​Gita 11.21 The celestials are not just the universal form’s components but also its respondents

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11.21 11.21 11.21 11.21 11.21 11.21 all these Krishna is continuing to describe the universal form and he says that surasangha I am able to see all these unto you surasangha vishanti all the devatas surasangha means a group surasangha the groups of the devatas vishanti they are all entering into you kechidbhita pranjalayo grananti kechidbhita some of them are fearful and pranjalayo grananti they are with their hands folded they are offering prayers swasthityoktva maharshisiddha sangha swasthity swasthi let there be auspiciousness let there be peace oktva swasthi is a invocation for peace and auspiciousness shanti shanti shanti like that swasthi swasthi swasthyanayanam is is a describer used for the lord that how is bring auspiciousness swasthik is a symbol that is considered auspicious swasthi itty oktva maharshi siddha sangha maharshi siddha sangha all the great sages and the perfected beings they are all saying shanti shanti swasthi swasthi let there be peace itty oktva stuvanti tvam sati bhi pushkala bhi stuvanti tvam they are offering obeisances to you they are singing hymns so stuti is a general act of offering praises stava is the composition that is offered as praise and stuvanti is the act of praising so often this praise is formal with beautifully structured hymns offered in praise stuvanti tvam stuti bhi pushkala bhi stuti bhi they are offering vedic hymns glorify the lord just as we may have sometimes informal ceremonies for describing for say invoking the deity at installation or other such occasions informal ceremonies the lord is the lord is pacified the lord is praised by offering various hymns to pacify and ease this is a standard tradition in the jagannath ashtakam also it is described that when lord jagannath moves out ratha rood gacchanpati bhu dev patalai stuti pradarbhai so when jagannath is on his ratha and he is moving out at that time at every step stuti pradarbhai aa karanaya sadaya daya sindhu bandhu sakal jagatam sindhu sutaya jagannath swami nayana patagami bhavattume so the lord by nature merciful and when he is praised with appropriate praises he becomes even more pleased and he bestows even more blessings on everyone so that way it is stated here that actually the lord is being praised krishna has manifested as a universal form and it's an awesome form that has been manifested so the great sages they see it as their duty and their pleasure to offer praise to the lord pushkala bhi and they are offering vedic verses as praise which indicates that these are not just ordinary sages they are great sages they are celebrated sages who are actually praising the lord with their profound learning manifesting in their praises now this verse leads off from the previous verse which ended with 11.22 my dear lord i am seeing your adbhuta rupa your fearsome form all the three words were terrified and this verse continues stating that oh lord what is it that is the terror what is it that is causing what is it that is causing them terror so much so it states in the first half surasangha so groups of the devatas the suras the sura and asura are two different categories of people so suras refer to the devatas asura refers to the demons and the asuras are so here it is described that the suras are vishanti they are all moving towards and entering into into you vishanti they are moving towards you they are entering into you this is interesting this entry is not described as a destructive kind of entry the destruction can happen in two ways when there is entry invading soldiers they enter into a city and they plunder the city so there is destruction of those who are inside on the other hand if people enter into something which is a trap then there appears to be a door but as soon as they enter to the door there is a deep dark ditch there or there is a marsh or there are some there is some there is some water body with some crocodiles or something like that right inside as soon as one enters in the people who enter that they get destroyed so at the point of entry there can be the destruction of those who enter or those who are entered into the people who are already inside either way the point is that there can be destruction at the point of entry and now clearly Vishwaroopa is the omnipotent supreme so there cannot be destruction for him so those who are entering can they be destroyed yes that's possible and that will be described a few verses later in the 25-26 verses when the same start is there here it is Amihitvam in the 21st text and few verses later in the 25th text again the same phrase will come Amihitvam Dhritharashtra's chaputra sarve sahivavani palasangai 26-27 text Prabhupada combines them together and describes that the leaders on the side of Dhritharashtra they are all marching towards their death they are just being propelled towards their death by entering into the Amihitvam Dhritharashtra's chaputra sarve sahivavani palasangai so they are all entering into vaktranite tvarmana vishanti they are actually entering into a fierce mouth which has fang like teeth protruding out and their heads are being shattered against their teeth and they are meeting their destruction so that kind of entry is destructive for the entrance now in this case there is no such destruction of the entrance that is being mentioned over here and of course we also understand that suras are more or less in harmony with the absolute truth so by being in harmony with the absolute truth they are actually not meant for being destroyed thus Amihitvam surasangha vishanti he chitbhita pranjalayo grananti so basically it's like he is seeing all the celestial beings within the form and he is saying that some of them are moving out some of them are moving in the same universal form is described in the Mahabharata in that time it is described that different when Krishna manifested in the universal form different beings manifested through him they came out of that form so here it is described that Krishna Arjuna could already see various beings in the form and now he sees some of them are moving deeper into the form again so he is saying while they are moving around they have a very reverential attitude chitbhita pranjalayo grananti some fearfully are folding their hands seeking mercy the Bhagavatam also famously says madbhaya so all the celestial beings they move about in the fear of the supreme lord this fear is not the fear of a fugitive afraid of being caught by the law this is the healthy fear of a law abiding citizen or even of to not break the laws so here basically this universal form is seeing a fear of a similar but slightly deeper nature where it is not just a law abiding thing the fear of not breaking the law but here it is and what is this fearsome form that is there and what is the mood of this fearsome person and how is that how are we to behave not knowing that devatas are saying chitbhita pranjalayo grananti they are folding their hands so it is interesting that the devatas it is others fold hands before them and only when they are in very great danger when some very powerful demon is troubling them they go to higher devatas such as ultimately Vishnu and seek his help and he becomes his avatar but here it is that the devatas are seeing this universal form recognizing such an emergency situation what is this form they are fearfully folding hands and offering their submissive to the lord usually in the higher beings there are these two categories devatas who are broadly kshatriyas and there are the rishis and the munis who are the brahmanas so both of them are in the higher beings and it is so there are the maharishis and the siddhas and they are all together collectively offering they are saying that is a way of seeking invocation seeking auspiciousness of invoking the presence of the almighty and invoking a particular result of their presence that result of auspiciousness and they are offering praise to the absolute truth here and thus here the celestial beings are seen not just as as components within the universal form but they are also seen as respondents to the universal form that means they are not just seen as passive presence of the universal form they are also seen as acting in response to the sight of the universal form and how their response continues and how their response affects Arjuna's response we will discuss in future verses.