10: Divine Splendor
KRISHNA
1 Listen further, Arjuna, to my supreme teaching, which gives yousuch joy. Desiring your welfare, O strong-armed warrior, I will tell you more.
2 Neither gods nor sages know my origin, for I am the source fromwhich the gods and sages come.
3 Whoever knows me as the Lord of all creation, without birth or beginning, knows the truth and frees himself from all evil.
4 Discrimination, wisdom, understanding, forgiveness, truth, selfcontrol, and peace of mind; pleasure and pain, birth and death, fear and courage, honor and dishonor;
5 nonviolence, charity, equanimity, contentment, and perseverance in spiritual disciplines – all the different qualities found in living creatures have their source in me.
6 The seven great sages and the four ancient ancestors were born from my mind and received my power. From them came all the creatures of this world. 7 Whoever understands my power and the mystery of my manifestations comes without doubt to be united with me.
8 I am the source from which all creatures evolve. The wise remember this and worship me with loving devotion. 9 Their thoughts are all absorbed in me, and all their vitality flows to me. Teaching one another, talking about me always, they are happy and fulfilled.
10 To those steadfast in love and devotion I give spiritual wisdom, so that they may come to me. 11 Out of compassion I destroy the darkness of their ignorance. From within them I light the lamp of wisdom and dispel all darkness from their lives.
ARJUNA
12 You are Brahman supreme, the highest abode, the supreme purifier, the self-luminous, eternal spirit, first among the gods, unborn and infinite. 13 The great sages and seers – Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyasa too – have acclaimed you thus; now you have declared it to me yourself.
14 Now, O Krishna, I believe that everything you have told me is divine truth. O Lord, neither gods nor demons know your real nature. 15 Indeed, you alone know yourself, O supreme spirit. You are the source of being and the master of every creature, God of gods, the Lord of the universe.
16 Tell me all your divine attributes, leaving nothing unsaid. Tell me of the glories with which you fill the cosmos. 17 Krishna, you are a supreme master of yoga. Tell me how I should meditate to gain constant awareness of you. In what things and in what ways should I meditate on you? 18 O Krishna, you who stir up people’s hearts, tell me in detail your attributes and your powers; I can never tire of hearing your immortal words.
KRISHNA
19 All right, Arjuna, I will tell you of my divine powers. I willmention only the most glorious; for there is no end to them.
20 I am the true Self in the heart of every creature, Arjuna, and thebeginning, middle, and end of their existence.
21 Among the shining gods I am Vishnu; of luminaries I am the sun; among the storm gods I am Marichi, and in the night sky I am the moon.
22 Among scriptures I am the Sama Veda, and among the lesser godsI am Indra. Among the senses I am the mind, and in living beings I am consciousness.
23 Among the Rudras I am Shankara. Among the spirits of thenatural world I am Kubera, god of wealth, and Pavaka, the purifying fire. Among mountains I am Meru.
24 Among priests I am Brihaspati, and among military leaders I amSkanda. Among bodies of water I am the ocean.
25 Among the great seers I am Bhrigu, and among words, thesyllable Om; I am the repetition of the holy name, and among mountains I am the Himalayas.
26 Among trees I am the ashvattha, the sacred fig; among the gandharvas, the heavenly musicians, I am Chitraratha. Among divine seers I am Narada, and among sages I am Kapila.
27 I was born from the nectar of immortality as the primordial horse and as Indra’s noble elephant. Among human beings, I am the king.
28 Among weapons I am the thunderbolt. I am Kamadhuk, the cowthat fulfills all desires; I am Kandarpa, the power of sex, and Vasuki, the king of snakes.
29 I am Ananta, the cosmic serpent, and Varuna, the god of water; Iam Aryaman among the noble ancestors. Among the forces which restrain I am Yama, the god of death.
30 Among animals I am the lion; among birds, the eagle Garuda. Iam Prahlada, born among the demons, and of all that measures, I am time.
31 Among purifying forces I am the wind; among warriors, Rama.
Of water creatures I am the crocodile, and of rivers I am the Ganges.
32 I am the beginning, middle, and end of creation. Of all the sciences I am the science of Self-knowledge, and I am logic in those who debate.
33 Among letters I am A; among grammatical compounds I am the dvandva. I am infinite time, and the sustainer whose face is seen everywhere.
34 I am death, which overcomes all, and the source of all beings stillto be born. I am the feminine qualities: fame, beauty, perfect speech, memory, intelligence, loyalty, and forgiveness.
35 Among the hymns of the Sama Veda I am the Brihat; amongpoetic meters, the Gayatri. Among months I am Margashirsha, first of the year; among seasons I am spring, that brings forth flowers.
36 I am the gambling of the gambler and the radiance in all thatshines. I am effort, I am victory, and I am the goodness of the virtuous.
37 Among the Vrishnis I am Krishna, and among the Pandavas I amArjuna. Among sages I am Vyasa, and among poets, Ushanas.
38 I am the scepter which metes out punishment, and the art ofstatesmanship in those who lead. I am the silence of the unknown and the wisdom of the wise.
39 I am the seed that can be found in every creature, Arjuna; for without me nothing can exist, neither animate nor inanimate.
40 But there is no end to my divine attributes, Arjuna; these I havementioned are only a few.
41 Wherever you find strength, or beauty, or spiritual power, you may be sure that these have sprung from a spark of my essence.
42 But of what use is it to you to know all this, Arjuna? Just remember that I am, and that I support the entire cosmos with only a fragment of my being.
Chapter Eleven, The Cosmic Vision
This is the most exalted chapter of the entire Gita, for here Arjuna sees the divine vision of Krishna in his full nature as God himself, Lord of the Universe. It is difficult to see at first why the ultimate spiritual vision should be granted to Arjuna at this point. We must remember that Krishna and Arjuna have been companions for many lives.
Yet at the opening of the Gita, Arjuna is a warrior, little concerned with mystic visions. Step by step Krishna has led him to an understanding of the real purpose of his life – to know who he is and to know also who Krishna is. In the last chapter, Krishna had reached the point where he was willing to reveal to Arjuna the manifestations of divine power. Arjuna had not only asked about those powers, but had even wanted to know in which forms he might meditate on Krishna – the first time Arjuna had spoken of contemplation.
Now, in chapter 11, Arjuna asks to see Krishna as He really is. His desire is granted, and in essence the rest of the chapter describes Arjuna’s samadhi. Samadhi is the word used by Patanjali in his classic work, the Yoga Sutras, to describe the final stage in meditation, in which the mind is completely concentrated and a superconscious mode of knowing comes into play. Patanjali speaks of many different kinds of samadhi, but for practical purposes we may speak of two: savikalpa and nirvikalpa. Arjuna’s vision begins with savikalpa samadhi, in which he sees God in a personal manifestation. Then, as he passes into nirvikalpa samadhi, Arjuna sees all forms disappearing into God, until only a supernatural fire consuming the entire phenomenal world is left.
This supreme vision dazzles Arjuna with the blinding splendor of a thousand suns. Mystics have often described their experiences in terms of light. In an ancient prayer of the Veda, the poet asks for divine wisdom to dawn in his heart just as the sun rises in the sky. And in the West we have countless testimonies like that of St. Teresa of Avila:
When the soul looks upon this Divine Sun, the brightness dazzles it. . . . And very often it remains completely blind, absorbed, amazed, and dazzled by all the wonders it sees.
As this vision begins to unfold, Arjuna sees the whole world in the body of Krishna and he begins a hymn of praise. He sees Krishna as Vishnu with his traditional weapons, the mace and the discus, and wearing a crown.
As the vision becomes more intense, Arjuna begins to feel afraid. He sees the light of God become a fire that burns to consume all things, as if at the end of time. All the warriors on the battlefield are mortals, and Arjuna sees them slain, burning in the universal fire. All creatures rush to destruction like moths into a flame. God’s radiance is both a great light and a burning fire.
Terrified, Arjuna wants to know the identity of this awesome God, who bears no resemblance now to the Krishna he had known as his teacher and friend. In answer to the question, “Who are you?” Krishna’s reply
