Bhagwad Gita - Post 111

Verse 18

Gatirbhartaa prabhuh saakshee

Nivaasah sharanam suhrit;

Prabhavah pralayah sthaanam

Nidhaanam beejamavyayam.

I am the goal, the support, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the shelter, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the treasure-house and the imperishable seed.

“I am the final resort of all people. When everything goes wrong, finally you have to come to Me only. I am the gati, the final abode, the final resort, the sarana, the home and the resting place of everybody. 

I am the supporter, the sustainer and the nourisher of all beings. I am the overlord of all beings; all gods are below Me, and none is equal to Me. I am the witness, and yet not involved in all this drama of creation, notwithstanding the fact that nothing can move without Me. 

I am the abode supreme—nivāsaḥ—and the friend of all beings.” 

Śaraṇaṁ suhṛt: “As I am the real friend of all created beings, the real friend of every one of you, you have to come to Me one day or the other as a final resort.” 

Prabhavaḥ: “Everything proceeds from Me.” 

Pralayaḥ: “Everything is dissolved into Me.” 

Sthānaṁ: “It rests in Me, finally.” 

Nidhānaṁ: “The very root of all things.” 

Bījam: “The essential seed of creation.” 

Avyayam: “Imperishable I am.”

Lord Krishna reveals that He is that which is attained as the ultimate goal of all existence. He is the sustainer, the nourisher, the maintainer and the controller. 

As Paramatma the Supreme Soul within all living entities, He is the witness and observer of all actions good and evil. He is the abode and resting place as He encompasses everything, everywhere. He is the refuge, the protector. He is the dear friend who always does what is beneficial. 

Verse 19

Tapaamyahamaham varsham

Nigrihnaamyutsrijaami cha;

Amritam chaiva mrityushcha

Sadasacchaahamarjuna.

(As the sun) I give heat; I withhold and send forth the rain; I am immortality and also death, existence and non-existence, O Arjuna!

“I create heat through the sun. I create rain by the force of my will. I also withdraw the rain when it is my will. I release and I withdraw the forces of nature.” 

When God releases His energy through the forces of nature, nature seems to be scintillating, smiling and raining, and everything is green and flourishing; but when He withdraws His energy, it becomes dried up, as in a drought.

“I am the final immortal seat of all souls; I am also the death of all beings. Immortality and death, both are Me. It is I Who transforms all mortal elements into the deathless eternality of My own transcendent Being. It is also I Who destroys everything by the process of the evolutionary advance of nature and the cycle of time.” The many cycles are referred to in the earlier verses. 

The Supreme Lord being completely independent in Himself solely is different from all the above mentioned things; yet He is inseparable from them all being their essence thus He is known by them. Since He is referred to as OM in Vedic yagnas, the resplendent Supreme Lord has a His own personal transcendental sound vibration known as OM.

Sad asaccāham arjuna: “I am existence and non-existence.” He has left nothing unsaid.

“I am existence and non-existence, being and non-being, this and that, here and there, now and then. There is nothing which I am not. But very few people realize this glory of Mine.” 

They go to the sacrificial yajnasalas and temples of worship and externally offer adorations and perform sacrifices for gaining joy in the heaven of Indra by employing the mantras of the Veda for yajnas like Rajasuya, Asvamedha, Somayaga, etc., as described in the Brahmana portions of the Vedas. 

They do this because they want to rejoice in heaven, and they expect this to be attained through the sacrifices that they make by means of the mantras of the Vedas. They do go to heaven, no doubt; but the merits produced by the performance of the greatest of sacrifices have a beginning and an end. As these merits originated in the sacrifice, they will also end, by the exhaustion thereof through experience. After we enjoy the glories of Indra’s heaven, we will fall headlong down to the earth. 

Therefore, there is no point in our asking for Svarga, or heavenly joys, through the performance of Vedic sacrifices or through externally motivated rituals of any kind, even if they be in the form of worship in a temple. Such people who go to Svargaloka, or heaven, enter the abode of Indra and enjoy the divine blessedness of that place. Then afterwards—kṣīṇe puṇye martyalokaṁ viśanti—when the punyas, or merits, of these people slowly diminish and finally get extinguished, they come to this world once again—evaṁ trayīdharmam.

The Svarga is here, within us, when we realize that we do not have to go from anywhere to anywhere, we do not have to aspire to reach Svarga (from where we have to come back as explained above). 

Upon realizing God / Self within us, we are complete in all respect, even if we have to clear some balance portion of our prarabdha karma!!!!

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 110

Verse 15

Jnaanayajnena chaapyanye

Yajanto maamupaasate;

Ekatwena prithaktwena

Bahudhaa vishwatomukham.

Others also, sacrificing with the wisdom-sacrifice, worship Me, the all-faced,

as one, as distinct, and as manifold.

In this wisdom of the spirit which is jnana yajna, they behold Me in all varieties of forms - “Ekatvena pṛthaktvena bahudhā viśvatomukham”.

As I am everywhere, they can behold Me as one Being existing everywhere; or they can behold Me as two realities indwelling as a transcendent element and also as an immanent element; or they may look upon Me as a multifaceted Reality indwelling many souls.

It is said that Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa once came to Benares to have darshan of the great saint and sage Trailanga Swami, a great siddha. 

The greatness of that siddha was such that it drew even Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. 

It appears that Sri Ramakrishna put a question to Trailanga Swami: “Maharaj, how many gods are there?” 

Swamiji raises three fingers, then two fingers, then one finger. That was the answer. Rama Krishna nodded his head and conveyed, “Yes I understand you.” 

The great disciple understood the great Master’s significant gesture: God is three-fold, God is two-fold, God is single.  

Three-fold: God can be visualized as a manifold manifestation, as the souls of all created beings; 

Two-fold: He can be considered as a dual manifestation, transcendent and immanent;

One / Single: He can be beheld as one only.

According to Sankaracharya, there is one reality; according to Ramanuja, there are two realities; according to Madhva, there are many realities. 

Sri Chinmaya writes,

“A man of realization moves about the world, seeing his own

Self, expressed through every movement and action, word and thought that clusters round him at all times. 

Just as one light in the midst of a thousand mirrors comes to provide crores of reflections everywhere, so too, the one centered in the Self, when he walks out into the world, sees everywhere his own Self dancing, shooting glances at him from all around at once, thrilling him always with the homogeneous ecstasy of perfection and bliss.”

Sai devotees should align the above secret with the one expression taken in an Alaap for a song Ram Hare, Hari Naam Bolo where, we sing, “Ik Noor te, sab jag upjyaara”. 

There is only one light, one pure consciousness, which is described as Jnanam Brahman, as it is the source Knowledge which illumines all other knowledge in this creation!!! It is one light, which illumines this entire creation!!!

Love.

Bhagwad Gita - Post 109

Verse 14

Satatam keertayanto maam

Yatantashcha dridhavrataah;

Namasyantashcha maam

Bhaktyaa nityayuktaa upaasate.

Always glorifying Me, striving, firm in vows, prostrating before Me, they worship Me with devotion, ever steadfast.

The qualities of the Mahatmas or great souls are perceived in the different ways they offer worship to the Supreme Lord as being stated by Lord Krishna in this verse and the next. The word satatam meaning always is noteworthy for it applies to all the activities. 

They dance and sing and are in a state of ecstasy due to communion with My great, glorious spirit. They always sing about My greatness and glory and speak of Me wherever they go. In the streets, in the marketplace, in the house, in satsangas, in family circles—everywhere they talk of Me.” 

Always praising, glorifying and worshipping the Supreme Lord by devotional hymns and sacred syllables are the ways of some Mahatmas, as described in this verse.

Such devotees of Lord sing the glory of Lord with choked up voices and tear-filled eyes from ecstatic feelings of joy and love due to meditating upon His form and attributes within their hearts. 

An example is Saint Tukaram, who had no other thought wherever he went. Whether it is in a shop, in a marketplace, in a house or in a satsanga hall, it is one continuous, ecstatic thought which compels them to glorify God wherever they go, and, perpetually striving to come nearer and nearer to Me, so that they become one with Me.” 

Namasyantaś ca: Always prostrating themselves in temples, in holy tirthas, near holy trees and to holy saints and sages. Wherever there is a pre-eminence of the manifestation of divinity in this world, to that place and to that thing they resort and offer themselves through deep prostration. 

The purpose of life for the Mahatmas is to attain the Supreme Lord as their only goal and they bow down to Him always again and again upon the ground in temples and in courtyards, falling down outstretched like sticks with the eight parts of their body being the head, the two hands, the two feet, their heart, their intellect and their ego. 

The greater they are, the smaller they look; and they do not seem to exist at all in their personality because of their not being in one place as egos. 

They pervade all places as veritable representations of God’s glory in this world. 

They are called gods moving in the world, great souls veritably representing God.

Love.