“Whatever you wish to see can be seen all at once in this body. This universal form can show you all that you now desire, as well as whatever you may desire in the future. Everything is here completely.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.7)

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इहैकस्थं जगत्कृत्स्नं पश्याद्य सचराचरम् ।
मम देहे गुडाकेश यच्च‍ान्यद्‍द्रष्टुमिच्छसि ॥

ihaika-sthaṁ jagat kṛtsnaṁ
paśyādya sa-carācaram
mama dehe guḍākeśa
yac cānyad draṣṭum icchasi

It is the age-old debate, between the believers and the non-believers. Those who are steadfast in their allegiance discussing with those who are skeptical to the highest degree. Those who see something beyond what the eyes show versus those who require a specific visual, visible in a lasting manner, to reach the same level of faith.

The person skeptical of religion says that there is no God. People are following only out of blind sentiment, you see. Perhaps they were coerced into the practice from repeated dogmatic insistence. Maybe they want to fit in with the crowd, to survive within the society that they live.

The wise person can ask a simple question in response. If the skeptical person requires empirical evidence, in the manner of a scientific exhibition, just what kind of experiment would suffice? Design an experiment, which has its own possible outcomes, that would then prove that God exists, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

1. Someone walking on water

“Bro, I saw it with my own eyes. They walked on water. I am not lying to you. They took the first step and I thought they were sure to fall in. They took the second step and nothing. It was like they were floating. There was no platform underneath. Think about it. That person must be God or someone sent by Him.”

2. Someone showing strength

“Bro, I saw it with my own eyes. They uprooted that large tree by themselves. No machines to help them. They did it without preparation, too. It was not like they took one of those pre-workout supplements that athletes are known to rely upon.

“They not only ripped out this large tree, but they held it up in the air. Can you do that? It was not a figment of the imagination. I was not suffering from a spell of hallucination. This person must be God or a higher being.”

3. Someone rising from the dead

“Bro, he has risen. He came back. We thought he was gone. We were mistaken. He is back within that body. I am telling you, all the vital signs were in the negative. He was pronounced as officially gone. He came back on his own, too. He claims that he can repeat the same at any time he wants, at his own desire.”

4. Someone showing the universal form

This was the vision famously shown to Arjuna, the bow-warrior hero from the Mahabharata history. As when entering a 3D film presentation the audience receives a special set of glasses to enable proper viewing, Arjuna received a special set of eyes to see this exhibition which had never been seen before.

न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा ।
दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षु: पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् ॥

na tu māṁ śakyase draṣṭum
anenaiva sva-cakṣuṣā
divyaṁ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ
paśya me yogam aiśvaram

“But you cannot see Me with your present eyes. Therefore I give to you divine eyes by which you can behold My mystic opulence.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.8)

The vision of the universal form was at Arjuna’s request. It was like he knew about it or heard about it beforehand. He knew that the person who can show it, Shri Krishna, does not walk around with that vision. Krishna is two-handed, a beautiful youth, the maintainer of the people, and the one who gives pleasure to the senses.

But He is also the universal form. This is like a three-dimensional image, with a time element, that depicts the entire universe. Hence it is known as the virat-rupa. The existence of this image is constant, as the entirety, the sum collection, the whole cosmic manifestation always exists, but the specific display of the image is rare.

5. Someone providing eternal wisdom

The same Shri Krishna provides eternal wisdom, in the form of Bhagavad-gita itself. Though it has a narrative, though it has a beginning, middle, and end, and though it has the scene of the universal form itself, Bhagavad-gita is known primarily as a transfer of knowledge. It is ageless wisdom, passed down to Arjuna in that specific instance, but continuing in its relevance to this day.

The Vaishnava, who has intelligence based on their association with sadhu, shastra, and guru, does not rely on visuals alone to validate their intuition pointing in the direction of believing in the existence of a higher being. The intelligent person already knows that there is someone else ultimately responsible for the results to action.

प्रकृतेः क्रियमाणानि
गुणैः कर्माणि सर्वशः
अहङ्कार-विमूढात्मा
कर्ताहम् इति मन्यते

prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.27)

They know that the living entity is otherwise powerless in the birth-placement process. They know that everyone ultimately submits to the greater force known as death, which is actually just a manifestation of time, kala. In this way, even the supposed atheist is a believer. They merely get the visual evidence they insist upon at the time of death.

अज्ञश् चाश्रद्दधानश् च
संशयात्मा विनश्यति
नायं लोको ऽस्ति न परो
न सुखं संशयात्मनः

ajñaś cāśraddadhānaś ca
saṁśayātmā vinaśyati
nāyaṁ loko ‘sti na paro
na sukhaṁ saṁśayātmanaḥ

“But ignorant and faithless persons who doubt the revealed scriptures do not attain God consciousness. For the doubting soul there is happiness neither in this world nor in the next.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.40)

Even the vision of the universal form is not significant to the Vaishnava. They do not view God as a product of some cheap parlor trick, to be whipped out whenever convenient. The wisdom is more important. The validation comes from accepting jnana and then acquiring vijnana through application of the principles.

यो मां पश्यति सर्वत्र
सर्वं च मयि पश्यति
तस्याहं न प्रणश्यामि
स च मे न प्रणश्यति

yo māṁ paśyati sarvatra
sarvaṁ ca mayi paśyati
tasyāhaṁ na praṇaśyāmi
sa ca me na praṇaśyati

“For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.30)

If a person is steady in their practice, if they carry the same lack of envy found in Arjuna, if they deliberate on their own, then they will one day see the influence of God everywhere. They will never feel alone. They will never feel abandoned. They will always be with Him, and He will always be with them.

In Closing:

Always with me,
And everywhere to see.

Special image not needed,
Or into exhibit proceeded.

Because knowledge first gave,
For my outlook to save.

From the guru kindly passed,
Consciousness through time to last.

Categories: the five

Tags: god, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, religion