Gita 10.35 – The beauty of music and nature manifest Krishna’s opulence

Bhagavad Gita 10.35 पृहच्याम् तथा सामनाम् गायत्री चन्द सामहम् मासानाम् मार्गशी शोहम् रतूनाम् कुसुमाकरहम् पृहच्याम् तथा सामनाम् Krishna is describing his opulences here. The Sama Veda is considered very poetic, very musical.

It is often sung and recited and among the various poetic compositions and musical sections of the Sama Veda, Brihad Sama is a section that is very pleasing, very musically and emotionally evocative and these sections are very uplifting for the heart. So, where among even the category of music, that which is the most musically appealing, that paramount musical appeal is a manifestation of Krishna's opulence. Extrapolating this principle, whichever musical compositions today, they become very outstanding.

Now, they may depict mundane sexuality or they may depict whatever it may be and the point is music is a very powerful trigger and shaper of human emotions and wherever that triggering and shaping happens, we can get a glimpse of the power of music and that power that is present in music, that is a manifestation of Krishna's power. That charm of music comes from Krishna's supreme charm. So, that's a general principle we can infer from Brihad Sama Samanam.

गायत्री चन्द सामहम् Chanda, again continuing with the same theme of music, Chanda refers to the matrix. There are different ways in which different verses are recited and they are called as Chandas. So, among the various Chandas, Gayatri is a prominent Chanda and again it is very sacred, very potent and for those who know how to recite it, recite in that Chanda, it is very absorbing and uplifting.

So, sonic theology is an important part of broad Vedic theology, Vedic praxis we could say. Praxis is the mode of practice within that theology that enables us to, that explains how we can access the transcendental, the absolute through sound, that is sonic theology and both these talk about the features of sonic theology wherein we can move closer to Krishna by seeing wherever there is potent sonic manifestations, we see them as manifesting Krishna's opulence. मासानमारगशीरशोहम Among the months, the calendars are divided in various ways in different traditions.

We use mostly the Gregorian calendar where January to December we have. There are other forms of calendars also and ultimately calendar is a way of measuring time and according to different contexts, different cultural, social, historical contexts, these divisions of time are made but the point here is that in the calendar there are certain months which are considered auspicious. Now, depending on the culture that one is in, what is considered important may vary.

So, in a primarily agrarian culture, the time of harvesting is a time of great celebration. Now, of course, there are different kinds of crops, there are khalif and rabi crops, there are some crops which are harvested after the rains, it is the start of the winter season, some are harvested in the rainy season. So, now, Gopal explains that here, मासानमारगशीरशोहम is November, December, that is the time when harvesting happens.

Now, of course, the point that Krishna is making here is that season in which there is appearance of joy, there is appearance of fruitfulness, appearance doesn't mean show, here appearance means coming. So, when that is a part of the year which people look forward to, which for many people is special. So, that specialness of that month is a manifestation of Krishna's opulence.

Now, today for devotees in the Krishna Consciousness Movement, December can be a special month because December is the time when there is a marathon, there is book distribution. In the outside world, depending on the country, there are times, there is a Black Friday, where there are sales at very cheap rates and people rush to purchase at that time, going through great trouble with great expense, they purchase things, many, many things and often they get it at a cheaper rate. So, now, we may consider this as materialistic, but the point here is that anything that is specially riveting about any aspect of material nature, we can see that riveting thing as manifesting Krishna's opulence.

So, the power of a certain period to change people's hearts, to transform people towards a different set of emotions, that power of a particular season manifests Krishna's opulence. So, Krishna is continuing his description of time over here. So, first you talk about one division of time in terms of months and now he is talking about another division of time in terms of seasons and he says, kusum is flowers, aakarha means that which comes, kusum aakarha.

So, spring is a season when flowers blossom, it appears as if all of nature is celebrating and the forest, gardens, they just seem to be a festival of colours. The celebration that manifests at that time is, the beauty that manifests at that time is breathtaking and the celebration that happens in nature is also very beautiful. In fact, many poems and songs are composed in the setting of spring, describing the beauty of nature and longing for the awakening of similar beautiful emotions in the human heart.

Different seasons, of course, have their different strengths and whatever season it is, it is important, but certain seasons, if they are evoking emotions in a very powerful way, we see that capacity to evoke those powerful emotions as a manifestation of Krishna's opulence.