Commentary introduction to Chapter 11

Now, woven in the story of the eleventh chapter are two sentiments which describe the vision of the Omnipresent Deity revealed to Partha. While the sentiment of serenity hails the miraculous as guest, the other sentiments too share the honour of wheeling into the illustrious line. As at a nuptial festivity, the medley of revellers too are recipients of gifts or the finery which they show off, so does the entire galaxy of the nine elevated sentiments of art (Rasas) adorn the splendid throne of my mother-tongue. From the brilliant cluster, however, the serene and the miraculous stand out in full relief as if for the very eyes to drink in, like the gods Vishnu and Shankara, affectionately holding each other in fond embrace. Or again in the narrative of the eleventh, the serene and the miraculous blend like the spheres of the Sun and the Moon, meeting on the New Moon day.

Like the sacred streams of Ganges and Jamna joining to make the holy place Prayag (Modem Allahabad) the two elevated sentiments of the serene and the illustrious have here blended to make another Prayag for the whole world to take a holy bath in and to purify itself. Here, indeed, is another veritable Triveni (confluence of the Ganges, the Jamna, and the Sarasvati) since amidst these two visible streams of sentiments of the serene and the miraculous, the Gita as Sarasvati, is hidden.

The name of Ganges, especially applies to it at Prayag, where it meets the Jamna and is supposed to receive underground, the Sarasvati. Verily says Jnandev “My merciful preceptor has inspired me to make immersion into holy waters safe and secure for all by the door of hearing. By the grace of Shri Nivrittinath, through the high-levelled banks of Sanskrit text, hard of access, an easy pathvay of Marathi words is cut out, that leads to the treasure house of Divine Truth. So to one that lives up to the best of his faith, is held out the promise that a dip in these holy waters shall secure him the vision of the Omnipresent Madhava of this Prayaga, by which he shall renounce (tilāñjalī) all worldly life.

Let that pass! Here in this chapter have burst in full bloom the most elevated of such visible beauty that a whole realm of resounding joy has been won for the ear of Mankind for here, both the Shanta and the Adbhuta sentiments (Serene and miraculous) move in their palpable beauty and heighten the other sentiments too: this is little praise indeed, for it opens the prospect of nothing less than absolute liberation. This is that eleventh chapter whereto the Supreme Person (Lord Krishna) retires as his abode of rest; and Arjuna too, the Prince amongst fortune’s favourites, is here (to claim his share). Why mention only Arjuna who is present at this supreme hour? For one and all here is a prospect of abundance of Supreme bliss, now that the Gita teachings are made to appear in Marathi garb.

Therefore, Oh, my master, this is my earnest prayer that you listen with open ears. Also my taking liberties ill becomes the honour of a saintly gathering like this; yet shall I beseach you, sirs, that you treat me as your child. Why indeed one does receive with an admiring nod a parrot taught by oneself? And does not a mother’s heart rejoice in the sportive pranks of her child? (In that way) Oh, my masters, all my childish chatter is of your making. So will you be pleased to listen to your own talk? You have yourself planted this beautiful plant of eloquence, and may it now be reared and nurtured with the ambrosial waters streaming from your rapt attention. And then it will blossom into beautiful flowers of elevated poetic sentiments and yield a rich crop of spiritual meanings: So shall the world be blessed with abundance of happiness.

My saintly masters, rejoiced at these words and said, “Mightily pleased we are with thy well-tuned words; now tell us what Arjuna said further.”

Then the disciple of Nivritti said, “Oh, that an unlettered man like me could set forth the deep meaning of Lord Krishna’s words to Arjuna!! You give me the power to clothe that meaning in words! Oh, did not the very king of Lanka suffer annihilation by the hands of forest monkeys living on leaves? And was not Partha single handed as he was, armed with power to vanquish an army of eleven Akshauhinis (ākṣauhiṇī [akṣauhiṇī?]—21780 chariots, an equal number of elephants, thrice that number of horses, five times that number of infantry—218700 total strength of the army)? Thus, whatever the Almighty Lord ordains, nothing in the world can prevent. In this wise, make me, Oh saints, give utterance to the Lord’s teaching. Now listen to my words as these set forth the teachings of the Gita that flowed from the mouth of Lord of Vaikuntha. Oh, what a mighty wonder (the book of) the Gita is? The speaker here is Lord Krishna Himself, the Supreme Person and Deity, whom the very Vedas quest and extol. How indeed may the glory thereof be aptly sung—the glory that eludes and baffles the mighty mind of Lord Shiva? Meet it is for me then to prostrate myself in utter humility of soul before that augustly glorious presence. So, hear then how Kiriti yearning to gaze on the visible presence of the Omnipresent Lord comes out with his prayer: By inward realization he had experienced the truth that the entire universe had its being in God; and may not that realization also spread out as a vision for the bodily eye to dwell upon? This was the deepest yearning of his life.

Yet the profoundest mystery of the Omnipresence of Divinity made him chary in asking that supreme favour of God. For he said to himself: “How should I beg straightaway a favour that none of God’s favourites ever asked before? Love forsooth binds me to my Lord, but not so deeply as his mother; and even she shrank from asking for this vast vision. Faithfully have I served my God; yet in my service at best, I cannot touch Garuda and even Garuda did not dare utter a word on this great vision. Am I nearer (to God) than his devotees like Sanaka and others? Yet never once did they fondly cherish such a fantasy. How may I be more beloved of the Lord than the amorous souls of Gokula? Yet, they too, were gulled with the puerile frolicks of the Lord as child; for another devotee, the Lord suffered the agonies of life’s journey through mother’s womb and yet held back the vision of Omnipresence as the deepest secret from one and all.

How then shall I dare to ask unwaveringly for this innermost secret of his Divine life? And yet, if I flinch from this venture, happiness for me there shall be none—nay life may become an uncertainty. So shall I moot the question with caution and leave the rest to the Lord’s will: Not a little agitated in mind, Arjuna, therefore, spoke out his desire, with that knack of artful words which moved Lord Krishna to unveil with a rush the entire Omnipresent vision in a few glimpses of his words.

The mere sight of the calf stirs up the mother cow into an outburst of love. Would she then hold in the flow of milk from the udder as the calf sucksh it? Did not Lord Krishna dash up into the woods to succour the Pandavas? How should He then stand the strain of Arjuna’s earnest prayer? Lord Krishna is, in sooth, the very incarnation of love: that Arjuna’s love is like wild leaven that leavens Lord’s love. In such union of souls it is indeed a miracle that they appear separate. Therefore, on the word coming from Arjuna, Lord Krishna shall straightway reveal Himself as omnipresent deity. Pray listen, how the great Divine event began.