The Song Celestial #2
YouTube Audio
Bhagavad Gita
Uranda July 14, 1953 a.m.
We will continue reading from The Bhagavad-Gita, The Song Celestial, as translated by Sir Edwin Arnold. And is it not a celestial song? The Song Celestial, the revelation of Heavenly things on earth. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2026/11/the-song-celestial-1.html]
“Yet, the right act
Is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind.”
Because right action follows right thinking, does it not? And right thinking follows right centering, right devotion. Right devotion is right centering. Pure devotion is pure centering. So out of pure devotion comes the reality of the pure heart, making it possible for the human being to see God; and out of pure devotion and the pure heart—"for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh”—out of pure devotion, pure centering, comes right thinking, right speaking, right acting. And right action is for right action's sake, not to gain some particular reward but that in the moment, on the Pattern of Being, we do the right thing, think the right thing, speak the right thing.
“Yet, the right act
Is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind.
Seek refuge in Shekinah; have there thy heaven!
Scorn them that follow virtue for her gifts!
The mind of pure devotion—even here —
Casts equally aside good deeds and bad,
Passing above them.”
In other words, it is not controlled by them. If we function in relationship to situations, if it goes wrong or if it goes right, we do the right thing regardless of the swirling mass, we pass above.
“Unto pure devotion
Devote thyself: with perfect meditation.”
That means perfect centering. Meditation is centering, the process of centering. You can claim to meditate without centering in anything, being scattered. But it is not true meditation.
“With perfect centering
Comes perfect act, and the right-hearted rise.”
The right-hearted, the pure hearted.
“And the right-hearted rise —
More certainly because they seek no gain.”
The moment you start seeking gain for yourself you begin to fail. The moment you start seeking gain for yourself you begin to fail!
“… the right-hearted rise —
More certainly because they seek no gain —
Forth from the bands of limitation,”
— the realm of limitation, the physical realm —
“step by step,
To highest seats of bliss. When thy firm soul
Hath shaken off those tangled oracles
Which ignorantly guide, then shall it soar
To high neglect of what's denied or said,
This way or that way, in doctrinal writ.
Troubled no longer by the priestly lore,
Safe shall it live, and sure; steadfastly centered”
… and this is Peace!
Arjuna asks an important question
“What is his mark who hath that steadfast heart,
Confirmed in holy meditation?
How know we his speech, Kesava?
Sits he, moves he Like other men?”
“What is his mark? Sits he, moves he like other men? What is his mark who hath that steadfast heart, confirmed in holy centering? How know we his speech, Kesava? Sits he, moves he like other men?
Krishna answers
“When one, O Pritha's Son! —
Abandoning desires which shake the mind —
Finds in Shekinah full comfort for his soul,
He hath attained … that man is such!
In sorrows not dejected, and in joys
Not overjoyed; dwelling outside the stress
Of passion, fear, and anger; fixed in calms
Of lofty contemplation; — such an one
Is Muni, is the Sage, the true …!
He who to none and nowhere overbound
By ties of flesh …”
“He who to none and nowhere overbound
By ties of flesh, takes evil things and good
Neither desponding nor exulting, such
Bears wisdom's plainest mark! He who shall draw
As the wise tortoise draws its four feet safe
Under its shield, his five frail senses back
Under the spirit's buckler from the world
Which else assails them, such an one, my Prince!
Hath wisdom's mark! Things that solicit sense
Hold off from the self-governed;”
That is, that those patterns of function which tend to produce a state of being subject to what one senses, used by the senses, or using the senses—existence and living. Existence, the one who is used by his senses; the one who lives is he who uses his senses, but is not controlled by them.
“… nay, it comes,
The appetites of him who lives beyond
Depart — aroused no more.”
Now, that has been misunderstood. The appetites, the patterns of living. It does not mean that one never has need to eat, or—actually, it is a distortion a bit from the original. But it describes adequately, in a limited realm.
“Yet may it chance,
O Son of Kunti! that a governed mind
Shall some time feel the sense-storms sweep, and wrest
Strong self-control by the roots.”
Now I suppose there is a possibility that some one of you might tend to feel such a thing at some time. I trust not. It should not be if there is true centering.
“Yet may it chance,
O Son of Kunti! that a governed mind
Shall some time feel the sense-storms sweep, and wrest
Strong self-control by the roots. Let him regain
His kingdom! let him conquer this, and remain centered in Me.
That man alone is wise
Who keeps the mastery of himself! If one
Ponders on objects of the sense, there springs
Attraction; from attraction grows desire,
Desire flames to fierce passion, passion breeds
Recklessness; then the memory — all betrayed —
Lets noble purpose go, and saps the mind,
Till purpose, mind, and man are all undone.”
How often we have seen that pattern work out in human lives. But if you have learned your lessons well, in our studies along through the weeks that have passed, we need not pause there long.
“But, if one deals with objects of the sense
Not loving and not hating, making them
Serve his free soul, which rests serenely lord,
... such a man comes to tranquillity;
And out of that tranquillity shall rise
The end and healing of his earthly pains.”
“Out of that tranquillity shall rise the end and healing of his earthly pains.” The earthly pains, whether of body, mind or heart, cannot come to an end and be healed until there is tranquillity.
“Since the will governed sets the soul at peace.
The soul of the ungoverned is not his.”
Now there is something to remember. The soul—here we are talking about the body, the mind, the man the woman, the human being—the soul of the ungoverned is not his. His body is not his, his mind is not his, his heart is not his, it is pulled this way, it is borrowed over here and rented over there and scattered all over the place. The soul of the ungoverned is not his.
Now, what is our problem when we go out to serve? The ungoverned. Oh, they may function on a basis of certain patterns of social ethics. They may be law abiding citizens, and that is good. But they are ungoverned. There is no government within. They are not a kingdom; they are a land of many feuds. The feudal system reigns in most human beings. Did you ever stop to realize that? In most human beings, those who come to you for assistance along the way, they do not have a kingdom. Vibrationally, the Kingdom is at hand. But they are living under a feudal system, and this feudal lord is in control part of the time, and this one, and they are fighting back and forth, heart and mind and body are all in a state of conflict, turmoil. They are all undone, and so the soul of the ungoverned is not his. You are turning the individual's own body and mind and heart back to him, as you Serve; because the ungoverned has lost his body, he has a point of identity but no meaning, no control in his body, no meaning, no control in his mind or his heart. So you are restoring the Kingdom to the individual, that he, in attunement with God, may let the Kingdom manifest. Is not that the process you have been going through here; is it not?
“The soul of the ungoverned is not his.
Nor hath he knowledge of himself.”
Is not that true? You have been learning something about yourselves so that you could understand others.
“The soul of the ungoverned is not his,
Nor hath he knowledge of himself: which lacked
How grows serenity? and, wanting that,
Whence shall he hope for happiness?”
There is the question. So, the Server works to restore to the individual his own body, his own mind, and his own heart, so that he can be an individual, a being. He is gathered together in one place, so that all of his parts are in one place with one accord. And, in the process, he learns to be centered. He cannot experience this unless he does let himself become centered. And then he begins to have knowledge of himself, and then serenity grows and becomes a reality—serenity. And then, there is hope for happiness.
“The soul of the ungoverned is not his,
Nor hath he knowledge of himself: which lacked
How grows serenity? and, wanting that,
Whence shall he hope for happiness?
The mind
That gives itself to follow shows of sense
Seeth its helm of wisdom rent away.
And, like a ship in waves of whirlwind, drives
To wreck and death.”
That is what we have to combat, the storms on the sea of life. We have to still the waves as fast as the individual will let us. “The mind that gives itself to follow shows of sense seeth its helm of wisdom rent away,” because it loses its sense of proportion, the fitness of things.
“And, like a ship in waves of whirlwind, drives to wreck and death.”
“Only with him, great Prince!
Whose senses are not swayed by things of sense.”
Now, it is not by separating ourselves from things of sense. We see the things of sense, we feel them, we know them, we work with them constantly. But ...
“Only with him, great Prince!
Whose senses are not swayed by things of sense —
Only with him who hold his mastery,
Shows wisdom perfect.
What is midnight-gloom
To unenlightened souls shines wakeful day
To his clear gaze.”
Now that is the function that you are called upon to share. “What is mignight-gloom to unenlightened souls shines wakeful day to his clear gaze.” And if it is not true of you, if at least you are not seeing in the dawn of the day, how shall you help others? If it is midnight-gloom to you too, you cannot Serve.
“What is midnight-gloom
To unenlightened souls shines wakeful day
To his clear gaze; what seems as wakeful day
Is known for night, thick night of ignorance.”
Because it will appear to those whom you are serving that you are calling the midnight-gloom light and what they think is wakeful day, and you are saying, “Oh, that's night.” And they will say, “But you don't know what you are talking about.” But after awhile you find out—you find out.
“What is midnight-gloom
To unenlightened souls shines wakeful day
To his clear gaze; what seems as wakeful day
Is known for night, thick night of ignorance,
To his true-seeing eyes. Such is the Saint!
“And like the ocean, day by day receiving
Floods from all lands, which never overflows;
Its boundary-line not leaping, and not leaving,
Fed by the rivers, but unswelled by those —
So is the perfect one! to his soul's ocean
The world of sense pours streams of life,
They leave him as they find, without commotion,
Taking their tribute, but remaining sea.”
There is a picture
“Yea! whoso, shaking off the yoke of flesh”
No longer subject as the fallen creature.
“Lives lord, not servant, of his lusts; set free
From pride, from passion, from the sin of Self,
Toucheth tranquillity! O Pritha's Son!
That is the state of God! There rests no dread
When that last step is reached! Live where he will,
Face what he may, such passeth from all 'plaining,
To blest Nirvana, with the Gods, attaining.”
Arjuna asks another question
“Thou whom all mortals praise, Janardana
If meditation be a nobler thing
Than action, wherefore, then, great Kesava!
Dost thou impel me to this dreadful fight?
Now am I by thy doubtful speech disturbed!
Tell me one thing, and tell me certainly;
By what road shall I find the better end?”
How often I have heard human beings—putting it in different words, of course—say the same thing. And, they even told the Master the same sort of thing. Remember the passage, “You say this and you say that. Well, now, we don't know what you mean. Tell us plainly.”? So, Krishna answers. And how does he start this?
“I told thee, blameless Lord!”
No condemnation because he has not seen it yet, because he is still a little dense.
“I told thee, blameless Lord! there be two paths
Shown to this world; two schools of wisdom.”
Yet these two are one—the way of works and the way of meditation or centering spiritually.
“Yet these are one!
No man shall 'scape from act
By shunning action”
No one can escape from the necessities of action by shunning action.
“Nay, and none shall come
By mere renouncements unto perfectness.
Nay, and not one jot of time, at any time,
Rests any actionless.”
There is no such thing as an actionless state. Action. Right action for right action's sake, not for the reward of action but because right action is the right thing at the right time.
“No man shall 'scape from act
By shunning action; nay, and none shall come
By mere renouncements unto perfectness.”
o many times people try to withdraw from the world, the practical necessities of life. They are going to go into some retreat, they are going to go into some mountain fastness, they are going to go and join some monks somewhere, or something else, and they are going to come to a state of perfectness by such action; but it does not work.
“Nay, and no jot of time, at any time,
Rests any actionless.”
There is action, in one, through one, and around one, all the time. And, if you were to take the dust to which the body of some person who has passed away, has returned, take it and examine it, would you find it actionless? No. You cannot touch any realm, anywhere, at any time, where there is no action. The patterns of action in the higher realms are different than those here, so it may seem that there is something actionless somewhere; but the interaction of the vibratory forces of being extend to the uttermost parts of the cosmos. And so, at no time, at any time, rests any actionless. “His nature's law compels him compels him into act; for thought is act in fancy.”
“He who sits
Suppressing all the instruments of flesh,
Yet in his idle heart thinking on them,
Plays the inept and guilty hypocrite.”
How true. Now, as I said before, we are going to have to skip some of this because our time simply will not permit us to examine every part.
“Who eat of food after their sacrifice
Are quit of fault, but they that spread a feast
All for themselves, eat sin and drink of sin.”
We could spend quite a bit of time on that, but we will pass it for the moment.
“And rain comes by the pious sacrifice.”
Rain—what? Rain is moisture, water; water is truth; so whether we are thinking of it from the standpoint of the physical earth or the individual life which has become thirsty and parched and dry, withered because of a lack of the water of Truth. Rain comes by the pious sacrifice.” Now what is the pious sacrifice? Human beings say, “Well, I'm going to sacrifice this, and I'll sacrifice that, and I'll sacrifice the other thing.” If the human being is thinking of his act as a sacrifice, he is not offering a pious sacrifice. The sacrifice is the expression of oneself. If I am—let me say, my body is weary at the end of a day, and someone comes who has a need, perhaps an attunement, perhaps some counsel, perhaps some encouragement, something. Now, it depends upon the pattern of response, of course. Sometimes we help most by keeping silent, so we cannot arbitrarily compare. But, if under those conditions I find it wise to proceed, and act and serve, if I am thinking of that as, “Well now, I'm making a sacrifice—some good will surely accrue to me because I make this sacrifice—I use my energies, I use my time, instead of going and doing what I wish, or sleeping or something else.” Is that a sacrifice in such a case? No. The pious sacrifice is never thought of as such, not as a sacrifice. It is the true expression of oneself. It is not something calculated. It is the natural thing that one does under a given circumstance, the true expression of one's own real being. And thereby comes the rain, the rain of the Water of Truth.
“Thus action is of God, who is One,
The Only, All-pervading; at all times
Present in” true life action. “He that abstains
To help the rolling wheels of this great world,
Glutting his idle sense, lives a lost life,
Shameful and vain. Existing for himself,
Self-concentrated, serving self alone,
No part hath he in aught; nothing achieved,
Nought wrought or unwrought toucheth him; no hope
Of help for all the living things of earth
Depends from him.”
Or comes from him. Now, a useless creature, the self-centered one. We have recognized the principle with respect to self-centeredness in our previous meditations. But here we see the vivid portrayal.
“He that abstains” fails
To help the rolling wheels of this great world,
Glutting his idle sense, lives a lost life” — mere existence,
“Shameful and in vain. Existing for himself,
Self-centered, serving self alone,
He has no part in anything; nothing achieved,
Nothing wrought or unwrought toucheth him.”
He has not accomplished anything, and he is not going to accomplish anything, he is not helping to accomplish anything.
“… no hope
Of help for all the living things of earth
Comes from him.”
He is not helping anyone, anywhere, anything. Self-centeredness in contrast to true centering, or God centering; for in God centering, as you share with God, the help of God extends through you to all things that will receive, all persons who will receive.
“Therefore, thy task prescribed
With spirit unattached gladly perform.
Since in performance of plain duty man
Mounts to his highest bliss. By works alone”
Certain “ancient saints reached blessedness!
Moreover, for the upholding of thy kind,
Action thou should'st embrace. What the wise choose
The unwise people take.”
Not all of them, of course, but some. What the wise choose the unwise will follow; but if you, being wise, choose not the right way, what is achieved? Nothing.
“What the wise choose”
— and wisdom, the sense of the fitness of things —
“The unwise people take; what best men do
The multitude will follow. Look on me.
Thou Son of Pritha! in the three wide worlds.”
— the three wide worlds: physical, mental, spiritual —
“… in the three wide worlds
I am not bound to any toil, no height
Awaits to scale, no gift remains to gain,
Yet I act here!”
For he was the charioteer, appearing as a servant.
“Yet I act here!
And, if I acted not —
Earnest and watchful — those that look to me
For guidance, sinking back to sloth again
Because I slumbered, would decline from good,
And I should break earth's order and commit
Her offspring unto ruin.”
Perhaps you think you have achieved enough, that you are great enough, that you have attained enough, so that there is nothing more for you to gain. I doubt it really, but, suppose you did think that. No necessity for you to work, to do, to act in the world, the realm of men—in the practical living of life, you say? Oh yes, there is! Remember Krishna's words.
“Look on me,
Thou Son of Pritha! in the three wide worlds
I am not bound to any toil, no height
Awaits to scale, no gift remains to gain,
Yet I act here! and, if I acted not —
Earnest and watchful — those that look to me
For guidance, sinking back to sloth again
Because I slumbered, would decline from good,
And I should break earth's order and commit
Her offspring unto ruin …
Even as the unknowing toil, wedded to sense,
So the enlightened toil, sense-freed, but set
To bring the world deliverance, and its bliss;
Not sowing in those simple, busy hearts
Seed of despair.”
Now, so often, those who begin to think that they have attained something do, by their very attitude, by the way they speak, by the things they do, begin to sow seed of despair in those busy hearts. “Not sowing in those simple, busy hearts seed of despair.” So, remember that a part of our service is to so function that we do not sow seeds of despair in others, but constantly inspire to that which is higher and more beautiful.
“Yea! let each play his part
In all he finds to do, with unyoked soul.
All things are everywhere by
Nature wrought
In interaction of the qualities.
The fool …”
Now what is the fool? The one who is not wise, the one who does not have a sense of the fitness of things.
“The fool, cheated by self …”
And he always cheats himself. He thinks he is cheating someone else, but he always cheats himself.
“The fool, cheated by self, thinks, ‘This I did’
And ‘That I wrought;’ but — ah, thou strong-armed Prince! —
A better-lessoned mind, knowing the play
Of visible things within the world of sense,
And how the qualities must qualify,
Standeth aloof even from his acts. Th' untaught
Live mixed with them …” — that is, mixed with the acts.
“Knowing not Nature's way,
Of highest aims unwitting, slow and dull.”
What a picture!
“The fool, cheated by self, thinks, ‘This I did,’
And ‘That I wrought;’ but — ah, thou strong-armed Prince! —
A better-lessoned mind, knowing the play
Of visible things within the world of sense,
And how the qualities must qualify,
Standeth aloof even from his acts.
The untaught live mixed with them.”
Now there is where you come into the realm of service, if you are going to be Servers. People are living mixed up in their own acts, and they cannot distinguish between themselves and their actions, what they are doing and what they are trying to do. They are all mixed up as if they were eggs mixed into the dough with an egg beater. And you have to get the person back to one point, into alignment so that he is not scattered, he is one thing, in one place. His body is here, his mind is here, his heart is here, his emotional pattern is centered, he is one being, an individual, all in one place with one accord. But can you be this while you are mixed up with the things you are trying to do? Oh, you will act; but you will not be mixed with the action. It will be you acting, and the action, as such, will be separate from you. It will be something expressed through you because you live. But …
“Th’ untaught
Live mixed up with them” — their actions — “not knowing Nature's way,
Of highest aims unwitting, slow and dull.
Those make thou not to stumble, having the light;
But all thy dues discharging, for My sake,
With meditation centred …
Seeking no profit, satisfied, serene,
Heedless of issue — fight!” — act, live, do —
"They who shall keep
My ordinance thus, the wise and willing hearts,
Have quittance from all issue of their acts.”
They are not held accountable on the basis of the result of action when they do the right thing. That applies to you. If you are functioning mixed up in your actions, then the action and the result of action are likewise mixed. But, if we act properly, if we function on the basis of right action for right action's sake, we do not have personal responsibility with respect to the result of action in someone else's life. If someone else reacts wrongly, in spite of the fact that we did the right thing, we have no responsibility. If we do the wrong thing and someone else does the wrong thing, we share the responsibility.
But right action for right action's sake, and we are quit of responsibility for the results of action.
“They who shall keep
My ordinance thus, the wise and willing hearts,
Have quittance from all issue of their acts;
But those who disregard My ordinance,
Thinking they know, know nought, and fall to loss,
Confused and foolish. ‘Sooth, the instructed one
Doth of his kind, following what fits him most:
And lower creatures of their kind; in vain
Contending 'gainst the law.”
Now, we look out in the world and we see human beings contending in vain against the Law. They do not even know what the Law is. And, if we are true Servers, they come to us broken in body, heart, disturbed and weary, minds perhaps unbalanced, at least in turmoil, and what happens? They have to begin to learn by some means to stop contending with the Law; for to fight against the Law is a vain thing; it will not work. And how are they going to learn? You are going to instruct them with your lips, you are going to tell them how much you know, start in at once and say, “Well now, the Law is thus and so; if you'll do thus and so”? No. They cannot hear you because their ears are filled with the ringing of the noises of their own actions and the results of their own actions, and their minds are places of confusion. They cannot hear you, they cannot understand. Do not try to expect them to. What is it that is going to touch? If you are, in fact, in reality, the revelation on earth of that Reality, they will feel it, they will begin to sense, “Here is one whom I can trust. Here is a place of peace. Here is one who knows.” And, it may not come as a burst of sudden illumination, but gradually you will win their hearts, you will begin to build, and you will be the means by which they come to know the things of God. But if you let them stop with you, you will fail; for they must come to know the things of God on their own, but you must be the door, the starting point. And so unless you are the revelation of this, you cannot help others.
“The objects of the sense will stir the sense
To like and dislike.”
Now, if we function on the basis of liking and disliking, we are not integrated human beings. There may be preferences, and there may be times when we can properly exert our preference, but if we are living on a basis of like and dislike we are creatures of chance, we are not our own, we are ungoverned, we cannot know what it is to have joy and happiness and peace and satisfaction.
“The objects of the sense will stir the sense
To like and dislike, yet th’ enlightened man
Yields not to these, knowing them to be enemies.
Finally, this is better, that one do
His own task as he may.”
Remember this!
“… this is better, that one do
His own task as he may, even though he fail,
Than take tasks not his own, though they seem good.”
You have an appointed task that only you can do. And, for instance, if I, assisting you along the way, take your tasks and do them for you, nothing is gained. I may help you at first, but I must insist that you do your own task even though to the mind, not yet enlightened, it may seem that you are going to fail. Well then you have to take the attitude until you reach the point of knowing that, “Even though I do fail, it is better that I do my own task and do it well, as well as I may.”
“Finally, this is better, that one do
His own task as he may.”
And that does not mean that he can be sloppy about it, that he can just not give his full attention to it. No, he must do his best.
“Finally, this is better, that one do
His own task as he may, even though he fail,
Than take tasks not his own, though they seem good.”
Now, there is so much here that perhaps in season we may touch upon, if our time permits. I have, for the little time yet remaining in this Class—our time seems to have passed; we will take some extra time—something that is to me one of the most exquisite portrayals, or perhaps the most, to be found in all literature, something that gives you a sense of knowing God, of drawing close to God, of seeing the nature of Deity. And to conclude our pattern this afternoon—it is afternoon now—I am going to ask all of you not to take any notes. Please set it aside, relax, let go. Actually, this is not the proper Class to take notes in anyway; but now, no notes. Let us relax and be truly centered in one thing, and share, feel, the Spirit within the words. Arjuna speaks:
“This, for my soul's peace, have I heard from Thee,
The unfolding of the Mystery Supreme
… comprehending which,
My darkness is dispelled; for now I know —
O Lotus-eyed! — whence is the birth of men,
And whence their death, and what the majesties
Of Thine immortal rule. Fain would I see,
As thou Thyself declar'st it, Sovereign Lord!
The likeness of that glory of Thy Form
Wholly revealed.”
Now, remember, that the Lord's Prayer concludes: “Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory,” and how often those words are repeated and how little they mean. What is the Glory, and how may we share it? Is God trying to take it away from us, or is He offering to share it with us? He is offering to share it with us. What is that Glory?
“Fain would I see,
As thou Thyself declar'st it, Sovereign Lord!
The likeness of that glory of Thy Form
Wholly revealed. O Thou Divinest One!
If this can be, if I may bear the sight,
Make Thyself visible, Lord of all prayers!
Show me Thy very self, the Eternal God!”
Krishna answers
“Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for thee
Those hundred thousand thousand shapes that clothe my Mystery:
I show thee all my semblances, infinite, rich, divine,
My changeful hues, my countless forms. See! in this face of mine,
Wonders unnumbered, Indian Prince! revealed to none save thee.
Behold! this is the Universe! — Look! what is live and dead
I gather all in one — in Me! Gaze, as thy lips have said,
On GOD ETERNAL, VERY GOD! See Me! see what thou prayest!
“Thou canst not! — nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! every mayest!
Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light!
And, look! This is My glory, unveiled to mortal sight!”
Sanjaya
“Then, O King! to God, so saying,
Stood, to Pritha's Son displaying
All the splendour, wonder, dread
Of His vast Almighty-head.
Out of countless eyes beholding,
Out of countless mouths commanding,
Countless mystic forms enfolding
In one Form: supremely standing
Countless radiant glories wearing,
Countless heavenly weapons bearing,
Crowned with garlands of star-clusters,
Robed in garb of woven lustres,
Breathing from His perfect Presence
Breaths of every subtle essence
Of all heavenly odours; shedding
Blinding brilliance; overspreading —
Boundless, beautiful — all spaces
With His all-regarding faces;
So He showed! If there should rise
Suddenly within the skies
Sunburst of a thousand suns,
Flooding earth with beams undeemed-of,
Then might be that Holy One's
Majesty and radiance dreamed of!
“So did Pandu's Son behold
All this universe enfold
All its huge diversity
Into one vast shape, and be
Visible, and viewed, and blended
In one Body — subtle, splendid,
Nameless — th' All-comprehending
God of Gods, the Never-Ending Deity!
“But, sore amazed,
Thrilled, o'erfilled, dazzled, and dazed,
Arjuna knelt; and bowed his head,
And clasped his palms; and cried, and said:
Yea! I have seen! I see!
Lord! all is wrapped in Thee!
The gods are in Thy glorious frame! the creatures
Of earth, and heaven, and hell
In Thy Divine form dwell,
And in Thy countenance shine all the features
Of Brahma, sitting lone
Upon His lotus-throne;
Of saints and sages, and the serpent races …
Yea! mightiest Lord! I see
Thy thousand thousand arms, and breasts, and faces,
And eyes — on every side
Perfect, diversified;
And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning,
Nowhere a centre! Shifts —
Wherever soul's gaze lifts —
Thy central Self, all-wielding, and all-winning!
“Infinite King! I see
The anadem on Thee,
The club, the shell, the discus; see Thee burning
In beams insufferable,
Lighting earth, heaven, and hell
With brilliance blazing, glowing, flashing; turning
Darkness to dazzling day,
Look I whichever way;
Ah, Lord! I worship Thee, the Undivided,
The Uttermost of thought,
The Treasure-Palace wrought
To hold the wealth of the worlds; the Shield provided
To shelter Virtue's laws;
The Fount whence Life's stream draws
All waters of all rivers of all being:
The One Unborn, Unending:
Unchanging and Unblending!
With might and majesty, past thought, past seeing!
Silver of moon and gold
Of sun are glories rolled
From Thy great eyes; Thy visage, beaming tender
Throughout the stars and skies,
Doth to warm life surprise
Thy Universe. The worlds are filled with wonder
Of Thy perfections! Space
Star-sprinkled, and void place
From pole to pole of the Blue, from bound to bound,
Hath Thee in every spot,
Thee, Thee! — Where Thou art not,
O Holy, Marvellous Form! is nowhere found!
“O Mystic, Awful One!
At sight of Thee, made known,
The Three Worlds quake; the lower gods draw nigh Thee;
They fold their palms, and bow
Body, and breast, and brow,
And, whispering worship, laud and magnify Thee!
“The Responding Ones cry
‘Hail! Highest Majesty!’
From sage and singer breaks the hymn of glory
In dulcet harmony,
Sounding the praise of Thee;
While countless companies take up the story,
Those who ride the storms,
And the shining forms,
And the heavenly, fair, the Twins,
These see Thee, and revere
In sudden-stricken fear;
Yea! the Worlds — seeing Thee with form stupendous,
With faces manifold,
With eyes which all behold,
Unnumbered eyes, vast arms, members tremendous,
Flanks, lit with sun and star,
Feet planted near and far,
Tusks of terror, mouths wrathful and tender; —
The Three wide Worlds before Thee
Adore, as I adore Thee,
Quake, as I quake, to witness so much splendour!
“I mark Thee strike the skies
With front, in wondrous wise
Huge, rainbow-painted, glittering; and thy mouth
Opened, and orbs which see
All things, whatever be
In all Thy worlds, east, west, and north and south.
O Eyes of God ! O Head!
My strength of soul is fled,
Gone is heart's force, rebuked is mind's desire!
When I behold Thee so,
With awful brows a-glow,
With burning glance, and lips lighted by fire
Fierce as those flames which shall
Consume, at close of all,
Earth, Heaven! Ah me! I see no Earth and Heaven!
Thee, Lord of Lords! I see,
Thee only — only Thee!
Now let Thy mercy unto me be given,
Thou Refuge of the World!
“Lo! to the cavern hurled
Of Thy wide-opened throat, and lips white-tusked,
I see our noblest ones,
From end to end of earth,
Filling life full, from birth
To death, with deadly, burning, lurid dread!
Ah, Vishnu! make me know
Why is Thy visage so?
Who art Thou,
Who? awful Deity! I bow myself to Thee,
O Mightiest Lord! rehearse
Why hast Thou face so fierce?
Whence doth this aspect horrible proceed?”
Sanjaya
“Hearing mighty Keshav's word,
Tremblingly that helmed Lord
Clasped his lifted palms, and — praying
Grace of Krishna — stood there, saying,
With bowed brow and accents broken,
These words, timorously spoken:”
Arjuna
“Worthily, Lord of Might!
The whole world hath delight
In Thy surpassing power, obeying Thee;
All parts of the world respond.
Thou, of all souls the Soul!
The Comprehending Whole!
Of being formed, and formless being the Framer;
O Utmost One! O Lord!
Therefore, with body bent
And reverent intent,
I praise, and serve, and seek Thee, asking grace.
As father to a son,
As friend to friend, as one
Who loveth to his lover, turn Thy face
In gentleness on me!
Good is it I did see
This unknown marvel of Thy Form! But fear
Mingles with joy! Retake,
Dear Lord! for pity's sake
Thine earthly shape, which earthly eyes may bear!
“Be merciful, and show
The visage that I know;
Let me regard Thee, as of yore, arrayed
With disc and forehead-gem,
With mace and anadem,
Thou that sustainest all things! Undismayed
Let me once more behold
The form I loved of old,
Thou of the thousand arms and countless eyes!
This frightened heart is fain
To see restored again
My Charioteer, in Krishna's kind disguise.”
Krishna
“Yea!” thou has seen, Arjuna! because I loved thee well,
The secret countenance of Me, revealed by mystic spell.
Shining, and wonderful, and vast, majestic, manifold,
Which none save thou in all the years had favour to behold:
For not by Vedas cometh this, nor sacrifice, nor alms,
Nor works well-done, nor penance long, nor prayers, nor chaunted psalms,
That mortal eyes should bear to view the Immortal Soul unclad,
Prince of the Surus! This was kept for thee alone! Be glad!
Let no more trouble shake thy heart, because thine eyes have seen
My terror with My glory. As I before have been
So will I be again for thee; with lightened heart behold!
Once more I am thy Krishna, the form thou knew'st of old!”
Sanjaya
“These words to Arjuna spake
Vasudev, and straight did take
Back again the semblance dear
Of the well-loved charioteer;
Peace and joy it did restore
When the Prince beheld once more
Mighty Brahma’s form and face
Clothed in Krishna's gentle grace.”
Arjuna
“Now that I see come back, Janardana!
This friendly human frame, my mind can think
Calm thoughts once more; my heart beats still again!”
Krishna
“Yea! it was wonderful and terrible
To view me as thou didst, dear Prince! The gods
Dread and desire continually to view!
Yet not by Vedas, nor from sacrifice,
Nor penance, nor gift-giving, nor with prayer
Shall any so behold, as thou hast seen!
Only by fullest service, perfect faith,
And uttermost surrender am I known
And seen, and entered into, Indian Prince!
Who doeth all for Me; who findeth Me
In all; adoreth always; loveth all
Which I have made, and Me, for Love's sole end,
That man, Arjuna! unto Me doth wend.”
