Gita 11.35 The kala rupa makes the fearless fearful

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their party will be victorious. Thank you.

So, Bhagavad Gita 11.35 This is Sanjay speaking the second time in the Bhagavad Gita. Actually, at one level, the whole Bhagavad Gita is spoken by Sanjay, but within the Bhagavad Gita narrative when Krishna or Arjuna is speaking, the speech is attributed to them and when they are not speaking, whatever is being spoken is attributed to Sanjay. So, Sanjay is speaking here at the conclusion of the earlier speech by Arjuna.

So, he says that after having heard this, he has heard the words of Krishna. Folded his hands. Vepamana means one who is trembling.

Kiriti is the name of Arjuna, one who wears a crown. He folded his hand in front of her. Again and again.

His voice was choked up. He was very fearful. He offered his obeisances.

So, overall, Arjuna's reaction, response filled with reverence and fear is depicted by Sanjay in this verse. Now, Krishna and Arjuna are friends. Why would Arjuna become so fearful while interacting with Krishna? Not just because Krishna has shown the Vishwaroopa, but within that Krishna has shown the Kaalaroopa and Krishna has told in the previous verses that I have come here to destroy everyone.

So, he said that I have come to destroy everyone. Except for you, everyone will be destroyed. And therefore, Arjuna, rise and fight and attain victory.

By my arrangement, they are all killed. You just rise and attain victory. And then he said more category.

So, in 34th text he said clearly that specifically taking the names of the prominent enemies of Arjuna, Krishna said that they have all been killed by my arrangement. So, now this show of power is so fearsome that even Arjuna becomes overwhelmed with fear. Initially, when Arjuna sees the Vishwaroopa, his reaction is one of wonder.

So, he sees how magnificent, how vast, how all-pervasive the Vishwaroopa is. There is no beginning, no middle, no end. He is astonished.

He is wonder-struck. But from wonder, the reaction shifts to fear when he starts seeing how all the warriors are entering into the mouth of the Vishwaroopa and their heads are getting smashed when they collide with the teeth within the ghastly Vishwaroopa. And they are just meeting with a very fearful destruction.

So, at that time, Arjuna starts becoming apprehensive. He says that, the innermost core of my being is filled with fear. It's significant.

Sometimes when something uncertain is going to happen, we feel fearful. But at the core, we might feel secure. But actually, here Arjuna is saying, from the very core of my being, I am feeling fearful.

And then he asks Krishna very respectfully, what is this form? He says, So, when he asks this, who are you? Actually, normally, if two friends meet each other and talking, and suddenly one friend asks the other friend, who are you? It will sound a very peculiar question. Why would a friend ask another friend, who are you? Now, so like that, why is Arjuna asking Krishna, who are you? Now, we could say that Krishna is revealing the Vishwaroopa. And that is not exactly Krishna.

But Arjuna knows it is Vishwaroopa. So, say, two friends are meeting and one of them is, say, put on some costume as a part of a fancy dress competition. Then also, the friend will recognize, okay, you are my friend and you have put on this costume, or you are having this dress.

You are playing this role. So, even then he would not ask, who are you? So, why does Arjuna ask, who are you? Because, suppose, a friend is participating, you are wearing a costume for a particular competition, playing a particular role. But suddenly, while playing that role, that person starts acting in a very different way.

And then the other friend may ask, who are you? What kind of role are you playing here? So, like that, Arjuna knows about the Vishwaroopa. And Krishna has shown the Vishwaroopa earlier, but Krishna has never shown the Kaalaroopa earlier. Kaalaroopa is an extremely fearful, destructive form.

And that is why when Arjuna asks, who are you? He is asking specifically, what is this Kaalaroopa? And when Krishna says that I am the destroyer of all the worlds, then Arjuna on hearing this identification, actually he is not exactly freed from fear. He is still fearful. Arjuna is a Kshatriya and Kshatriyas normally don't get very easily fearful.

But here, his response of reverence and fear is described. After hearing the words of Keshava, he folds his hands. Now, if you look at the external symbols of the inner feeling.

So, first of all, he has folded his hands. And then folding hands is fine. Even when we greet other friends, greet anyone respectfully, we fold hands.

But here it is Vepamana. Vepamana means trembling. Kshatriyas are known to be fearless.

And even in the most ghastly of battles, against the most difficult odds, Kshatriyas make it a point to not show fear. Because by showing fear, they increase the confidence of their opponents. And by not showing fear, they strengthen their own morale.

They weaken the confidence of their opponents. So, even such a Kshatriya, who is trained not to show fear, that Kshatriya is trembling. So, from that we can understand how fearsome this must be.

And he is folding hands, not just once. Namaskritva is bowing down, not just once, bhuya, again and again. And sagaddadam.

Normally, we in bhakti talk about the choking of speech because of ecstasy. But here, there is choking of speech because of fear. Sometimes, we may see some movies in which somebody sees a ghost or something.

And then, they see the ghost inside and they are frightened. What is this? So, normally, in bhakti, we don't talk about choking because of fear. And we don't think of God as so fearsome that His sight will cause us to choke.

But God has that feature also. And especially in the Bible, it is described that, in the Old Testament, when God shows some miracles, everybody is so stunned that their tongue tied. So, this Kala Rupa is demonstrating a great power of God.

And this manifestation of God which is fearsome, and that fearsome manifestation is so fearsome that even a fearless warrior becomes fearful. In the previous chapter, in the 10th chapter, Krishna has said how He is the best of everything. He has talked about how among the water bodies, I am the ocean.

Among the rivers, I am the Ganga. Among the mountains, I am the Meru. Like that, He has talked about how He is the best among everything.

And that is demonstrated over here in a very visually powerful way. Among the inducers of fear, Krishna is also the greatest. So, sometimes, some horror movies may do some special effects.

And those special effects are all meant to cause the blood of the audience to chill and all of them to tremble in fear. But even the most horrifying special effects won't cause a Kshatriya warrior to tremble. But a virtuoso Kshatriya warrior like Arjuna, when he trembles in fear, that demonstrates how fearsome the manifestation of the Kala Rupa is.

And as Arjuna, he tries to pull his thoughts together, pull his words together and he speaks. And whereas, the previous verses from 15 to 31 were mostly description of what he saw. But now, the verses that will come from 36 to 47, they will not be description, they will be veneration.

He will be actually praising Krishna. And these are the verses which are very much in the mood of awe and reverence. Because here, Arjuna is seeing Krishna's Kala Rupa and he is venerating that.

This is the magnificence of Vishnu, of Krishna that his fearsome manifestation can cause, can induce fear even in the fearless. Thank you.