Daily Readings from the Works of Swami Venkatesananda


Bhagavad Gita - Song of God - Chapter 11: 45-46

August 25, 2023

™adṛṣṭapūrvaṁ hṛṣito ’smi dṛṣṭvā
   bhayena ca pravyathitaṁ mano me
tad eva me darśaya deva rūpaṁ
   prasīda deveśa jagannivāsa (XI-45)

™kirīṭinaṁ gadinaṁ cakrahastam
   cchāmi tvāṁ draṣṭum ahaṁ tathai ’va
tenai ’va rūpeṇa caturbhujena
   sahasrabāho bhava viśvamūrte (XI-46)

XI/45. I am delighted, having seen what has never been seen before; and yet my mind is distressed with fear. Show me that form only, O God; have mercy, O God of gods, O abode of the universe.

XI/46. I desire to see thee as before, crowned, bearing a mace, with the discus in hand, in thy former form only, having four arms, O thousand-armed cosmic form.

Swamiji's Commentary

     Having made the preparation and ensured that we deserve God’s grace, we should remove all aspirations and await his grace. (There are some who insist that even the aspiration or desire for God should go, for it, too, is a symptom of egoism. Others claim that desire for God will act as a catalyst helping all other desires to be reduced to ashes, itself not requiring such treatment.) If, while awaiting his grace, we are restless and impatient, we ought to assure ourselves that the state of complete egoless-ness has not been reached and that therefore we do not deserve his supreme grace!

     ‘Desire’ for God implies that the aspirant knows what God is – which is obviously absurd. God is an unknown quantity, infinity; so how is it possible to know the extent of God? What is the meaning of the word infinite? When one desires God, it is in fact a desire to free oneself from the known conditions of limitation, fragmentation and consequent ignorance and sorrow.

     Arjuna was obviously a very good aspirant. He had received the highest knowledge direct from the Lord’s lips. In addition to deserving the cosmic vision, he also desired it, though he couched his prayer in humble words: “If you think it possible, please show me the cosmic form.” The Lord consented and blessed him with the divine eye through which he saw the cosmic form.

     In spite of all these precautionary measures, Arjuna was still frightened! On the spiritual path, haste is disastrous. While we should be ever active, we should never for a moment forget that the only pre-requisite for God-Realization is total egoless-ness. Only when the ego has been fully surrendered to the Lord is the cosmic vision granted.

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