Jnaneshwari (Bhavartha Dipika)
by Ramchandra Keshav Bhagwat | 1954 | 284,137 words | ISBN-10: 8185208123 | ISBN-13: 9788185208121
This is verse 11.49 of the Jnaneshwari (Bhavartha-Dipika), the English translation of 13th-century Marathi commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita.—The Dnyaneshwari (Jnaneshwari) brings to light the deeper meaning of the Gita which represents the essence of the Vedic Religion. This is verse 49 of the chapter called Vishvarupa-darshana-yoga.
Verse 11.49
Verse 11.49: “Yield not to distress, nor to any sense of perplexity, upon beholding such a terrific manifestation of my Form. Rid of fright, in a mood of gladness, do thou once again, attentively behold that same Form of mine.” (623)
Commentary called Jnaneshwari by Jnaneshwar:
Be, therefore, blessed in the possession of this Omnipresence-revelation. Do cast off all feeling of fear and misgiving. Let not your mind cherish anything else than this matchless treasure. Just see one chances upon a sea of nectar all of a sudden; would such a one keep clear of it for fear of being drowned? Or, would any soul sighting a mountain of gold, cast it off as load that he cannot pull? Or one has the luck to come by the Chintamani jewel: would he wear it or throw it away as a mere burden? Should one put aside a Kamadhenu for fear of living in the direst want? And were the moon to visit our house, soothing us with her light, should we turn her away with words in reproof of her scorching heat? Or shall we spurn at the sun reproachfully for casting shadows? Thus has the Omnipresent Deity Incarnate, in all his majestic splendour, stood before you within easy reach; wherefore then this terror has seized you and driven you out of your senses? How wroth I am; for, strangely pitiful and stupid is your talk like an obtuse minded cripple. You are indeed catching at a shadow, spuming the substance—the living God.
This four-armed image incarnate, is not my divine self pure and true. But, giving way to fright, your mind has become frail, and it is clinging to that Image incarnate, that is but a puppet show and sham. So, Oh Partha, pray drop it and tear off yourself from this doting upon the Image. Terrific and horridly weird and unshapely as this Omnipresent Divinity is, let thy mind pin its faith on this, as the one haven of rest.
As a miser rivets his mind and soul on his hoarded treasure, and unheedingly lives and moves in outward body; or just as the female bird takes her bodily flight to the sky, while keeping her soul hovering about the nestlings in the nest; or just as the cow grazes down the distant hills, fastening her motherly affection on the young calf; so screw up your divine passion on this Omnipresent Deity, and then let your outward mind enfold the visible four-armed Image in the enjoyment of the bliss of meditative union. And lest you should forget this, Oh son of Pandu, let me repeat my words—do not swerve an inch from your faith in this real Divine Essence. Rid yourself of that terrible fright which seized your mind at the sight of that Divine afflatus, never experienced before; and let your mind flow with love for this Divine Being. Now here I fulfil your wishes,” said the Divine Presence, and “you behold the blissful sight of my Incarnate Image of four-armed embodied Person.”