gather sufficient data for his intellect to ponder over, classify and understand It. IS IT MERELY INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY IN ARJUNA THAT MADE HIM ASK THIS QUESTION?... LISTEN:

17. How shall I, ever-meditating, know You, O YOGIN? In what aspects or things, O Blessed Lord, are You to be thought of by me? HOW AM I TO MEDITATE UPON THEE, SO THAT I MAY COME TO KNOW THEE? --- The goal of a seeker is to KNOW the Truth in his own personal experience, while he is in an intimate identification with It. The Geeta was advocating, so far, not a life of retirement, for purposes of quiet meditation, in solitary caves, on the banks of some river, all alone! Krishna's call to man was a call to duty, the call of work, the call of living the God-experience in and through life. Geeta, the scripture, we should not forget, was declared in the Mahabharata battle-field at a moment when the world of that time was facing the greatest known historical crisis, both secular and sacred. Arjuna has been completely converted into accepting the Geeta Religion of Right Action. This is indicated especially when Arjuna addresses Krishna in this stanza as "O Yogin" --- the greatest Karma Yogin that ever freely lived in the thickest of life, yet, never let himself down from the Consciousness of the Divine Essence. Moreover, he makes it very clear why he has requested Krishna to explain "without reserve," His Cosmic-Stature. Arjuna asks: "IN WHAT FORMS ARE YOU TO BE THOUGHT OF BY ME?" Even while living life and meeting its problems, if one were to remember constantly the Divine Presence everywhere, one must know exactly where to see It, among the individual objects of the world, among the combinations of things and in the community of beings. STATING AGAIN PRECISELY WHAT HE WANTS KRISHNA TO EXPLAIN, ARJUNA MAKES IT CLEAR THAT EVEN IF THE ANSWERS BE RATHER LENGTHY, HE WILL NOT FEEL TIRED OF LISTENING TO THEM AND UNDERSTANDING THEM ALL:

18. Tell me again, in detail, O Janardana, of your YOGA - power and Immanent glory; for I do not feel satisfied by hearing your (life-giving and so) nectar-like speech.

A student of philosophy --- and for that matter, a true student of any knowledge --- should have, first of all, an insatiable thirst to understand, to know, and to appreciate. Without this appetite, no knowledge can be digested by the student with profit. This is especially so in the SUBJECTIVE SCIENCE of self-development. For, here, as nowhere else, the knowledge gained is not only to be digested and assimilated, but lived intensively. Therefore, anxiety to listen (Jijnasa) has been recognised as one of the noblest qualities, unavoidable for a fit student in Vedanta, if he is TO BE ASSURED OF ANY PROGRESS on the Path-of-Knowledge. Arjuna, the Pandava Prince, had this noble trait to a large extent, for he confesses, "I AM NEVER SATISFIED WITH LISTENING TO THE NECTARINE WORDS OF YOUR DISCOURSES." No doubt, it is true, Satsanga has a chastening effect upon all intelligent and interested listeners. This intoxication, vicariously experienced by the students when a true teacher discourses upon the Truth, is only a temporary exhilaration, a passing mood of false peace, which cannot stand in good stead when the student is left all alone by himself. And yet, however volatile it may be, it can enchant the new initiates, and some, like Arjuna, may become addicted to it. This state of fascination for hearing more and more spiritual discourses is amply indicated here. Though this is not the end, this is a good beginning, no doubt, and those who feel a fulfilment in the study of philosophy are certainly much more noble than the thousands who cannot even stand a philosophical discourse, discussing the Nature of the Divine!! THE TIRELESS MISSIONARY IN KRISHNA, WITH MOTHERLY PATIENCE, ANSWERS ARJUNA:

The Blessed Lord said: 19. Alas! Now I will declare to you My Divine glories, immanent, in their prominence; O best of the Kurus, there is no end to the details of My extent.

The elaborate and exhaustive reply of Krishna, which forms the bulk of this chapter, explains the exact identity of the Self in individual beings and things and in the combination of things and beings. It must be carefully noted that in the following stanzas, while he explains his Immanence (Yoga) and Transcendence (Vibhuti), he is very careful to indicate two factors at one and the same time: (1) His Supreme importance in individual things, and (2) the fact that without Him none of the constituent members of an assemblage, or of a community, will have any synchronised existence or organised life. The word "alas" (Hanta) with which the section opens, expresses the Divine Master's loving sympathy and anxious consideration for Arjuna's seeming incapacity to realise in himself THAT which is ever the nearest to him. The usual translation

"O

Kurushreshtha"

(Hanta Kurushreshtha) cannot be accepted without the sacrifice of a volume of significance inherent that exclamation --- Hanta meaning "alas." Even though there is no end to the infinite variety of the Self's manifestations in plurality --- where all the time It gets projected out, either through the Total-mind (Ishwara), or through the individual-mind (Jiva) --- the All- merciful One undertakes the impossible, out of His infinite kindness for His disciple, Arjuna, who has totally surrendered unto Him. He admits that THERE IS NO BOUND TO MY EXTENT," and yet, He undertakes to explain to Arjuna His All-pervading Power-Divine,

"ONLY THOSE GLORIES THAT ARE MOST IMPORTANT." In the physical world also it is true that sunlight gets reflected from all objects equally, be it a dull stone, or a mirror; but in the mirror, the reflection is more clear, and effectively brilliant. Similarly, the Lord promises that He will indicate through very carefully chosen examples, the vital spots and instances at which the Divinity manifests itself the clearest. BEFORE WE ENTER INTO THIS DISCUSSION, YOU HAD BETTER LISTEN TO THE FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH, SAYS THE LORD, AND PROCEEDS:

20. I am the Self, O Gudakesha, seated in the hearts of all beings; I am the Beginning, the Middle and also the End of all beings.

I AM THE SELF THAT EXISTS IN THE HEART OF ALL BEINGS --- This is a general statement with which Krishna opens his entire discourse. A real master of research who is trained well to be a scientific thinker, starts a discussion upon his pet subject of study and experience by summarising his entire talk in a general statement. Later on, he will work at the warp and the woof of his descriptions, and at the logical reasoning for the elaboration of his theme, and will, of necessity, come back to the same statement at the conclusion of his talks. Here also we find, in the last stanza of this chapter, how Krishna concludes with the same thought, more powerfully expressed, "I EXIST SUPPORTING THIS WHOLE BY A PORTION OF MYSELF." If, in the first half of the verse it is declared that Krishna, as the Self in all, is the essence in the world of multiplicity, the same idea is expressed in other words, in the second line of the verse, "I AM THE BEGINNING, THE MIDDLE, AND ALSO THE END OF ALL BEINGS." The world of things and beings is essentially a projection of the mind; the world outside is only the Infinite, misinterpreted by the finite mind. Therefore, this idea can be understood subjectively, as referring to the world-of-thoughts also. Every thought rises from the Consciousness, and when it dies away, it merges back to leave behind nothing but Consciousness. There can be no thought where there is no Consciousness. Later on also we shall find the same idea forcefully repeated (X-32) and Krishna never seems to tire of repeating this great Truth. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE METHODS OF MEDITATING UPON THE SELF WHILE LIVING AMONG THE ENDLESS VARIETIES OF OBJECTS AND BEINGS THAT CONSTITUTE THE WORLD OF PERCEPTIONS:

21. Among the (twelve) ADITYAS I am Vishnu; among luminaries, the radiant Sun; I am Marichi among the MARUTS; among asterisms, the moon am I.

OF ADITYAS I AM VISHNU --- In the Vedic tradition, Adityas, described in some places as five, and in other places as six, are the children born of Aditi. Later on, the traditional belief considered twelve Adityas, each representing one of the twelve months of the year. In the Vishnu-Purana, however, we read that "Vishnu" is one of these twelve Adityas, and He is described therein as the most important amongst the whole lot. OF THE LUMINARIES I AM THE RADIANT SUN --- Modern physics admits that the Sun is the source of all energy. Naturally, the phrase stands amply self-explained. The Self is the source of all energy wherever it is seen manifested. OF THE WINDS I AM MARICHI --- In Vedic verses, Maruts are the sons of Rudra and the Rig Veda mentions Marichi as the chief among them. In Vedic lore, the Maruts represent the presiding deity of the storms, wind and breeze --- in short, air-in-motion. OF THE ASTERISMS I AM THE MOON --- The Sanskrit term 'Nakshatras', as used in Indian astronomy, indicates the asterisms strewn on the Moon's path. Conceiving exclusively thus the route of the Moon in the Universe, the line may be interpreted as expressing the Lord's glory, inasmuch as, among the asterisms the Moon is the controller, the regulator; and in splendour, the most wondrous of all of them. But we could as well accept the world 'Nakshatras,' in its common understanding, as the endless twinkling little stars that we see studded in the night-sky. There are commentators, who go a step further, and consider the world as representing all 'lights of the night.' This also is an acceptable interpretation, which can convey to us a wealth of suggestions to ponder over and meditate upon. The Self is as incomparably glorious, soothing and pleasant as the moon is in the entire 'world-of-lights' that illumines the night, from the modest hut to the Parliament House. It is to be remembered that in this series of TWENTY- TWO STANZAS, Lord Krishna is trying to supply the seekers with SEVENTY-FIVE ITEMS of thought for helping those who are on the Path-of-Knowledge, to meditate upon and intensify their integration and sharpen their single-pointedness. These are 75 independent exercises in meditation. 22. Among the VEDAS, I am the SAMA-VEDA; I am

VASAVA among the gods; among the senses I am the mind; and I am the intelligence among living beings.

OF ALL THE VEDAS I AM THE SAMA-VEDA --- The bulk of the Sama-Veda is nothing but the essence of the Rig-Veda and the latter is considered as the most important of all the four Vedas. In Chandogya Upanishad, the Sama-Veda has been beautifully glorified Again, in Sama-Veda, there is the added joy of music, inasmuch as, the Samans are to be sung in complicated tunes, the melody and rhythm of which are evidences revealing a mighty art that has been exquisitely developed by our ancients. Through the beauty of the comparison, we may read the Krishna is (I am) the Infinite Essence tuned to music, as Rig-Veda Mantras are in the Samans. OF THE DEVAS I AM VASAVA --- Among the denizens of heaven, Vasava is King Indra. It is interesting to note that according to the Hindu concept, there is the highest standard of living imaginable in heaven, but even among its denizens there are the "haves" and the "have-nots." Individuals who perform meritorious acts reach heaven to enjoy the wealth of goodness so acquired, and therefore, one who has acquired a larger wealth of merits while living HERE, should necessarily come to enjoy THERE a subtler joy and a life of greater satisfaction. Of such lives, the most powerful and mighty, the most splendid and luxurious life will necessarily be of Indra. The Self is as Indra among the gods, ruling over the others, controlling and directing them and organising their lives so that they may enjoy the highest standard of living.

OF THE SENSE ORGANS I AM THE MIND --- The above phrase that the Self is 'INDRA AMONG THE GODS' itself contains the subjective idea to all those who are well fed upon the Upanishadic lore, that It is the mind among the indriyas. The term 'Indra,' in Sanskrit can also be dissolved as "the King of the sense organs." We have earlier mentioned that Devas, since the world means 'to illumine,' are the sense organs, and, among them, naturally, the mind is the patron and the controller without which the sense organs will not have their play in any intelligent field of activity. Of all things created in the world, the most magnificent and wondrous item is the mysterious power, called the

"intelligence," which has not yet been brought within the understanding of modern scientists beyond certain vague and fanciful theories.

23. And among the RUDRAS I am Shankara; among the

YAKSHAS and RAKSHASAS I am the Lord of wealth (KUBERA) ; among the VASUS I am PAVAKA (AGNI) ; and

among the mountains I am the MERU.

OF RUDRAS I AM SHANKARA --- The concept of Rudra, as the deity of destruction, is to be recognised by every student of life because destruction is a necessary precedent to every subsequent construction. The flower must die to yield its place to the fruit. The fruit must perish for the seeds to come out. The seeds must rot to bring forth the seedling. Thus, in every progress there is a continuous stream of constructive destruction. This is recognised by the subtlest thinkers that were ever born among men, the Rishis, and in their full understanding they fearlessly respected and adored the blessed deity of creative destruction --- Shankara I AM THE TREASURER OF WEALTH (KUBERA) AMONG THE YAKSHAS AND RAKSHASAS --- The Chancellor of the Exchequer in heaven is described in the Puranas as Kubera, a monstrous, ugly creature, three- footed, fat and short, with a spreading belly, a small head and eight protruding teeth. The divine cashier is helped by Yakshas and Rakshasas --- an equally ugly, materialistic, heartless brood --- in protecting his treasures. It is interesting to note how the Indian Rishis were typically against capitalism and how they cartooned the master-of- wealth in such a grotesque caricature, so ugly that it cannot bring about even an indulgent smile to our lips. OF THE VASUS, I AM PAVAKA --- There are eight Vasus and they are Vedic deities presiding over the seasons. In Chandogya Upanishad it is described that the MOUTH of these Vasus is fire; there, the word "mouth" may be conceived of as the instrument of enjoyment and experience. Therefore, it means that the Self is the very source from which we gain all our experiences of all seasons.

The six seasons which the world outside gives us, and the two seasons which the mind supplies us with, viz., joy and sorrow, together constitute the eight seasons mentioned here. Even the spring-time flowers will shed tears for us, if, at that time, we are in tragic bereavement, while even the naked trees of the autumn season will be quivering with joy for us, if, in that season, we have the joy of success, full and complete --- thereby the two internal seasons. All of them are experienced by us only when we are under the grace of our own Consciousness within. OF ALL THE PEAKS I AM MERU --- A mythological mountain, believed to be the centre of the Universe, according to ancient Hindu Geography, is Meru. On top of it, lives the Divine, and below it, lie scattered the Seven Islands that constitute the world. Meru is conceived as having an altitude of seven to eight thousand miles and it is described that from its top, the Ganges flows in all directions. This statement has made many believe that it may be the Himalayas --- which is not, of course, very unsatisfactory. But we would rather believe it to be a mystical phraseology --- representing some special "field of influence," having its base in Jambu-dweepa and its extent rising up to the peak described above, from where Spiritual Knowledge flows out on all the four sides to bless all of the islands. CONTINUING TO INDICATE THE STATUS OF THE SELF AMONG THE THINGS OF THE KNOWN WORLD:

24. And among the household priests, O Partha, know Me to be the chief, BRIHASPATI; among generals, I am SKANDA; among lakes, I am the ocean.

OF THE HOUSEHOLD PRIESTS KNOW ME THE CHIEF, BRIHASPATI --- The lord of the planet Jupiter, Brihaspati, is mentioned in the Rig Veda as Brahmanaspati, which is self-explanatory of his status, among the hosts of heaven. He is considered as the spiritual teacher of the celestials. Similarly, the Lord indicates, "I AM SKANDA' --- the son of Shiva, the peacock-rider, and the wielder-of-the-spear -- - "AMONG THE GENERALS." OF WATER, I AM THE OCEAN --- In all these examples, it is quite clear that the Lord is indicating Himself to be not only transcendent, but also immanent. Especially, the last analogy of the series in the stanza proves itself to be a typical example. No doubt, the waters of Ganga seem to have no relationship with the waters of the ocean. Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu or Kaveri, Tigris or Nile, Thames or Amazon --- the water of the various lakes of the world, of the ponds of the villages, in all irrigation canals, individually, is independent and has nothing to do with the ocean that embraces the world. And yet, it is a fact that but for the waters of the ocean, all these rivers and water-pools would have long ago dried up. Similarly, in the sentient and the insentient beings, and things of the world, though individually they might look as if they have no direct relationship with the Infinite

Ocean of Truth, the Lord indicates here that, but for It, the phenomenal world would have ended its existence long ago. STILL ELABORATING THE SAME IDEA:

25. Among the great RISHIS I am Bhrigu; among words I am the one-syllabled "OM" ; among sacrifices I am the sacrifice of silent repetition (JAPA-YAJNA) ; among immovable things, the Himalayas.

OF THE GREAT RISHIS I AM BHRIGU --- Bhrigu is the chief of the Seven Rishis mentioned earlier in this very chapter (Ibid., Verses 2 and 5). Bhrigu is the one who recites the Manava

Dharmashastra, wherein he is recognised as Manu's son. OF WORDS, I AM THE ONE-SYLLABLED "OM" --- Words are symbols of sounds to express one's thoughts. A speaker, with his words, tries to raise in the bosom of his listeners, a pattern of thought-experiences which the speaker feels in himself. Thus, the word 'tomato' is the sound symbol which creates in the mind of all those who know the 'tomato' the same form-experience. To bless those who do not react to this word, but stand confused, the speaker will necessarily try to use a series of words arranged into sentences, and the sentences will be properly marshalled to give a full picture of what a 'tomato' is. To the extent the describer can mould the form, colour, taste and qualities of the 'tomato' in the thought-world of the listener, to that extent the listener also can experience mentally what the speaker is speaking about. Thus, ordinarily, language is full of such sound- symbols to indicate experiences and to communicate thoughts. If ordinary word-symbol indicate only the finite, the Rishis thought that they must conceive a word-symbol to indicate the Eternal. Thus, they discovered the one- syllabled word 'OM,' which is the greatest mantra in all the Vedas and traditionally, upto recent times, this has been, in the spiritual world, the one sound idol used as a prop (Alambanam) for all early meditators. OF SACRIFICES I AM THE JAPA --- This universal spiritual exercise, Japa, is a technique by which the 'Japist' tries to maintain a constant stream of the same divine thoughts in his mind. All other sacrifices --- be they on the

"Path-of-Devotion" or on the "Path-of-Action," or on the

"Path-of-Knowledge" --- are ritualistic, or meditative attempts, for a given period of time, to restrain the mind in one channel of deliberate thought. As such, in one form or the other, "thought repetition" of the same species is the attempt in all Sadhanas. No doubt, Japa is a path in itself, having an independent existence of its own; but, at the same time in one form or the other, it is the core of all the

"paths."

Thus, Japa Yajna is glorified here, not only because it is the essential core of all the other Yajnas but also because it transcends them all as an independent "Path" in itself. Unbroken remembrance of the Self is the very experience of Perfection and the moment of perfect intellectual tranquillity --- Samadhi. OF THINGS MOTIONLESS, I AM THE HIMALAYAS --- The motionless is conceived as the inert, the insentient. Mud and rocks, trees and plants, birds and animals intermixed with the splendour of the phenomenal might, such as whistling storms, tearing thunders, roaring rivers cascading through silent valleys, still pools of eternal lakes, faithfully reflecting the blue sky and duplicating mountain peaks in their love-lorn hearts --- all these together constitute the picture of all mountains. But, "OF THEM," the Lord says, "I AM THE HIMALAYAS." Certainly He gives to the Himalayan ranges a more glorious and divine status because of their special significance. Unlike anywhere else in the world, in India, the Himalayas have the secret peaks where man sat to rocket his thoughts even beyond the frontiers of his intellect and did it successfully as was never before done by any living creature from the beginningless history of the world. NOT SATISFIED YET, THE LORD IS VIGOROUSLY TRYING THROUGH FINER EXAMPLES AND WORDS TO CONVEY HIS INFINITE GLORY TO THE DATA-

MONGERING AND WORLDLY INTELLECT OF HIS WARRIOR-FRIEND, ARJUNA;

26. Among all trees (I am) the ASHWATTHA -tree; among

Divine RISHIS , Narada ; among GANDHARVAS ,

Chitraratha ; among Perfected ones , the MUNI Kapila .

OF ALL THE TREES I AM THE ASHWATTHA-TREE --- Both in its magnitude and life-span, the Ashwattha tree (Pipal) can be considered as the "all-pervading" and the

"Immortal," inasmuch as it lives generally for centuries. The Hindu has learnt to worship it, and there is a sentiment of divinity attached to it. It is also a fact that the Ashwattha brings up in our mind fresh memories of the Upanishadic comparison of it with samsara. Later, in the Geeta itself (XV-I) we have a mention of the peepal tree as representing the pluralistic phenomenal world that has shot up to spread itself like mushrooms of false sorrows over what is dreamy nothingness. OF THE DEVARISHIS I AM NARADA --- Of the heavenly Seers, Krishna describes Himself as Narada, a favourite figure in our legends. In our Puranas, Narada is described as a great devotee of Hari; he is not only a great Seer among the celestials, but he often comes down to the world to play the deliberate fool and ultimately guide the deluded mortals to the parlour of heaven. Perhaps Krishna, himself being a great missionary, entertains a great respect for Narada, because of his missionary zeal and enthusiasm. Many are the converts whom Narada has won for heaven as described in our Puranas. A missionary cannot but feel a comradeship with another working in the same field and nothing can create a greater tie of identification than the similarly of aspiration in two individuals. 'Gandharvas' are the mythological concept of subtle entities who constitute the celestial choir, who entertain the denizens of heaven with their art and music. They are the 'stars' of entertainment in heaven. Among them, Chitraratha is the most brilliant. OF THE SIDDHAS, I AM THE MUNI KAPILA --- These Siddhas are not magic-mongers. The term Siddha in Sanskrit indicates one who has "achieved the Goal (Sadhya)" and therefore, it means the "Perfected One." Among Men-of-realisation, therefore, Krishna says, "I am Muni Kapila." The term Muni need not bring into our mind the traditional picture supplied by illiterate painters of an aged, silver-haired, almost naked fakir, generally roaming about where others will not dare to enter, eating a strange diet, a strange creature of the forests, rather than a decent normal man of the town. Muni is a term in Sanskrit derived from the word Manana which is the "art of reflection." The term Muni, therefore, only means a thinker; "OF THE THINKERS I AM KAPILA." Kapila, the author of the Sankhya philosophy has been here particularly singled out for this great status as the best among all thinkers, because the Geeta mainly follows the Sankhyan-philosophical thoughts. The Lord uses the framework of thoughts in the Sankhya philosophy to paint His concept of the One Truth, Absolute and Eternal, and therefore, Kapila, the promoter of the Sankhyan school of thought, has been given the special glory of being compared with the Lord Himself. FEELING THAT HE HAS NOT DELIVERED THE GOODS YET, THE LORD CONTINUES: 27. Know Me among horses as 'UCCHAHI-SHRAVAS, ' born of AMRITA; among lordly elephants, the 'AIRAVATA' and

among men, the King.

The Pauranic-story of the churning of the Milky-Ocean by both the gods and the demons for the purpose of getting out of it the Nectar is very famous. Two of the products that came up during the churning process were the Winged-horse, mighty and powerful, called the Ucchahi- shravas, and the White-elephant, Airavata. Both of them were presented to the King of the gods, Indra. Altogether, it is described that thirteen such tempting objects of might and glory presented themselves during the churning.

28. Among weapons, I am the 'thunderbolt' ; among cows I am

'KAMADHUK' ; I am 'KANDARPA' , the cause for offspring; among serpents I am 'VASUKI. ' OF WEAPONS, I AM THE THUNDERBOLT --- The weapon called 'Vajra' is an item in the divine artillery which can never be shattered. The Vedic legend explains how a great seer, Dadheechi, offered his own rib-bone for the construction of this secret weapon to annihilate a demon who was threatening to shatter the peace of the heavens. OF COWS I AM KAMADHUK --- This strange animal called Kamadhuk, from which we can milk all our desires, whatever they be, is also one of the early by-products that rose up during the churning of the Milky-Ocean. OF ALL THE CAUSES OF OFFSPRING, I AM KANDARPA --- Cupid, the good of love of the Indian concept, is conceived of as a mischievous boy, chubby and lively, ever carrying with himself his bow-of-smile, with five flower-tipped arrows, each meant to smother one sense-organ!! The suggestion is a biological truth. Procreation is not merely an animal act of insemination, or a vegetable-act of cross-pollination, but it is, according to the Science of Sex (Kama-shastra) in India, a fulfilment of all passionate urges that express themselves through all the sense organs. A philosopher is a perfect scientist and as such he has none of the false shyness, which is generally expressed by immoral people when they pose themselves as sandal-coated puritans. Vedantins and teachers, when they talk of sex-life, are as much brutally open as the professors are in a medical college. Of all the causes of offspring, the Lord declares, "I AM CUPID," who in himself, as the lord of love, represents, in the field of sensuality, the total satisfaction of the physical, mental and intellectual sheaths in man. OF SNAKES, I AM VASUKI --- The serpent 'Vasuki,' is described in our mythology as ever living on Shiva's ring- finger, as an adornment. Though small enough to become a ring on the finger of the Lord, it was the 'Vasuki' Serpent, who volunteered to serve as a rope in the churning process of the "milky-ocean." This naturally reminds one of the Upanishadic declarations, that the Truth is at once the "minutest of the minute," and "the greatest of the great." Naturally, it is very apt that the Lord declares Himself to be "Vasuki among the snakes." The term 'Sarpa' is to be rightly understood, in contrast with the Nagas, mentioned in the next stanza. Sarpas are single-hooded; while Nagas are multi-hooded. CONTINUING IN THE TUNE, THE SINGER-DIVINE SINGS OF HIS OWN SONGFUL GLORY: 29. I am 'ANANTA' among NAGAS; I am 'VARUNA'

among water deities; I am 'ARYAMA' among the ancestors; and I am 'YAMA' among controllers.

OF THE NAGAS I AM ANANTA --- "Nagas" means "the many-hooded serpents." Of them, the thousand-hooded Sesha Naga is the one that has been described as forming the "bed" for Lord Vishnu to recline in His "Yoga-sleep." Here Krishna only means that, among the many-hooded serpents, He is the mightiest and the most divine, because He is the very Substratum upon which Vishnu, the Sustainer, and Brahmaji, the Creator of the multiple world, recline and function. OF THE WATER DEITIES I AM VARUNA --- ' Varuna' is a Vedic conception of the Spirit governing the waters, the third of the five great elements. Deifying the elemental forces in the phenomenal world, was the method of adoration and worship in the early Vedic period. It was only later, that we started the Pauranic-tradition of humanising gods and got into the muddy pool religious differences, sectarian prejudices, and credal warfare, between colonies of ignorant folks, gathered round a Jerusalem Master or a Vrindavana Boy, or a Mecca Messenger. Varuna is conceived of as a being, half-fish and half-man, almost something like Arnold's Merman! He is the Ruler of the Oceans and the Lord of the Waters. OF THE PITRIS, I AM ARYAMA --- In Hinduism, death is one of the experiences in life when the subtle-body chooses to leave permanently its present residence within a given physical structure. The mind-intellect-equipment, maintaining a separate ego-centric concept in itself, continues its existence and it is commonly called 'departed soul' or 'ancestor.' These 'departed souls' live together in a world of their own, called the "world-of-the manes" (Pitriloka). We have already discussed the Vedic concept of the six children of the twelve Adityas, each presiding over a month of the year. Of these, Aryama is the ruler of the world-of-the- ancestors. OF THE CONTROLLERS, I AM YAMA --- "Yama" is the mythical Lord-of-Death, the Chief Messenger of the Annihilator. In India, we worship the terrible, the sad, and the tragic also, because, to us God is the Substratum for both the good and the bad, for the pleasant and the unpleasant. We are not satisfied by any theory of compromise by which we reject, in God, any association with what we do not like. Whether we like it or not, the Principle-of-Death is the governing factor that controls and regulates life, and, at every moment, prepares a progressive field for creative developments everywhere. The childhood must die before youth can express itself. I must leave my high school in order to enter the college. Step by step, I must die in order to be born into the next step. Progress in itself is a partial picture of life; it is only a squint-eyed vision of life's total dynamism. Every development is preceded by prior destruction. Annihilation, thus contributing to positive progress, is called "Death's own creative art."

No new thing can be created unless correspondingly we also destroy that which existed before. We arrive at this assertive but logical conclusion when we sufficiently digest the observed physical law of the world that "no two things can ever remain at one and the same period of time occupying one and the same space." When a painter paints a flower, he not only pours his colour on to the canvas to paint his subject, but his creative art is a constant destruction of the surface coating that was earlier given to the canvas! Thus, when life is viewed in its totality, there is as much importance for the "Principle-of-Death" as for the very

"Principle-of-Creation." But for Death functioning intelligently at almost the same speed as the rate of Creation, there would have been an inordinate flood of things in life; and life itself would have been choked by its own magnitude and number. If Death were not there, the great-great-great-grandfather of our great-great-great-grandfather might still be living, even now, in our own present two-roomed apartment! Even when there is a slight rise in population, the entire balance and political peace in the world get shattered. What will not happen, if Death were not as sincerely serving us as the Creator? Indeed, of all the Controllers, Death alone is the Chief and the analogy given here is irreplaceable and supremely apt.

IN A SPELL OF PLEASANT ENTHUSIASM THE LORD CONTINUES:

30. I am 'Prahlada' among DAITYAS, 'Time' among reckoners, the 'Lord-of-beasts' (Lion) among animals, and 'Vainateya' (Garuda) among birds.

I AM 'PRAHLADA' AMONG THE DAITYAS --- The Story of 'Prahlada,' very famous among the Hindus, is the story of a boy-devotee who, with adamantine faith and firm devotion, challenged his father Hiranyakashipu in defence of his own faith in Hari, and stood many a trial and persecution from his father. AMONG RECKONERS I AM 'TIME' --- The logicians form among themselves a staunch group of Hindu philosophers, and they not only support the concept of pluralism, but also challenge the very existence of the God-Principle. They have, through their purely intellectual deductions, arrived at the final conclusion that Time is THE Eternal Factor, and the individual mind-and- intellect are instrumental causes to split It up and see in It the play of the past, the present, and the future. According to them, it is this "play of the mind" that bombards Time and makes It look as though It were finite and momentary. Perhaps Vyasa had this concept in his mind when he tried to bring this analogy to express the Infinite Substratum supporting the finite multiplicity.

There are some commentators who rather accept this analogy as a simple-looking direct statement; and, according to them, Time, which is beginningless and endless, is the ultimate measure of all things in the relative field. AMONG BEASTS, I AM THE LORD OF BEASTS AND, AMONG BIRDS, I AM THE SON OF VINATA --- The majesty and grandeur, the dignity and "manliness" of the lion among animals, make him the Royal Lion. Its flight, its powers of perception, and the altitudes to which it can climb, make Garuda --- the King of birds.

31. Among purifiers, I am the 'wind' ; among warriors, I am 'Rama, ' among fishes, I am the 'shark' ; among rivers, I am the

'Ganges. ' OF CLEANSING AGENTS, I AM THE 'WIND' --- No antiseptic or sanitary equipment is as efficient to clean a place as the Sun and the wind. If the wind alone is indicated here it is because of Vyasa's perfect knowledge that wind can rise only when the Sun is hot. Where there is constant wind, there the Sun also must be available; in a cave there can be neither sunlight, nor movement of air. OF THOSE WHO ARE WIELDERS OF WEAPONS, I AM 'RAMA' --- The hero of Ramayana, Sri Ramachandra was delineated by Valmiki, the first poet in India to use metrical compositions and write out a full-fledged Kavya, very elaborately, of a "perfect man" in all aspects of his existence: perfect as a son, as a husband, as a brother, as a friend, as a fighter, as a teacher, as a ruler, and even as a father. Such an all-round perfect one --- his perfections shining out all the more against the background of seeming imperfections and extremely irritating and confusing circumstances --- should necessarily be the noblest hand that ever wielded an honest bow to shoot out the most effective arrows! OF THE FISHES I AM THE 'SHARK' AND OF THE RIVERS I AM JAHNAVI --- The story goes that Saint Jahnu drank the Ganges dry, and later, for the redemption of man, let her out to flow through his ears! The concept of the Ganges, we have indicated earlier, is a symbolism, freely used by the Hindus, to represent the "spiritual culture" of India. The wealth of the Rishi-knowledge, as it reaches a seeker, at the seat of his meditation, at first makes him swallow and dry it up. "Drinking at the fountain of Knowledge," "to satiate the thirst for knowledge," etc., are usual expressions in almost all languages of the world that have some slavery to the Mother of all Languages, Sanskrit. Here the stream of knowledge is described as having flown out through Jahnu's ears; it is indeed a brilliant poetic concept to connect the term Shruti (heard), which means the contents of the Upanishads, comprising what the Masters declared to the world and what the disciples

"heard" from them. In India, teachers come from time to time to reinterpret the Ancient Wisdom in the context of their own age, only after having gained their own personal experiences of Vedic Truth-declarations. Without the stamp of realisation, no teacher worth the name will dare come into the world to propagate the old Truth in new language. Of the many names by which the sacred river Ganges is known in India, this particular name has been chosen here in order to emphasize the above-mentioned special implications. AMONG FISHES I AM THE 'SHARK' --- the shark is the most dangerous fish in the ocean. So among fishes, Bhagawan declares Himself to be the 'shark.' AND ALSO:

32. Among creations, I am the beginning, the middle and also the end, O Arjuna; among sciences I am the Science of the Self and I am the logic in all arguments.

OF CREATIONS, I AM THE BEGINNING, AND THE END, AND THE MIDDLE TOO --- Here there is an echo of the general statement with which the Lord started His discourse earlier in the chapter (X-20), for enumerating His infinite glories. However, therein He had explained how He was the Essential Stuff in all individual beings; and here it is a more universal statement by which He indicates how He is the Essence in all Creation. No substance can ever remain divorced from the essential stuff of which it is made. No gold ornament can be made without the metal, gold. No wave from the ocean can be packed separately for the Himalayas. No mud-pot can exist, divorced from the mud. The MATERIAL-cause is the unavoidable essence in all the names and forms, and nothing can ever remain divorced from its own essential- essence. By the above statement, the Lord is indicating that He, as the Self-in-all, is "the beginning, the end and the middle too" of all things in the Universe. The names and forms have arisen from Him, are supported by Him, and they can only merge back into Him when they are destroyed. The science that explains that Knowledge-Principle, without which no other 'KNOWLEDGE OF THINGS' is ever possible, and which, playing upon the field-of-things, accomplishes our knowledge of them, should necessarily be the Science-of-all-sciences, the best Knowledge. In sunlight, all objects are illumined. Sunlight reflected upon the non-luminous objects of the world makes them perceptible. Naturally, the Sun is the "eye of all eyes," the source of all perceptions. Similarly, the "Science-of- Spirituality" is explained as the "Science-of-all-sciences." OF ARGUMENTS I AM 'VAADA' --- The term Pravadatam used here, should be understood by us, according to

Shankara, as the various forms of arguments. Three types of approaches are often used in all discussions, in all walks of life. In Jalpa, the attempt is to smother the opposition and its arguments by vehement criticism and bitter rejoinders, spoken with an overbearing arrogance in assertions. In the case of Vitanda, the champion of discussion mercilessly criticises the arguments of the opposition, exposing by means, fair or foul, both the real and the imaginary fallacies in their line of arguments; the aim beings to destroy the edifice, built by the other. The third, Vaada, is the technique of discussion by which the one arguing is trying to read the letter and the verse as directly as possible, with the object of coming directly to truth, without indulging in any hair-splitting arguments. It is evident, therefore, that both the former techniques (Jalpa and Vitanda) are only strategies to weaken the enemies, while the actual thrust into the enemy lines and the ultimate real conquest is only through Vaada. FURTHER:

33. Among letters I am the letter 'A' ; among all compounds I am the dual (co-ordinates) ; I am verily, the inexhaustible, or the everlasting time; I am the (All-faced) dispenser (of fruits of actions) having faces in all directions.

OF THE ALPHABET I AM THE LETTER 'A' --- It is very well-known that, without the help of vowels, words cannot be pronounced. Of all languages, Sanskrit is particularly sweet because of the preponderance of the 'A' sound in it. In fact, every letter in its combination is to be pronounced in Sanskrit with the sound of 'A' added to it to lengthen it to its full sweetness. This, as it were, lubricates the words, and consequently the language has no back-firing disturbances of rattling nuisance or disgusting hoarseness. Because of this smooth run of the 'A' sound in every letter, there is a melody even between words and a lingering echo between sentences. In fact, after a long chanting of a Sanskrit text in a hall, there is, for the sensitive, a perceptible atmosphere of soothening music in the air that can lull all the agitations of the human mind. The sound 'A' is not only the essence in each letter of a word --- not only does it transcend, or overflow the sentences and flood the very atmosphere --- but it has itself the first place among the alphabets in all the languages. Realising these implications, the Upanishads declare that the 'A' sound is the essence in all speech. OF ALL COMPOUND WORDS, I AM THE PAIR --- One of the Sanskrit forms of compounds is the "pair" (dwandwa) in which the essential components co-ordinate with each other in the newly formed compound word. According to Sridhara, perhaps the only commentator who tried to give us the why of this analogy, the dwandwa- method of combining words is very important among all the other types, because of this easy and direct co- ordination of its components. In the context of the usage here, the Self and the non-Self are as though mixed up together, and they constitute the world-of-perceptions experienced by us; but, to the discriminate, the component parts are as distinct as the dissolution of a dwandwa compound is to an educated man. I ALONE AM THE INFINITE TIME --- Earlier (X-30) also there was a mention that "OF RECKONERS I AM TIME." There the finite time was mentioned, while here, as a contrast, the Infinite and the Absolute Time is indicated. In short, both these statements put together mean that the Self is the Substratum for both the Absolute Concept of pure-Time, and the finite experiences of each moment. But for the awareness of each fraction of time, the total concept of Time is impossible. Here "I am IMMANENT in each individual unit-of-time, and I am TRANSCENDENT, to serve as a substratum for the total-Time." I AM THE SUSTAINER --- Acharya Shankara comments upon this term and concludes that the Self is the sustainer of mental impressions, and therefore, of the particular trait in a given individual which determines how he will react to the world outside. FACING ALL QUARTERS AT ONCE --- This term has been exhaustively described earlier by us (IX-16) where it was described that the Self is not only "ONE IN ALL, BUT IS ALSO DIFFERENT FROM ALL, AND, IN EACH, IT FACES EVERYWHERE." The entire implication of that stanza is to be read into this simple-looking phrase,

"Facing everywhere" (Vishvato-mukhah). In all perceptions, whether physical, mental or intellectual, there is the grace of the Consciousness which is the Self, and therefore, the phrase is quite self-expressive. CONTINUING, THE LORD SAYS:

34. And I am all-devouring Death, and the prosperity of those who are to be prosperous; among the feminine qualities (I am) fame, prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, firmness and forgiveness.

I AM THE ALL-CONSUMING DEATH --- Death, the leveller, brings even the sceptre and the crown to the level of the begging bowl and the staff. Every existing thing maintains its separativeness from all others only during its lifetime, due to its individual relationship with things and beings other than itself. After death, the wise and the fool, the good and the bad, the strong and the weak, the ruler and the ruled --- all come to dust, levelled into a uniformity that recognises no distinction within itself. I AM THE SOURCE OF ALL THAT IS TO BE --- The Supreme is not merely the destroyer of all, reducing them into a lifeless commonality but, He is, certainly, the source of all new creations that are to come in the future. To conceive destruction, without taking into consideration its unavoidable accompaniment, i. e., the new construction, is but to insist upon a partial viewpoint. In a total and complete vision-of-life, taken as a whole, we find that the so called destruction is only a transformation, or modification, of the existing form of an object, or scheme of things, into something dissimilar and varying. Destruction leaves no total blank anywhere. When we view a wave separately, we may say that, after playing for a moment on the bosom of the ocean, it has destroyed itself, but if we view it from the standpoint of the ocean, for each wave which appears to have been destroyed, there are innumerable new waves that rise up, unnoticed by our limited powers of observation. We find that Krishna is gathering these ideas against the contrast contained in his immediately prior statement, Altogether, the line stresses that the Infinite playing Itself, ceaselessly, and in repeated succession, the game of both destruction and construction, is, in fact, what we call as the finite-Universe. FAME, FORTUNE, SPEECH, MEMORY, INTELLIGENCE, STEAD-FASTNESS, AND PATIENCE, AM I, OF THE FEMININE QUALITIES --- The Sanskrit terms conveying these abstract nouns are all feminine in gender. Maybe the Lord means that if ever we find these qualities in women, we can perceive a clearer flicker of divinity than anywhere else. Again, the philosophical content of the line is perfect, and beyond all criticism. It is not said that the person having these qualities is divine. Whoever be the person, and whatever be his past, when on occasions he expresses these qualities, we can perceive a clearer vision of Life's glory THROUGH HIM. In short, these are the qualities which, when manifest, create such adjustments in the inner equipments in man, that we can perceive, through him, more clearly the awesome vitality of Life's surge. As a transferred epithet, Lord the Self declares that among the feminine qualities, "I am any one of these, or all of them put together." THE LORD AGAIN GIVES FOUR MORE INDICATIONS TO MAKE THE SELF-INTRODUCTION CLEAR TO ARJUNA: 35. Among hymns also I am the 'BRIHAT-SAMAN' ; among

metres 'GAYATRI' am I; among months I am parts of

December-January (MARGA-SHIRSHA) ; among seasons I

am the 'flowery-spring. '

OF THE SAMANS I AM THE BRIHAT-SAMAN --- The songs of the Sama-Veda are called the Samans. These hymns are all in different metres, and they are to be sung in different tunes. It is no easy task, and the students who can sing the Samans well had to spend years of practice at the feet of their Master. Of all the metres that are met with in the volume of the Sama-Veda, the most difficult and complicated is the metre called 'Brihati'; and the Samans composed in; the Brihati-metre are called the 'Brihat-sama.'

OF ALL METRES I AM GAYATRI --- Talking of metres Bhagawan seems to have all of a sudden remembered that there are different varieties of metres and, of them, Gayatri is considered as the most divine and extremely powerful. Gayatri is a metre composed of three lines, each fulfilled in eight syllables. This metre is held in India in great esteem, and with an added sense of divinity, because the most famous hymn, glorifying the Sun (Savitru), chanted by all Brahmins, in their morning and evening ablutions, is composed in this metre. Of all the metres none has been so uniformly glorified everywhere as "Gayatri," and the mantra has had so far the privilege of being chanted by so many devotees, continuously for such a long number of years, in any other religion in the world. OF THE MONTHS I AM THE MARGA-SHIRSHA --- This corresponds to parts of the English calender months of December and January which are the months in India, each year, when people do not think of the fatiguing summer which is to arrive soon and they have stopped complaining about the wet monsoon. OF THE SEASONS I AM THE FLOWER-BEARING SPRING --- Spring, with its colourful message and fragrant songs, gives a thrill to all prospects wherever one may turn in India. Flower-valleys clothe the hills. Crops cover the field. Tanks and pools get strewn with lotus and lilies. The meadows roll out green carpets of grass. There is an air of celebration and festivity in the hearts of all, and in order to crown the joyous spirit in the world, the moon seems to dress herself in more glory than usual. NOT ONLY AM I TO BE RECOGNISED AMONG THE MAJESTIC AND THE DIVINE, AMONG THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE CHARMING, BUT ALSO AMONG THE LOWEST OF THE LOW: I AM WHAT I AM: FOR, LISTEN:

36. I am the gambling of the fraudulent; I am the splendour of the splendid; I am victory; I am the industry (in those who are determined) ; I am the goodness in the good. OF ALL THE DECEPTIVE GAMES I AM THE DICE- PLAY --- The Geeta contains the discourses given to Arjuna, (the royal warrior, a Prince of that time) by Krishna, in a great missionary spirit, to help the Prince to re-discover the vitality of his own religion --- Hinduism. The attempt of the Geeta is, therefore, to re-orient the Hindus about Hinduism. A missionary cannot bring about this re-orientation successfully, unless the spirit of our scriptures is explained to the common folk in their own language. To Arjuna, the example given here is the most striking. For, his entire life had been a series of tragedies which he had to suffer because of his elder brother's irresistible weakness to play the dice. No other example would have delivered the goods to Arjuna as efficiently as this one. To modern students, this may not strike as very effective since dice is not a game very popular with us just now. But the substitutes are very easily recognised. SPLENDOUR IN THE SPLENDID AM I --- At the same time, a seeker, who is ready to make use of this portion for meditation as it should be, will easily understand that the Shastra has said almost nothing. The splendour in a splendid object has not the qualities of the object from which the shine comes out. The splendour, in itself, has no qualities even --- it is merely AN EXPERIENCE. To facilitate that "experience," the mind borrows the light to illumine the magnitude and the glory of the object, but the splendour itself has nothing to do with the ingredients or constituents that together give rise to the experience of the splendour in our bosom. In short, as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa once said, "Truth, no doubt, is Light, but it is 'light' without its properties." I AM VICTORY; I AM EFFORT, I AM THE GOODNESS IN THE GOOD --- As explained above, here also it is these qualities, nay, the "experiences" lived in the presence of these qualities, that gives us an occasion to live the Self. These qualities connote a certain mental condition created by the very special type of its thought-vibrations. When these are sustained for a long period, the bosom becomes quiet and still. The reflected glory of Awareness becomes, in such a bosom, almost as glorious as the Reality and, therefore, as we said earlier, here too, by employing a transferred-epithet, THE VERY QUALITIES ARE DECLARED AS THE SELF. We should not forget that these FIFTY-FOUR items of analogy, given in this chapter to indicate "THE ONE IN THE MANY" are all meant to be as many items of contemplation, to be meditated upon by all sincere seekers. This is not an OBJECTIVE narration and, as such, no true student of the Geeta can ever expect his education to be complete unless he understands the true meaning of these stanzas in his SUBJECTIVE experience. STILL IF YOU NEED ELABORATION, ARJUNA, YOU MAY HAVE SOME MORE. LISTEN: 37. Among the VRISHNIS I am 'VAASUDEVA' ; among the PANDAVAS, (I am) 'DHANANJAYA' ; also among the MUNIS I am 'VYASA' ; and among the poets I am 'USHANA,

' the great Seer.

OF THE VRISHNIS, I AM VAASUDEVA --- Among the Yadavas, the ancestor Yadu had a son Vrishni. All the descendants of Vrishni together constitute the tribe called the 'Vrishnis.' In this tribe was born Vasudeva as the great- great-grandson of Vrishni. Vasudeva married Devaki, the sister of the Mathura-tyrant, Kamsa, and to her was born Krishna. As the son of Vasudeva, the Lord is called

"Vaasudeva." OF THE PANDAVAS, I AM DHANANJAYA --- Just as Krishna was the mighty one that had given pride and glory to both the Yadavakula and the Vrishni-clan, because of which they have a glorious existence in the memory of man, so too among the Pandavas, He again was the soul- giving factor, but for whom, the five brothers would perhaps have achieved nothing. The term Dhananjaya literally means "the winner of wealth." Generally, this term is considered as a title of Arjuna, and therefore, this portion is usually translated as "I AM ARJUNA, AMONG THE PANDAVAS." OF ALL THE SAINTS I AM VYASA --- This is not an unfair passage of self-advertisement thrown in by Vyasa himself, the author of the Geeta. Vyasa was a pen-name which came to symbolise the new style of literature that was discovered and introduced into the realm of philosophical and religious writings of that age. The style was revolutionary, for, till then, philosophical literature was in mantra-form --- "thoughts packed into small language-capsules." With the Puranas, a new style was initiated and developed, where elaboration was the motive and repeated over-emphasis of the fundamentals was the general technique. This was innovated by Krishna

Dwaipayana under a suggestive pen-name, Vyasa, explaining in itself his own literary art of elaboration. Thus "OF ALL THE MUNIS, I AM VYASA" should suggest that of all the men of reflection, the Lord is He, who is behind the stupendous work that stands today under the title 'Puranas.' OF THE SEERS, I AM USHANA --- Nowhere do we find any mention of this seer in the available popular books. But Anandagiri somehow identifies Ushana with Shukra, though he too does not explain how he identifies these two together. The planet Venus, also called Shukra, was the son of Bhrigu, and the preceptor of the Daityas. Shukra is called Kavi in the Rig Veda. In the Upanishads, Kavi means a seer of the Vedic mantras. Men of inspiration, declaring their experiences, without ego-centric awareness, were called Kavis; later on the term deteriorated to mean writers of poetry, who too, at the sight of the spectacular Universe got themselves lifted from themselves and seemed to enter into a realm of their own brilliant notions, from the caves of which they sang their harmonious rhythm of poetic cadence. Here, however, it is used in the original meaning as a seer. FURTHER, IF I MAY ELABORATE, I AM, SAYS THE LORD:

38. Among punishers I am the 'Sceptre' ; among those who seek victory, I am 'Statesmanship' ; and also among secrets, I am 'Silence' ; and I am the 'Knowledge' among knowers.

OF THE CHASTISERS, I AM THE SCEPTRE --- The ruler and the ruled must both prevail in the State, if they desire progressively to push ahead the standard of living in the various communities. The law-giver must see that he governs by enforcing the laws. In the function of the government, the governor will, of necessity, become the punisher of the unsocial members of the community, who are tempted, in their selfishness, to disobey the existing laws in the community. The ruled, in their loyalty and reverence to the existing laws, generally succumb to the punishments meted out to them by their rulers. But, in fact, who is that who really gives the powers, to the King or the President, to punish the misbehaving individuals? After all, in modern states, individuals have no right to take the law into their own hands. The King wields the sceptre, which is the symbol of his power to punish. To the President in a democratic institution, the sanction to punish is given by the public will of the people. In the policeman at the street-corner, the power to arrest is attached to his uniform. A King devoid of his sceptre, a President who has been thrown out, or a dismissed policeman --- none of them has any longer the power to chastise the wicked. Naturally, therefore, "OF ALL THOSE WHO PUNISH," the Lord says, "I AM THE SCEPTRE." Without the symbol of the social sanction, no individual in the community has any right over the others. After all, be he a King or a President, be he a policeman or a judge, all of them are in themselves only members of the community, but they play the part of guarding the security of the community, because of the special privileges they possess due to the status of their office. OF CONQUERERS, I AM STATE-CRAFT --- That a mere physical conquest is no victory at all, is the repeated declaration of all history text-books. No nation, community, society, or individual can, in fact, be considered as having conquered merely because of the force that has smothered their enemy, or because of the might that is standing guard over them. The conquest of a community can be complete only when the conqueror has, through intelligent administrative policies, brought the conquered to identify their culture and thought-patterns with his own. If the conquerors are not capable of converting the conquered, or getting themselves converted to the cultural values of the conquered, the conquest is never complete. This is an open secret to every student of history. After the military conquest, through statesmanship alone, can real baptism come, and this alone can bring the conquered permanently under the will of the conqueror. "I AM STATE-CRAFT" by which all conquerors are really conquerors. OF THINGS SECRET, I AM SILENCE --- Secrecy is maintained in and nourished by silence. When a secret is ventilated in open discussions, it is no longer a secret. Thus the very essence of a secret lies in silence. So too, it may be noted that the Knowledge of the Self is described in our text-books as "the secret of secrets," because it is not generally known. This great secret is also experienced, and the divine experience is maintained and enjoyed, sustained and nourished, as well as fed and grown, only upon the deep inner silence. Of all secret things, the Lord is the deep and unbroken Silence! THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE KNOWER AM I --- The wisdom of the wise is not the wise themselves, and yet, it is not anything different from them. The Self is not the body, and yet, we cannot say that the body is anything different from the Self, which is All-pervading. The envelopments of matter and their worlds of experiences are all the aura of glory that shines out around the Self. The knowledge in the knower or the wisdom in the wise, is the expression of the Glory Divine, because of a certain pattern maintained among the inner personalities in the individuals concerned. SUMMING UP ALL THAT HE HAD SAID SO FAR IN A BEAUTIFUL PERORATION, THE LORD SAYS:

39. And whatsoever is the seed of all beings, that also am I, O Arjuna; there is no being, whether moving, or unmoving, that can exist without Me.

I AM THAT WHICH IS THE SEED OF ALL --- In all the above descriptive phrases, indicating through analogies the nature, place and function of the Self in the scheme of the perceptible world of forms, thoughts and ideas, it was constantly suggested that the Self is the "Source of all creation." In order to hammer this idea into the dull- witted so that no student of the Geeta might overlook and ignore this wonderful idea which is the essence of all Knowledge-spiritual, Vyasa, again and again, makes Krishna repeat this essential truth, in a hundred different suggestive expressions. The analogy of the seed and the tree is an inexhaustible theme for the meditators to contemplate upon. Under favourable conditions, the dormant life-content in the seed can manifest itself, and, ere long, the germinated seed can grow out to inconceivable heights and may thereafter look as though it has no relationship to the very seed from which it has sprung up. One who is viewing only the finite world of plurality --- and mourning under the sledge-hammer of change and constant death --- may not find in Samsara anything to remind him of the Divine, Infinite and Blissful, as the Source from which the finite and sorrowful Samsara has burst forth into expression. The 'seed-condition of the Universe' is equivalent to the dormant condition of the tree before its manifestation among the two lobes of the dicotyledonous seed. Under favourable conditions, of course, the primary-shoot and the root-system will emerge, one ascending upwards to be the tree and the other burrowing down into the soil, to be the roots. The entire Universe of names and forms, in its condition of dormancy, remaining in seed-form, is the

"state-of-pralaya," conceived by and accepted in our Upanishads. This cosmic dissolution becomes more intelligible to us when we notice it happening in ourselves. In the state-of-sleep, our individual temperament, character, capability, education, culture, decency, etiquette, etc., all are in a condition of dormancy. In short, in sleep our personality-peculiarities remain in a seed-condition. When these vasanas, after an interval of restful poise, get impatient to express themselves, they emerge, and when the conditions are favourable, each of them manifests itself fully. The restful state of the TOTAL-mind-intellect, and therefore, of all the vasanas in all of us in their condition of rest, would be the TOTAL-pralaya and, at that time the whole Universe merges back to become the "seed." This is an illuminating example of the poetic way of expression used by all our ancient seers. This pregnant condition of the potential energy, which, after a time and under suitable circumstances, will emerge to express itself, is termed by the brilliant seers of Upanishads as the State-of- Hiranyagarbha. To translate this marvellous term as the

"Golden Egg" is one of the blasphemies unconsciously committed by the Western translators who have thereby outraged the beauty of our scriptures. "The womb of all things and beings," is all that is indicated by the term,

Hiranyagarbha.

The Lord is here identifying himself with the Total-causal- bodies of the world, meaning the "total-vasana" in all the creatures, and therefore, as Ishwara, He declares that the Self is the One-great-seed from which the Tree-of-Samsara has emerged and will, in future, emerge for an infinite number of times. By the statement "I AM THE SEED OF THE UNIVERSE," the students of the Geeta might, during their reflection, come to a wrong conclusion altogether, inasmuch as in the outer world the seed itself dies to become the tree. Similarly, the Lord, while creating the world, might have destroyed Himself! To remove this misconception, Krishna says here, "NONE CAN EXIST WITHOUT ME, NEITHER THE MOVING, NOR THE UNMOVING." Not only is the Lord the Seed of the Universe, but even after its germination and growth, the 'tree' is also sustained by the Self. The ocean is the 'seed,' no doubt, of all waves, that arise on the sea's surface. And yet, when all the waves germinate as it were, and grow up, none of them can stand apart from the Source, from which they arose. Where there is no ocean, no waves can stand, and wherever there are waves, they cannot sustain themselves except upon the grace of the ocean. The cosmos rises up from the PRINCIPLE OF IGNORANCE that seemingly veils the Truth. This avidya (ignorance) also exists, drawing its potencies, however delusory they may be, from the Total-Source of all projections. This IGNORANCE of the Self, we know, is the 'seed' from which all the experienced worlds of the Universe have risen up. If the Awareness in us, Absolute and Eternal, were not to 'illumine' the very IGNORANCE for us, the ignorance-produced sighs and sorrows, and the perceptions of plurality will not at all be available for us; we would not have been aware of them. Thus, just as water is the cause for starting the germination in the 'seed,' and again, it is water alone that can nourish and sustain the tree, even after the tree has expanded itself to its greater dimensions, so too, the Divine Self, which, by its magic-touch, thrills the seed of samsara to germinate and thrive, is Itself the nourisher and the sustainer of its dimensions at all times. When we are told that ten sample-pieces of ornaments have all emerged from one mass of gold, and when this statement is reinforced by a pertinent codicil that, without gold, none of these sample pieces can ever exist by itself even for a moment, it becomes evident that all of them are nothing but gold. Drawing a parallel, the Lord tells us that He is the very seed from which the entire multiple Universe has risen; and this partial statement of truth is complete when it is amended by the statement in the second line that "NONE CAN EXIST WITHOUT ME." Lord Cotton can say, "all the samples of cloth that are manufactured and used in the world have come from Me": then it will be only true if Lord Cotton completes his statement by saying, "No sample of cloth can ever exist without Me, the Cotton-Essence." DRAWING TOGETHER THE VARIOUS LINES OF ARGUMENTS MADE SO FAR, KRISHNA NOW WINDS UP THIS SECTION OF HIS DISCOURSE IN THE FOLLOWING THREE VERSES:

40. There is no end to My Divine Glories, O Parantapa; but, this is but a brief statement by Me of the particulars of My Divine Glories.

THERE IS NO END TO MY GLORIES --- These enumerations of the transcendental glories of the Eternal were actually started in this chapter, in a cry of intelligent despair at the magnitude of the task and at the frailty of language to express them all. And yet, out of sheer love for the disciple, the Eternal Master in Krishna took the job in hand and tried to make the best of a bad job. No pot- maker can ever indicate to an enquirer, the "mud essence" distinctly in each of the existing pots and congratulate himself in the end that he has exhausted all the pots that were, are, and shall ever be. It will be foolish vanity to hope to succeed in such a hopeless endeavour. And, in fact, it is not necessary also. If, in ten or twenty specimens, the Knower-of-the-Essence indicates to the seeker, the

"Essential Stuff" in each distinctly, as separate from their names and forms and other attributes, it should be possible for the seeker to recognise for himself the Essence when he meets the next specimen. In this chapter, the Lord has given to Arjuna and over his shoulders to the entire generations of Geeta-students who may listen to Him in the world, the above FIFTY-FOUR instances, wherein the play of the Infinite, as recognised through the apparent veils of matter, has been shown. By now, any student who has meditated sufficiently upon those instances, must have educated his mind fully to discover for himself the One Infinite behind the finite multiplicity. In utter despair at not being able to exhaust the infinite varieties of the pluralistic phenomenal world, Krishna declares that "there is no end to the 'rays' of My glory when I, being resplendent in My Absolute Perfection, shine out in my self-effulgence." If this knowledge was already with the Lord, why did He, as a spiritual teacher, bluff His disciples all along in a futile attempt to reveal Himself through the finite forms? Why this deception by the Divine? Why disappoint the students after straining them so long? Is this the general trait of all the religious teachers, prophets, seers and masters? The answer to such accusations against the technique of religion is that --- "there is no other way"! A medical college student is asked to do a series of operations, upon a dead body, that has become cold last week-end!! This is no bluff; but, it is true, for all the careful and efficient surgery, the "patient" dead as he is, will not start his life again. Such training on the dumb objects is necessary to give the student the required experience before he can start his independent activities in the profession. Similarly, here too, the Lord provides Arjuna with some specific examples in order to teach him the ART OF SEEING THE UNSEEN THROUGH THE SEEN. This intention in his heart is clear in his own confession in the second line: "BUT, BY BRIEF EXAMPLES ONLY HAVE I DECLARED MY DIVINE GLORY." The Lord has not exhausted Himself; but He chooses a few effective examples to educate the mind of His listeners. Those who have ardently meditated upon these examples, will learn to recognise the Infinite in all its unending resplendence enthroned in the bosom of every finite form. IN SHORT, THE LORD SUMMARIES ALL THAT HE HAS SAID SO FAR:

41. Whatever it is that is glorious, prosperous or powerful in any being, know that to be a manifestation of a part of My splendour. The above examples have made a frail attempt to indicate the glories of the Lord, but in no sense can those descriptions be considered as having defined the Truth.

However, we have been given an idea that the Divine, the Imperishable, can be detected in the realm of the undivine and the perishable, if we look for it with discriminative judgement. From the above examples it becomes clear that the Lord is present in all names and forms, revealing Himself as the glorious, or the great, or the mighty aspect in all things and beings. Here, Krishna directly summarises what exactly constitutes the Divine Presence in the world of plurality, and provides Arjuna with an acid test in knowing it. Whatever is great, or glorious, or mighty is nothing but the expression of a ray of the Lord's own Infinite Splendour. This is no doubt, a wonderful summary of the above mentioned FIFTY-FOUR assorted items. Each one of these examples is a clear-cut instance, indicating the Lord, either as the Great one in the whole species, or as the noblest and the most glorious thing, or happening, or as the most mighty among all that is powerful. This indication was given expressly to facilitate Arjuna's recognition of the IMMANENT glory of the Lord in the things of the world. It can be equally useful for us, students of the Geeta, in seeking and perceiving the play of the Infinite among the finite and the changing phenomena of names and forms. IN THE END, PANTINGLY CONCLUDING THE ENUMERATIONS, THE LORD SAYS:

42. But, of what avail to thee is the knowledge of all these details, O Arjuna? I exist, supporting this whole world by one part of Myself.

In an inspired surge of friendliness and love, though Krishna, in all haste, promised that He would explain "His expression in the individual" (Yoga) apart from the description of "His glory as the Cosmic man" (Vibhuti), He Himself realised, whilst trying to indicate Himself object by object, the impossibility of exhausting the treatment. Infinite are the total number of things and beings in the Universe, and it is never possible to exhaust all of them one by one. With a cry of despair, and yet in an attitude of extreme love for his disciple, Lord Krishna brilliantly summarises this chapter in this closing stanza. WHAT WILL IT AVAIL THEE TO KNOW ALL THESE DIVERSITIES --- In fact it is useless to explain the presence of the Infinite in every finite form. It is impossible for a pot-maker to show the mud in all the existing pots in the world; nor can any one indicate the ocean-aspect in every wave in the sea. All that we can do is explain to the student the art of recognising the mud aspect in a few pots so that the student can independently come to recognise mud in all existing pots. It is never possible for a mathematics teacher to exhaust all the examples, but the student is taught the art of solving problems through a limited number of typical examples, and thereafter, the student, all by himself, gains the capacity to solve any similar problem independently. I, WITH ONE PART OF MYSELF, SUPPORT THIS WHOLE UNIVERSE --- In philosophical usage, the term Jagat means "all the fields of experiences which man has, as a physical body, as a psychological being and as an intellectual entity." This would mean that the Jagat is the sum-total of the world perceived by my senses, plus the world of my emotions and sentiments, plus the world of my ideas and ideologies. The entire field that is comprehended by the sense organs, the mind and the intellect, is to be understood in its totality as Jagat. In short, this term conveniently embraces, in its meaning and import, the entire "realm of objects." The declaration here in the last line, therefore means that the total world-of-objects is supported, tended and nourished by a quarter of --- meaning, a portion of --- the Subject, the Self. Krishna, as the Self, naturally declares here that the whole Jagat is supported by a portion of His glory. The statement has yet another philosophical implication, inasmuch as it declares that there are in the Truth vast portions which are uncontaminated by the disturbances which we call Jagat. No doubt, in the homogeneous Truth, there cannot be distinctly separate portions of different features; however, this is a kindly method of indicating a transcendental idea with the terrestrial words of finite language.

Thus, in the UPANISHADS of the glorious Bhagawad-Geeta, in the Science of the Eternal, in the scripture of YOGA , in the dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, the tenth discourse ends entitled: THE YOGA OF DIVINE GLORIES We have already explained the Term 'Vibhuti' during our discussions in this chapter. This becomes a Yoga inasmuch as students, earnestly following the path, would try to attune their mental perception and intellectual comprehensions so as to recognise the greatness, or the glory, or the might in the things and situations, and recognise them as a pencil of the Divine ray in themselves emerging from the glorious effulgence of the Self, to peep through the manifold finite embodiments.