“O greatest of all personalities, O supreme form, though I see here before me Your actual position, I yet wish to see how You have entered into this cosmic manifestation. I want to see that form of Yours.” (Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.3)

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एवमेतद्यथात्थ त्वमात्मानं परमेश्वर
द्रष्टुमिच्छामि ते रूपमैश्वरं पुरुषोत्तम

evametadyathāttha tvamātmānaṃ parameśvara
draṣṭumicchāmi te rūpamaiśvaraṃ puruṣottama

“I know there is deliberation. I know there is contemplation. I know there is choice. At the same time, the presentation of the Vaishnavas, in the line of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in particular, borders on insistence. As in, you would be crazy not to worship God the person. As in, you are being fooled by the illusory energy of maya if focusing only on the impersonal, which is known by Sanskrit terms such as avyakta and nirguna. You have to worship God as He is. You have to worship Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. We will let it slide if you want to worship Vishnu, who is supposedly identical to Krishna, but also inferior in terms of the relationships that can be established.

“The presentation leans heavily on the Mayavada philosophy. It is like the bogeyman held up high, to absorb the blows. It is the bogus philosophy, to be picked apart, criticized, and debunked. We hear so much of this Mayavada that it is almost a kind of meditation. One wonders what there would be left to say if Mayavada were out of the picture. There is no pun intended, of course. By definition, there cannot be a picture of the impersonal. It is without features. It has no gunas. It is without attributes.

“Anyway, I am not here to choose sides. I am here to point out what might be considered an obvious vulnerability. You see, the foundational text for the Vaishnavas, for the personalists, for the worshipers of the personal God, is Bhagavad-gita. That sacred work is more or less a transcript of a conversation. Long prior to the advent of the tape recorder. There was no court reporter seated nearby, jotting everything down in shorthand, to later be entered into the official record. We have Sanjaya, who has the blessings of Vyasadeva to witness everything taking place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

“The central conversation is between Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna is a bow-warrior, famous throughout the three worlds. He is part of the esteemed set of brothers known as the Pandavas. Krishna, as you might have figured out, is the object of worship. Arjuna is so fortunate to have Krishna nearby. Arjuna does not have to go through an intermediary. He can approach Krishna directly. You would think this is the highest position the individual could reach.

“I am here to spoil the fun. You see, at one point Arjuna asks to see the universal form. This is the entire cosmic manifestation. He wants to see how Krishna enters into it. Krishna is Purushottama, or the Supreme Person. This universal form, known as the virat-rupa, is like the visual equivalent of the impersonal side of Divinity. Does this not debunk the entire presentation of the Vaishnava? If Arjuna is already friends with Krishna, why does he need to see the impersonal? If Arjuna asks to see it, does that not indicate a deficiency in the association of Krishna? In other words, does Arjuna’s request not prove that the impersonal is superior to the personal?”

The key distinction is that Arjuna does not carry a constant awareness of the Divinity of Krishna. They are friends. They are friendly with one another. They view each other as equals. That is the basis for friendship. If my friend suddenly attains the highest stature there is, how can we remain friends? Indeed, this thought occurred to Arjuna after seeing the virat-rupa. He essentially apologized for having behaved so informally with Krishna in the past.

सखेति मत्वा प्रसभं यद् उक्तं
हे कृष्ण हे यादव हे सखेति
अजानता महिमानं तवेदं
मया प्रमादात् प्रणयेन वापि
यच् चावहासार्थम् असत्-कृतो ऽसि
विहार-शय्यासन-भोजनेषु
एको ऽथ वाप्य् अच्युत तत्-समक्षं
तत् क्षामये त्वाम् अहम् अप्रमेयम्

sakheti matvā prasabhaṁ yad uktaṁ
he kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakheti
ajānatā mahimānaṁ tavedaṁ
mayā pramādāt praṇayena vāpi
yac cāvahāsārtham asat-kṛto ‘si
vihāra-śayyāsana-bhojaneṣu
eko ‘tha vāpy acyuta tat-samakṣaṁ
tat kṣāmaye tvām aham aprameyam

“I have in the past addressed You as ‘O Krishna,’ ‘O Yadava,’ ‘O my friend,’ without knowing Your glories. Please forgive whatever I may have done in madness or in love. I have dishonored You many times while relaxing or while lying on the same bed or eating together, sometimes alone and sometimes in front of many friends. Please excuse me for all my offenses.” (Arjuna, Bhagavad-gita, 11.41-42)

Yogamaya is the reason someone like Arjuna can forget the true position of Krishna. Yogamaya is the auspicious version of illusion. This potency is not inhibiting in the way that mahamaya is. Yogamaya keeps a person connected to the Supreme Lord, in the relationship of their choice. In this case, it was friendship. The enjoyment experienced is described by the Sanskrit term “sakhya-rasa”. It is the taste extracted from friendship, from seeing the Almighty as an equal.

‘ममताऽ अधिक। कृष्णे आत्म-सम ज्ञान
अतेव सख्य-रसेर वश भगवान्

‘mamatā’ adhika, kṛṣṇe ātma-sama jñāna
ataeva sakhya-rasera vaśa bhagavān

“On the platform of sakhya-rasa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna is controlled by the devotees who are intimate with Him and think themselves equal to Him.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita, Madhya 19.225)

If the virat-rupa were indeed superior, then Arjuna would have asked to maintain that vision. He would have requested Krishna to carry Himself around in that vision. This would have been a way to overwhelm the naysayers, the enemies, and the atheists. They could have easily been defeated by this glaring effulgence beaming from the vision of the cosmic manifestation.

Instead, Arjuna asked to return to the way things were before. The two went back to the relationship as it began on the battlefield. In essence, there were two transformations in the narrative of Bhagavad-gita. The first was Krishna changing from chariot-driver to guru. He went from the subordinate position to the post of most respected leader. Arjuna went from the person giving orders to the one accepting the highest wisdom. The second transformation was Krishna showing the virat-rupa. Both of these eventually went away, and the two returned to the level of friendship.

This shows the infinite kindness of God. Only in the personal relationship can there be various juxtapositions. Only in the personal relationship can a person ever experience the standing of superiority, albeit one drawn from yogamaya. In bhakti-yoga, not only can a person find God, but they might overcome Him with their dedication in devotion.

In Closing:

To reach destination set,
But for one second forget.

About God to definitely find,
And keep this in mind.

That Arjuna can command,
Request for Krishna to expand.

As the virat-rupa to show,
Glories of devotee to know.

Categories: questions

Tags: bhagavad-gita, dailyprompt, hare krishna, poem, poems, poetry