CHAPTER 10: VIBHUTI YOGA - Narach Philosophy

The tenth chapter, called "Vibhuti Yoga" or "Glory of Yoga" contains a further description of the glory of Krishna. He is Without Source, Unborn, Lord of All the Worlds; All things arise from Him and there is no end to His manifest forms. He supports the whole Universe with but a portion of Himself.

The Blessed Lord said:

Again, O thou of mighty arms,
Listen to my word supreme,
Which I, desiring but thy good,
Will tell thee who art glad to hear.

Neither the host of Devas all,
Nor of the Rishis great, can know
My origin, for I the source
Of Devas and the Rishis all.

Who knows me as without a source,
Unborn, the Lord of all the worlds,
Without delusion is he all
Among the mortals, free from sin.

Buddhi, and non-delusion, truth,
Restraint, forgiveness, knowledge, peace,
Pleasure and pain, and birth and death,
And fearlessness, and also fear;

Harmlessness, evenness, content,
Penance and aims, disgrace and fame,
These are the different qualities,
Of beings that arise from me.

The seven great Rishis, the ancient Four,
And Mantis too, akin to me,
Are born but of my mind; from them
Arise all people in the world.

In essence he who knows this Yoga,
And forms made manifest of me,
Is established in unwavering Yoga;
There is no doubt about it all.

I am the origin of all,
From me does everything evolve;
The wise who understand this truth,
In essence always worship me.

Thinking of me, each teaching each,
Their life-breaths all absorbed in me,
And always speaking of me, they
Are satisfied and full of joy.

To them, devoted ever to me,
Who worship me, with constant love,
I give that Buddhi-Yoga of mine
By which they all come unto me.

Out of compassion for them, I
Abiding in their soul, destroy,
The darkness born of ignorance
With radiant lamp of knowledge true.

Arjuna said:

Brahma supreme, the goal supreme,
And purifier supreme art thou;
The eternal Being, and divine,
The first, unborn, pervading all.

The Rishis all so speak of thee
And Narada Rishi too, divine;
And Asita, Devala, and so Vyasa,
And now thyself dost tell me so.

And I believe, O Kesava,
That all that thou hast said is true;
Nor Devas nor the Danavas
Can know thee manifest, O Lord.

Thyself, by thyself alone,
Thou knowest, O thou Lord supreme!
O source of beings, and their Lord,
The Lord of Devas and the world.

Be pleased, without reserve, to tell
Of thy chief attributes divine,
By means of which dost thou, O Lord,
Abide, pervading all the world.

Say, how can I, O Yogi, know
Thee, mediating ever on thee?
And in what different forms, O Lord,
May I upon thee meditate?

Tell me again in detail thou,
Thy power of Yoga and attributes;
For listening to thy nectared speech
I never can be satisfied.

The Blessed Lord said:

O best of Kurus, I shall tell
Thee of my attributes divine,
The chief of them, for there's no end
Unto my forms made manifest.

I am the Soul, O Gudakesa,
Dwelling within the hearts of all;
The source and end of everything,
And middle too of creatures I.

And Vishnu of Adityas I;
Of those that shine, the radiant Sun;
Marichi of Maruts am I;
Of lunar mansions I the Moon.

Of Vedas I am Samaveda;
And Indra of the Devas I;
Of sense all am I the Mind;
And consciousness of beings I.

And Sankara of the Rudras I;
Kuvera of Yakshas, Rakshasas;
And of the Vasus, Pavaka;
And Meru of the mountains I.

And know me, O thou Pritha's son,
The chief of priests, Brihaspati;
And I am Skanda of generals all;
And Ocean of the waters too.

Bhrigu am I of Rishis great;
Of words am I the syllable Om;
Of sacrifice Japa am I;
Himalaya of moveless things.

And Asvattha of trees am I;
Narada of Rishis, shining ones;
And Chitraratha of Gandharvas;
And Kapila, sage, of Siddhas I.

And know me as the nectar-born,
Uchchaisravas of horses too;
And Airavata of elephants;
And monarch of all men am I.

Of weapons I the thunderbolt,
And Kamadhuk of cows am I;
And Kandarpa of creators I;
Of serpents I am Vasuki.

And of the snakes Ananta am I,
Varuna of water-creatures too;
Of manes I am Aryaman;
And Yama of the self-controlled.

Of demons too I am Prahlada;
And Time of measures am I;
Of beasts I am the Lord of beasts;
And Vainateya of birds am I.

And I am Wind of those that blow;
And Rama of warriors am I;
Of fishes too I am the Shark;
And Ganga of the streams am I.

The source, the middle, and the end
Am I of all created things;
Of science, science of the soul;
And argument of arguers.

Of letters I the letter A;
And copulative of compounds;
And I am deathless Tune, and I
Creator, facing every way.

And I am Death that seizeth all,
And source of all that is to be;
Of female virtues, fortune, fame,
Forgiveness, memory, wisdom, speech.

And Brihat-sama of Saman hymns,
Of metres Gayatri am I;
And Marga-sirsha am I of months,
Of seasons flowery season I.

Of cheats am I the game of dice;
And glory of the glorious I;
And victory I, and effort I;
And Sattva of the Sattvic I.

Of Vrishnis I am Vasudeva;
Dhananjaya of the Pandavas;
And Vyasa am I of Munis all,
Of sages Usana, the bard.

Restraint of the restrainers I,
Of victory-seekers polity;
And silence too of secrets I,
And knowledge of the knowers too.

Whatever be the seed of things,
That too am I, O Arjuna;
Nothing that moves or does not move,
Without me ever can exist.

There is no end, O Arjuna,
Unto my glorious forms divine;
What I have said is but a part
Of all my countless attributes.

Whatever thing there is of power,
Of greatness and of glory too,
Know that it is, O Arjuna,
Born of a portion of my light.

But what avails, O Arjuna,
These many attributes to know?
I stand, supporting all the world
With but a portion of myself.

NOTES:

Seven great Rishis: The Rishis are seers, and we get different names of the seven Rishis in different sacred books. In the Vedas they are Kutsa, Atri, Rebha, Agastya, Kusika, Vasishtha, and Vyasa. In the Satapatha Brahmana we have Gotama, Bharadvaja, Visvamitra, Jamadagni, Vasishtha, Kasyapa, and Atri; while in the Mahabharata we have Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya, and Vasishtha. In Astronomy the Seven Rishis are the constellation of "the Great Bear" In later literature we have ten in place of seven Rishis.

The ancient Four: They are said to be the Mind-born sons of Brahma, Sanaka, Sana, Sanatkumara, and Sanandana.

Narada: His name was added to the first seven Rishis in later times.

Asita: Name of a Rishi. He is also called Devala.

Vyasa: The celebrated author of the Mahabharata.

Kesava: A name of Krishna.

Devas: Gods.

Danavas: Demons.

Gudakesa: A name of Arjuna.

Adityas: Twelve Adityas are spoken of, as representing the Sun in the twelve months of the year. Aditya is also a name of Vishnu In his Vaman or Dwarf incarnation. Hence Krishna calls himself Vishnu among Adityas.

Marichi: A name of Prajapati; also represented as a son of Brahma, or a son of Manu.

Maruts: They personify the energy of the Mind, associated with the senses of knowledge and action. They are said to be wind Gods.

Sankara: A name of Siva or Mahadeva, personifying Mind.

Rudras: They personify the ten senses. Hence the Mind or Sankara is said to preside over the ten senses.

Kuvera: God of wealth, and the chief of Yakshas. He personifies Mind; and so, like Rudra or Siva, is said to be the regent of the northern region, and is his friend.

Rakshasas: Demons. They personify the senses of action, and so the Sankhya system of thought, based on their creative energy.

Vasus: Name of Gods, and there are said to be eight of them. They really personify the eight divisions of Prakriti.

Pavaka: Name of Agni or Fire.

Meru: Name of a mountain. The river Ganga is said to fall from heaven first of all on its summit. It is believed to form part of the Himalayas.

Brihaspati: He is identified with Jupiter.

Skanda: God of war, and leader of Siva's hosts. He is said to be a son of Siva or of Agni.

Bhrigu: He is enumerated among the ten great Rishis. We have seven great Rishis at first, but later on the number is increased to ten.

Asvattha: The holy Fig tree. It is said to be a symbol of self created Prakriti, for it throws down its roots from its branches, which, falling on the earth, give rise to more of their kind.

Chitra-ratha: King of Gandharvas. He personifies imagination.

Gandharvas: Celestial beings, said to be fond of dice and music. They personify Mind energy associated with the senses, and so their King is Chitraratha or Imagination, which is created when Prana, self-conscious Breath or the Soul is associated with the Mind.

Kapila: The celebrated author of the Sankhya system.

Siddhas: The perfected ones.

Uchchaisravas: The horse of Indra, produced at the Churning of the Ocean. The Horse is a symbol of the senses in the Sacred Books of the Hindus.

Airavata: Indra's elephant.

Kamadhuk: Kamadhenu, the Cow who satisfies all desires, Surabhi, the cow of Vasishtha. The cow in sacred literature symbolizes the senses of knowledge.

Kandarpa: Name of Kamadeva, the god of love or desire.

Vasuki: The King of snakes.

Ananta: Name of snake-god, Sesha; also of Vasuki. It also means the immeasurable one.

Varuna: The Ocean, personifying all liquids, and so Prakriti.

Aryaman: Name of an Aditya.

Yama: Lit, self-control. Also the name of a god who presides over the spirits of the dead.

Prahlada: Son of Hiranya-kasipu, a pious Daitya or demon, and a devotee of Vishnu.

Vainateya: Name of Garuda, the bird on whom Vishnu is said to ride.

Rama: The hero of the Ramayana.

Marga-sirsha: Name of a month, corresponding to November- December.

Dhananjaya: Name of Arjuna. Name of a vital air which nourishes the body. Hence Arjuna is identified with Breath or Prana.

Usana: Name of an ancient sage.