SIX
Arjuna saw how Krishna shone between the two armies, a still blue flame, unearthly. In perfect calm, the Dark One sang his Gita, “He who knows the day of Brahma is a thousand ages and a thousand ages are his night, he knows day and night. At daybreak, all the hidden lives come forth to be born. At twilight, they dissolve again into the dormant seed of life; and again, helplessly, the same lives stream forth once more at dawn of Brahma’s next day.
But beyond this being and return, beyond the day and the night, there is another unmanifest, eternal Being who does not perish when other lives do. He is not born with Brahma’s day, nor dies with Brahma’s night. Those who reach him do not return. He is my abode. He pervades all this birth and death; he can be reached by bhakti.
Fire, light, day, the bright half of the moon, the six months of the northern sun: at these times, the yogins of illumination go to the Brahman.
Smoke, night, the dark half of the moon, the six months of the southern sun: these are when the yogins obtain the lunar light of Pitriloka, the world of the manes and they return to birth.
Light and dark are the primitive and enduring paths of this world. By one the yogin goes and never comes back; by the other, he returns.”
Arjuna did not tremble any more, but listened raptly to his sarathy’s Gita. Krishna said, “Arjuna, my song contains the secrets of knowledge and wisdom; it will set you free. This is the highest knowledge, easy, imperishable and known directly. It is my way, the way of the Avatara. I pervade the universe with my spirit; all things abide in me, but not I in them. This is my mystery. As the tameless air that moves everywhere abides in cosmic ether, the akasa, so too existence dwells in me.
When the ages have made their round, every creature is gathered back into the seed that I am. When the next creation dawns, I send them forth again, helpless, bound in my maya. I, the Lord of maya, send the multitudes forth and gather them back into my being.
The ignorant pass by this human form of mine; of me, they know nothing. The enlightened ones, the great souls that know me, worship me with an unwavering mind and with the rite of wisdom. They know who I am, that I am the source undying.
I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice; I am the ancestral oblation, I am the herb that heals. I am the holy mantra, I am the melted butter; I am the fire, Arjuna, I am the burnt offering.
I am this world’s father, its mother, its supporter and its grandsire, too. I am the end of all knowledge, the purifier. I am AUM, I am Rik, Sama and Yajus,” whispered Krishna, humming to a spellbound Arjuna.
“The goal, the upholder, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the sanctuary and the friend am I. I am origin and dissolution, the ground, the refuge and the immortal seed.
Worship me, I am the heat of the sun. I withhold and send down the rain. Deathlessness I am and death; manifest am I and the hidden germ of life.
Worshippers of the Vedas, drinkers of Soma, stray from the path. They reach Indra’s realm and enjoy the pleasures of the Devas. However, they are transients in heaven and when their punya is exhausted, they are born again into the world of men. But those who worship me, I secure what they have and bring them what they do not. Anyway, the worshippers of the Vedas and the Devas worship only me. For I am all the Gods and the Vedas, as well.
Those who worship the Devas go to them; those who worship the sires go to the Pitrs; and to the spirits go those who worship bhutas and pretas. And my bhaktas surely come to me.
Every offering made with love, I receive with joy: a leaf, a flower, a fruit and a palmful of water. Whatever you eat or sacrifice, whatever you do, offer it to me, Pandava.
I dwell in all creatures; none is hateful to me, none special. But those who worship me, they are in me, surely and I in them. Let even the most evil man but worship me and I will be with him; swiftly, he will become a muni and come to peace.
Arjuna, know one thing for sure: those who worship me will never perish. Let them be rich or poor, let them be men or women; let them be anyone, my bhaktas reach the final sanctuary.”
Krishna’s eyes twinkled at his friend. “How much more should devoted kshatriyas worship me in this impermanent, sorrowful world.”
Arjuna was startled in his absorption, the song of peace snatched at his mind. Now the Pandava hung on the Dark One’s every word; he was convinced he must fight and he did not know if he would see the light of another day.
“Fix your heart on me,” said Krishna, “be devoted to me; love me and to me you shall come in life and in death. Arjuna listen, now that you have a mind to: not the Devas, or the maharishis know my beginning. I am their source.
From me came the Saptarishi and the four Manus and from them all these generations of men. I am the origin and so the sages worship me. I give them fixity of understanding. I light the lamps of their wisdom and dispel the ignorant dark.”
Arjuna said, “Krishna, you are the Brahman, first of all the Gods, Un-born, pervasive. Narada, Asita, Devala, Vyasa, all the rishis say as much and now I hear it from your own lips. And I believe it all. Not the Devas or the Asuras know your manifestations; only you know yourself. So, tell me, on which of your forms shall I meditate? Tell me, Krishna, your words are like amrita to me.”
Krishna said, “Hear my divine forms, but only some of them; because to all my forms there is no end. I am the atman in every being, their soul. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of everything that ever is.
Of Adityas I am Vishnu, of lamps I am the Sun; of planets the Moon, Maricha of the Maruts.
Of Vedas I am the Sama, Indra of the Devas; of senses I am mind, consciousness in the living. Of Rudras I am Sankara, Kubera of the Yakshas; of Vasus I am Agni, Meru of the mountain peaks.
Of priests I am Brihaspati, Skanda of the generals; of waters I am the ocean, Bhrigu among the rishis. Of speech I am AUM, japam of the offerings; and of ranges, the Himalaya.
Of trees I am the Aswattha, Narada of the seers; of gandharvas I am Chitraratha, Kapila among the perfect.
Of horses I am Ucchaisravas, nectar-born, Airavata of elephants; of weapons I am the Vajra, Kamadhenu among cows. Of lovers I am Kama, Vasuki among serpents.
Of Nagas I am Ananta, Varuna among the marine beings; of the manes I am Aryaman, Yama among judges.
Of titans I am Prahlada, I am time of measures; of beasts I am the lion, Garuda among birds. Of purifiers I am the wind, Rama among kshatriyas. Of fish I am the whale, Ganga of rivers.
Of creations, I am the Beginning, the End and the Middle, Arjuna; of sciences I am the science of the spirit, the dialectic for debaters. I am death that devours everything and the source of all, all that is yet to come. Fame I am among the feminine beings and prosperity, speech, memory, intelligence, firmness and patience, too.
Of hymns I am Brihatsaman, the Gayatri of mantras; Mrigasirsa of the months, of seasons I am spring. I am the dice-play of deceivers, I am the splendor of the splendid; karma am I and the punya of the good.”
Krishna smiled, “Of the Vrishnis I am Krishna, Arjuna of the Pandavas; of the munis I am Vyasa, Usanas among poets. Of kings I am their scepter, the policy of conquerors; of secrets I am the silence, their wisdom of those that know.
And, more, I am the seed of all beings, for nothing which is exists without me. But what do you want to know all this for? There is no end to me, my friend: I support the universe with an atom of myself.”
Knowing clearly that Krishna’s Gita was more vital than the war before him, Arjuna said to his divine cousin, “Of those who worship you, Krishna and those who worship the Parabrahman, who has the greater yoga?”
Krishna replied, “Those who worship me are the most perfect yogins. And those who restrain their senses, are serene, compassionate to all beings and worship the Parabrahman: they, also, come to me. But surely, the task of these is harder, because the unmanifest Brahman is difficult for embodied beings to attain to.
Have no doubt, Arjuna, that I deliver my bhaktas quickly from samsara, this sea of grief. Fix your mind on me, let your thoughts come to me and in me you will live forever. If at first your mind wanders, meditate slowly on me, by stages. If you cannot do this, act in my name. If this is also impossible, offer your life to me, whatever it is. Better than gyana is dhyana, but better than dhyana is bhakti and surrender. Then, comes peace.”
Arjuna gazed at Krishna with such absorption that the Lord ruffled his hair like a child’s.
“He who has no malice to any creature, who is compassionate and friendly, free of egotism, always serene: he is my bhakta, dear to me. Who does not shrink from the world and from whom the world does not shrink, who is no slave to joy or sorrow, anger, fear or agitation, he is dear to me.
Who is pure, with no expectations, skilled, serene and has surrendered to me: he is my bhakta, precious to me. Who is devoted, who does not rejoice or grieve, does not hate or lust, who has passed beyond good and evil; he is dear to me. Who is the same with an enemy and a friend, to slander and fame, in pain and pleasure, cold and heat; whose spirit is unattached, to whom praise and blame are one, who is content and tranquil, his speech controlled, his mind steady, who has no permanent dwelling: he is my bhakta and dear to me.
And dearest of all is he who surrenders to me in faith, with all his heart.”
Thus, spoke Sri Krishna.