Verse 11.4

Verse 11.4: “In case thou deemest it capable of being beholden by me, O Lord, in that case, O Master of Yoga, do Thou reveal unto me Thine Immutable Self.” (89)

Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:

May be, a doubt lingers in my mind. Am I worthy of receiving such a vision of thine Omnipresent manifestation? Hardly do I know this. If, Oh God, thou asked why I do not know, I would answer thus: Can a patient himself diagnose his own ailment? The urge of my yearning to have the vision, made me blind to my fitness for that grand vision, as to a man that is thirsty, even the sea is not enough. Urged by my ardent longing, I lost my balance and became blind to my worthiness. Only the mother knows best the tether of her child: therefore it is up to thee, Oh Janardana, to gauge my worth and fitness for the vision, before thou reveal it to mine eyes.

Bless me, Oh God, with this vision if thou holdest me worthy of it; or else withhold thy hand! Why waste one’s breath in singing sweet melodies to the deaf? And how indeed should one think that the clouds pour down only for the bird chataka, and not for the rest of the world? And yet such a downpour falling on a rock runs to waste! The bird Chakora is indeed known to feast on the nectar of the moonlight; and surely other birds are not made to swerve off that enjoyment! But without eyes to see the dawn gleaming is of little avail. Therefore, I doubt not but that thou wilt reveal thine Omnipresent vision, for thou art fresh and new ever more to [thee?] knowing and ignorant alike. Thy mercy knows no bounds; its gifts are free, seeking not worth or demerit. The holiest of bliss that comes of final emancipation (Moksha), thou hast given to thine enemies. Arduous is the path to emancipation which yet humbles itself at thy feet and so waits upon any soul at thy bidding. Intent on slaying thee, fiendish Putana made thee suck the baneful milk, and was forthwith exalted (like Sanatkumara) to the blissful state of union with thy perfect being.

Even Shishupala who, before a large gathering of all Gods and sages at the Rajasuya sacrifice, railed and hurled hundreds of affronts at thee—a hardened sinner like him was installed in thine abode of Bliss! And look at the son of king Uttanapada; did he ever so much as dream of soaring to thee, and look at the acme of glories of steadfast abode on the Polar star? He went out in the woods to wrest back his rightful immobile place on his father’s lap. And thou raised him to preeminence, even beyond the Sun and the Moon, crowning him on the (polar) seat. Thus to all souls in distress, thou art the one giver of free grace! Fondly uttering ‘Narayana’ as his son’s name, Ajamila was raised to the glory of emancipation by union with thee. You still wear as a mark of proud dignity, the footprint of the sage Bhrugu [Bhrigu?] who kicked you. And the conch—the relic of thine erstwhile foeman, thou does not leave off and is held ever more as a token of love.

Thus even evildoers are recipients of thy grace and thy gifts are freely given unmerited; Bali gave thee his all as alms, thou gladly served him as his door-keeper. The harlot had never worshipped thee nor listened to thy glories sung; she only used thy name in tutoring the parrot, and was rewarded with Supreme bliss in Vaikuntha (thy divine home). For these merest trifles thy hand has given the highest bliss of emancipation to many by their union with thy divine essence. How then should I fare otherwise at thy hands? The Kamadhenu, by her plenty milk brings relief to the whole world in distress; how then should her young calf suffer the pangs of hunger? So it cannot be, that thou withhold from me the gift I have asked for. Only you have first to make me fit to receive it. If in thine eyes my vision has strength to behold the omnipresent revelations, then I pray that thou show it and fulfil my wishes.”

When the husband of Subhadra devoutly made such earnest entreaties in a direct and straight way, the Supreme Lord, the sovereign master of the sixfold divine attributes (ṣaḍaguṇa[ṣaḍguṇa?]-cakravartī) could no longer contain himself (for love). (It was as if) The Lord appeared to be the clouds seething with waters of divine mercy’s nectar, and Arjuna’s capacity seemed to be the approach of monsoon; (as if) Lord Krishna was the nightingale, while Arjuna moved like the Season Vasant (spring); it was as if the ocean rose in high tide, seeing the complete orb of the full moon.

Thus Lord Krishna was possessed with the passion of divine love that was at the moment more than redoubled in vigour, and in that surging of high exaltation of mind, spake these words full of mercy, loudly “Oh Arjuna, now behold divine Omnipresences without number.”

The Pandava desired to set his eyes on one omnipresence of the Lord, yet the Lord disclosed the entire created universe as full of divine Omnipresences untold. How wonderful is the unbounded generosity of the Almighty God? Let the devotee earnestly and devoutly pray for a boon, and the Lord (God) gives all his richest treasures, increasing them thousand fold.

Lo and Behold! That deepest of mysteries, which was shut out from even the thousand eyes of Shesha and which chided the very Vedas, which was kept as a secret from the Goddess of wealth Lakshmi herself—that mystery was now displayed in myriad forms. It was a grand traffic in Divine Omnipresence, exhibited by Lord Krishna; how wonderfully majestic Partha had his great luck. Like a waking soul that lapses into a dream and becomes himself all that he sees in the dream, (Lord Krishna) himself became the myriad universes. All of a sudden dropping down his human bodily form, the Lord tore off the curtain of gross physical vision and behold, there opened out an infinite vista of yogic revelation in all its richness and grandeur, not stopping to mind, if he (Partha) has the eyes to behold that vision; the Lord was overpowered with his divine ecstasy and said at once.

“Well now behold these omnipresences.”