Tenth Chapter. Glimpses of the Divine Glory
TENTH CHAPTER
The Blessed Lord said:
1. Again, O mighty-armed, do thou listen to My supreme word, which I, wishing thy welfare, will tell thee who art delighted (to hear Me). 1
2. Neither the hosts of Devas, nor the great Rishis, know My origin, for in every way I am the source of all the Devas and the great Rishis. 2
3. He who knows Me, birthless and beginningless, the great Lord of worlds—he, among mortals, is undeluded, he is freed from all sins. 3
4-5. Intellect, knowledge, non-delusion, forbearance, truth, restraint of the external senses, calmness of heart, happiness, misery, birth, death, fear, as well as fearlessness, non-injury, evenness, contentment, austerity, benevolence, good name, (as well as) ill-fame;—(these) different kinds of qualities of beings arise from Me alone. 4
6. The seven great Rishis as well as the four ancient Manus, possessed of powers like Me (due to their thoughts being fixed on Me), were born of (My) mind; from them are these creatures in the world. 6
7. He who in reality knows these manifold manifestations of My being and (this) Yoga power of Mine, becomes established in the unshakable Yoga; there is no doubt about it. 7
8. l am the origin of all, from Me everything evolves;—thus thinking the wise worship Me with loving consciousness. 8
9. With their minds wholly in Me, with their senses absorbed in Me, enlightening one another, and always speaking of Me, they are satisfied and delighted. 9
10. To them, ever steadfast and serving Me with affection, I give that Buddhi Yoga by which they come unto Me. 10
11. Out of mere compassion for them,
[paragraph continues] I, abiding in their hearts, destroy the darkness (in them) born of ignorance, by the luminous lamp of knowledge. 11
Arjuna said:
12-13. The Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Abode, the Supreme Purifier, art Thou. All the Rishis, the Deva-Rishi Nârada as well as Asita, Devala and Vyâsa have declared Thee as the Eternal, the Self-luminous Purusha, the first Deva, Birth-less and All-pervading. So also Thou Thyself sayest to me.
14. I regard all this that Thou sayest to me as true, O Keshava. Verily, O Bhagavân, neither the Devas nor the Dânavas know Thy manifestation. 14
15. Verily, Thou Thyself knowest Thyself by Thyself, O Purusha Supreme, O Source of beings, O Lord of beings, O Deva of Devas, O Ruler of the world.
16. Thou shouldst indeed speak, without reserve, of Thy divine attributes by which, filling all these worlds, Thou existest. 16
17. How shall I, O Yogin, meditate ever to know Thee? In what things, Bhagavân, art Thou to be thought of by me? 17
18. Speak to me again in detail, Jnanârdana, of Thy Yoga-powers and attributes; for I am never satiated in hearing the ambrosia (of Thy speech). 18
The Blessed Lord said:
19. I shall speak to thee now, O best of the Kurus, of My divine attributes, according to their prominence; there is no end to the particulars of My manifestation. 19
20. I am the Self, O Gudâkesha, existent in the heart of all beings; I am the
beginning, the middle, and also the end of all beings. 20
21. Of the Adityas, I am Vishnu; of luminaries, the radiant Sun; of the winds, I am Marichi; of the asterisms, the Moon.
22. I am the Sâma-Veda of the Vedas, and Vâsava (Indra) of the gods; of the senses I am Manas, and intelligence in living beings am I.
23. And of the Rudras I am Sankara, of the Yakshas and Râkshasas the Lord of wealth (Kuvera), of the Vasus I am Pâvaka, and of mountains, Meru am I.
24. And of priests, O son of Prithâ, know Me the chief, Brihaspati; of generals, I am Skanda; of bodies of water, I am the ocean.
25. Of the great Rishis I am Bhrigu; of words I am the one syllable "Om"; of Yajnas I am the Yajna of Japa (silent repetition); of immovable things the Himâlaya. 25
26. Of all trees (I am) the Ashvattha, and Nârada of Deva-Rishis; Chitraratha of Gandharvas am I, and the Muni Kapila of the perfected ones.
27. Know Me among horses as Uchchaisshravas, Amrita-born; of lordly elephants Airâvata, and of men the king. 27
28. Of weapons I am the thunderbolt, of cows I am Kâmadhuk; I am the Kandarpa, the cause of offspring; of serpents I am Vâsuki.
29. And Ananta of snakes I am, I am Varuna of water-beings; and Aryaman of Pitris I am, I am Yama of controllers.
30. And Prahlâda am I of Diti's progeny, of measurers I am Time; and of beasts I am the lord of beasts, and Garuda of birds.
31. Of purifiers I am the wind, Râma
of warriors am I; of fishes I am the shark, of streams I am Jâhnavi (the Ganges).
32. Of manifestations I, am the beginning, the middle and also the end; of all knowledges I am the knowledge of the Self, and Vâda of disputants. 32
33. Of letters the letter A am I, and Dvandva of all compounds; I alone am the inexhaustible Time, I the Sustainer (by dispensing fruits of actions) All-formed. 33
34. And I am the all-seizing Death, and the prosperity of those who are to be prosperous; of the feminine qualities (I am) Fame, Prosperity (or beauty), Inspiration, Memory, Intelligence, Constancy and Forbearance.
35. Of Sâmas also I am the Brihat-Sâma, of metres Gâyatri am I; of months I am Mârgashirsha, of seasons the flowery season. 35
36. I am the gambling of the fraudulent, I am the power of the powerful; I am victory, I am effort, I am Sattva of the Sâttvika. 36
37. Of the Vrishnis I am Vâsudeva; of the Pândavas, Dhananjaya; and also of the Munis I am Vyâsa; of the sages, Ushanas the sage.
38. Of punishers I am the sceptre; of those who seek to conquer, I am statesmanship; and also of things secret I am silence, and the knowledge of knowers am I.
39. And whatsoever is the seed of all beings, that also am I, O Arjuna. There is no being, whether moving or unmoving, that can exist without Me.
40. There is no end of My divine attributes, O scorcher of foes; but this is a brief statement by Me of the particulars of My divine attributes.
41. Whatever being there is great,
prosperous or powerful, that know thou to be a product of a part of My splendour.
42. Or what avails thee to know all this diversity, O Arjuna? (Know thou this,. that) I exist, supporting this whole world by a portion of Myself.
The end of the tenth chapter, designated Glimpses of the Divine Glory.
Footnotes
- 219:1
- 220:2
- 220:3
- 221:4
- 222:6
- 222:7
This Yoga power—i.e., the fact that the great Rishis and the Manus possessed their power and wisdom, as partaking of a very small portion of the Lord's infinite power and wisdom. p. 223
Unshakable Yoga: Samâdhi, the state of steadiness in right realisation.
- 223:8
- 223:9
Satisfied: when there is cessation of all thirst. p. 224
Says the Purâna: All the pleasures of the senses in the world, and also all the great happiness in the divine spheres, are not worth a sixteenth part of that which comes from the cessation of all desires.
- 224:10
- 225:11
Luminous lamp of knowledge—characterised by discrimination; fed by the oil of contentment due to Bhakti; fanned by the wind of absorbing meditation on Me; furnished with the wick of pure consciousness evolved by the constant cultivation of Brahmacharyam and other pious virtues; held in the reservoir of the heart devoid of worldliness; placed in the wind-sheltered recess of the mind, withdrawn from the sense-objects, and untainted by attachment and aversion; shining with the light of right knowledge, engendered by incessant practice of concentration.—Sankara.
- 226:14
- 227:16
- 228:17
- 228:18
- 229:19
- 230:20
- 232:25
- 233:27
- 235:32
Vâda. Discussion is classified under three heads: 1. Vâda; 2. Vitandâ; 3. Jalpa.
In the first, the object is to arrive at truth; in the second, idle carping at the arguments of another, without trying to establish the opposite side of the question; and in the third, the assertion of one's own opinion, and the attempt to refute that of the adversary by overbearing reply or wrangling rejoinder.
- 236:33
- 237:35
- 237:36