Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 48 — Visvarupa Darsana Yoga
Sanskrit
न वेदयज्ञाध्ययनैर्न दानैर्- न च क्रियाभिर्न तपोभिरुग्रैः | एवंरूपः शक्य अहं नृलोके द्रष्टुं त्वदन्येन कुरुप्रवीर ||११-४८||
Transliteration
na vedayajñādhyayanairna dānaira- na ca kriyābhirna tapobhirugraiḥ . evaṃrūpaḥ śakya ahaṃ nṛloke draṣṭuṃ tvadanyena kurupravīra ||11-48||
Hindi Meaning
।।11.48।। हे कुरुप्रवीर! तुम्हारे अतिरिक्त इस मनुष्य लोक में किसी अन्य के द्वारा मैं इस रूप में, न वेदाध्ययन और न यज्ञ, न दान और न (धार्मिक) क्रियायों के द्वारा और न उग्र तपों के द्वारा ही देखा जा सकता हूँ।।
English Meaning
O best of the Kuru warriors, no one before you has ever seen this universal form of Mine, for neither by studying the Vedas, nor by performing sacrifices, nor by charity, nor by pious activities, nor by severe penances can I be seen in this form in the material world.
Commentary
The divine vision in this connection should be clearly understood. Who can have divine vision? Divine means godly. Unless one attains the status of divinity as a demigod, he cannot have divine vision. And what is a demigod? It is stated in the Vedic scriptures that those who are devotees of Lord Viṣṇu are demigods ( viṣṇu-bhaktaḥ smṛto daivaḥ ). Those who are atheistic, i.e., who do not believe in Viṣṇu, or who recognize only the impersonal part of Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme, cannot have the divine vision. It is not possible to decry Kṛṣṇa and at the same time have the divine vision. One cannot have the divine vision without becoming divine. In other words, those who have divine vision can also see like Arjuna. The Bhagavad-gītā gives the description of the universal form. Although this description was unknown to everyone before Arjuna, now one can have some idea of the viśva-rūpa after this incident. Those who are actually divine can see the universal form of the Lord. But one cannot be divine without being a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. The devotees, however, who are actually in the divine nature and who have divine vision, are not very much interested in seeing the universal form of the Lord. As described in the previous verse, Arjuna desired to see the four-handed form of Lord Kṛṣṇa as Viṣṇu, and he was actually afraid of the universal form. In this verse there are some significant words, just like veda-yajñādhyayanaiḥ, which refers to studying Vedic literature and the subject matter of sacrificial regulations. Veda refers to all kinds of Vedic literature, such as the four Vedas ( Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva ) and the eighteen Purāṇas, the Upaniṣads and the Vedānta-sūtra. One can study these at home or anywhere else. Similarly, there are sūtras – Kalpa-sūtras and Mīmāṁsā-sūtras – for studying the method of sacrifice. Dānaiḥ refers to charity which is offered to a suitable party, such as those who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord – the brāhmaṇas and the Vaiṣṇavas. Similarly, “pious activities” refers to the agni-hotra and the prescribed duties of the different castes. And the voluntary acceptance of some bodily pains is called tapasya. So one can perform all these – can accept bodily penances, give charity, study the Vedas, etc. – but unless he is a devotee like Arjuna, it is not possible to see that universal form. Those who are impersonalists are also imagining that they are seeing the universal form of the Lord, but from Bhagavad-gītā we understand that the impersonalists are not devotees. Therefore they are unable to see the universal form of the Lord. There are many persons who create incarnations. They falsely claim an ordinary human to be an incarnation, but this is all foolishness. We should follow the principles of Bhagavad-gītā , otherwise there is no possibility of attaining perfect spiritual knowledge. Although Bhagavad-gītā is considered the preliminary study of the science of God, still it is so perfect that it enables one to distinguish what is what. The followers of a pseudo incarnation may say that they have also seen the transcendental incarnation of God, the universal form, but that is unacceptable because it is clearly stated here that unless one becomes a devotee of Kṛṣṇa one cannot see the universal form of God. So one first of all has to become a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa; then he can claim that he can show the universal form of what he has seen. A devotee of Kṛṣṇa cannot accept false incarnations or followers of false incarnations.
Hinglish Commentary
Is sambandh mein divine vision ko achhe se samajhna zaroori hai. Divine ka matlab hai godly, aur sirf wahi log divine vision paa sakte hain jo kisi demigod ki tarah ki stithi tak pahunchte hain. Vedic scriptures ke hisaab se, jo log Lord Viṣṇu ke bhakt hain, wahi demigods hain. Jo log atheistic hain, matlab jo Viṣṇu par vishwas nahi karte ya sirf Kṛṣṇa ke impersonal roop ko hi Supreme samajhte hain, unhe divine vision nahi mil sakta. Kṛṣṇa ko neecha dikhate hue divine vision paa lena mumkin nahi hai. Divine vision tabhi milti hai jab aap khud divine ban jaate hain. Arjuna ki tarah jo log divine vision rakhte hain, wahi universal form ko dekh sakte hain. Bhagavad-gītā mein universal form ka varnan hai, jo Arjuna se pehle kisi ko nahi pata tha, lekin iss ghatna ke baad ab log viśva-rūpa ke baare mein kuch samajh sakte hain. Sirf wahi log jo sach mein divine hain, woh Lord ka universal form dekh sakte hain, lekin bina Kṛṣṇa ke pure devotee bane yeh sambhav nahi hai. Jo bhakt hain aur divine nature rakhte hain, unhe universal form dekhne mein zyada ruchi nahi hoti. Arjuna ne chaar haath wale Kṛṣṇa ko Viṣṇu ki tarah dekhne ki ichha ki thi aur universal form se dar bhi gaya tha. Is shlok mein kuch mahatvapurn shabd hain, jaise veda-yajñādhyayanaiḥ, jo Vedic literature aur sacrificial regulations ki padhai ko darshata hai. Veda ka matlab hai sab tarah ki Vedic literature, jaise chaar Vedas ( Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma aur Atharva ) aur atharah Purāṇas, Upaniṣads aur Vedānta-sūtra. Inhe ghar par ya kahin bhi padh sakte hain. Isi tarah, sūtras bhi hain – Kalpa-sūtras aur Mīmāṁsā-sūtras – jo sacrifice ke method ko samjhate hain. Dānaiḥ charity ko darshata hai jo unhe diya jaata hai jo Lord ke transcendental loving service mein lage hain, jaise brāhmaṇas aur Vaiṣṇavas. "Pious activities" ka matlab hai agni-hotra aur alag-alag castes ke prescribed duties. Aur sharirik takleef ko voluntarily accept karna tapasya kehlata hai. Toh aap in sab cheezon ko kar sakte hain – sharirik tapasya karna, charity dena, Vedas padhna, etc. – lekin agar aap Arjuna jaise devotee nahi hain, toh universal form dekhna sambhav nahi hai. Jo log impersonalists hain, woh bhi sochte hain ki woh Lord ka universal form dekh rahe hain, lekin Bhagavad-gītā se humein samajh aata hai ki impersonalists bhakt nahi hote. Isliye woh Lord ka universal form nahi dekh sakte. Kai log aise incarnations bana dete hain, jo ek aam insaan ko incarnation batate hain, lekin yeh sab bekaar hai. Humein Bhagavad-gītā ke principles ko follow karna chahiye, nahi toh perfect spiritual knowledge paa lena mushkil hai. Bhagavad-gītā ko God ki science ka preliminary study mana jaata hai, lekin yeh itni perfect hai ki yeh humein sahi aur galat mein farq karne ki shakti deti hai. Jo log pseudo incarnation ke followers hain, woh keh sakte hain ki unhone bhi God ka transcendental incarnation, universal form dekha hai, lekin yeh galat hai, kyunki yeh saaf saaf kaha gaya hai ki jab tak koi Kṛṣṇa ka bhakt nahi ban jaata, tab tak woh God ka universal form nahi dekh sakta. Toh sabse pehle, kisi ko Kṛṣṇa ka pure devotee banna padega; tabhi woh yeh daawa kar sakta hai ki usne jo dekha hai, uska universal form dikhane ka haq hai. Kṛṣṇa ka bhakt kabhi false incarnations ya unke followers ko nahi maan sakta.
Chinmaya Commentary
यहाँ भगवान् यह स्पष्ट करते हैं कि किस कारण से अर्जुन इस असाधारण अनुभव को प्राप्त करने में विशेष अभिनन्दन का पात्र है। वे कहते हैं कि केवल वेदों का अध्ययन या यज्ञादि के अनुष्ठान से ही किसी में इस विश्वरूप को देख सकते की पात्रता नहीं आती। उसी प्रकार दान धर्म या तप के आचरण से प्राप्त पुण्य भी इस दर्शन का अधिकार नहीं प्राप्त करता है। संक्षेप में कठिन साधनाओं के अभ्यास से भी जिसे पाना दुर्लभ है उसे अर्जुन ने प्राप्त कर लिया और इस कारण वह विशेष अभिनन्दन का पात्र है।भगवान् द्वारा यहाँ कहे गये वचनों का विपरीत अर्थ करके कोई यह नहीं समझे कि उन्होंने वेदाध्ययनादि की निन्दा की है अथवा ये समस्त साधन अनुपयोगी होने के कारण त्याज्य हैं। तात्पर्य यह है कि अध्ययन यज्ञ दान और तप ये सब अन्तकरण की शुद्धि तथा एकाग्रता प्राप्ति के साधन हैं जो अनेकता में एकता के दर्शन करने के लिए अत्यावश्यक है। परन्तु कोई यह भी नहीं समझे कि यज्ञदानादि साधन अपने आप में ही पूर्ण हैं या वे ही साध्य हैं। केवल वेदाध्ययन आदि से ही एकत्व का बोध और साक्षात् अनुभव नहीं हो सकता। जब साधन सम्पन्न मन वृत्तिशून्य हो जाता है केवल तभी उसकी उस अन्तर्मुखी स्थिति में यह दर्शन सम्भव होता है। तात्पर्य यह है कि भोजन पाक सिद्धि अपने आप में क्षुधा शान्ति नहीं कर सकती किन्तु इसका अर्थ यह नहीं कि पाकसिद्धि अनावश्यक है। इस दृष्टि से हमें इस श्लोक का अर्थ समझना चाहिए।भगवान् आगे कहते हैं