अर्जुन उवाच |
दृष्ट्वेदं मानुषं रूपं तव सौम्यं जनार्दन |
इदानीमस्मि संवृत्त: सचेता: प्रकृतिं गत: || 51||
arjuna uvācha
dṛiṣhṭvedaṁ mānuṣhaṁ rūpaṁ tava saumyaṁ janārdana
idānīm asmi saṁvṛittaḥ sa-chetāḥ prakṛitiṁ gataḥ
arjunaḥ uvācha—Arjun said; dṛiṣhṭvā—seeing; idam—this; mānuṣham—human; rūpam—form; tava—your; saumyam—gentle; janārdana—he who looks after the public, Krishna; idānīm—now; asmi—I am; saṁvṛittaḥ—composed; sa-chetāḥ—in my mind; prakṛitim—to normality; gataḥ—have become
Translation:
Arjuna said: Looking at this gentle form of Yours, Ο Janārdana, I now feel composed in mind; I am myself again.
Commentary:
“ARE VAIKUNTHA AND KAILASA REAL?”
Seeing God in form is not mere imagination, as many modern spiritual teachers say. When a devotee asked Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi whether the devas were real and whether they existed, Maharshi replied, “They are there as you are here.” The devotee wanted more clarification. He asked, “Are they mere imagination or do worlds such as Vaikuntha and Kailasa really exist like our earth?” Bhagavan said, “Yes, they are all there like our earth.” The sage clarified further that everything, including our own body-mind, is only an appearance in the real Self.
As long as one has body-consciousness and has not realised the Self, all these divine visions elevate one from the ordinary egoistic plane. Many saints have lived in the plane of God with form. We know that Meerabai and Chaitanya worshipped God in the form of Krishna, and what great saints they were! There were many other great beings too who worshipped the Lord with form. Sri Ramakrishna initiated almost all his disciples to meditate on God with form.
Getting a vision of God with form is indeed a high spiritual attainment. The Bhagavata says in Kapila Upadesa, “Once you get a vision of the Lord in form, that form itself will lead you to the formless, the Self. Once you have a divine vision, all your worldly desires and vāsanās will be completely extinguished. Your whole attention will be fixed on that divine form; and when that form also disappears, you realise the Self.” (Source: Srimad Bhagavad Gita – Elixir of Eternal Wisdom | Vol 1)
SRI RAMAKRISHNA BESTOWS DIVINE VISION
There is an anecdote regarding this in Sri Ramakrishna’s life. Mathur Babu was the manager of the temple of Dakshineswar where Ramakrishna stayed. He was an outright worldly person but was devoted to Ramakrishna. He would constantly pester Ramakrishna, “Master! Please give me divine vision… please… I have been serving you for such a long time… please.” Ramakrishna would try to console him by saying, “It will come at the right time.” But Mathur Babu continued to pester him about it. Then one day, Ramakrishna prayed to the Divine mother to let him have a divine vision for a little while. Within a short time, Mathur Babu was beyond himself with ecstasy. He started weeping uncontrollably and laughing and dancing in ecstasy.
Two or three days passed this way, and all his business stood still as he could not do anything on his own. His worldly life was all locked up. Then he came to the Master and pleaded, “Please take away all these visions from me. My business is suffering! I cannot deal with this anymore.” Ramakrishna laughed aloud and said, “Mathur Babu! This is what I told you in the very beginning. It will come at the right time. One should not squeeze a fruit to ripen it.” Then the vision was withdrawn, and he returned to his normal state.
One must build one’s spiritual life on the bedrock of devotion, dispassion and purity. The nervous system must develop the capacity to bear the exalted states. (Source: Srimad Bhagavad Gita – Elixir of Eternal Wisdom | Vol 1)
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 11 🔻 (55 Verses)
| 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 |
| 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 |
