The Bhagavad Gita
chapters Ten through Twelve
The Blessed Lord said:
Again, O Mighty-armed (Arjuna), hearken to My supreme word. From
a desire to do thee good, I will declare it to thee, now that
thou art taking delight (in My words).
Neither the hosts of gods nor the great sages know any origin of
Me for I am the source of the gods and the great sages in every
way.
He who knows Me, the unborn without beginning, also the mighty
lord of the worlds, he, among mortals is undeluded and freed from
all sins.
Understanding, knowledge, freedom from bewilderment, patience,
truth, self-control and calmness; pleasure and pain, existence
and non-existence, fear and fearlessness.
Non-violence, equal-mindedness, contentment, austerity, charity,
fame and ill-fame (are) the different states of beings which
proceed from Me alone.
The seven great sages of old, and the four Manus also are of My
nature and born of My mind and from them are all these creatures
in the world.
He who knows in truth this glory (magnifistation) and power
(steady action) of Mine is united (with Me) by unfaltering yoga;
of this there is no doubt.
I am the origin of all; from Me all (the whole creation)
proceeds. Knowing this, the wise worship Me, endowed with
conviction.
Their thoughts (are fixed) in Me, their lives (are wholly) given
up to Me, enlightening each other and ever conversing of Me, they
are contented and rejoicing in Me.
To these who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I
grant the concentratration of understanding by which they come
unto Me.
Out of compassion for those same ones, remaining within My own
true state, I destroy the darkness born of ignorance by the
shining lamp of wisdom.
Arjuna said:
Thou art the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Abode and the Supreme
Purifier, The Eternal, Divine Person, the First of the gods, the
Unborn, the All-pervading.
All the sages say this of Thee, as well as the divine seer
Narada, so also Asita,Devala, Vyasa and Thou thyself declarest it
to me.
I hold as true, all this that thou sayest to me, O Kesava
(Krsna); neither the gods nor the demons, O Lord, know Thy
manifestation.
Verily Thou Thyself knowest Thyself by Thyself, O Supreme Person;
the Source of beings, the Lord of creatures; the God of gods, the
Lord of the world!
Thou shouldst tell me of Thy divine manifestations, without
exception, whereby, pervading these worlds, Thou dost abide (in
them and beyond).
How may I know Thee, O Yogin, by constant meditation? In what
various aspects art Thou, O Blessed Lord, to be thought of by me?
Relate to me again in detail, O Janardana (Krsna), of Thy power
and manifestation; for I am not satiated with hearing Thy
nectar-like speech.
The Blessed Lord said: Yes, I will declare to thee of My divine
forms but only of those which are prominent, O Best of the Kurus
(Arjuna), for there is no end to my extent (the details).
I, O Gudakesa (Arjuna), am the self seated in the hearts of all
creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the very end of
beings.
Of the Adityas I am Visnu; of the lights (I am) the radiant Sun;
I am Marici of the Maruts; of the stars I am the moon.
Of the Vedas I am the Samaveda; of the gods I am Indra; of the
senses I am mind and of beings I am consciousness.
Of the Rudras I am Samkara (Siva); of the Yaksas and the Raksasas
(I am) Kubera; of the Vasus I am Agni (Fire) and of mountain
peaks I am Meru.
Of the household priests, O Partha (Arjuna), know Me to be the
chief--Brhaspati; of the (war) generals I am Skanda; of the lakes
I am the ocean.
Of the great sages I am Bhrgu; of utterances I am the single
syllable Aum; of offerings I am the offering of silent meditation
and of unmovable things (I am) the Himalaya.
Of all trees (I am) the Asvattha and of divine seers (I am)
Narada; among the gandharvas (I am) Chitraratha and of the
perfected ones (I am) Kapila the sage.
Of horses know me to be Ucchaisravas, born of nectar; of lordly
elephants (I am) Airavata and of men (I am) the monarch.
Of weapons I am the thunderbolt; of cows I am the cow of plenty;
of the progenitors I am the God of love; of the serpents I am
Vasuki.
Of the nagas I am Ananta; of the dwellers in water I am Varuna;
of the (departed) ancestors I am Aryama; of those who maintain
laww and order, I am Yama.
Of the Titans I am Prahlada; of calculators I am Time; of beasts
I am the King of beasts (lion) and of birds (I am) the son of
Vinata (Garuda).
Of purifiers I am the wind; of warriors I am Rama; of fishes I am
the alligator and of rivers I am the Ganges.
Of creations I am the beginning, the end and also the middle, O
Arjuna; of the sciences (I am) the science of the self; of those
who debate I am the dialectic.
Of letters I am the letter A and of compounds (I am) the dual; I
also am imperishable time and I the creator whose face is turned
on all sides.
I am death, the all-devouring and (am) the origin of things that
are yet to be; and of feminine beings (I am) fame, prosperity,
speech, memory, intelligence, firmness and patience.
Likewise, of hymns (I am) Brihatsaman, of metres (I am) gayatri;
of months (I am) margasirsa and of seasons (I am) the flower
bearer (spring).
Of the deceitful I am the gambling; of the splendid I am the
splendour; I am effort and I am the goodness of the good.
Of the Vrsnis I am Vasudeva; of the Pandavas (I am) the Winner of
wealth (Arjuna); of the sages I am Vyasa also and of the poets (I
am) the poet Usana.
Of those who chastise I am the rod (of chastisement); of those
that seek victory I am the wise policy; of things secret I am the
silence and of the knowers of wisdom I am the wisdom.
And further, whatsoever is the seed of all existences that am I,
O Arjuna; nor is there anything, moving or unmoving that can
exist without Me.
There is no end to My divine manifestations, O Conqueror of the
foe (Arjuna). What has been declared by Me is only illustrative
of My infinite glory.
Whatsoever being there is, endowed with glory and grace and
vigour, know that to have sprung from a fragment of My splendour.
But what need is there, O Arjuna, for such detailed knowledge by
you? I support this entire universe pervading it with a single
fraction of Myself.
Arjuna said:
The supreme mystery, the discourse concerning the Self which thou
hast given out of grace for me--by this my bewilderment is gone
from me.
The birth and passing away of things have been heard by me in
detail from Thee, O Lotus-eyed (Krsna), as also Thy imperishable
majesty.
As Thou has declared Thyself to be, O Supreme Lord, even so it
is. (But) I desire to see Thy divine form, O Supreme Person.
If Thou, O Lord, thinkest that by me; It can be seen, then reveal
to me, Thy Imperishable Self, O Lord of yoga (Krsna).
The Blessed Lord said: Behold, O Partha (Arjuna), My forms, a
hundred-fold, a thousand-fold, various in kind, divine, of
various colours and shapes.
Behold the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Asvins and
also the Maruts. Behold, O Bharata (Arjuna), many wonders never
seen before.
Here today, behold the whole universe, moving and unmoving and
whatever else thou desirest to see, O Gudakesa (Arjuna), all
unified in My body.
But thou canst not behold Me with this (human) eye of yours; I
will bestow on thee the supernatural eye. Behold My divine power.
Samjaya said: Havving thus spoken, O King, Hari, the great lord
of yoga, then revealed to Partha (Arjuna), His Supreme and Divine
Form.
Of many mouths and eyes, of many visions of marvel, of many
divine ornaments, of many divvine uplifted weapons.
Wearing divine garlands and raiments, with divine perfumes and
ointments, made up of all wonders, resplendent, boundless, with
face turned everywhere.
If the light of a thousand suns were to blaze forth all at once
in the sky, that might resemble the splendour of that exaulted
Being.
There the Pandava (Arjuna) beheld the whole universe, with its
manifold divisions gathered together in one, in the body of the
God of gods.
Then he, the Winner of wealth (Arjuna), struck with amazement,
his hair standing on end, bowed down his head to the Lord, with
hands folded (in salutation), said:
Arjuna said:
In Thy body, O God, I see all the gods and the varied hosts of
beings as well, Brahma, the lord seated on the lotus throne and
all the sages and heavenly nagas.
I behold Thee, infinite in form on all sides, with numberless
arms, bellies, faces and eyes, but I see not Thy end or Thy
middle or Thy beginning, O Lord of the universe. O Form
Universal.
I behold Thee with Thy crown, mace and discus, glowing everywhere
as a mass of light, hard to discern, (dazzling) on all sides with
the radiance of the flaming fire and sun, incomparable.
Thou art the Imperishable, the Supreme to be realized. Thou art
the ultimate resting-place of the universe; Thou art the undying
guardian of the eternal law. Thou art the Primal Person, I think.
I behold Thee as one without beginning, middle or end, of
infinite power, of numberless arms, with the moon and the sun as
Thine eyes, with Thy face as a flaming fire, whose radiance burns
up this universe.
This space between heaven and earth is pervaded by Thee alone,
also all the quarters (directions of the sky) O Exaulted One,
when this wondrous, terrible form of Thine is seen, the three
worlds tremble.
Yonder hosts of gods enter Thee and some, in fear, extol Thee,
with folded hands, and bands of great seers and perfected ones
cry "hail" and adore Thee with hymns of abounding
praise.
The Rudras, the Adityas, the Vasus, the Sadhyas; the Visvedevas,
the two Asvvins, the Maruts and the Manes and the hosts of
Gandharvas, Yaksas, Asuras and Siddhas, all gaze at Thee and are
quite amazed.
Seeing Thy great form, of many mouths and eyes, O Mighty-armed,
of many arms, thighs and feet, of many bellies, terrible with
many tusks, the worlds tremble and so do I.
When I see Thee touching the sky, blazing with many hues, with
the mouth opened wide, and large glowing eyes, my inmost soul
trembles in fear and I find neither steadiness nor peace, O
Vishnu!
When I see Thy mouths terrible with their tusks, like Time's
devouring flames, I lose sense of the directions and find no
peace. Be gracious, O Lord of gods, Refuge of the worlds!
All yonder sons of Dhrtarastra together with the hosts of kings
and also Bishma, Drona and Karna along with the chief warriors on
our side too,--
Are rushing into Thy fearful mouths set with terrible tusks. Some
caught between the teeth are seen with their heads crushed to
powder.
As the many rushing torrents of rivers race towards the ocean, so
do these heroes of the world of men rush into Thy flaming mouths.
As moths rush swiftly into a blazing fire to perish there, so do
these men rush into Thy mouths with great speed to their own
destruction.
Devvouring all the worlds on every side with Thy flaming mouths,
thou lickest them up. Thy firey rays fill this whole universe and
scorth it with their fierce radience, O Vishnu!
Tell me who Thou art with form so terrible. Salutation to Thee, O
Thou Great Godhead, have mercy. I wish to know Thee (who art) the
Primal One, for I know not Thy working.
The Blessed Lord said:
Time am I, world-destroying, grown mature, engaged here in
subduing the world. Even without thee (thy action, all the
warriors standing arrayed in the opposing armies shall cease to
be.
Therefore arise thou and gain glory. Conquering thy foes, enjoy a
prosperous kingdom. By Me alone are they slain already. Be thou
merely the occasion, O Savyasacin (Arjuna).
Slay Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna and other great warriors
as well who are already doomed by Me. Be not afraid. Fight, thou
shalt conquer the enemies in battle.
Samjaya said:
Having heard this utterance of Kesava (Krsna), Kiritin (Arjuna),
with folded hands and trembling, saluted again and prostrating
himself with great fear, spoke in a faltering voice to Krsna.
Arjuna said:
O Hrisikesa (Krsna), rightly does the world rejoice and delight
in glorifying Thee. The Raksasas are fleeing in terror in all
directions and all the hosts of perfected ones are bowing down
before Thee (in adoratrion).
And why should they not do Thee homage, O Exaulted One, who art
greater than Brahma, the original creator? O Infinite Being, Lord
of the gods, Refuge of the universe, Thou art the Imperishable,
the being and the non-being and what is beyond that.
Thou art the First of gods, the Primal Person, the Supreme
Resting Place of the world. Thou art the knower and that which is
to be known and the supreme goal. And by Thee is this universe
pervaded, O Thou of infinite form!
Thou art Vayu (the wind), Yama (the destroyer), Agni (the fire),
Varuna (the sea-god) and Sasanka (the moon), and Prajapati, the
grandsire (of all). Hail, hail to Thee, a thousand times. Hail,
hail to Thee again and yet again.
Hail to Thee in front, (hail) to Thee behind and hail to Thee on
every side, O All; boundless in power and immeasurable in might,
Thou dost penetrate all and therefore Thou art All.
For whatsoever I have spoken in rashness to Thee, thinking that
Thou art my companion and unaware of this (fact of) Thy
greatness, "O Krsna, O Yadava, O Comrade"; out of my
negligence or may be through fondness
And for whatsoever disrespect was shown to Thee in jest, while at
play or on the bed or seated or at meals, either alone or in the
presence of others, I pray, O Unshaken One, forgiveness from
Thee, the Immeasurable.
Thou artthe father of the world of the moving and the unmoving.
Thou art the object of its worship and its venerable teacher.
None is equal to Thee, how then could there be one greater than
Thee in the three worlds, O Thou of incomparable greatness?
Therefore bowing down and prostrating my body before Thee,
Adorable Lord, I seek Thy grace. Thou, O God, shouldst bear with
me as a father to his son, as a friend to his friend, as a lover
to his beloved.
I wish to see Thee even as before with Thy crown, mace, and disc,
in Thy hand. Assume Thy four-armed shape, O Thou of a thousand
arms and of universal form.
The Blessed Lord said:
By My grace, through My divine power; O Arjuna, was shown to thee
this supreme form, lumious, universal, infinite and primal which
none but thee has seen before.
May you not be afraid, may you not be bewildered seeing this
terrific form of Mine. Free from fear and glad at heart, behold
again this other (former) form of Mine.
Samjaya said:
Having thus spoken to Arjuna, Vasudeva (Krsna) revealed to him
again His own form. The Exaulted One having assumed again the
form of grace, comforted the terrified Arjuna.
Arjuna said:
Beholding again this Thy gracious human form, O Janardana
(Krsna), I have now become collected in mind and am restored to
my normal nature.
The Blessed Lord said:
This form of Mine which is indeed very hard to see, thou hast
seen. Even the gods are ever eager to see this form.
In the form in which thou hast seen Me now, I cannot be seen
either by the Vedas or by austerities or by gifts or by
sacrifices.
But by unswerving devotion to Me, O Arjuna, I can be thus known,
truly seen and entered into, O Oppressor of the foe (Arjuna).
He who does work for Me, he who looks upon Me as his goal, he who
worships Me, free from attachment, he who is free from enmity to
all creatures, he goes to Me, O Pandava (Arjuna).
Arjuna said:
Those devotees who, thus ever earnest. worship Thee and those
again (who worship) the Imperishable and the Unmanifested, which
of these have the greater knowledge of yoga?
The Blessed Lord said:
Those who fixing their minds on Me worship Me, ever earnest and
possessed of supreme faith--them do I consider most perfect in
yoga.
But those who worship the Imperishable, the Undefinable, the
Unmanifested, the Omnipresent, the Unthinkable, the Unchanging
and the Immobile, the Constant.
By restraining all the senses, being even-minded in all
conditions, rejoicing in the welfare of all creatures, they come
to Me indeed (just like the others).
The difficulty of those whose thoughts are set on the
Unmanifested is greater, for the goal of the Unmanifested is hard
to reach by the embodied beings.
But those, who, laying all their actions on Me, intenton Me,
worship, meditating on Me, with unswerving devotion,
These whose thoughts are set on Me, I straightway deliver from
the ocean of death-bound existence, O Partha (Arjuna)
On Me alone fix thy mind, let thy understanding dwell in Me. In
Me alone shalt thou live thereafter. Of this there is no doubt.
If, however, thou art not able to fix thy thought steadily on Me,
then seek to reach Me by the practice of concen tration, O Winner
of wealth (Arjuna).
If thou art unable even to seek by practice, then be as one whose
supreme aim is My service; even performing actions for My sake,
thou shalt attain perfection.
If thou art not able to do even this, then taking refuge in My
disciplened activity, renounce the fruit of all action, with the
self subdued.
Better indeed is knowledge than the practice (of concentration);
better than knowledge is meditation; better than meditation is
the renunciation of the fruit of action; on renunciation
(follows) immediately peace.
He who has no ill will to any being, who is friendly and
compassionate, free from egoism and self-sense, evenminded in
pain and pleasure and patient.
The Yogi who is ever content, self-controlled, unshakable in
determination, with mind and understanding given up to Me--he, My
devotee, is dear to me.
He from whom the world does not shrink and who does not shrink
from the world and who is free from joy and anger, fear and
agitation, he to is dear to Me.
He who has no expectation, is pure, skillful in action,
unconcerned, and untroubled, who has given up all initiative (in
action), he, My devotee, is dear to Me.
He who neither rejoices nor hates, neither grieves nor desires,
and who has renounced good and evil, he who is thus devoted is
dear to Me.
He who (behaves) alike to foe and friend, also to good and evil
repute and who is alike in cold and heat, leasure and pain and
who is free from attachment.
He who holds equal blame and praise, who is silent (restrained in
spech), content with anything (that comes), who has no fixed
abode and is firm in mind, that man who is devoted is dear to Me.
But those who with faith, holding Me as their supreme aim, follow
this immortal wisdom, those devotees are exceedingly dear to Me.
On to Chapters Thirteen to Fifteen!