Miscellaneous - Religion   

Cosmic vision

CHENNAI: The Bhagavad Gita affirms that the ultimate goal of life is to attain the Supreme Being and the means in this quest is the Lord Himself. Accordingly the degree of success depends on the individual's faith in the power of God's grace.

In a discourse, Sri Goda Venkateswara Sastrigal pointed out that it was through His self-revelation that Lord Krishna enabled Arjuna to comprehend His all-inclusive character, encompassing the entire cosmic process and destiny.

To know the Lord as the very essence of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence is one thing. But to behold the effulgence of all this in embodied form can be an unnerving and awe-inspiring experience. Arjuna's frame of mind when he beheld the transcendental form of Lord Krishna left him overwhelmed beyond description. Not many can withstand such effulgence.

This vision of the One in the many and the many in the One was an experience full of astonishment, wonder, terror and rapture to Arjuna.

It made him realise Lord Krishna's omniscience that has direct access to the innermost thoughts of each and every one of us. For when he saw the past, present and future clearly revealed in this form, Arjuna was ashamed of his doubts regarding the outcome of the war, which only exposed his lack of confidence in Lord Krishna who was on their side.

Arjuna saw the Lord as the imperishable, the Supreme Truth to be realised, and recognised Him as the protector of the eternal law, and the very primordial Being. This infinite power with innumerable arms, faces and eyes, had no beginning, middle or end. Standing as the one and only support of the entire universe, and towering over Time and Space, He seemed to fill the entire universe. Such a form is not easily accessible to even the celestials. Even those who have studied the scriptures, practised austerities, or performed rituals cannot perceive this form of the Lord. It is only through single-minded and intense devotion that anyone can even endeavour to see it.

The qualifications for those aspiring to know Him are primarily two: practice of detachment with no hatred against any creature and cultivating an unflinching devotion to Him.

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