Stories of the Great Bharata - A Retelling

Arc 2 - Bhagavad Gītā Parva - Chapter 15 - The Yoga of Divine Glories (Bhagavad Gītā X)

Vibhūti-Yoga

Vaiśampāyana said:

When the royal sage had heard the sovereign secret, his heart thirsted to behold the Lord spread through the ten directions. Then, O King Janamejaya, Śrī Bhagavān—the Source and the Support—spoke again for Arjuna’s good.

The Lord’s supernal word

Śrī Bhagavān said:

“Once more, O mighty-armed, attend

To words that bless and guard thy way;

From Me the gods and seers arise—

Their source am I, their primal day.

“He knows Me birthless, Lord of worlds,

Beginningless and sovereign King;

Undeluded, freed from every stain,

He crosses sin’s dark ring.”

The Lord declares Himself the fountainhead of gods and ṛṣis. To know Him as unborn and supreme is to be loosed from the knot of sin.

The qualities that spring from Him

Śrī Bhagavān said:

“From Me are mind and clarity,

Forgiveness, truth, restraint, and peace;

Delight and pain, and birth and death,

Fear and fear’s surcease.

“Harmlessness and evenness,

Contentment, tapas, gift, and fame;

And infamy as shadow cast—

From Me arise the same.”

All attributes that texture living—virtues and their opposites—move upon the loom of His being.

The seers and Manus

Śrī Bhagavān said:

“The Seven Seers, the Four of old,

The Manus, mind-born at My call—

From My own nature they were shaped,

And from them streams this all.

“Who knows My majesty and power

Finds unswerving, steadfast love;

For I am source of everything—

From Me do all things move.”

The cosmic lineage—Saptarṣis, the ancient Maharṣis, and the Manus—flows from the Lord’s will; knowing this, the wise cleave to Him in devotion.

The devotees’ joy and the lamp of knowledge

Śrī Bhagavān said:

“On Me their hearts, in Me their lives,

They teach and sing My praise;

In sharing Me they taste a joy

That fills their nights and days.

“To such as love with steadfast soul

I grant discerning sight;

And dwelling in their very Self,

I burn their darkness bright.”

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Love ripens into insight. The Lord Himself, as indwelling light, dispels ignorance in the devotee’s heart.

Arjuna said:

“Thou art the Supreme Brahman, the Supreme Abode; the Holiest, the Eternal Puruṣa, the First of gods unborn, the Lord of all. So proclaim the ṛṣis—Nārada, Asita, Devala, Vyāsa—and Thou Thyself. All this Thou sayest I hold as true: neither gods nor Dānavas know Thy manifestation.

Therefore, O Lord of the Universe, reveal without reserve the divine perfections by which Thou pervadest and sustainest these worlds. How shall I, ever meditating, know Thee? In what forms may I contemplate Thee? Speak again, O Janārdana, of Thy powers and glories, for I am never sated by Thy nectar-words.”

The principal vibhūtis — the Lord’s shining signatures

Śrī Bhagavān said:

“Endless are My perfections, friend—

I tell thee but the chief;

For every height of strength and grace

Is but My shining brief.

“As Self I sit in every heart—

Beginning, middle, end of things;

Among the Ādityas, I am Viṣṇu,

And Sūrya’s light that morning brings.

“Of Vedas, Sāma’s singing soul;

Of gods, I—Vāsava on high;

Of senses, mind; of beings, buddhi;

Among the Rudras—Śaṅkara’s cry.

“Of Yakṣas, Rakṣas—lord of wealth;

Of Vasus—Pāvaka’s bright flame;

Of peaks, Meru’s unyielding spine;

Of household priests—Bṛhaspati’s name.

“Of captains I am Skanda fierce;

Of waters vast, the ocean’s swell;

Of great ṛṣis—Bhṛgu; of words—

The deathless Oṃ that all doth tell.

“Of sacrifices—japa’s hush;

Of mountains fixed—the Himavat;

Of trees the holy fig I am;

Of seer-divines—Nārada’s chant.

“Of Gandharvas—Citraratha;

Of siddha-yogins—Kapila wise;

Of steeds—Uccaiḥśravas from nectar;

Of lordly tuskers—Airāvat’s prize.

“Of men I am the king of men;

Of weapons, thunder’s flashing word;

Of cows—Kāmadugh that grants;

Of causes—Kāma rightly stirred.

“Of serpents—Vāsuki I wind;

Of Nāgas—Ananta’s endless ring;

Of waters—Varuṇa’s law;

Of fathers—Aryaman I sing.

“Of judges—Yama just and clear;

Of Daityas—Prahlāda’s faithful heart;

Of beasts the lion; of winged ones—

Vinatā’s son whose pinions part.

“Of purifiers—I am wind;

Of bowmen—Rāma’s perfect aim;

Of fishes—makara of depths;

Of rivers—Jāhnavī’s pure frame.

“Of knowings—I the Self’s true lore;

Of debates—skill fair and keen;

Of letters—A; of compounds—dvandva;

Of time—I am the timeless mean.

“I am the Ordainer, everywhere-faced;

I am the end that gathers all;

Of women’s powers, mark thou these—

Fame, Fortune, Speech, and Memory’s call,

“Intelligence, Constancy, Forgiveness too;

Of Sāman hymns—the Vṛhat grand;

Of metres—Gāyatrī’s bright stride;

Of months—Mārgaśīrṣa; flowers’ land.

“I am the gambler’s winning cast,

The splendor in the splendid shown;

I am Victory, Effort, Goodness—

Policy’s rod in rulers’ tone.

“Of Vṛṣṇis—Vāsudeva I;

Of Pāṇḍavas—Dhanañjaya;

Of sages—Vyāsa; seers—Uśanas;

In silence I the secret stay.

“I am the Knowledge of the wise;

The Seed of all in everything;

There’s naught that moves or stands at rest

But lives sustained within My wing.”

The Lord names His “signs” across the worlds—summits of excellence by which the mind may lift itself to the Infinite: light among lights, wisdom among knowings, courage among powers, stillness among secrets. Each is a doorway to Him.

The sufficiency of a single spark

Śrī Bhagavān said:

“What need of endless catalogues?

Whatever is exalted, strong, or fair—

Know that to spring from but a spark

Of My effulgence rare.

“This universe I underbear

With but a portion of My might;

The rest remains—unfathomed depth—

In My own endless light.”

All glories hint at the Source; a fraction of His power holds the worlds. The measureless remainder is the Lord’s hidden majesty.

Vaiśampāyana said:

Thus ended the Tenth Chapter, the Vibhūti-Yoga. Hearing the Lord’s glories spread through forms and forces, Arjuna’s mind became a garland strung with divine names—each bead a world, the thread Śrī Bhagavān

Himself.