“in this chapter, Krishna shows his Cosmic form to Arjuna and gives him…”

in this chapter, Krishna shows his Cosmic form to Arjuna and gives him the experience of Universal Consciousness. For the first time, Arjuna is experiencing it. From the beginning he has only been hearing of it again and again. Yesterday he heard the complete expression- Krishna declares, ‘Among the rishis, I am Narada.. whatever is best, I shine in that ’. Today, he proves it by giving a solid experience to Arjuna. The difference between an enlightened man and an egoistic man is that an egoistic man also declares but the enlightened man can give the experience itself.

Hiranyakashipu the king, thought of himself as God and his subjects had to chant his name Hiranyaaya Namaha . Krishna also claimed that he was God. The difference was that Hiranya could not give the experience. He would tell,”Either believe in God or I will kill you”. He could threaten and believe in the belief that people believed him. Understand, conversion by blood or bread does not help. While both declared they were gods, Krishna could give the experience of Universal Consciousness.

How to find out whether a person is enlightened or just egoistic ? This is the scale; if he can give the experience, whatever comes from him is Truth. Here Krishna shows clearly that he IS everything. In Bhagavatham there is a beautiful sloka- Kavakathaamritham thattha jeevanam Kavipireeditham kalmashaavakam Shravanamangalam shreemathaadatam Bhuvigrunandithe bhurithaajana This is a gopika geetham , the gopis sing, ‘ O Krishna ‘, kavakathaamritham.. Your words and words about you, kathaamritham, words of immortality , words of nectar, words both on you and by you, thattha jeevanam kavipireeditham kalmashaavakam Shravanamangalam shreemathaadatam Just by listening, you create auspiciousness in us Bhuvigrunandithe bhurithaajana They are worshipped or expressed as the highest by the great rishis. The people who experienced you feel the joy again and again by speaking about you. They rejuvenate our whole being. Just by listening transports us to a different plane. If you have fallen in love with Krishna , this is the chapter to know Him and enjoy Him. Here in this chapter he does not give any teachings. All intellectual teachings are over . Vidhi and Nisheda – do’s and don’ts- are all over ; he gives the experience directly ,’ I am everything’. He gives the experience of the ultimate Universal Consciousness and that He is present in everything. Arjuna experiences the Universal Consciousness. This whole chapter is pure experience.

The first thing we need to understand is whether it is at all possible to have the experience of the Universal Consciousness . Secondly, what is the basic need to experience it . Thirdly, what really happens inside our being during such an experience. These three things we shall understand from this chapter and the wonderful possibility to experience Krishna as the Cosmic Window.

Yesterday Krishna gave the intellectual explanation the HE is the Ultimate. More than an intellectual expression, I may say this is an expression given to a person who is deeply in love. Krishna can be God only when a person achieves the maturity of Arjuna. The Truth should be declared only when a person is qualified and mature. Only when you reach the maturity of Arjuna, you experience the divinity of Krishna. When you feel deeply connected to a person, he looks divine even though ordinary. Shiva says in the Tantra that when one drops one’s fantasies, he becomes Shiva and his wife becomes Uma. He reaches the state of Shivatva and she reaches the state of Devi.

How does one attain enlightenment living a normal life ? Shiva says there is nothing wrong in husband and wife living normally, but just drop the fantasies. When you live without fantasies, the other person looks like God . Please understand, everybody is God , including you. Each of us carries our own idea of God and tries to put every one into that frame. When they do not fit into it, we throw the person instead of the frame. Shiva asks you to throw the frame and you would then see everybody as God. It is like cutting the foot to fit the shoe ! Alter the shoe, not the foot ! You are intelligent if you do the latter but what most of us do is the former; we have our own imagination of how your wife, husband, son, daughter,brother should be and try to fit them into that frame and suffocate them when they don’t fit. That is why the other always suffocates you. This is why you need your space.

When you are deeply connected with the other person as he or she is, accept anybody as he or she is, you establish a divine relationship. To do so however, you must first learn to accept your own self as you are. When you are continuously engaged in chiseling, your job has no end. You can never be happy by chiseling the outer image ;you can be happy only by dropping your image. A small story – A person presents his friend with a puppy for his marriage. After three months, he asks his friend how he enjoying his married life and if there was any change. The friend replies, ‘ Nothing much , only a small change. In the beginning the puppy used to bark at me and my wife used to bring me the newspaper. Now my wife barks at me and the puppy brings the newspaper !’ . When you try to chisel, there will only be barking with nothing else happening. When you accept everyone as they are, the whole world appears as God.

This can be achieved in two ways. One, by your own tapasya , acquiring maturity by undergoing the experience repeatedly. Secondly, a master can also give you this experience by infusing in you tremendous energy; by bringing you to the same frequency. But even to retain the energy of the master, you need a certain maturity. This is what happens here- the frequency of Krishna’s Vishwaroopa form is too much for Arjuna to bear that he cries out to Krishna to resume his normal form.

A small example – the other day I was watching the disaster of the hurricane Katrina on the TV when one of the ashramites asked me why such calamities were taking place. It is something like driving your car or SUV and it goes over a small ant – hill. As far as the ants are concerned this is a natural calamity for them ,they may call it ,’ Hurricane SUV !’ , as to what Katrina is for us. But as far as you are concerned , you are not even aware of this disaster . Can you relate with them on this incident or say that it is pre-destined ? Their logic and yours are completely different. Neither can they question you nor can you answer them. Like us , there may be an enlightened ant to say that this is all God’s Will, the kind of explanation any organized religion gives ! No organized religion can ever give an answer to such happenings. No logical answer or explanation can ever be given for these experiences. No justification can be given that it is pre-destined. There is no logical answer why thousands of people die for no reason. All organized religions and I mean ALL of them, prove their own uselessness in such situations.

The frequency , logic , perception and concepts of the ants are completely different from ours just as ours is again completely different from the cosmic consciousness. Just as how you do not even know that your car of your vehicle has killed thousands of ants, the cosmic energy or consciousness is not even aware of a happening like Hurricane Katrina .The frequency of this consciousness is in a completely different dimension. From the Cosmic level, what happened in New Orleans is something like a mug of water having entered an anthill , washing away the ants.

It is not possible to comprehend what that level or frequency is. What is possible, is for us to raise the frequency of our will or consciousness to be one with it, learn to live with it and experience it. Neither God nor your wife can be understood, just learn to live with them ! The ants cannot question you as to why you spilt the mug of water. If their level of frequency is 10, your level is 100 , the Universal Consciousness is infinity. Logically, nothing can be done. Please understand, anyone trying to give a logical explanation is simply cheating. Anyone who attempts to explain logically why so many natural calamities, why death, why misfortunes in life, why someone is high or low, has simply created one more philosophy. If the person is charismatic, has a way with words , he would have created a new philosophy and cheated a group of people. One does not need to be very intelligent to cheat people because the people are not as intelligent as you think ! This is probably why great philosophers convince others but are not convinced themselves. I know a great atheist who chanted God’s name when he lay dying ! The very act of trying to convince others testifies to the fact that he is not convinced himself.

I met a preacher engaged in violent conversion of people in Bharat ( understand, that conversion is an intellectual and psychological crime . A converted person has one persona superficially and his internal unconscious being is not in tune with it . The two conflict with each other and he becomes a schizophrenic . Such preachers who convert without any personal experience, always fall into the worst kind of depression. They punish themselves by their own acts . I am reminded of a humorous incident . One of our devotees from Oklahoma , who was a reverend of the clergy, a preacher who was associated with us . He enjoyed our programmes and went on to become an acharya too. I had never asked him to convert himself to our religion. To begin with, I myself do not have religion ! There is no need because what I teach is pure satya, the truth.

Just because electricity was invented by Thomas Edison he cannot say that it belongs only to Christianity, it belongs to humanity. Similarly the Truth of the inner light given by Krishna , like electrity,belongs to humanity and not to any particular religion. It is not necessary to convert to any religion ; it is enough if you understand the Truth and live your life happily and intensely. He came to Bharat to visit the Himalayas with me. He was in the hotel reception, wearing kumkum and rudraksh etc. He was approached by a lady preacher and who began talking to him about Bharatn culture. She suddenly started telling him that he should convert to her religion ,Christianity ! He then asked her which sect she belonged to and then casually revealed that he was himself a reverend in the same sect and asked her if she was interested in meeting Christ who was inside the hotel ! The lady fled).

Not having had the experience, this preacher had fallen into depression. He wanted to meet me in private , secretly without the knowledge of the public. I agreed to meet him. He wanted healing from me and after a few days of healing, felt much better. I asked him the reason why he was engaged in such a violent practise. He replied that when he spoke so many people listened to him which gave him a sense of power. He felt convinced that what he was teaching was the truth ! This is to show that when a person preaches without experience , he is simply trying to solidify his own confidence.

Here the difference between Krishna and Hiranya is that the latter tries to preach and convince others of his ideas and converting them to be his followers. He is just trying to play the game when he himself does not have the experience. Krishna gives the experience directly. When he declares that he is God, it is not for his ego but for you to experience the Truth; which is why he tells Arjuna that he was uttering the words for his ( Arjuna’s ) sake.

Let us now go into the sloka and examine three questions – Can Universal Consciousness be experienced ? What is the basic qualification for this experience ? What happens when one experiences it ? These three questions are explained beautifully by Krishna in this chapter.

Arjuna uvaache- Madanugrahaaya paramam guhyamadhaatmasamjnitam Yattwayoktam vachstena mohoyam vigato mama

Arjuna says : ‘O Lord ! by listening to the instruction you have given me about these most confidential spiritual truths and revealing your glory, I feel that my illusion has disappeared’.

Evametadyathaattha twamaatmaanam parameshwara Drastumicchaami te roopam aishwaram purushottama

‘ O Greatest of all personalities, Man among Men, O Purushotthama, O Supreme Form, though I see you here before me in actual form, as you describe, you are the Universal Consciousness, you are the Ultimate. I wish to see how you have attained this Cosmic manifestation , how you express yourself in the Ultimate Form , I want to see this form of yours ’. For the first time he says, ‘ O Lord ! reveal to me your Cosmic Conscious Form , your Cosmic Consciousness’. Yesterday Krishna showed that He was the Ultimate . Now He was the Cosmic window and gives Arjuna the experience of the Cosmic Consciousness through Himself.

Manyadeyadhidachathyam Mayaadrishtumidhiprabho Yogeshwara tatometwam darshayaatmaanamavyayam

‘If you think that I can behold your Cosmic Form, O my Lord ! O Master of my being ,Master of all mystic power, I entreat you to show me that Cosmic Form , Universal Self ‘. He says one phrase clearly, ‘ If you think I can behold your form…’ which indicates that there is already some fear in him. It is not important what others think; what is important is what you think . You should be ready to take the responsibility and facing whatever comes. Even simple truths or experiences cannot be given so easily as the receiver must have the maturity to hold what he has received.

In one of our publications titled ‘Swamiji as we know him’ , in the chapter , ‘ In the arms of the master’ , it is written how one of the devotees was constantly nagging me for an experience. I advised the person to meditate but the person insisted on it. The experience was not like a coconut to be given away ! The receiver had to have the maturity to hold it. This went on for six months, he would not listen, I decided it was time .. The narration goes that he felt his base itself being shaken, felt himself being without boundary and cries out to me to stop and that he could take it no more. For two days he was bedridden and went on to say that I was thoughtless to have given him what I did ! Here Arjuna says, ‘ If you think I can behold your Cosmic Form, My Lord ! show me your unmasked manifested Universal Self ‘. Please understand, before entering into the experience you must have courage to take whatever comes.

There are people I know who after meditating for about a year, start experiencing the boundarylessness. They get frightened and shaken and afraid of losing themselves. I tell them that the meditation itself was to give them the experience of boundarylessness. It is like taking all the trouble to invite a guest to your house and when he does arrive, you are surprised at his arrival ! Invariably when they have the experience for the first time, they are shaken and try to escape. This is the case of people who practise mantras intensely; when the Divine starts giving them the experience, they shaken by fear and run away. When you are meditating on the Divine, a mantra or God, do not try to escape when you get the vision or darshan. Divine will never disturb you, only your fear disturbs you. When you have the experience, have the courage to go with it. In Divine, nothing is too much.

Ramakrishna asks Vivekananda,’ If you see the amrutasaagara, the ocean of nectar, how will you drink from it ? ’. Vivekananda says he would become a fly, sit by the edge of the ocean and begin to drink it slowly . Ramakrishna says ,’ Fool ! jump into it and drink ! ‘ Vivekananda fears that he would die if he did that. Ramakrishna says beautifully, ‘ It is the ocean of nectar, how will you die ?’ Amruta, means that by drinking it you would not die. How would you die by jumping into this ocean ? There is therefore nothing like overdoing in spirituality. There is nothing called too much in Spiritual Energy and Spiritual Experience. There can never be too much of Bhakti or devotion, too much of Divine, too much of Spirituality or Bliss.

Here, Arjuna says ‘If you think I can behold your Cosmic Form ‘- Arjuna wants the experience but puts the responsibility on Krishna. He wants the sweet but not diabetes ! Of course, the Divine sweet can never make you a diabetic. A small story- I had an occasion to visit Melkote , the place where Ramanujacharya had lived. The sweetness of the prasadam was so tasty and the sweetness too intense ( Iyengars are good cooks. Vaishnavites love good food because Vishnu is a God who accepts everything ; He is the Lord of Lakshmi, of all good things in life . He is unlike Shiva who sits in a smashaana or crematorium, eating by begging, covered with ash, an old bull for a vaahana or vehicle, snakes for company ..!) I feared the devotees would become diabetics but was surprised when I was told there was no diabetic in the entire village which consumed the prasadam daily ! Understand, food offered to God gets energized and becomes amrutha or nectar . The mantras which we chant affects the food offered as prasaadam.

I would like to tell you about an important research done on the which we know - In the movie , ‘ What the bleep do we know ‘, the recently released book ,’Messages from Water’ is discussed. A Japanese doctor experiments by chanting positive words like peace, bliss, happiness etc before respective tumblers of water. He then repeats the procedure before other tumblers of water by chanting negative words like war, violence , anger . He also chants the Dhammapada, Buddha’s teachings. He labels all of them according to the messages given to each of them.

When the waters are all frozen, seen and photographed under a microscope , the results were startling. Those which received positive messages appeared clear as crystals , beautiful as diamonds. The waters which received negative words were horrific to look at, those that received dhammapada appeared to radiate calmness and peace. The experiments were repeated hundreds of times to prove that our thoughts affect the water kept before us. This is why masters of olden days taught people to chant mantras standing in the Ganga. The whole river would be energized by the energy of millions of devotees ! The water brought by the Englishmen from Britain would usually spoil within a month when they came to Bharat but the water which they carried back with them from Calcutta (Ganga water ) would stay fresh till they reached England.

A research conducted by them showed that water from the Ganga had the quality to purify itself, on its own. This is why the Ganga is never polluted despite so much of pollution . Likewise, when food is put before the deity in a temple where mantras are chanted constantly, the food absorbs the pure, spiritual energy. It starts radiating the energy of positive qualities. One cannot fall sick by eating the prasaad. With Divine Energy, the effect is always positive, never negative; you cannot die in the amrutha saagara , the ocean of nectar. When it comes to the Divine, all you need to do is jump into it with your whole being ; all you need is to relax into it for transformation ).

He says , ‘Manyadeyadidachatyam mayaadrishtumidhiprabho……. Dashyamaathvaanavavyayam’. If you think I am able to behold , O My Lord , Master of all mystic power, please show me your Cosmic Form.

Bhagavanuvaacha Pashyame paaratha roopani shatashotha sahasrachaha Naanaadivhaani divyaani naanaavarnaakriteeni cha

Lord says, ‘O Paartha , behold the hundreds and thousands of my Divine forms. These are diverse divine forms, of diverse colours, shapes and sizes. O Bhaarata, see the different manifestations of Aadityaas, vasus, rudras, Aswini kumaras, maruts and many wonderful things which no one has ever seen before ‘.

But before He gives darshan of the Universal form, He mentions an important yet beautiful word. He says, ‘ O Arjuna ! you cannot see my form with ordinary eyes. To behold this form, you would need Divyanethra ‘, the third eye or the Divine Eye. ‘Divyam dhadhaami dechakshu , ’ Let me give you the Divine Eye to enable you to see and experience Me’. From this sloka He starts giving the Vishwaroopa Darshana.

This sloka comprises the entire chapter as it explains the whole darshan. It needs to be read and understood as one sloka .

(Before proceeding further , let us have a 10-minute break , then resume to fully comprehend the Vishwaroopa Darshana seen by Arjuna ).

Krishna says, “ O Arjuna, may you start seeing whatever exists, the saagara, jangama, the Universe, which no ordinary man can see . Even Rishis , Munis have not seen this sight and not aware of it “

Natumaam shakyasedrashtum anenaivaswachakshushaa Divyamdadaami techakshu pashyame yogamaishwaram

‘O Arjuna! You cannot see me with ordinary eyes. Let me give you Gnanachakshu or Divyachakshu , the Divine Eyes, only through which see my Cosmic Form and feel my Cosmic Energy .

There are three questions here , which is the whole chapter. Can It be seen ? What is the qualification to see It ? What really happens when you see It ?

I tell you categorically – it is possible. There are many Enlightened Masters who have experienced this consciousness . To give you an instance from my life –

After nine years of long tapas, I was completely frustrated at one point. I wondered if I was wasting my whole life reading books, following what they said and applying them to my life- was there really something called Enlightenment or was it a waste of my whole life ? At one point I began to fear that I had wasted the very essence of my life, my youth, by pouring all of it into tapasya or penance. Was it really worth the sacrifice ?

Of a sudden after a few days, I felt myself going into deep depression. Whatever had to be done as spiritual saadhana, I had done and had not left even an inch untried – I had created a firewall of 6 feet in diameter, sit inside it and chant continuously so that I would not fall asleep. In this way, I had tried hundreds of saadhanas or techniques to the best of my ability . If nothing was still happening to me, I concluded that there was either no such thing as Enlightenment or it was something I could not achieve. I strongly began to think that Enlightenment was simply something that some people were cheating humanity with , for their own ego- fulfillment. I began to doubt and lose faith in the whole system. The photo of Ramakrishna which I used to worship everyday , the person who was all along my inspiration, I threw away in disgust, depression and anger with such force that the glass frame broke. At that time I was staying in Omkareshwar. I had a japamaala with which I used to perform japa or penance for hours together. It was my constant companion and was something I had given utmost respect , almost a life- line. In my anger and depression, I threw the mala into the river Narmada and the mantra out of my mind. I decided,’No more meditation, no more spirituality. Enough !’ I had had enough of the game being played by the so-called enlightened masters . I simply threw everything away , dropped everything. The seventh day after this incident, I joined them in their game, for the experience of Enlightenment and Cosmic Consciousness simply happened to me. It never left me afterwards.

So the answer to the question, can this be experienced ? As a person who was just like you, I tell you out of courtesy,’ Honestly, it can be experienced’. This is the solid truth; A promise that this can be experienced. Please understand, I have no vested interest to convince you of this ideology. All I have is simple courtesy, like informing a friend of the traffic situation in a particular place and guiding him through a different route. It is definitely possible to experience this Truth, this Cosmic form in our lives. Never think,’ This is not for me’. It is for everybody. However, unless you are sure of the possibility of having this beautiful, intense experience, listening to all this is a waste of time. If you think this is one more story, do not waste your time here.

The first thing that you need to know is that it is possible. Only then what Krishna says will work on our being. I will be really happy if you go out after experiencing this Cosmic Form ; atleast,go out with a glimpse of it. If these words of Krishna are to work on you, you must be first convinced of the possibility of it happening to you and these are not just words. Let me tell you openly and directly ; from my experience, it is possible.

Next, what is the qualification ? Basically, by giving this experience to Arjuna, Krishna proves that there is no need for any qualification, because Arjuna himself has no qualification. Arjuna neither took the responsibility nor understood fully the teaching of Krishna. He was simply fortunate to be in the presence of Krishna, that is all. Likewise, you too should be fortunate to be here and not caught in some traffic jam ! There were thousands of possibilities for you to be elsewhere ; so many options were available to you. But of all of them, you chose to be here. This is the only qualification required.

By coming here every day your unconscious and subconscious mind has already accepted whatever is being said here. If this had not happened , you would not be here the following day. A person told me that when he woke up every day, he was waiting for 5.30 in the evening so that he could attend the discourse ! If you are waiting , it means that all these words have already entered your being. So have the trust that you are ready for this experience. One of the problems is that even if people are qualified, they do not have the trust or belief that they have it ! This is because society and religious preachers have blamed you continuously for several wrongs and created a guilt in you. Because of this you have lost faith and confidence in yourself. Now after having listened for all these days, your still being here is proof of your unconscious mind having accepted these ideas. Your conscious mind may struggle with the question of why you are here but the fact that you are here shows that unconsciously you have begun enjoying these ideas. You are fortunate to fall in tune with the great thought of Krishna. After the slokas let us enter into a meditation to have atleast a glimpse of what Parabrahma Krishna gave Arjuna. Arjuna had no qualification to receive what he got from Krishna . When He could give it to Arjuna, why not to us ?

First the possibility of having the experience ; we have all understood that it possible to have it. Next, the qualification ; we have all understood that simply by being here we are qualified for the experience. Somebody once asked Ramana maharishi the qualification for enlightenment. Bhagavan replied that merely being alive, existing, was the only qualification required ! At the most, a qualification can said to be openness. If you did not have it, you would not come here everyday. We never allow the belief that we have the qualification to enter into our being. I tell you , drop everything, you are qualified by your very presence here.

Next , what happens when you have the experience ? Krishna’s words – Natumaam shakyasedrashtum Anenaiva swachakshushaa Divyam Dadaami te chakshuhu Pashyame yogamaishwaram

‘Arjuna, you cannot see me with these ordinary eyes. You need the Divine Eye , the Third Eye, Divyachakshu. To see my Cosmic Form, I give you the Divine Eye ‘.

What is this Divine Eye ? Let me tell you my experience (1.21) When I was twelve years old, I started doing meditation; rather, I was trying to play with that technique. The great master Annamalai Swamigal, disciple of Ramana Maharishi , first taught me the technique of where thoughts originated, when I was about ten years old. Once when I visited him with my parents, he was addressing a group of seekers and was saying , ‘We are not the body,we are athman; no pain or suffering touches us’. I wondered how this could be, for if my mother beat me, I could feel the pain ! ( In Bharat, if kids were mischievous, they would be roundly beaten, you cannot call 911 ! ) To experiment, I went home and cut my thigh with a knife to see if I had pain or not. Naturally, it not only pained me but I had to be taken to hospital for the wound to be stitched , with more ‘ puja ‘ from my mother ! I had both pain and suffering. I wondered what this Swami had taught us- ‘no suffering or pain’ ! Experimenting on others was easy. Arjuna was intelligent; after understanding everything he started killing others and never experimented on himself !

I approached the Swami and related what had happened to me. First he asked me, ‘Did I ask you to go and cut yourself ?’ ! He then made a profound statement which transformed my life. He said,’ You may have pain and suffering now but do not worry. Your attitude of analyzing and searching the Truth, your courage to experiment with Truth will liberate you from all pains, go ahead !’ He then advised me to start searching for the source of thoughts. Of course, at that age I was only irritated by his comments and my attention was rather on the fruits and sweets that devotees had brought him , hoping he would give me some in consolation ! Honestly , I neither understood nor was convinced of what he said.

However, after a few days I begin to playfully and casually try out the technique of trying to see the origin of thoughts. I did not do this with any expectation or idea. All I knew was what the Swami had told me : that I would go beyond pain or suffering if I did this technique. I had no concept of God, Brahman, Athma or Gnan. One evening , at the foothills of Arunachala, I was trying out the same technique with eyes closed. I had fallen into deep meditation ; suddenly something opened , seemed to happen inside my being , a feeling of being pulled or sucked inside. The next moment it was as if a door had opened inside me and that I had complete 360 degree vision, both laterally and vertically. I could see all four sides – the temple behind me, the hill in front of me, the city on my sides. I could see vertically too – the sky, the rock on which I was sitting, again the temple behind me. For normal people who have only a maximum of 180 degree of these visions, I know this is very difficult to comprehend. All I can do is promise solemnly that it did happen. No other intellectual explanation is possible. Not only was I able to see all round, I was also able to feel that whatever I was seeing was Me. Whether they were plants or rocks or the city or the hill , whatever I could see, I felt they were all just Me. The experience was so intense and ecstatic that it was more than 3 or 4 hours before I opened my eyes. I felt feverish with bliss and this mood continued for 3 days.

But after this I was overtaken by a fear that there was something wrong with me. I thought a ghost had possessed me and decided never to go to that rock again. I even began to avoid that route itself which I normally used to take, to go to school. I related my experience to an elderly sanyasin who was there. She had held my hand and seeing the energy, exclaimed, “ You are not possessed by any ghost, you are possessed by God ! “ . She encouraged me to continue with meditations but I never dared to do so for the next 6 months and was even afraid to close my eyes ! I related my experience to a close friend of mine – about my having been able to see all round me and not knowing what was happening to me, etc. He did not believe me until I told him about an ant climbing up the tree behind me and which side of the coin held in his hand was exposed. He ran away from me in terror, never to return ! He was in the ashram recently and said to one of the ashramites , “ I am the first person to receive Energy Darshan , but I missed it ! “.

But despite the fear, the whole body was boiling with joy and ecstasy. So welcome was the feeling that I had a small temptation to go to the rock again. I never really understood what had happened . A year later another enlightened person gave me the explanation ; the seeking however, started after this experience. Nine years of tapas followed. All tapas is done only to have this experience. When it did come next time, both body and mind were ready and the experience stayed within my being.

The vision of 360 degrees is what Krishna means by Divyachakshu , trinetra , Divine Eye or the third eye, also called Ajna charka . When this eye opens you will see 360 degrees not only in horizontal but vertical dimension too. You will see the whole existence as you are and experience it as You. This experience is what Krishna calls Cosmic Consciousness. I felt that all what I saw about me was living just as how we feel our living bodies ; expanding the body consciousness to the Universal Consciousness. When you feel the whole Universe as you would your own body, it can be called Cosmic Experience. Unfortunately, we do not feel alive even with our own bodies ! Just as I was frightened when I had my first experience, Arjuna too was frightened. In such instances a living Master is required for help and guidance. I am often asked this question, to which I reply, ‘ Arunachala ‘. Arunachala is a living Master. For a premature baby to survive, it must be put into the incubator. Similarly , Arunachala is the incubator for the enlightened person-to-be. The energy of Arunachala takes care just by your being near it.

Let me give you the third eye , to enable you to experience the Universal Consciousness. You need to understand that after this sloka, neither Krishna nor Arjuna are speaking. Suddenly, it is Sanjaya who is speaking. After the 1st chapter there is no sloka from Sanjaya. But here is he who is speaking. This is a symbolic representation. Arjuna is unable to speak because he is in the ecstatic experience. Krishna does not speak because his voice is beyond audibility. His voice is in the Cosmic frequency which is not audible to us.

Sanjaya uvaacha Evanmuktwaa tato raajan mahaayogeshwaro harihi Darshayaamaasa paarthaaya paramam roopamaishwaram.

Sanjaya says : ‘ O King, having spoken thus, the supreme Lord of all Mystic power, the personality of God is born. This play opens its Cosmic Form, Universal Consciousness to Arjuna ‘.

Anekavaktranayanam anekaadbhutadarshanam Anekadivyaabharanam divyaanekodyataayudham. Divyamaalyaam baradharam divyagandhaanulepanam Sarvaascharyamayamdevam anantam vishwatomukham.

Arjuna saw in the Universal Form, unlimited number of mouths, eyes and wonderful visions. The Form was decorated with many celestial ornaments and bore many Divine upraised weapons. He wore celestial garlands and garments. Many Divine scents were smeared all over His body. All was wondrous , brilliant, unlimited, all – expanding.

Ramakrishna says that when he experiences the Form, the Cosmic Consciousness , he cannot pluck a single flower from a plant because he felt that all the plants were garlands offered to rajapurusha, God. Here he sees unlimited number of maruts and eyes in Krishna. Now Arjuna sees 360 degrees in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. He sees the whole universe, all the people on the battlefield; all of them in Krishna , as the Universal Consciousness. He sees the Whole as his own being.

Divyasooryasaharasya bhavedyugapadutthitaa Yadibhaahasadrisheesaasyaat bhaasastasya mahaatmanaha.

If hundred of thousands of suns were to rise at once into the sky, their radiance might resemble the effulgence of the Supreme person in that Universal Form. These concepts can never be understood by ordinary intellect. In my experience , it was like the light of a hundred suns and the cooling effect of a hundred moons. Such was the pleasance of the experience.

Tatraikastham jagatkritsnam pravibhakta manekadhaa Apashyaddevadevasya shareere paandavastadaa.

Arjuna saw in the body of the Supreme Lord, the whole Universe divided in different ways as united in one Form. The Universe is divided into many parts as the Sun, Moon, Earth etc. Here he sees all of them as one form. You need to understand this stotra, this description as it is so beautiful. After this, we shall enter into a meditation and pray to the Parabrahmakrishna to give us all a glimpse of what Arjuna received.

Tatahsavismayaavishto hrishtaromaa dhananjayaha Pranamya shirasaa devam kritaanjalirabhaashata

Then, bewildered, astonished, his hair standing on end, Arjuna bowed his head to offer obeisance and with folded hands he began to pray to the Supreme Lord. This sloka shows that he has dropped his ego. He has disappeared , dissolved into the Divine.

Arjuna uvaacha (As Arjuna is in the same consciousness as the Lord, this should actually be , ‘ Bhagavan uvaacha’. These statements are said to come from him for us to record).

Pashyaami devaam stavadeva dehe Sarvaamstathaabhoota visheshasanghaan brahmaanameesham kamalaasanastham Risheemschasarvaan uragaamscha divyaan.

Anekabaahoo daravaktraneram pashyaamitwaam Sarvatonantaroopam nantam na madhyam na punastavaadim pashyaami vishweshwaravishwaroopa.

Kireetinam gadinam chakrinamcha Tejo raashim sarvatodeeptimantam Pashyaamitwaam durnireekshyam samantaat Deeptaa nalaarkad yutimaprameyam

These are such beautiful ways that he describes the Form. You must think why he does so. Please understand he does so to inspire us to work to achieve this Form and this experience, to move in this path. He says , ‘ O Lord ! I can see all the demigods in your body . I can see the special union of living entities. I can see Brahma seated on the Lotus flower. I can see all the sages and Divine serpents. O Lord of the Universe, I see many arms, bellies, faces, eyes and your limitless form. O Universal Form, I cannot see your beginning, middle or end ‘. As a matter of fact, when you 360 degrees in both horizontal and vertical dimensions, there really is no beginning, middle or end to see. The Form is difficult to see in its sheer glowing effulgence, spreading on all sides like blazing fire or the immeasurable radiance of the sun. Yet I see this glowing Form everywhere adorned with various crowns and discs. I see you wearing the diadem, holding the mace and discus. Your magnificence shining everywhere, from all sides, difficult to be seen. You are blazing from all sides with the luster of the sun, limitless.

Twamaksharam paramam veditavyam Twamasya vishwasysa param nidhaanam Twamavyayahashasshwata dharmagoptaa Sanaatanastwam purushomatome

You are the Supreme Primal objective. You are the ultimate resting place. I recognize you as the Supreme Being, the Supreme Foundation of this Universe, imperishable, immortal, maintainer of religion and primeval Supreme male, purushomatome.He says You are Everything.

Anaadimadhyaa antamanaantaveeryam Anantabaahum shashisooryanetram Pashyamitwaam deeptahutaashavakram Swatejasaa vishwamidam tapantam

You are without origin, middle or end with unlimited power, limitless arms, your eyes alike the moon and the sun, your brilliant face alike the fire warming the whole world with your own radiance.

Dyavaa prithivyoridamantaram hi Vyaaptam twayaikena dishascha sarvaah Drishtwaadbhutam roopamugram tavedam Lokatrayam pravyathitam mahaatman.

Amee hitwaam surasanghaa vishanti Kechit bheetah praanjalayo grinanti Swasteetyktwaa maharshisiddhasanghaaha Stuvantitwaam stutihihi pushkalaabhihi

You are without origin, middle or end with unlimited power . You alone spread thoughout the heavens and yet through all other directions. O Supreme soul, paramaatman, after having seen your wonderful form, all the worlds are consummated. The whole thing is moving.

There is no other record so clear about the Cosmic frequency, of the Universal Form except the Gita. All the hosts of devas are shuddering before and entering into you, some of them afraid, offering prayers with folded hands and hosts of great sages who perfected beings, pray to you by singing your hymns . He sees all of them in Him, in the Cosmic Form.

Bahoodarambahu damshtraakaraalam Drishtwaa lokaah pravyathitaastathaaham Nabhasprisham deeptamanekavarnam Vyattaananam deeptavishaalanetram Drishtwaa hitwaam pravyathitaantaraatma Dhritim navindaami shamamchavishno

Damshtraakaraalaa nichate mukhani Drishwai vakaalaa nalasannibhani Disho najaanena labhecha sharma Prasee dadevesha jagannivaasa

Amee chatwaam dhritaraashtrasya putrah Sarve sahaivaanipaalasangahaihi Bheeshmo dronahsootaputrastathasau Sahaasmadeeyai rapiyodhamukhyaih.

Arjuna clearly explains : ‘I see O Lord ! all the manifestations of Shiva, adityas, vasus and vishwadevas, ashwins, maruts, gandharvas, forefathers, yakshas, asuras and the purported demi-gods, all rolled in you in wonder, all part of your Cosmic Consciousness. Whatever is, is Divine, Energy. O Mighty Armed One, all the planets with the demi-gods are disturbed, shaken by your Form with many faces, eyes, arms, legs, thighs and bellies and your many terrible teeth. As they are disturbed, so am I’.

Now he slowly comes down. From this sloka we should say, ‘Arjuna uvaacha..’ ! The moment he started feeling fear, he descended to his normal state. You should understand that it only your fear that separates you from Cosmic Consciousness. Let me tell you one more incident in my life .

One day after enlightenment, I was sitting in a forest in Tamil Nadu. There was a big snake lying just next to me. I had my eyes open but was in the consciousness, in a meditative mood. Several hours must have passed before I came out of my meditative state and the first thought that came to mind was the snake ! As long as I was in the meditative state, I did not think of the snake. You will be surprised that as soon as the thought of the snake came to my mind, the snake began to realise that I was a man ! It looked up, put down its head and moved away. The fear in me triggered the fear in the snake. Universe responds to you. Cosmic Energy responds to you. Likewise , when Arjuna says ,’So am I ‘ , that he is frightened, he becomes Arjuna, the man.

There are two things – instinct to possess and instinct to survive , which makes you a man. Instinct to survive, out of fear; instinct to possess, out of greed. This sums it up. Here the instinct to survive has appeared and he has become Arjuna, the man. We do not understand that when you drop the instinct to survive, you become Krishna; you exist forever, you become bhagavan , the Universal Consciousness. But you hold on to the instinct to survive. Now Arjuna slowly comes down and becomes Arjuna, the man.

Nabhasprisham deeptamanekavarnam Vyattananam deeptavishaalanetram

‘O All pervading Vishnu ! See me with your many radiating colours, touching the sky, your gaping mouths, understand’. Till now he was saying there was no beginning, middle or end. Now he says touching the sky ; an indication that he is settling, coming down from the experience . ‘ Your gaping mouth, your great glowing eyes, overcome by fear, I can no longer maintain my mental steadiness or equilibrium ‘.

Please understand that as long as you want to maintain the equilibrium of your mind, you will be in this mad world. There is no such thing as equilibrium. What we think as equilibrium is not so. He says he wants equilibrium meaning, he wants his mind to be under his intellectual control. He wants to know the cause and effect to be in his control. As long as these are under your control, you feel as if you are a leader; your ego is strong. But the moment these are taken away from you, you feel at a loss and no more a leader. You are just a drop in the ocean. He is afraid of that and is not able to stay in that same state .

Damshtraakaraalaanichate mukhani Drishtwai vakaalaanalasannibhaani

‘O Lord of Lords ! O refuge of the worlds! please be gracious to me. I cannot keep my balance seeing thus with your blazing death-like faces, awful teeth; in all directions I am bewildered ‘.

Amee chatwaam dhritaraashtrasya putrah sarve sahaivaavanipaalasanghai Bheeshmo dronaha sootaputrastathasau Sahaasmadeeyai rapiyodhamukhyaihi.

Vakraa nite twaramaana vishanti Damshtraakaraalaani bhayaanakaani Kechidwilagnaa dashanaantareshu Sandrishyante choornitairuttamaangihi.

All the sons of Dhritarashtra along with their allied kings, Bhishma, Drona, Karna and other chief soldiers are also rushing into your fearful mouths. I see some trapped with their heads smashed between your teeth. He describes the whole scene.

Yathaa nadeenaam bahavombuvegaaha Samudramevaabhimukhaa dravanti Tathaa tavaamee naralokaveeraa Vishanti vaktraanyabhivijwalanti

As many as the rivers flow into the ocean, so do all the great warriors enter blazing into your mouth. He is describing the whole scene. I think it is now time for us to meditate to experience what Arjuna is seeing. Once again the three points – Is it possible ? Yes, it is possible. What is the qualification ? Your being here. Now all you need to do is put your whole consciousness intensely into the meditation. I request the parents of all children, please take them out. The meditation will take atleast 20 minutes. If you feel you cannot or do not want to sit for 20 minutes, you are free to leave. If you can do so, we shall enter into the meditation. Please don’t leave in between. Please sit straight and close your eyes. I shall guide you step by step.

Pray intensely to the Parabrahma Krishna , Universal Consciousness, in whatever name you know, in whatever form you know. Pray to that Energy to give a glimpse of His Being to you, a glimpse of the experience which Arjuna received and which all the enlightened masters experienced. Pray to the Universal Energy, it responds to your thoughts. Don’t think your prayers are dead words. They are living communication. Inhale and exhale, as slowly as possible, as deeply as possible. Concentrate and bring your attention between your eyebrows, on your Ajna chakra. Slowly but very deeply concentrate on your Ajna Chakra. Without forcing yourself, put your awareness naturally in your Ajna Chakra.

Slowly start visualising the whole universe moving inside your head. Feel this clearly inside your head. The space that is front of you, in your inner space, the whole universe is moving. See the sun, moon and all the planets. Visualise this clearly, intensely. Slowly relax the body, be one with the Universal Consciousness. Feel the experience of being one with the Universe. You are seeing clearly the sun, moon, stars, planets. Just disappear into the Universal Consciousness. Forget your name, your form , all the conditionings, your profession, your gender, your country, everything about yourself. Forget your identity and see the whole Universe intensely. Just see the moving universe intensely, all the planets, the stars, all the suns, moons. Disappear into the Universal Consciousness. Lose the identity, the root cause of all the thoughts, let it disappear into the Universal Consciousness. Experience the bliss, fulfilling bliss of the whole universe. Expand and disappear into that universe. Dissolve into the Universal Consciousness.

Om shanti, shanti, shantihi… relax.

Let us pray to the Parabharma Krishna intensely. Let me Him shower his Grace on us , give us the glimpse of Universal Consciousness and make us all experience, be in, one with and live with Eternal Bliss, Nithyanandam. Thank you.

Vasudevasudam devam dhramsachaanora mardanam Devaki paramaanandam Krishnam vande jagadgurum. _____________________ _______________ __________________