Gita 11.39 Appreciate the Absolute Truth in both bheda and abheda aspects

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Bhagavad Gita 10.39 Vayuryamog nervarunah shashankah prajapati stvam prapitamahas ca namo namaste tu sahasra krutva punascha bhuyopi namo namaste. Here Arjuna is offering his prayers to the Vishwaroopa. Earlier also Krishna has, Arjuna has described the Vishwaroopa from verses 15 to 31 but that is more of description glorification whereas this is more of prayers and whereas earlier Arjuna was astonished on seeing the Vishwaroopa, here these prayers are filled with fear because in the Vishwaroopa he has seen the Kaalroopa and the Kaalroopa is extremely destructive so bheet bheetaha pranamya, as it was said when Arjuna started speaking in 35 it is stated there, Arjuna was actually fearful, pranamya, he was offering obeisances and he was speaking.

sagat gadam bheet bheetaha pranamya, his voice was choked. Of course when scripture is narrated, it is mentioned that Arjuna is choked in speaking but it is not that there is any ellipses in Sanskrit which conveys that okay he was stammering and speaking. Now the verses are described in a smooth flow over here.

So Arjuna is saying in this verse, vayur yamo agnir varuna shashankaha prajapatis tvam prapita mahasya. So he is beholding the Vishwaroopa and he is, earlier stated that he is seeing the various devatas in the Vishwaroopa but now he is saying directly you are Vayu, you are the wind, yama, you are the disciplining principle, agni, you are the fire, vayur yamo agnir varuna shashankaha, you are the varuna, the water god, shashanka, you are the moon, prajapatis tvam prapita mahasya, you are the prajapati, daksha and other prajapatis, prapita maha, you are the primeval grandfather that can refer to Brahma. So he is saying that you are all these oh lord and and thus I offer you obeisances hundreds of times.

And I offer obeisances yet again. Now each of these devatas is worshipable. Each of these devatas, if we see them, we offer obeisances to them.

Now that's because he's seeing so many devatas in the Vishwaroopa, he's understanding that all those devatas are manifest in the Vishwaroopa. Thus he's saying that offer obeisances not once or twice but sahasra prithva, hundreds of times. Sometimes if we go to a place like a very holy place where there are many exalted souls, many sannyasis, many gurus, then we offer obeisances once when we see one sannyasi guru.

If another sannyasi guru, we offer another obeisance. And how many obeisances can we offer? So like that Arjuna is feeling here that there are so many worshipable great personalities manifest here that he is saying sahasra prithva that hundreds of times I offer obeisances and then he feels that actually even hundreds are not enough. There are so many great personalities here.

Therefore, if anything is left out, that I offer obeisances yet again. Actually that repetition is also double. Punas is again and bhuya is also again.

So again and again that punas chabhuyo pinamo namaste and again that repetition is conveyed through namo namaste. He is offering obeisances and the same word obeisances is mentioned again. So basically Arjuna is saying that I offer obeisances again and again and again and yet again.

Now apart from that extremely reverential mood of the prayer, what is the philosophical import of the prayer? Is it that you are vayu, you are agni, you are the moon, you are Varuna? What does this mean? Actually when we as Krishna bhaktas practice bhakti, then we often tend to emphasize the bhed aspect much more than the abhed aspect. When we talk about Krishna and the devatas, at one level we say that the devatas are not to be worshipped. Krishna is to be worshipped and that is true.

It is Krishna who is the supreme worshipable object. Krishna says give up everything else and just worship me. But at the same time, it is also to be understood that Krishna does not exist in isolation.

That Krishna is the one supreme being who manifests through multiple manifestations at multiple levels. Of course, one level of manifestation is the Vishnu tattvas where there is Vishnu, there is Ram, there is Narasimha. These are direct manifestations of the Lord himself.

But along with that, in the abhed sense, even the devatas are also manifestations of Krishna. The worship of the Lord is also ultimately ordained by Krishna. It is Krishna who empowers the devatas to have the power to receive worship and to give blessings, to fulfill the desires of their worshippers.

In that sense, a devotee can see even in the power of the devatas, the power of the supreme. So, when it is said you are Vayu, you are Agne, you are Shashank, the point is not an absolute identity but rather an acknowledgement that there is a connectedness between the devatas and the supreme. So, this has been indicated earlier in the 10th chapter, in 10.41 when Krishna stated that my splendor is a spark of that.

So, basically whatever is attractive in this world, its attractiveness comes from Krishna. Its attractiveness is because Krishna has chosen to manifest a spark of his supreme all-attractiveness, his ultimate splendor through them. Thus, it is this vision of abhed that Arjuna is stressing here when he says that, O Lord, you are Vishnu, you are the supreme.

Sorry, you are Vayu, you are Agni, you are Varuna. So, he is basically not reducing the absolute to these specific devatas but rather he is acknowledging that the devatas are also ultimately manifestations of the that has been indicated in the previous verse when it was said, you are sarvaha, you are everything. But how are you everything? You pervade everything and thus you are everything.

So, there is a difference between this understanding and the understanding of pantheism where the idea is that everything is God. Pan means everything, like a Pan-American problem means a problem that is all over America. So, pantheism means that everything is God.

So, that is not the understanding here because God has his self-existence beyond everything, beyond all the things of this world. But God is not just transcendental, he is also immanent. Transcendence refers to God's existence beyond matter and immanence refers to his existence within matter.

So, here the point that is being underscored is that whenever we see any immanent manifestations of power, we should be able to see that these are manifestations of the supreme's power. We should not have a fragmented vision. The fragmented vision can work out in two ways.

One is where we see the devatas or any powerful beings in general as disconnected from Krishna and as independent realities themselves. Some people may consider a particular devata to be supreme itself and they may think that if I am worshipping that devata, there is no need for me to worship Krishna or some of them may even claim that Krishna does not exist, this devata alone is supreme, all other devatas are illusory. So, if the worship of the devatas leads to the denial of Krishna's position or Krishna's existence, then that is a misunderstanding.

And similarly, if the worship of the devatas makes one think that these devatas are competitors to Krishna, that means I can choose to worship this devata or that devata or Krishna, then that is also a misunderstanding. That by saying that all these devatas, that you are Vishnu, you are Vayu, you are Agni, you are Varuna, the point that is emphasized is that you, O Lord, manifest through the power of all these powerful beings and because their power comes from you, therefore, they also rest in you and thus it is you whom I worship. So, if each of these devatas is so worshipable, then if there is an absolute truth who is the source of all these devatas, whose power is the basis of the power of all these devatas, then how much more worshipable will that absolute truth be? And therefore, for such a supremely worshipable absolute truth, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 obeisances are not enough.

Even 100 obeisances are not enough. There are 100 and more and more obeisances. Namo namaste to Sahasrabhutva.

Punastha bhulyo pinnamo namaste.