Thoughts on The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11: Verse 14 - Verse 27)

Rahul: 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Bearded Mystic Podcast and I'm your host Rahul N. Singh. Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode. If you are really interested in supporting The Bearded Mystic Podcast, and you've found great benefit in listening or watching these episodes, then please do support this podcast on Patreon where you can get ad free and bonus episodes along with other benefits depending on the tier that you select. Your support means everything, and it really does help the podcast keep running efficiently and smoothly, and also widens the audience that this message can reach to. If you would like to know more about it, the details are in the show notes and video description below. On Saturdays at 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time there is a free virtual meditation session along with discussion and Q&A. If you're interested in meditating with us as a community, then you can find out the details in the show notes and video description below. Please do like, comment, and subscribe if you're watching this on YouTube and if you're listening to this on your favorite podcast streaming app, then please do give this podcast a five star rating. It helps the podcast get up in the charts and allows the algorithm to bring this podcast to new listeners and also do review the podcast if you can and make sure you do follow or subscribe to keep getting future episodes. Today we will be continuing on with my thoughts on the Bhagavad Gita and we will be looking at Chapter 11 verses 14 to verse 27. There is a lot to go through in these verses but a lot of them should be quick and things that don't need too much explanation but it's important for us to understand that this is obviously about his Virat Roop. This is about that vast vision that Arjuna now has while he is witnessing the true vastness of what Brahman really is. When we look at Brahman, we have Nirguna and Saguna. So this is the Nirguna aspect, not the Saguna aspect. Saguna aspect is, you know, many attributes, it's the expansive vastness. And Nirguna is when all attributes can be dissolved away and it can remain as it is, or awareness can remain pure as it is, and the Shared Being is the vastness. So what Arjuna has seen or is seeing, is this Shared Being. So let's get into these verses and discover more of what Arjuna discovers and witnesses. Verse 14. Immediately Arjuna was overwhelmed by the amazing sights he saw. With his hair standing on end, he bowed down to Sri Krishna. Holding out his hands in the Anjali Mudra as if offering flowers, he began to speak. So let's break this verse down a little. Immediately, Arjuna was overwhelmed by the amazing sights he saw. This is pretty clear. I mean, he saw the vast form of the Lord and it was a lot for him to comprehend. It was amazing. We know that these were sights that he has never seen before, but we also need to understand what this will have on his mental state. He has seen Sri Krishna as a friend, as a brother, as someone close to him, and today he, in that moment, he saw him as something other than that. He saw the vastness of what his friend really was. We have to understand that the vision that he sees is a lot for him to take in and even if we had to try to comprehend the vastness of this Lord, if we can even think of this whole universe, if we can't even comprehend the universe, how can we comprehend the Shared Being? This is something we need to kind of consider when we are looking at these verses. Then it continues to say that with his hair standing on end, he bowed down to Sri Krishna, holding out his hands in the Anjali mudra as if offering flowers he began to speak. What you can say is that Sri Krishna gave Arjuna goosebumps. When Arjuna saw the vastness of the form, it gave him goosebumps. You know that feeling when your hair stand on the back of your neck and you get that chilling feeling. That's what Arjuna was feeling at that time, and in that amazement, in that wondrous feeling, he then bows down to Sri Krishna and as one should when someone has received this great wisdom from the Guru, one should always bow down. Firstly he does the respectful thing of understanding what Sri Krishna is and therefore allows himself to bow down. And naturally, I feel that when you feel that there's a sense of grace working for you, when you feel that life seems to be working hand in hand with you without you doing much effort, you feel that something else is moving the universe, even though it's simply the choices you're making or the choices you can make within the parameter of destiny or predetermination or you make the right choices with the choices you are presented. In that state you automatically bow down. I've done that with my Guru too. These are natural feelings. One is, the other thing is, it's a sign of humility. One thing that separates Arjuna from Duryodhana is the humility aspect and humility for me, like I mentioned in a podcast before, is a very important quality and attribute that a seeker must have and should desire to have and think about it, that this whole Shared Being, this Saguna Brahman is the charioteer for Arjuna. And he's acting like a normal human being to the rest of humanity. They do not understand the true vastness of who he is. So, if you think from Arjuna's perspective, he now realises that he's got no ordinary person with him. And he may have known this in the back of his mind, but to have it presented to you is very, very different. Yeah. And then he holds his hands in the, anjali mudra, which is basically this. It is very similar to the namaz that people do. What I can say here is that in sanatana dharma we've already had that mudra where we hold out our hands and try to receive grace, and that's the whole point is to receive grace, the benevolence, the kindness of the Lord. Now he has to muster up the strength to speak and which he does. Arjuna said: O greatest Deva, I see all the other devas there within Your cosmic body. Indeed, I see every kind of being assembled there. In addition, I see the creator of all, Brahma, who is the greatest of all material ishas, sitting upon his kamala asana‘lotus flower seat’. I also see the divya rishis‘the enlightened seers’ and the mighty Nagas. The first part of the verse is Arjuna said: O Greatest Deva, I see all the other Devas there within your cosmic body. Indeed, I see every kind of being assembled there. So there's two parts to that first part that we're looking at. One, he says, O Greatest Deva. The first thing we know is that the Devas, the Deva of Devas, the Absolute is Sri Krishna. And remember, this is Brahman. And he says, I see all the other devas there within your cosmic body. So, whoever is our isht devta, we will see the other devas in their cosmic body. For example, if you see Shivji as your greatest deva, you will see all the other deities, all the other devas also, including Krishna, within Shivji's cosmic body. So the cosmic body is obviously the Shared Being. So here, we can establish that all the other devas are within that Ultimate Cosmic Being, which is Brahman, Saguna Brahman, Isvara, or the Shared Being, or in this aspect, any of our isht devtas and for the Bhagavad Gita, the isht devta is Sri Krishna. And it's important, your guru will always be your greatest ever. So for Arjuna, remember, he bowed down and he surrendered to Sri Krishna, therefore Sri Krishna became his guru and Arjuna became his disciple. So it's only respectful and honourable that that is repeated again. Then the other part is, he says, indeed, I see every kind of being assembled there. So not just the devas, I see everything. All infinite names and forms of different parts of existence, different creatures, different beings. I see all of them within you. So now what you got to try to think of is the whole universe and all its wondrous life forms, those that we know of, those that we do not know of, that the scriptures have told us about. This is what Arjuna is talking about. So the whole vast cosmos is in the Shared Being, that's what Arjuna is saying. Then he says in the second part of that verse, In addition, I see the creator of all, Brahma, who is the greatest of all material Ishas, sitting upon his kamala asana, the lotus flower seat. I also see the Divya Rishis, the Enlightened Seers, and the mighty Nagas. First of all, he sees the creator Brahma there and we know that Brahma is the greatest, manifest deva for creation. Everything we see manifested is because of Brahma. He sits on his lotus seat. Again, this also implies the blossoming of realization. And remember, Brahma's consort, who's always next to him, is Maa Saraswati, who is the Devi of Knowledge. And without knowledge, there is no creation, there is no way we can bring name and form into our mind. Then he also talks about how he sees all the Rishis there, the Divya Rishis. Remember he uses the word Divya Rishis, which is enlightened Rishis, the enlightened seers, the divine seers. And they're all part of this whole cosmos. And then he also talks about the celestial serpents, which is the Nagas, and that they are also there, and he's also seeing them. Then verse 16. I see your infinite roop, or form, extending in every direction. I see endless arms, bodies, faces, and eyes. There is no beginning, no middle, and no end to your endless manifestations. O Sri Krishna, O Vishwa, Ishwara, Vishwaroopa, Your unlimited form is this entire universe. Let's look at the first part of this verse. Magnificent verse when you think about it. I see your infinite roop form extending in every direction. I see endless arms, bodies, faces and eyes. Just imagine that you can see this right now. If it helps you to close your eyes. Think of seeing Sri Krishna's form everywhere and not only is there two arms, there's many, many, many arms and bodies and faces and eyes, like they're basically multiplying like cells and it's everywhere and everywhere you look at, every direction, you see this Ultimate Self, you see the Sri Krishna. Then it says, there is no beginning, no middle, and no end to your endless manifestations. O Sri Krishna, O Vishwa, Ishwara, Vishwaroopa. Which means your unlimited form is this entire universe. So first of all, there is no beginning here. Where can I find the beginning? And if there is no beginning, I cannot find no end to you. So there's no beginning to your form, there's no end to your form. And if there's no beginning and no end, where is the middle? There cannot be any middle to your form. So there's no end to your endless manifestations. You're in everything. There's not one iota of this cosmos that isn't you, is what Arjuna is talking about, which is absolutely brilliant. What we can understand here is that the true form of Brahman is limitless. The Shared Being is limitless. Then he says, O Sri Krishna, O Vishwa, Ishvara, Vishvarupa, which means your unlimited form is this entire universe. So Vishvarupa means the universal form and Vishva Ishvara means the lord of the universe. So you are the lord of this entire universe and you have a limitless form. You have a universal form. This form of the universe is you. So this unlimited form is the manifestation of the Ultimate Reality. What we call Maya is none other than the manifestation of Ishvara, the manifestation of Sri Krishna, the manifestation of our Guru. That is what verse 16 is all about. And that's a wonderful way of us understanding the true value of our Guru, and that's an ideal way to even meditate upon the Lord. Then verse 17. Now I see you. Your many heads are wearing crowns and you are armed with divine weapons like the club and the disc. Your immense splendor is shining brilliantly in every direction. But you are exceedingly difficult to see because of your blazing, fiery, and immeasurable sun like radiance. Remember in a previous verse we know that Arjuna says it's like a thousand suns rising. That's how bright that light is. So we understand what he's talking about here. In the first part of the verse he says, Now I see you, your many heads are wearing crowns and you are armed with divine weapons like the club and the disc. So Arjuna directly says that the many heads, his infinite number of forms are all wearing crowns. Everything is the divine king, the divine sovereign of all existence. So even if something thinks it's lowly, actually it's the highest. It's the sovereign because it's Sri Krishna itself. And because he is the king, everything else is part of his kingdom and they are him, therefore all of it is crowned king. His countless arms all have divine weapons to defeat ignorance in this world. This is what that's about. The club and the disc is to remove darkness, to remove evil, to remove those that cause harm to others. To ensure... that they can defeat people at the right time. And that's what this part of the verse means. Then he says, Your immense splendor is shining brightly in every direction, but you are exceedingly difficult to see because of your blazing, fiery, and immeasurable sun-like radiance. So this great luminosity of Being is shining immensely, it's shining brilliantly in every direction. All you can see is this great splendor, this great light and he's saying that at the end now it's very difficult to see you because now he's going back into naam and roop, to separation. So now he says well, there's this blazing fiery and immeasurable sun like radiance. Now he's starting to see distinctions and this now means that he's starting to lose sight of that true self. And this is what happens, we need to understand that when the light is truly given to you, it is difficult to see. It is difficult to understand Brahm Gyan. It is difficult to understand wisdom. It is difficult to understand the scriptures properly. And then, you need to have this blazing, fiery, and immeasurable sun like radiance. You need something that is terrifying because that will remove and burn away all of the karma, all the vasanas, and most of all, it will remove our ignorance, which has got us stuck in this rut. Which has got us... To believe that we are separate beings. This distinction he makes shows that Arjuna is now showing that he is separate to this and therefore doesn't see himself as that same sovereign or he's trying to tell people, well, this is what's happening to me right now. Most of all, the one thing I do like it says, it's an immeasurable sun-like radiance. There is no way you can measure the end or beginning of this light, this radiance. And it's, it's a light that is literally enveloping and expanding into everything in all directions. Verse 18. You are the supreme and unchanging reality. You are the ultimate vision to be seen. You are the resting place of all that exists. You are the immortal protector of dharma, which dharma means here, all that is true. And I'm certain that you are the original and Ultimate Person. Brilliant. You are the supreme and unchanging reality. You are the ultimate vision to be seen. What we know here, when someone says you are the supreme and unchanging reality, what is that unchanging reality? This Nirguna Brahman, this Formless Awareness itself. So we know that this is the highest aspect that Arjuna is seeing of Sri Krishna. So he understands that you are the most supreme, and you are that unchanging reality. You are the only reality that exists. There is no other reality. Yeah, there is no other reality that exists here. There is only you. You are the ultimate vision to be seen. What more does one want to see? It's beyond the seven wonders of the world. It's beyond the marvelous nature and expanding universe. It's beyond all this too. It says you are the ultimate vision to be seen. Again showing why Brahm Gyan is the true insight into Brahman. Once we have Brahm Gyan, we understand this very line here, that you are the ultimate vision to be seen, and you are the supreme and unchanging reality. Then he says, you are the resting place of all that exists. You are the immortal protector of dharma, all that is true. And I am certain that you are the original and Ultimate Person. First of all, you are the resting place of all that exists. Everything rests in you. You are the support, you are the shelter, you are what everybody needs and requires. All will find their peace in this Brahman, in this Saguna Brahman, in this Shared Being. And you are the immortal protector of Dharma. All that is true. Whatever is truth in this world, you are the protector of that for immortality. See false knowledge, false beliefs, blind faith, all these things will never win because of this immortal protector. And what is the immortal protector? This Gyan itself, this wisdom itself, the insights into Brahman, and then the realization of Brahman completely protects dharma. So you know those people that talk about wanting to save Hinduism or protect dharma, read the scriptures. Spend your time actually studying the scriptures, forget about what other people are saying. The more you see what happens today with social media, and we think we are doing Krishna's job. Yeah, of protecting dharma because Sri Krishna says to do so, He is one and this is what the Bhagavad Gita is about. No, don't misuse the Gita for your selfish reasons. The reasons why we read the Gita is so we can understand that our dharma needs our full focus. Meaning, the true protection is fully living a realized life. That is dharma. Then you know all that is true. Then you can be the true upholder of truth. That's what needs to be understood here. I will emphasize that if we practice and we become the very message that Sri Krishna was delivering then Sanatana Dharma will never be defeated and it can never die. But the moment we become culturally Hindus or culturally Dharmic, then get ready for the destruction that will follow. Because when you, the one thing that makes Dharma so incredible is its knowledge, not its culture. The culture's there because of the knowledge. The moment you forget the knowledge, all that culture just becomes dogma. And we know what happens to dogmatic beliefs. Sri Krishna has also warned us about that. That is the true enemy. And sometimes the enemy can be within. Even though we think we are doing a good act, but sometimes the actions are leading somewhere else. Then he says, And I am certain that you are the original and Ultimate person. This is why the Bhagavad Gita is a purely non dual text and the reason why I say that is here. He says, and I am certain that you are the original. Once you have the original, everything else is fake. Everything else is mithya. The only original is Nirguna Brahman, and the Ultimate Person. There's only You. There is no me and many other jivas. There's only you, the one, the ultimate person. What we can understand here is that there is none other than Brahman. There's none other than Sri Krishna's true reality, which is Brahman itself, the same reality. And nothing goes past this Brahman, and Brahman is the only thing, very simply. If we keep this as the truth, then Dharma will continue to not only grow and prosper, but it'll reach the hearts where it's meant to, and it'll reach the intellect and the intelligence of those that may be going against it in... On paper, but in practice, Dharma is the only destination they can reach. This one truth can never be forgotten, which is Brahman is the only reality. This is the original and ultimate, alone. Your infinite powers are without beginning, middle, or end. Your unlimited arms are reaching in every direction. The sun and moon are Your eyes. Your mouth is a sacred fire into which all beings are being placed as an offering that You are continuously eating. In this way, the entire cosmos is being consumed by Your all encompassing radiance. There's a lot to grasp from this. Let's look at the first part. Your infinite powers are without beginning, middle, or end. Your unlimited arms are reaching in every direction. The sun and the moon are Your eyes. Your mouth is a sacred fire into which all beings are being placed as an offering that You are continuously eating. First of all, your infinite powers are without beginning, middle, or end. We know this if it's infinite, it's innumerable, and because it's this infinite being, it's without any end. It's without a beginning, and there's no middle in it. It's the only thing present. So there's no way this can be measured by time. Then he says your unlimited arms are reaching in every direction, this shows the true strength of this whole universe, that there's no power, strength and energy compared to the Shared Being, to this Saguna Brahman, to this Ishvara. Then we come to the sun and the moon are Your eyes, again showing the radiance that's there, that's present. But the next line is really interesting. Your mouth is a sacred fire into which all beings are being placed as an offering that you are continuously eating. Your mouth is a sacred fire. So one, you have a havan that's normally considered to be a sacred fire and he says your mouth and he says that all beings are being placed as an offering. Everything is an offering to You and You're continuously eating. So again, look at the context of the war for Arjuna. All those people that are in front of him, around him, they're all going to be continuously fed to this sacred fire, the mouth of Sri Krishna. What happens here, another way you can look at it, this sacred fire is and the mouth that is eating this, you can see the mouth as the churning of knowledge, the sacred fire being that knowledge. And when you place yourself, your ego as an offering, then your ego is eaten all up and what remains is this truth alone. That's what this really means to me personally. That's what I think it means and if we offer our ignorance to this Shared Being, to Saguna Brahman, to our Guru, then we know that the truth will remain for us because it digests all of our ignorance, all of our ego, all the things that take us away from being the True Self. Then he says, in this way, the entire cosmos is being consumed by your all encompassing radiance. This radiance is encompassing everywhere. There's not one iota of darkness anywhere and this whole universe is being consumed by you. Yeah, you can just imagine that all this universe and multiple universes are being eaten by Sri Krishna. That's how vast this sacred fire... is within the mouth of Sri Krishna or the mouth of the Shared Being. It's quite a scary image to think of, especially when you've had all beings are being consumed but it makes sense. And if you can, try to think of the scale of this. Imagine if this was ever to be presented in a movie. It would be amazing. But imagine multiple universes. Many infinite forms of universes, in an infinite time, are just getting consumed by this fire. And even though everything is being consumed by this fire, because of time, we do not know that we are being consumed right now. Think how amazing that is. It is incredible. And remember, this radiance removes all of our ignorance, doubts, blind faith, karma, vasanas, memories and habits because only the Self is to remain. So all of this is being consumed by... This all encompassing radiance. At any time, at any moment, all you need to do is remember this Formless Awareness, remember your Guru, remember Sri Krishna, and you'll automatically find that all of this, all of the doubts you have, the ignorance, the blind faith, the karma, vasanas, memories and habits, are being consumed. So the only thing that remains is this pure, undiluted, formless awareness. That's all. Now we go to verse 20. From Earth to the limits of the starry firmament, it is only You who fills the ten directions. Seeing your wondrous and yet terrifying cosmic roop, your form, all the worlds tremble at the overwhelming sight of your mighty being. So let's look at the first part of the verse. From earth to the limits of the starry firmament, it is only you who fills the ten directions. So from this very earth to the furthest star that we can perceive, or imagine, or even see through a telescope, it's the Shared Being alone that really exists. It's only this one that fills every aspect of the cosmos. In every direction is a Shared Being. Now what's the ten directions? The ten directions is east, west, north, south, then east-north, northwest, and west-south, southeast, upward, and downward. That's what that means. So now you know what the 10 directions are. Then he says, Seeing your wondrous and yet terrifying cosmic roop form, all the worlds tremble at the overwhelming sight of your mighty being. Interesting words that Arjuna uses. He first says seeing your wondrous and yet terrifying cosmic roop. Now he's literally explaining what he's seeing. So one, it is wondrous. It's amazing. It's a sight that everyone should witness, right? It's amazing. It's a spectacle to be witnessed. That at the same time is saying as much as is wondrous, it's terrifying. Because there's this blazing fire, you're eating everything up, you're consuming it all, it's a lot. So the whole world is trembling at the overwhelming sight of your mighty being. Like, if we had to look up, it is pretty scary. Everything is being consumed, not one thing is being saved. It's a lot to take in. Obviously, all the worlds in existence would tremble at the vastness of the Shared Being, and how it just operates unceasingly and does not stop, never tires, it's beyond sattva rajas and tamas, it's incredible. All the worlds know that death is an ever present reality in this existence. Kaal is ultimate. One thing we don't accept in life, or we try to avoid, or we get too upset about, is death. But it's the only thing that we know for sure will happen because we're born. Anything that is born is going to die. You can imagine, if the world is not ready to accept this truth, it's going to tremble. It's going to have fear. Then verse 21. A great host of devas, some frightened and others trembling in awe, are entering into you, bowing and praising you with mantras. Throngs of great rishis, sages and seers are also chanting and crying out songs of praise to you. Interesting. First part is, a great host of devas, some frightened and others trembling in awe, are entering into you, bowing and praising you with mantras. So, the Shared Being one it's the best host, and allows all beings like the devas to be accommodated within itself. Although this has not been mentioned in the verse, but it's something we understand. That the greatest deva is Sri Krishna, right? The greatest host will be this Shared Being or Ishwara and all these devas are being accommodated in It. Then he says some are frightened and have immense fear, they're trembling. They're scared. They don't know what to do when they see it and some are just in awe and it's just totally beyond their capacity to comprehend and hence they're trembling. They're entering into You. This is very interesting. They enter into the Shared Being knowing that's where all their powers have arisen from. They are this Shared Being itself. They are not separate. So they enter into You, bowing and praising you with mantras. So they have no fear. Yeah, they eventually get over any fear. And most of all, they bow and praise the Shared Being with sacred mantras as if not to stop the Shared Being from consuming them, but because they understand what it is, they understand it's true nature. Then he says throngs of great rishis, sages and seers are also chanting and crying out songs of praise to you. So all the rishis, the sages, the seers of this Ultimate Reality, they're also chanting mantras because reminding themselves of this will never be enough. They need to do a lot more. So they have to keep chanting. They have to keep crying out songs of praise. They have to praise this One as much as possible because what else can they do? What is left for them to do? All they can do is praise this One. So they're crying out, singing in pure ecstasy, and they're in love with this one and seek to remain in union with this one also. Then verse 22. The Rudras, Adityas, Vasus, Sadhyas, Vishva Devas, the twin Ashvins, Maruts, Ushmapas, Yakshas, Asuras and Siddhas all behold you amazed, astonished and overcome with awe. Let's go into what this would be. The Rudra, Aditya, Vasu, Sadhyas, Vishwa devtas, these are organs of the entire form of the Shared Being or Saguna Brahman. Therefore, the onlooker and also the objects we've seen, all are nothing but Brahman. That's what we can understand from this. They're all focused on this Pure Self. They're all in amazement because there's nothing even minutely similar to this. And they're just astonished because there's nothing greater than this Shared Being. And they're overcome with awe because its beauty and splendor is unmatched. So this is what that verse means. Verse 23. They see your massive cosmic form. With your endless arms and legs and feet moving everywhere. This form has eyes looking everywhere, mouth speaking endlessly with hungry bellies and dangerous tusks all around. Oh mighty armed Bhagavan, all the Lokas are shaking with fear and so am I. First of all, they see your massive cosmic form with your endless arms, legs and feet moving everywhere. Just imagine this cosmic form just moving everywhere. Quite a sight to behold. Then he says: this form has eyes looking everywhere, mouths speaking endlessly, with hungry bellies and dangerous tusks all around. O mighty armed Bhagavan, all the lokas are shaking with fear, and so am I. This is quite a verse to think of. Just a few lines. He says you have eyes looking everywhere. So there's not... You know, you can't really escape this if you think about the imagery here. So he's saying you can't escape this. Then he says, if the eyes are everywhere, just consider that your karma is being recorded all the time, so nothing is escaped from this Shared Being. Then he says, mouth speaking endlessly. When he says that, just imagine, that these mouths speaking endlessly is nothing other than this beautiful knowledge and wisdom. And then with hungry bellies. It's hungry to take in all your negativities, all the tendencies you have, all your desires. It's ready to consume it all. And dangerous tusks all around, that ignorance that is ready to attack you at any point, the ego that is ready to upstage you at any point, the dangerous tusks are there to protect you, to defeat that very ignorance and ego. That's the way to see it. When you think of this cosmic form, then you know how mighty armed Bhagavan, when he says o' mighty armed Bhagavan, now you understand what is in his hands. He says all the lokas are shaking with fear. The different realms are all terrified. And they're full of fear because they understand that this wondrous form is also very terrifying. It's not something normal, it's not something that we can just take and ignore. Then he says, they're shaking with fear, and then he says, and so am I. First time Arjuna declares what he's truly feeling. Let's go to the next verse, which is verse 24. Seeing your terrible virat roop, your cosmic form blazing in all directions and in every color, and seeing your massive face with a gaping hungry mouth and your fearsome blazing eyes, I am shaking with terror to the very core of my heart. O Vishnu, Protector of all, I have lost all my courage and peace of mind. We're going to look at the whole verse here. He says, Seeing your terrible virat roop, meaning the cosmic form blazing in all directions in every colour. This cosmic form is too much for him to handle. He can't take this. He says it's terrible. Now the true sense of what he's seeing is coming into fruition. He's now understanding why it's so scary. And he says, seeing your massive face with a gaping hungry mouth. You know, seeing this mighty and massive face with a mouth hungry to eat all ignorance, it's too much for Arjuna. Too much for him to take. He understands, one, how much ignorance there is, and then on the next level he's understanding that this mouth is just as big and terrifying to consume it. And the capacity for the mouth to consume it, it's easy, it's child's play. And he uses the word gaping, and this shows how he feels really inescapable. You can't escape this terrifying, gaping, hungry mouth. And the fearsome, blazing eyes, showing how fire is blazing through these eyes. Quite a, an image to think of. And these eyes that can burn away all of our karma, all of our ignorance. But this can be terrifying if you're still in ignorance, right? If it's, if you're still wanting to be in ignorance, if you still want to keep your ego, that is terrifying that there is something that can burn away this ego. It is fearsome, showing it is nothing short of Arjuna witnessing a live production and he is in the middle of the play. And he doesn't even know that he's a character And he has to take in all of this. It's a lot for someone to take in A lot for them to truly embrace. Arjuna is shaking with terror. You know, he's, he says, I'm shaking with terror to the very core of my heart, and you can sense, you know, his heart rate is racing and he must be perspiring with fear because at the core of his heart, he does not know what to do. He does not know how to take this virat roop. He asked for it, and now he's like, I don't know if I like what I see. Then he refers to Vishnu, which is very interesting. And Vishnu is known to be the protector and the maintenance of everything, the sustainer of all. And therefore, he refers to Vishnu, as if to calm down Sri Krishna. Because remember Vishnu's incarnation is Sri Krishna. This is where we have to understand Sri Krishna is Vishnu. Sri Krishna will never be higher than something he already is. That would be a silly way of presenting things, and some people believe that, and that's why they do not have the true capacity to understand the Bhagavad Gita. Then he says, I've lost all courage and peace of mind. I've lost it all. The courage that I had, is lost. And the peace of mind, that little which I did have, is now also gone. It feels like a setback. And he's gone back to what he was like in the first chapter. So you see this happen again now in chapter 11. Again, he's lost his peace of mind and now how can you have the courage to fight? And the reason is because now he's seeing for actual fact, everyone dying. Everyone being consumed and eaten by this. Before, it was something he imagined. Now, he is seeing it. It's different when you see something, right? When you perceive it. It's a totally different experience. And that's what he's feeling. Sanjay is also reporting this, remember. But, he doesn't fear. Because he knows, Sri Krishna is really this Nirguna Brahman. These attributes you're seeing, that's okay. But there's something attributeless that this true Krishna really is, and that's the one to be worshipping, that's the one to be fully devoted to. Arjuna still doesn't know this yet, still hasn't allowed this to acclimatise within him. He knows that it's an unchanging reality, but he hasn't really accepted it, because what he's seeing right now is terrifying. And therefore it's difficult for him to comprehend. Then verse 25. After seeing your fearsome mouths filled with razor sharp teeth and feeling the blazing fires of time, Kaal, unquenchable and burning everywhere, I have lost my way and cannot find comfort anywhere. Prasida'have mercy', O Deva Isha Jagat Nivas,'supreme among the Devas and the residence of all beings.' Very beautiful verse, even though what he's explaining is very terrifying, but it's beautiful as well because there's a sense of devotion you can feel. There's a sense of devotion you can feel. and it's really, really important. Let's get into the first part of the verse. After seeing your fearsome mouths filled with razor sharp teeth and feeling the blazing fires of time, unquenchable and burning everywhere, I have lost my way and cannot find comfort anywhere. Interesting. Even now, the very form that he wanted to see, this Virat Roop, even that is not giving him comfort. Even though he asked for it. Interesting, right? First of all, he's reminding him of the fearsome mouths filled with razor sharp teeth. So imagine seeing a great number of them. That would be frightening. And, especially if you think name and form is everything. Then it's just as worse because you forget the attributeless. Then he says he can feel the blazing fires of time. That time that is burning away constantly. Fire is taking everything. Kaal is taking everything. And so time is cyclical. So we must remember that there will be many times that this Shared Being will go through dissolution and then manifest and then go back into dissolution. So he says it's unquenchable and it's burning everywhere. Like it's constantly going on. There's no end to this, and it's unquenchable, no matter how much you think you can get rid of the thirst of that fire, it will not go, time will never stop, it can never be fulfilled, so there's no hope in feeling that it can get full, or content, and it's just burning everywhere, and because it's burning everywhere, he's lost his way, he cannot find comfort anywhere because he cannot see that Saguna Brahman. He can't see Nirguna Brahman. He cannot rest in awareness. He's finding all that challenging. Then he says, and this is, this is the part that is really beautiful. He says, Prasida,'have mercy' O' supreme among the devas and residence of all beings. Arjuna asks for mercy. He asks for forgiveness because he thinks that the Lord is angry and displeased. So he thinks the Virat Roop is there because Sri Krishna is not happy with him. So he says, have mercy upon me. Be kind to me. And this also shows Arjuna's ignorance that he makes this plea. It's through the mercy of Sri Krishna that he's been shown this Virat Roop. And now again, to get out of seeing this Virat Roop, he's now asking for mercy. And then he says, you're the supreme among the Devas and residence of all beings. As if reminding the Lord that, why are you showing me all this fire? You are the supreme among the Devas and you're the residence of all beings. We are all within you. Do you not know this? Why are you, why do you have these eyes blazing with fire? However, let's remember that Arjuna did ask to see this infinite form before. He wanted to see it and Sri Krishna granted this. It was Arjuna that wanted more. He was not happy with the description. He was happy to just get the description, but no, he wanted to see it for himself. So he got what he wanted, and it's clear that he's not understanding it. He's totally misunderstood everything. He's misunderstood the assignment. And when this can happen to us, we go onto another path thinking we're doing dharma, and we lose our way. In the same way, even though this is happening, his intellect, his viveka, or discernment, will indirectly be sharpened here because internally that Gyana will be functioning. The Gyana never escapes, remember he does know that there is a Sri Krishna here that can calm things down. So he's aware of that, so there's a slight awareness. And that's the discernment between the Real and the unreal. Then verse 26, I see the hundred Sons of the Blind King. I see throngs of beings. I see Bhishma, Drona, Karna, and all our greatest warriors. So he says how he sees all the sons of the blind king of the other side of the Kauravas. Obviously Duryodhana, he sees a whole mass of beings, the whole army. He sees Bhishma, Drona, Karna on the other side. His guru and Karna is also one of the best warriors and also is a step brother to the Pandavas. Then he also sees the great warriors on his side too. Then the final verse of today's episode, and this is interesting. I see them racing madly into your terrible mouths, gaping and horrific, with razor sharp teeth, some of them with crushed heads, and some are trapped between your teeth. What an amazing imagery to have. So he watches them racing madly, it's like as if something else is taking control of them and they're racing towards you. Into these terrible mouths that are gaping and horrific, that are terrifying. They are razor sharp teeth, and they can destroy anything with just a slight touch. And they are racing towards you. All the people he mentioned in verse 26, he sees some of them with crushed heads, meaning instant death. And some are trapped between the teeth, against showing slow torture. Incredible. Remember earlier that Sri Krishna said to Arjuna that he can see whatever he wants. He can observe any time, any event, any outcome and this is what's being shown to him. This beautiful vision is what Arjuna is now seeing. The outcome of the war. What is going to happen. And he says all of them are running mad. They're as if crazy. They're racing towards you, running towards you, sprinting towards you, knowing it's leading them to death. And that is where we end today's episode. Thank you very much for listening. If you liked what you heard and liked what you watched, please do share this podcast with your friends and family who may enjoy this content. Do follow me on social media to keep getting updates. 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