BG 10.16

We are in the sannidhi of Sri Senkamalavalli Thayar at Thalaichanga Nanmadhiyam. She showers mercy on the devotees. The coolness in the Lord's grace is due to Sri Thayar. To cool hot water we can add cold water; but there is no need to add cold water to cool cold water. The Lord is like hot water and Sri Thayar is cold water, and makes the hot water, warm enough for our comfort. Here we can worship Sri Andal also. Normally, the hair style of Sri Andal would be on the right; but here, it is on the left.


Sri Andal in one of Her pasurams, tells about the quality of the Lord. 'Kadhir madhiyam pol mugatthan, narayanane namakke parai tharuvan' [கதிர் மதியம் போல் முகத்தான் நாராயணனே நமக்கே பறை தருவான் ]. She emphatically says that we would be granted parai, that is service in Moksham, by the Lord alone. She also, like Thirumangai Alwar, says that the Lord's face is like the Sun and the Moon. Moon denotes the mercy and Sun denotes His fame and glory. In the night the stars are all spread on the sky like a carpet, studded with diamonds. But the Moon can take pride that it is considered as the husband of all stars. The Sun may boast that because of Sun only Moon gets the shine. Agni may take pride that even before the Sun and Moon were created, Agni, that is fire, was created as one of the Panchabhuta or the great Five elements. But without the power of sight in our eyes, all these can not be seen. So, eyes can claim to be most important. But mere eyes are of no use unless atman is there to perceive. Again, this perception or knowledge of seeing by Atman, has to be granted by the Lord. Therefore, the Lord is the Prime reason and all are dependent on Him. That is what Arjuna praised in the last sloka. Now we have to see sloka 16:

vaktum arhasy asesena
divya hy atma-vibhutayah
yabhir vibhutibhir lokan
imams tvam vyapya tisthasi

"Please tell me in detail of Your divine opulences by which You pervade all these worlds."

Here Arjuna asks the Lord, "My Lord! Please tell me more about Your commanding powers". Earlier the Lord had told that He is the Owner and Commander of all in the Universe and that He has infinite auspicious qualities. In the start of this Chapter, the Lord told that He would preach Bhakti yoga and His glory so that Bhakti could develop. It appears Arjuna is trying to request the Lord not to digress from the main objective. Divya = highly glorious and divine, atma = Your [Sri Krishna's], vibhutaya = commanding power, asesena =without residue or completely, vaktum arhasy = please tell. Yabhi = by which, vibhutibhi = power of command, tvam = You [Sri Krishna], vyapya = pervading, tishtasi = established. By which power of command, the Lord is pervading everything, without exception. Arjuna requests the Lord to tell him without holding back any on such commanding powers. What are these commanding powers? In the last sloka, Arjuna used many epithets like bhuta bhavana, bhutesu, devadeva and jagat pati, etc., to praise the Lord. We should know that the Lord is the God among gods; He is the supreme God. He is the inner force in everything and commands them. He is the Owner of all and commands all. We have to note an important point here. To assume that we are at a place and the Lord is at another place and Gita is instrumental in knowing about Him, is totally wrong and will not progress us. By learning Gita we should realize that the Lord is pervading in every word and syllable of Gita, that He is pervading into Arjuna and everyone of us. We frequently hear people commenting that they have interest in Gita or interested in the Lord. This means those persons assume that they are separate from the Lord or Gita is different from the Lord. It is not like learning maths or science, which are separate from the learners. Atman is self and so it is not different from the learner. To think, to know about self, itself is the power the Lord has granted us. The Lord is the Motive force to think. We have to always think that He is inside everyone of us and is commanding. Arjuna wants to know by which power the Lord is pervading everything. How the Lord pervades and what aids Him to pervade? How are His commands? Whom all He commands? These are all Arjuna's queries. Arjuna wants to know everything about His glory. We have earlier seen that the Lord's greatness can not be understood by even great sages and even by Vedas. Then how can Arjuna understand them? By using the word arhasi, Arjuna implies that only with His blessings and grace, he can try to understand. Our efforts can not make us understand the Lord; but His blessings can make us to realize. With a request again to visit this Kshetram, we will take leave of this place.