Bhakti Shastri (108) – Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Text 27 to 37

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Welcome back to our Bhagavad Gita Bhakti Shastra course. We are now into the Vibhuti Yoga chapter discussing the various Vibhutis of Krishna. So in this chapter verses 12 to 19 onwards till 42, Krishna talks about his various Vibhutis.
So let us have a quick overview of this chapter before we go to the last part. So the verses 1 to 7 talk about no one knows Krishna as he is the source of all. But then how can we know Krishna? Krishna can be known only through bhakti, by his grace.
That is the Chaturloki Bhagavad Gita. And then Arjuna accepts Krishna’s glory, that’s from 12 to 18 and desires to hear more, especially about his Vibhutis. Because Krishna has already said that it’s very difficult to know him.
Even the devatas can’t know him. So then Arjuna feels concerned how will common people come to know about Krishna. So they cannot very easily know what Krishna’s transcendental nature.
But at least they can understand Krishna’s glory through what is manifest in this world. So how he pervades this world in a glorious way. That’s what is the Vibhuti concept.
So we discussed Vibhuti means one among the many. And Vibhuti Yoga means that the one among the many takes us to the one beyond the many. That is the last section, how to know Krishna through his Vibhutis.
That is 19 to 42. So we started this section and we had come till verse 26. So let’s start with the next verse.
27th verse. Uchchai Shravasam Ashwanam. Vidhimam Amritodh Bhavam, Airavatam Gajendranam, Naranam Janaradhipam.
So Uchchai Shravasam Ashwanam. So Ashwa is horse. It’s like we had Ashwamedha Yajna in the past.
So there our horse was sacrificed. So Ashwa. Ashwa is horse.
Uchchai Shravasam Ashwanam. So among the horses, Krishna says, I am Uchchai Shrava. There are many horses.
But Uchchai Shrava was the horse who appeared during the churning of the Tamil Ocean. And that horse was so extraordinary, so captivating that actually it was taken by Indra at that time. Verses Vidhimam Amritodh Bhavam.
So there are many wonderful horses and among them the greatest is Uchchai Shrava. So Uchchai Shrava. And now when Prabhupada asked which is the best among all animals, some devotee naturally thought it’s cow.
Prabhupada said yes, cow is best in the sense that it’s dear to Krishna. But the most attractive, the most beautiful among all animals is the horse. The horse can fight in the war, it can ride majestically, it can take people around.
So Krishna said that the horse is also attractive in its own way. But among all the horses, Uchchai Shrava is attractive and Uchchai Shrava is manifesting by Vidhimam Amritodh. Similarly, Airavatam Gajendranam.
So Gajendra. Now the word Gajendra just basically refers to the elephants, the king of the elephants or lordly elephants. So now Gajendra can be a proper noun or it can be a common noun.
We discussed earlier about Shiva being the various names of the devatas can be proper nouns or common nouns. So in the 8th cant of Srimad Bhagavatam, there is a pastime where it is described about a specific elephant by the name Gajendra who was caught by a crocodile. So that is the usage of the word Gajendra as a proper noun.
It’s referring to a specific elephant. But here the word Gajendra is used as a common noun, common noun means it is used as a generic describer of a certain kind of animals. So Prabhupada translates Gajendra as lordly elephants.
So there are elephants which are themselves huge and powerful and among them there are gigantic elephants who are like the kings of elephants. But among these kings of elephants also, Airavata is special. Airavata is the carrier of Indra.
So just as Indra is the king of the gods, similarly Airavata is the greatest among the kingly elephants. He is very powerful and he strikes terror in the opponents of Indra when Indra is riding on top of Gajendra, of Airavata, sorry. So Airavatam Gajendranam Naranam janaradhipam.
So similarly among human beings, who am I? Airavata says I am Naradhipam. Naradhipa is the ruler, the king. So I am the king among the human beings.
So what does this represent? That actually the king has enormous power as compared to other people, other human beings. So that extraordinary power, it can be used for good or for bad. That is different point.
The point here is that extraordinary power which the king has, that power attracts everyone to the king. And that power is a manifestation of Krishna’s power. So it is Krishna who is manifesting his glory through that king.
And now we may say that not all kings are godly. That is true. So in fact we have the past time of Vena in the fourth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, where Vena actually misused, abused his power and said that, told the brahmanas to stop worshipping Vishnu and they should worship me alone.
Why? Because I am the representative of the supreme lord and I am worthy of your worship. So that was his argument and it was a distorted argument. So the king is worthy of worship, but he is worthy of worship because he represents God.
It is not that he substitutes God. He represents God as a representative. He is meant to guide people towards God.
But if the king instead of representing God, replaces God, then such a king needs to be defeated, even destroyed. And that is what the brahmanas did by cursing. So again the point here is that that power which the king has, that is a manifestation of the Vibhuti of Krishna.
And beyond that, after describing all this, actually the kings, if they are righteous, then they can take the citizens towards God and that is how they should be. But when they are not, then they will take people on the wrong path. That is why these Vibhutis, they can be Daivi or they can be Asuri.
See all the opulences, whoever has the opulences, those opulences come from Krishna. But not all opulences take us to Krishna. What does that mean? As I was saying about a king, a king may have fierce power, may have tremendous power, but the king may be a tyrant ruthlessly killing people, killing people.
In European history, they say there are two great population shocks which led to the death of large number of people. So one was the Black Plague which killed thousands of people and other was the attack of Genghis Khan. He was, wherever he went, he just was so brutal, he left behind a trail of corpses.
So there have been many brutal things like that throughout history. So this kind of abuse of power, that power is a Vibhuti. And ultimately, by the past karma of that person, that person was given power by God.
But that person chose to abuse the power and then that will lead to bad karma and that will lead to harm in this world for other people and harm for that person also either in this or next life. So that abuse of power is undesirable. But wherever there is power, that indicates that there is a Vibhuti of God coming.
So we should be attracted to those Vibhutis which take us towards Krishna. Vibhuti will naturally attract us. But we should choose which Vibhuti we become attracted to.
There may be a devotee who sings kirtans very nicely and there may be a mundane musician who sings sexual songs also very merodiously. The musical talent may be there in both. But that musical talent is a manifestation of Krishna’s Vibhuti in both.
But not all Vibhutis are taking a person towards God. When a devotee sings kirtan, that reminds us of Krishna, that arouses devotional emotions within us and that helps us to go closer to Krishna. On the other hand, when a materialistic person sings sexually explicit songs, then that arouses material emotions within us and the material emotions take us away from Krishna, take us away from the spiritual reality of life.
So then we have to become attracted. Because that is our very nature. But we can choose which Vibhutis to become attracted to.
Now we may be attracted to eloquently delivered speeches and eloquent speakers. Now these people will have influence. So there may be non-devotees, there may be politicians, there may be authors who may have the power of speech.
That power of speech is the opulence of Krishna. But Hitler had such eloquence in his speech. He would spend sometimes hours in front of a mirror observing carefully each expression on his face, each modulation of his tone and he would do national broadcasts and he by his power of speech perverted the thoughts of an entire nation practically speaking.
So he had the power of speech, he misused it. That power of speech is the Vibhuti of Krishna. But whether that takes one towards Krishna or takes one away from Krishna, that depends on that individual soul’s free will.
And it is our individual free will which will decide which Vibhutis we become attracted to. So we try to become attracted to those Vibhutis which are manifest either in devotees or which take us towards Krishna. Now when we do this, we cannot avoid the principle that we have to be attracted.
We are conscious beings and naturally certain things attract us. But when we choose to expose ourselves to certain Vibhutis, gradually attraction will develop. If we hear a materialistic person’s well-sung music repeatedly in terms of musical abilities, our attraction will increase to that.
But if we hear devotional music sung by a devotee, our attraction will increase to that also. If we like to read good literature, we can read the books by materialistic people and it is well written that will impress us. If you read the books by devotees, even among devotees there are different kinds of authors and some authors, they make profound points and then their writing is eloquent, potent and we read that.
That is also Vibhuti of Krishna. That will attract us towards Krishna. So Prabhupada explains in the Parpot how the king should use the power to do virtue, to do good and to take people towards the ultimate good of bhakti.
So Ayudhanam, Ayudha is weapons. So among the weapons, I am Vajira. Vajira refers to the thunderbolt, the weapon of Indra.
Indra is the king of the gods and his elephant is extremely powerful. Similarly, his weapon is also extremely powerful and what struck terror in the heart of Indra while fighting with Hiranyakashyapu was that actually Indra’s thunderbolt which could reduce by one blow a whole mountain into powder, that thunderbolt could not even make a scratch on the body of Hiranyakashyapu. Such was the power of the blessing that Hiranyakashyapu had got by his austerities to Brahma.
So it is a formidable weapon. It can just reduce mountains to powder. So what kind of weapon is that? We have nuclear weapons today but how many nuclear weapons can do something like that, reduce a whole mountain to just a rubble? Dhenunam asmi kaamadhuk.
So Dhenunam, there are many cows but among them kaamadhuk, there are desire-fulfilling cows. That means they give whatever is desired. They can give as much milk as one desires.
Now it’s interesting that in there are Kalpadrama also. There are desire-fulfilling trees and one can ask them for whatever one wants and get it. But we don’t see the Vrajavasis utilising those desire-fulfilling trees too much.
I mean, Radharani, she comes to Pawan Sarovar. She comes and cooks for Krishna. Now she doesn’t say the desired tree, oh I want to offer rasgulla to Krishna.
Oh desired tree, just give rasgulla. She doesn’t do like that. Why? Because the joy of love is also in service.
So through striving to serve Krishna and cook the best food for her beloved, Radharani relishes the joy of devotional service. So the cows, when they offer milk, they are not just offering milk in Vrindavan, they are offering their love to Krishna. So in the spiritual world, the essential point is reciprocation of love.
Here, dhenu-nana-masmi-kama-dukha. Among the cows, the cows which give extraordinary amount of milk, special milk. So they are considered special.
They are the opulence of Krishna. Krishna manifests himself through them. So Prabhupada would say that what kind of, can human beings make a kind of machine where you put grass from one end and get milk out of the other end? It’s a miracle.
So that is the kind of machine that a cow is and it’s not a machine, it’s a living being. Sensitive and caring and warm and that’s how is a cow. Dhenu-nana-masmi-kama-dukha and Prajanas-cha-asmi-kandarpa-ha.
Prajanas-cha-asmi-kandarpa-ha. So Kandarpa is the god of love. Now, the god of love attracts people, you know, attracts males to females, females to males and that’s why people have those, you know, Kandarpai said to have flower arrow.
Huge flower arrows and the arrow pierces the heart. So why is it called a flower arrow? You know, from the front it looks like a flower but when it goes inside, it burns like an arrow. It cuts and wounds like an arrow.
So flower arrow. Prajanas-cha-pushpabana. That is the Kamadeva.
So now Kamadeva generally induces lust within us and we have to be careful. But Krishna is saying that not all kama is bad. Prajana.
Prajana means jana is birth. So Prajana means that Kamadeva which leads to the begetting of projani. This is the explanation of Chakravartipada.
Prajanas-cha-asmi-kandarpa-ha. That when the attraction leads to the begetting of new life, that is the kind of lust that I am, Krishna says. So when there is proper dharmic marriage and then there is the begetting of children through that, the children are the gift of God.
So that is the act by which God sends new life into the world and that is special. So Prajanas-cha-asmi-kandarpa-ha. Children are to be seen as gifts of God.
You know sometimes the Jnani perspective is there and the Jnani perspective tries to dissect everything in terms of detachment. So in terms it can lead to a lot of hard heartedness in most cases. So Jnani perspective, if the parents see or people start seeing children as the products of lust, you know man woman were attracted and they became lusty and then this child is born.
Now then how can if we start seeing children as products of lust that can lead to how can the children be offered love and care that they need so that they grow up. So the Jnani perspective can make us very hard hearted and the Jnani perspective is not even complete because that is not seeing the hand of Krishna. So when children are born actually the Prajana, Krishna says I am that Prajana.
So we have that past time of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when Shivananda Sen came to him and told Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Sanyasi and Shivananda Sen came and told him that you know my wife is expecting. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was very happy and he says yes may your son be a great Vaishnava and he gave him a name also over there and blessed him profusely. So Prajanasya Smikandarpaha.
Then Sarpanamasmi Vasukihi. So there are many Sarpas, there are many snakes but among them the Vasuki is a very powerful snake and this Vasuki was used as the rope while the milk ocean was being churned. So he had that power to act as the rope over there and everybody is pulling.
An ordinary rope can break but at that time he didn’t break. In fact the mode of ignorance acted on him and he went to peaceful sleep while everybody was using his body to pull. So in this way, this is the opulences.
Now Krishna goes on further describes. Anantas Chasmi Naga Naam. Varuno Yad Samaham.
Pitrna Maryama Chasmi. Yamasaya Mata Maham. So Anantas Chasmi Naga Naam.
Now what is the difference? It was Sarpanamasmi Vasuki. So among snakes I am Vasuki and here there is Nagas. Anantas Chasmi Naga Naam.
So what is the difference between Naga and a Sarpa? So Acharya has described that a Naga is a multi-headed serpent. Normal serpents that we see in today’s times, they have one head but there are ferocious serpents and they have been observed also on a few occasions even today where the serpents have many heads. So when they have many heads, like Kalia had so many heads.
Krishna was dancing on all those heads. So multi-headed serpents are called as Nagas and among them the most celebrated is Ananta. Anantas Chasmi Naga Naam.
So that power of Ananta is an opulence of Krishna. By seeing that we can remember Krishna. Varuno Yad Samaham.
So Yad Samaham. Yad Samaham is the aquatics. So among the aquatics I am Varuna.
Varuna is the god controlling water. Actually he controls water and his abode is way inside the water. When the Maharaj went to bathe, described in 28th chapter of the 10th Canto, how when he went to bathe, the servants of Varuna arrested him and took him to the abode of Varuna which is deep inside the water.
So there are many bodies, there are many aquatics but he is controlling all of them. That is why he is considered to be the most powerful. Varuno Yad Samaham.
His power represents Krishna. So then it is said, Pitranaam Aryama Chasmi. So Pitranaam, among the ancestors, I am Aryama.
Aryama is the chief of the ancestors again. So Pitraloka, Pitranyanti Pitrvataha, it has been talked about in 9.25 earlier also, that those who worship the Pitras go to the Pitras. So actually, generally speaking, in the Vedic culture it is described.
Now you wonder what is this concept of Pitraloka. Do you think that all ancestors go to Pitraloka? Everybody’s ancestors, whatever be their karma, they go to Pitraloka? Not like that. Vedic culture, the idea was, people generally live a life of punya.
So those who live a life of average punya, they go to Pitraloka. Those who live a life of above average punya, they will go to Swargaloka. So the normal destination for the ancestors is expected to be Pitraloka.
But if they do a very high punya, they can go to Swargaloka. If they do Pappa, then they can go to Naraka also. That will vary.
But in general, the Vedic culture had a progressive way of living. The progression was gradual, but that gradual progression led to some level of elevation. So that abode where the ancestors normally expected to go, if they do average level of punya, that is called as Pitraloka.
And the predominating deity in charge of the Pitraloka is Aryama. So his power represents the power of Krishna. Yama Sanyamatam Aham.
And among the dispensers of law, Sanyamatam, those who bring Sanyama on others. Who am I? Yamaha. Yama is Yamaraja.
So actually, people want to break free and defy rules in this world. And they may do that to some extent, no matter how much they defy rules. And if they are powerful, they may break the rules and get away with it also.
But ultimately, they are all regulated by Yamaraja. They cannot escape the power of Yamaraja. There is a cosmic system of justice and they cannot escape that.
So he those who refuse to be regulated in this world by rules of God or rules of the state, they are ultimately regulated by the rules of Yamaraja. They have to endure the punishments that will come as a result of their karmic misdeeds. Then Prahladas Jasmi Daityanam Kalahakalayatamaham Mruganam Jagrugendroham Vainateyas Chapakshinam So Prahladas Jasmi Daityanam Daityanam So the Daityas, you know Adityas and Daityas.
So Kashyap Muni had two wives, among several wives he had two major wives, Aditi and Diti. The sons of Diti are called as Daityas, sons of Aditi are called as Adityas. The gods, Adityas are sometimes called the gods, the Daityas are called the demons.
So actually they are related, they are cousins in a sense. But they are rather not, you could say, not exactly cousins, they are even step-brothers. But their natures are very opposite and because of that there is a conflict.
Vishnu Bhakta Smritho Deva Asuras Tadviparyaya And those who are devoted to Vishnu, they are the Bhaktas and opposite to them are the Asuras. Now Prahladas Jasmi Daityanam, so normally the Daityas are very inimical to Vishnu, but among the Daityas, a very special person is Prahlad. Prahlad may not seem to have much physical power, but he had enormous spiritual power.
Such spiritual power, like the person with the greatest physical power in the whole universe could do nothing for him, nothing against him. Hiranyakashipu, Hiranyakashipu have terrorised even the greatest of the Devatas, but Hiranyakashipu could not do anything to Prahlad. So his extraordinary character than the like the dynasty, that’s why his extraordinariness is a manifestation of Krishna’s opulence.
So among subduers, I am done. Kalaya, subduers. So among subduers, I am time.
So what does it mean actually? Kalayatamaham. So again, in this world, people may refuse to be subdued by anyone, but then time subdues everyone. Time makes shiny faces shrivelled.
Time makes strong persons weak. Time makes healthy persons sickly. Time makes active people passive.
Time makes the living dead. But time changes everything in this world, and nobody can resist time. So kalayatamaham, ultimately time subdues everyone.
There may be the greatest of conquerors in this world, but time will conquer the greatest conquerors also in this world. And then Mruganam chimrugendroham. Mruga means animals.
Mrugendra is a lion. So actually the lion has a majesty and a ferocity that is extraordinary. Mruganam chimrugendroham.
So Krishna says, I am among the animals, I am the lion. So actually one time devotees had gone to a, some of them had gone to a zoo. Prabhupada had also gone there.
So some people were just poking sticks and making fun of a lion that was caged. And Prabhupada said, don’t do that. Prabhupada reminded devotees of this verse and he says, actually that lion is meant to be the king.
And lion deserves respect. Now it’s been put in an unnatural situation. It is miserable for this lion.
So we should not heap insult to injury over there. So these are opulences of Krishna. And devotees try to see the opulences everywhere.
And then vayinatayas cha paksinam. So paksi, paksi is birds. So among them vayinatay.
Actually Garuda is, Garuda’s mother is named as Vinati, is known as Vinati. And therefore the son of Vinati is vayinataya. So vayinatayas cha paksinam.
Among birds, I am Garuda. You know Garuda is so powerful. Actually there is a long story given in the Mahabharata how the mother of the snakes and the mother of Garuda, they were friends.
They were acquaintances. And somehow the mother of the snakes cheated Garuda’s mother Vinati. And Vinati and her son became slaves of Garuda.
So at that time Garuda asked, you know, why do we have to serve them? How can we? Because he said, that’s what the condition was. I lost the bet. Actually his the mother of the snakes had cheated.
So that means they would be enslaved. And Garuda went and asked, what will you take for freeing my mother and me? He said, we want the nectar from swarga. So Garuda said, okay, I’ll go.
Now Garuda had a huge power. He was flying straight into the sky and he went to the place where the devatas had stored the nectar. The other devatas came and their guards over there.
Garuda just blew his wings and all of them flew away. And then they went to Indra. And Indra said, what a huge bird this is.
Indra said, stop or I’ll kill you. Garuda did not pay attention. Indra threw his thunderbolt.
And Garuda said, actually a thunderbolt can’t do anything to me. But because you are the king of the gods, therefore out of respect for you, I will let the thunderbolt cut one part of one feather of my body. And then he let the feather cut.
And they were shocked. Indra said, Indra was very diplomatic. He said, oh, you are so powerful.
You know, I am impressed. Let us be friends. The idea is if you can’t suppress somebody, you can’t defeat somebody, befriend that person.
So then Indra said, why do you want this nectar? He said, it’s not meant for the demons. He said, no, no, the Nagas want this. Indra said that you have been told only to deliver it to them, isn’t it? He said, yes.
So then Indra delivered. So he says, okay, you just go and give it to them and leave at that time. So he said, okay.
So he went and left it for the Nagas. And as they were taking it, Garuda just blew his wings. And when he blew the wings, such a wind came that the Nagas became blinded temporarily.
The serpas, the snakes became blinded temporarily. And that time Indra came and took the pot of nectar and went away again. So that way, what Garuda did was, he liberated his mother from slavery.
So he was such a powerful bird that even Indra’s thunderbolt couldn’t cut him. And there are many stories of Garuda also, how he is competently surveying Lord Vishnu in his various pastimes. Pavanaha means the wind.
So there are many purifying objects. Among them, wind is also a purifier. And that purifying potency of the wind represents Krishna.
So among those who carry weapons, there are many. But among them, the most formidable and fearsome carriers of the weapons were the two Ramas. It can refer to Parashurama.
It can refer to Lord Ramachandra also. Jashanam means among the fish, I am the shark. And the shark is so swift and so fearsome.
There are movies made about shark called Jaws and things like that. They can swiftly catch and consume a person. So that ferocity, that power, that speed, that is representative of Krishna’s opulence.
So among the flowing rivers, I am the Ganga. Ganga is sacred. Ganga comes from the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu.
Ganga is held by Lord Shiva on his head, is received by Lord Shiva on his head. So in that way, Ganga is so special among all rivers. So it is considered to be a manifestation of Krishna.
So when we see the Ganga, we can remember Krishna in various ways. Bhaktivinoda Thakur sings in his He says that, he is singing this song about what all meditations and attitudes are favourable for, are healthy for a devotee to have. He says the devotee should take the various spiritual objects as stimuli for contemplation on Krishna.
And therefore, he describes that actually contemplating on the Ganga, when we see the Ganga, this is the Charana Sindhu, like the Charanamruta of Lord Vishnu. When Bali Maharaj gave the three worlds, but still that is not enough for the three steps. So then Vamandev put his, let his third step expand from the bottom of the universe to the top.
So at that time, from the universal covering, they broke the upper part of the stone, broke the universal covering. Then what came out, that came as Ganga. So that’s why Charanamruta.
So devotee can remember it in different ways. The Lord can use the sight of Ganga, the thought of Ganga to stimulate our devotional memory in different ways, remembering that this is the opulence of Krishna. So, Sarganaam Adhirantascha, Madhyamchaivaham Arjuna, Adhyatma Vidya Vidyanam, Pada Pravadatamaham, Sarganaam.
Sarga is creation. Adhirantascha, Madhyamchaiva, so beginning, middle and end. All creations have the beginning, middle and end.
So now earlier in the 20th verse, Krishna has talked about There he was talking about his pervasion in terms of all phases of time for the living beings. Bhutanaam refers to living beings. So beginning, middle and end.
Here he is talking about non-living, insentient things. Sarganaam Adhirantascha, beginning, middle and end. All this I am, he says.
Adhyatma Vidya Vidyanam Vidyanam. So there are various kinds of knowledge, but the most potent among those knowledge is Adhyatma Vidya. Material Vidya can help us in the material world to some extent, but it cannot get us out of the material world.
Adhyatma Vidya can get us out of the material world and that is the greatest blessing that we can get from the material world. And not only can Adhyatma Vidya get us out of the material world, but the spiritual knowledge can grant us the best possible fulfilment even in the material world. So Adhyatma Vidya Vidyanam and then Vadah Pravadatamaham.
So Pravadatam. Pravadatam means when people are having debates and there are arguments. So there are different kinds of arguments.
Sometimes some arguers, when they make a logical argument, they will attack ad hominem. Ad hominem means instead of attacking the argument, they attack the person making that argument. And they try to shift the focus of the debate from the content of the argument to the character of the arguer.
So that is considered to be a malicious argument normally, which ad hominem attacks. And then beyond that, there is another kind of argument which Prabhupada means. Vadah.
Vadah here is Vithanda. Vithanda means that actually, I don’t care whether I am right or not, I am going to prove that you are wrong. So whatever you say, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
So that’s called Vithanda. Vithanda means just it’s actually not constructive argument, it’s destructive argument. Destructive argument means the focus is just on proving the other person wrong.
Not even on proving oneself right and not even on trying to understand or discover or establish what is right. So to prove myself right may not actually always be right also in a debate. It may be a process of discovery where we understand what is right through mutual discussion.
But Vithanda is a destructive argument where the only goal is to prove the other person wrong. Especially if there is animosity between two people, then the whole purpose of the interaction is often to put the other person down. Then that time Vithanda can be, Vithanda is used.
So but Vadah is the argument where it’s conclusive. Normally there is argument and there is counter argument and there is counter counter argument and there is counter counter argument and there is counter counter counter argument. And like that this counter can stop counting but the arguments will not stop.
It will just go on. That’s why at logical level there is no end. But in some cases, in some debates, some people may be so powerful logically, logic is after a weapon.
Now some people may be more skilled at using the weapon, some people may be less skilled at using the weapon. See logic itself doesn’t reveal the truth always. You know, an atheist, if an atheist is confronted in a debate with a theist but the atheist is logically more skilled and the theist is not logically, then the atheist may defeat the theist also.
That can happen not because theism is intellectually weaker or atheism is intellectually superior, but it’s just that the representatives who are combating over there may not be equally matched. So therefore, here we are not talking about the strengths of various schools of thought but here he is talking about the point of argument. So there are different kinds of arguments and sometimes the arguer gives an argument for which there is just no comeback.
There is no comeback. So when there is no comeback then that is like a decisive, conclusive, knockout argument. So that knockout argument is VADHAH.
VADHAH PRAVDATAM AHAM. Then AKSHARANAM AKAROSMI DVANDVAYA SAMASIKASCHA AHAMEVAKSHAYA KALO DHATAM VISVATAMUKHAHA. So AKSHARANAM AKAROSMI.
There are many letters. So now this is giving us a vision of the absolute truth that is actually pervasive. When we look at letters, normally we may not think about Krishna.
When we think about language, language in and of itself may seem to be technical. Jivakoswami, to help us get a devotional vision of language, he rewrote the whole grammar based on rules using the names of Krishna and Vishnu. So HARINAVAMRITVYAAKARANAS.
That was to help us see the spiritual even within the grammatical. But here the Bhagavata is telling the same thing to us in principle and is saying that actually even the letters, we look at the letters and we say that okay these letters, among them some letters are more commonly used, more important. So the alphabet begins with A. In Sanskrit also it’s A. So AKARA.
So among the various letters, A is the beginning. And it is said that actually in all sounds in Sanskrit, the A sound is present. The AITERIYA RANAYAKA says that actually the A sound is universal in all sounds in Sanskrit.
So that sound which is the beginning and that sound which is also according to some analysis present in all other sounds, that sound represents Krishna. Then DVANDVA SAMASIKASYACHAM. So SAMASIKA.
SAMASIKA is compound words. Now for example, we have DEVOTEE CHILDREN. So the CHILDREN, that is DEVOTEE.
This is a compound word. There are two parts which are brought together in it. So when there are compound words or we have a DEVOTEE SCIENTIST, that’s also compound word.
So now sometimes in the compound words, one word is heavier than the other, is more important than the other. So DEVOTEE CHILDREN. So now it will depend on the context.
What is it we want to emphasise? Is it that CHILDREN you want to emphasise or is it DEVOTEE you want to emphasise? So in some compound words, the first word is more important. In some compound words, the second word is more important. But Krishna is saying that the most special compound words are those in which both are equally important, both have equal weight.
And Prabhupada gives the example of Ramakrishna. It’s a compound word. Ram and Krishna both are there.
So such compound words in which both the components of the compound are equally important, that is called as DVANDVA. And that is a representation of Krishna. So actually it is said in a language there should not be one, in a sentence there should not be one word more than what is necessary.
In a paragraph, there should not be one sentence more than what is necessary. In an essay, there should not be one paragraph more than what is necessary. That is eloquence is truth spoken concisely as Krishna, Skara, Jyot, Swami etc in Chaitanya Charita Amrit.
So here the point which is made is that when we use words, if you can use words in such a way that every word has potency and the compound word, both words have equal potency, then that is a sign of the expertise in the use of language. And such is, such a DVANDVA is an opulence of Krishna. Aham eva akshaya kalo.
So here Krishna is repeating, but here about the power of time. Earlier he has talked about yama sanyamatam aham. Among subduers I am time.
But here he talks about aham eva akshaya. Akshaya is imperishable. So eternal.
I am inexhaustible time. So actually in this world, time has a peculiar characteristics. Time exhausts everyone but never gets exhausted.
Time exhausts everyone as time passes. As we said, the young become old, the energetic become energy less. So time exhausts everyone.
But time never gets exhausted. Time keeps running, running, running, running, running, moving forward at its own pace. So such a extraordinary time just keeps moving, moving, moving inexorably.
That is a manifestation of Krishna. And dhataham vishvatomukhaha. Vishvatomukha refers to Brahmaji.
So dhata. So among the various creators, Brahmaji is the manifestation of Krishna’s opulence. Sometimes there may be some person who may say, I am a construct, I am a builder.
And I have built 500 buildings. Sometimes I have built 1000 buildings. Actually most people cannot build too many buildings.
If a king has built many temples or many palaces, people, at first king’s name may go in history books. But who can say that I have built the whole universe? Only Brahmaji can say that. And how does he get that power? He gets it from Krishna.
So that extraordinary capacity and feat of Brahmaji to build the whole universe, that is the opulence of Krishna. Then, in this way Krishna is describing various opulences. So mrtyu sarva haras chaham, udbhavas cha bhavishyatam, kirti shreer vakchana reenam, smrtyu sarva haras chaham.
So sarva hara, you know, in this world, there are thieves which steal away. So some thieves may steal, steal their money, steal their money. Some other thieves may come, okay, not just your money, I want your credit card also.
I will not only take your money, I will take whatever money in your bank balance also. Some people may come and not only steal the money, they may steal the money and steal the clothes also of person also. Person is left with literally nothing.
But where is a thief like time, like death? Death not only takes away our possessions, death not only takes away our identification card, our ID card, it just takes away our identification itself. You know, you just forget who we are. Everything, I may think I’m an engineer, I’m a doctor, everything is taken away.
The only thing that is left is the conceptions that we have developed in terms of desires and karma. That’s the only thing that stays with us. You know, the material identification that we have got that also goes, everything is taken away.
Sarva haras chaham, nothing is left. So that is thorough. Sometimes they say, I do a thorough job.
So death does the most thorough job. It takes away, it takes away, it takes away everything, leaving nothing behind. So that all devouring sort of capacity, that is the representation of Krishna’s opulence.
But Krishna’s opulence is not one side, he’s not just the destroyer. He’s also the creator. I am the generator, the principle underlying the generation of future manifestations.
So actually, as we discussed earlier, the process of the arrival of new life, not just in human form, but in various forms, it’s an extraordinary process how the progeny is born in any species. And it is ultimately God’s hand. In the Bhagavatam, the sixth canto, in Kshetra Ketu pastime, it is explained that sometimes the husband is potent and the wife is fertile.
And still when the two unite, children are not born. Why is that? Biologically, some doctors say everything’s all right, but still children are not born. So when such a thing happens, actually Bhagavatam uses this example to make the point that actually we are not the ultimate doers.
So life doesn’t come just by the union of the male and female. Actually, there has to be the sanction of God more and above that. And beyond that, kÄ«rti Å›rÄ«rvākya nārÄ«dhāṁ smá¹›tir me dhādhratÄ«ká¹£aṁ.
So here is given a list of qualities. Kīrti is fame, then beauty, vāk is fine speech, nārīdhāṁ of the woman, smṛtir me dhādhratīkṣaṁ. So memory, intelligence, firmness and patience, dhīdhruti and kṣama.
Now what does it mean actually? See, there are various explanations which are given by different ācāryas. So these qualities are considered feminine. So now, the way Prabhupāda put it, among women I am fame, fortune, fine speech.
So what does it mean? That when women have these qualities, that is a manifestation of Kṛṣṇa. That is fine. That is true at one level.
Another explanation is that these themselves are feminine qualities. That means there are certain nouns which are in Sanskrit masculine, certain nouns which are feminine. So nārīdhāṁ refers to feminine nouns.
And among feminine nouns, these are special. So again, the point is, let’s not go into technicalities here. The point is that we can see whatever is an opulence wherever, we can see that as the opulence of Kṛṣṇa and attract ourselves to Kṛṣṇa.
So vāka also is often referred to use the Sanskrit language. You said the Sanskrit language is capable of expressing every thought that the human mind can come up with. Speciality of that language.
And vāka is often used to refer to Sanskrit. Brihad-sāṁ tatha sāṁnāṁ gāyatrī-cchanda-sāma-haṁ māsā-nāṁ mārga-śīrṣoḥaṁ rudhū-nāṁ kusumā-karahaṁ So Brihad-sāṁ. So in the Sāṁ Veda, there is a special song called the Brihad-sāṁ which is very melodious and which is used to glorify, which is used for praising and eulogising and glorifying.
And gāyatrī-cchanda-sāma-haṁ. So the Vedas have various metres and among them one of the metres is gāyatrī and that is a special metre. So that metre represents Kṛṣṇa.
This sometimes is said to refer to the gāyatrī mantra that we chant also. That is also one understanding. So but here the point is among the chandas, I am gāyatrī.
So there are various chandas and gāyatrī is one of the chandas. There is also a mantra by the name gāyatrī which the Brahmin initiated devotees chant. The word can have many meanings.
Then māsā-nāṁ mārga-śīrṣoḥaṁ. So actually speaking, among the months I am mārga-śīrṣoḥaṁ. Why mārga-śīrṣoḥaṁ? Because that is the time when the nature reveals its bounty.
There are kharif crops, there are ravi crops, like that. There are different crops which grow in different seasons. So it is said that from one particular point of Ayurvedic understanding that the mārga-śīrṣoḥaṁ, the month when it is roughly November-December, that is the time when the crops grow bountifully in a proper climate, and that month when nature gives out her bounty lavishly, that is considered to be a manifestation of Krishna.
So first Krishna talks in terms of seasons and then Krishna talks in terms of months. So here Krishna talks in terms of months, māsā-nāṁ mārga-śīrṣoḥaṁ, and then he talks in terms of seasons, rtu-nāṁ. Rtu is season.
Kusumākaraḥ. Ākaraḥ means maker. So ratnākaraḥ.
So pearls are formed in the ocean, so ocean is called as ratnākaraḥ. So like that kusumākaraḥ refers to that which forms the kusuma, flower, that is flower bearing spring. So when spring comes, nature becomes so beautiful with varieties of flowers coming up and it appears as if a painter has decorated all of nature with a magnificent hand.
So that luxuriant beauty of nature which is manifested in spring is considered to be an opulence of Krishna. So dhyutam, chhalayatāṁ asmi. So chhalayatāṁ means cheats.
So among all forms of cheating, I am gambling. So normally, why gambling here? See, generally speaking, when we are cheated, normally no one wants to be cheated and we will try to fight off, we will try to resist if anybody tries to cheat us. That’s how we do it normally.
But if somebody fools a person so thoroughly that actually that person willingly participates in endeavour that ends up cheating him, then that is considered to be a manifestation of extraordinary cunningness, where the person is so deluded that the person voluntarily chooses to get fleeced, to get cheated. So in gambling, everybody knows that actually one is more likely to lose than to gain. If the gamblers were meant to gain, then actually the gambling houses would become bankrupt.
The gambling house was run, they had their expenses and they had their employees and they earned profits. How do we prove that? Because the whole gambling runs in such a way that actually people who are gambling are meant to lose more than they are meant to gain. That’s how it works.
So, dhÅ«taṁ chhalayatāṁ asmi, eight people participate in gambling. So Krishna says, now the point is not that cheating is good or gambling is good. Sometimes people ask, you know, Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, he also gambled, so why can’t we gamble? So actually the lesson of the Mahabharata is exactly the opposite.
The lesson of the Mahabharata is that even if a king like Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja is so virtuous, if he gambles, even he gets in trouble. So we are not at all virtuous like Yudhiṣṭhira. So if we gamble, we will get into far greater trouble.
The Mahabharata sometimes uses exalted characters to demonstrate extreme lessons in unforgettable ways to us. So here the point is not that cheating is good or cheating is divine. The point is, cheating is just accepted as a fact of nature and within the various kinds of cheating also, there are some cheatings which are extraordinary and those cheatings, the opulence, the incliner is manifested over there, that can also be seen as a manifestation of God.
Tejas tejas me nāmaham. I am the splendour of the splendid. So some people have charisma, some people have, you know, a courage, a personality, the splendour they have.
So that splendour is a representation of Krishna. Charisma is often an extraordinary thing. Some leaders just have charisma.
When they appear, people are attracted to those leaders. Now what makes people attracted to them? When sociologists and historians try to deconstruct charisma, it’s very difficult to deconstruct. Now when spiritual disciples are attracted to a spiritual master, other people wonder, you know, what is this? Why are they so madly attracted to that person? They just can’t understand.
Of course, the charisma of a material leader and a spiritual leader are of a different nature. But still, the point is that splendour of the splendid, that is a manifestation of Krishna. Jaya usmi vyavasaya usmi.
So when there is jaya, when there is victory, that thrill of victory, many players play sports because the thrill of victory that they get, it’s so exhilarating that they want it again and again and again and again and they live for it. So what is that feeling? Now at the material level, that feeling is fleeting. It comes and it goes.
But when it is there, it is so exhilarating that people just want it. So when we see that feeling of exhilaration, if we experience it or we see others experiencing it, a devotee sees that actually this is an experience of Krishna. But this experience of Krishna doesn’t take the person close to Krishna.
So a devotee doesn’t try just for material successes and the feelings of victory over there. A devotee tries to serve Krishna wholeheartedly and then the Krishna connection is there. Those feelings will be constant and very sweet at that time.
And vyavasaya usmi, now Prabhupada translates vyavasaya as enterprise or adventure. Many people practise or play, participate in what is called as living on the edge sports. These are sports in which people put their life into threats and somebody may go in an aeroplane and just jump down from the aeroplane.
And then normally when somebody jumps from the aeroplane, people have parachute. But actually they go with the parachute and they don’t open the parachute only. And just when the last moment appears as if just going to die, at that last moment, suddenly the people open the parachute.
So what happens is this people want to risk and have adventure, take risk and have adventures. And in that sense of adventure, they get a kick. And that kick is their sense of joy.
And that makes them want to live. There was a person who used to just walk on railway tracks. And when the railway would start coming, they start running towards the railway, straight running, running, running.
And the thrill that they would get was on seeing the driver’s face. And driver thinking, I want to run over this person, jerking, move away, move away. But he just runs straight towards the train.
And the last moment when the train would just crash, he would jump off the tracks. And what is the fun in that risky life? But he would just get some thrill in that. So one time he just came too close to the train and didn’t know whether he would jump off.
But last moment, he jumped off. And he jumped off and he fell. And when he fell, what he fell on was, there was a Bhagavad Gita as it is over there.
Then he read Bhagavad Gita as it is and he became a devotee. Sometimes Krishna can make our adventures also spiritually adventures. So actually, if we want adventures in our spiritual life, if we try to share Krishna consciousness with others, then there are extraordinary adventures.
And these are not just meaningless adventures, they are supremely meaningful adventures. Because through these adventures, we are helping others come close to Krishna. And we are granting them the highest happiness of all of existence.
So Vyavasai, Yosmi, that Vyavasai, that excitement, that enterprise, all that. So people like adventure novels and adventure stories. Why? Because that experience is so special.
And that experience is an experience of Krishna. And we can see that experience in manifestation of Krishna. So among the strength, I am the strong, he says.
Strength is also an opulence. And here Krishna is saying that the opulence comes from me. So then after this, Vrishni Naam Vasudev Osmi, Pandava Naam Dhananjaya, Muni Naam Apyaham Vyasa, Kavi Naam Usha Naam Kavihi.
So Vrishni Naam Vasudev Osmi. So the Acharya explained that here, he is referring to, Vasudev doesn’t refer to himself, it refers to Balramji. Vrishni Naam Vasudev Osmi.
Of course, both Krishna and Balram are Vasudev. They are sons of Vasudev through different wives, Devaki and Rohini. But here Krishna is talking about not about himself, about opulence.
And naturally he defers, deferentially refers to his brother over here. He says among the great Vrishnis, among the Vrishnis, the greatest is Balram. And that Balram is a manifestation of my opulence.
Now, when here Pandava Naam Dhananjaya, so at that time Krishna is thinking, oh if Pandava, he will surely refer to Yudhishthira. But he doesn’t. He says, Pandava Naam Yudhishthira, no Pandava Naam Dhananjaya.
Why Dhananjaya? Because Dhananjaya was a special devotion. Yudhishthira was Dharmaraj, but Arjuna had not only extraordinary power of archery, but he had very special and intense devotion for Arjuna, for Krishna. So, Pandava Naam Dhananjaya.
Now, interestingly over here this illustrates. So, now Krishna, Arjuna doesn’t know. Hearing this, he says, oh Krishna, I didn’t know.
We two are one. Then there is no need for you to speak. Both of us are one.
We are one and we will forget everything. I am also God. You are God.
I didn’t say that. He understands the principle over here. Principle is, he is talking about opulences.
And then, Muni Naam Api Ham Vyasa. There are many Munis, many sages, but among them Vyasa is the greatest. He wrote, he compiled together all the Vedic literature.
Who can do that? And Kavi Naam Ushina Kavihi. So, Ushina refers to Shukracharya. Shukracharya is the priest of the Asuras, of the demons.
So, that might be considered to be a less than complimentary position. But actually, he is a priest. And even the Asuras are powerful.
And the Asuras, they may not worship Lord Vishnu, but they also have faith in the power of Vedic rituals, to some extent at least. That is why they want to have priests who will do yajnas for them. So, when they do yajnas like that, they need a priest and they will not take any ordinary priest.
They want a powerful priest. Shukracharya is a powerful priest. And we see Shukracharya, he also knows about Vishnu.
Although because of his attachment, sometimes his position will be covered. His actions may not be devotional. But at the end of the Bali Maharaj pastime, Lord Vishnu has come as Vamana Dev.
He does not chastise Shukracharya. He says, actually, Shukracharya treats him as a respectable Vamana and he asks him, what was that was wrong? And that was in Bali Maharaj’s sacrifice because of which he got cursed and defeated in bounds. So, actually, what does Shukracharya say? He reveals profound spiritual knowledge about them.
He says that mantra tas tantra tas chidram, that whatever fault might be there in a sacrifice, but if one chants the holy names, all the sacrifices can be, all the faults can be countered. So, the point is, Shukracharya is also an extraordinary priest and that extraordinary power is a representation of Krishna. So, we will continue in our next class.