The Twin Nature of the Divine

   Krishna: To attain to Brahman or Divinity and to enjoy the bliss that it entails seem to be the end of the journey to many. Some go on enjoying the same. Some prefer to plunge into he Divine and get dissolved in Him. There are, however, a few who want to know the Divine in all His aspects and all the secrets of the Universe. The only way to have this knowledge is to pray to the Divine, i.e., to Me, with single-minded devotion and to surrender integrally to Me. Taking proper account of the devotion and the surrender I, at My pleasure, unfold My various aspects only to him to whom nothing whatsoever other than Myself has any importance in life. I propose to disclose these aspects of Mine to you.

   I have assumed a twofold Nature — Static and Dynamic. In the Dynamic, commonly known in the world as Nature, I play a game with all humanity keeping Myself behind a veil called Maya. It consists of eight elements viz.   (1) Earth,   (2) Water,    (3) Fire,    (4) Air,    (5) Sky or Ether,    (6) Mind,   (7) Intellect and  (8) Ego.

   With My Static Nature I hold and govern the Universe. This Static Nature of Mine is commonly known as Brahman.   Human intellect is totally inadequate to comprehend My Static Nature. It is only for the Soul to experience and realise that there is nothing else in the Universe than Myself and that time and again I create the universe out of Mine own Self, maintain it within Myself, and dissolve it unto myself. As the single thread or the chain of a necklace keeps all the beads tied to itself, so do I keep everything in the Universe tied to Me.   Reflections of My Static Nature can, however, be experienced in My Dynamic Nature through the Savour of Liquids, the Ray of the Sun. the Beam of the Moon, “Om” of Sound, the Valour of Man, the Fragrance of Smell, the Burning Faculty of Fire, the Life of the Living Beings, the Aspiration of the Aspirant, the Strength of the Strong etc.

   I have created three Work-forces of Gunas through which I, in my Dynamic Nature, carry on all the activities in the Universe. These are called  (1) Sattwa or Virtuousness,    (2) Rajas or the Drive of Propensity, and    (3) Tamas or Passivity and Inertia.

These forces find support in Me and are not My support and as such Maya, that envelops theworld through them, cannot have any effect on Me. Of course it is I, Myself, who shows to a chosen few how to rend the veil of Maya and reach Me in My Static Nature. Such choice I make from among those who have surrendered themselves to Me in their totality without any reservation and have realised that apart from Me there is no one or nothing in existence. Those who are completely involved in Maya and enjoy an indiscriminate way of living do not stand much chance of knowing My Static Nature.

   There are four reasons that lead people to worship Me viz,    (1) To get relief from some ailment or malady,  (2) To acquire material benefits,    (3) To acquire intellectual knowledge, and    (4) To Know Me in all My aspects.

Usually, it is he in whom wisdom has dawned does worship Me without expectation of any return whatsoever from Me. He considers Me to be his Beloved and goes no worshipping Me, life after life with singular devotion and with a settled realisation that I am the One and the All in the Universe. Such noble souls are indeed rare and it is them that I prefer most. Others worship different Godheads with different objects. It is I, who, through the Godheads, provide them with whatever they want and they remain engulfed by desire and ego and cannot know that it is Me who is the sole Provider. They fail to appreciate that whatever they gain this way is momentary and short-lived. They roam about, after death, in covetable worlds for a while pending re-birth.Most people are ignorant of My eternity. They stay involved in Maya and move like shuttle-cocks between the dualities of pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow, affection and enmity, heat and cold, attraction and antipathy, good and evil etc. Hardly ever any of them get any idea of My existence, let alone My Divinity or Eternity. When I incarnate in a human body, they cannot, even in dream, conceive of My Divinity and consider Me to be just a human being. But there are always a few who go on trying constantly and tenaciously to step out of the dualities and to rend the veil of Maya. It is from amongst them that I choosethe ones to whom I reveal My-self as All Knowledge, Lord of all Works and Oblations, theDivine Being.

Avoidance of Rebirth

   Arjuna: I am getting more and more confused. The terms you use e.g. the Static Divine, Oblation and its Lord, Work etc. make no sense to me. Moreover, moving about inside the world you declare you hold it. This seems to me to be the limit of incongruence.

   Krishna: There is an existence beyond Creation and Destruction or Life and Death; that is My Static Nature called Brahman. Each living object has an individuality which is its personal nature. Creative faculty is called Work. Body is the chamber of Senses. Prowess is the queen of Valour. I am the Lord of all Work and Oblation.   Whatever a person thinks at the time of his death leads his soul to that state. Whoever thinks of Me while dying returns to Me and dissolves in Me and avoids the recurrence of re-birth. However, it is not possible to think of Me at the last moment all of a sudden. This needs a long preparation and practice of remembering Me always. For this end, the scriptures suggest a discipline. According to it, one has to concentrate one’s vital force totally at the point between the two eye-brows and think of Me as the Divine, the Eternal, the Beginningless, the Endless, the All-Knowledge, the Controller of all beings and matters, the Largest of large, the Smallest of small, the Unknowable, the Master of Nature and Self-Manifest as the Sun. Sincere and regular practice of this discipline produces the power to die at will. Thinking of Me, one can utilise such power to get out of the cycle of births and deaths. On the way of achievement of this power, one passes through various subtle worlds e.g. the world of the Gods, the world of All-Truth etc. If one rests at any of these worlds and stops the practice of the discipline, the power, to leave one’s body at will, cannot be achieved. Anyway, practice of this discipline involves hard labour. There is, indeed, an easier method that may lead one to the same object. This consists of starting to think of Me more and more everyday until one gets used to thinking of Me every moment of one’s day and night — even while one is in work and in sleep. This creates a double concentration in the mind. One remains constantly engrossed in Me and by the other all worldly work gets done. Whenever one has nothing else to do, both the concentrations become engrossed with the thought of Myself. As a natural consequence of this one can, if he so wills, think only of Me at the time of his death.

   However, the most covetable state would be to be able to die at one’s will on an auspicious day and at an auspicious hour. One thousand ages make one Divine Day. One thousand others make one Divine Night. He creates the Universe at the dawn of one such Day of His, maintains it throughout the Day and dissolves it at Nightfall. He creates another the next dawn. Myself, the Divine, is above and beyond this process of creation, existence and dissolution. Fire, Light, Day-time, the Bright fortnight, and the Summer solstice constitute the Bright way. Fog, Smoke, Night-time, the Dark fortnight and the Winter Solstice constitute the Dark way. Concentrating intensely on Me if one can die in the Bright way, one avoids re-birth. If in a similar manner one dies in the Dark way, one enjoys the subtle Lunar World for sometime and thereafter takes re-birth for playing with Me, consciously as My partner, the game I play with all humanity. Some choose the one way and some the other.   I hope I have made Myself clear to you. The crux of the whole thing is that I am the Divine and the Highest Goal of the Human Soul. You would do well to make it your sole occupation to remember Me always, in all conditions and in all works, without respite and to fight the battle as an instrument of Mine.

The Highest Teaching

   Krishna: Certain rare qualities can be found in you e.g. you do not find fault with anybody, you are not jealous of any one and you do not have aversion or antipathy for any person or thing. These qualities entitle you to know the highest of all religious teachings. Its practice is not very difficult and a little practice of it produces tangible results. Once you take up its practice, nothing untoward will ever happen to you. But, it demands total consecration of one’s own self to Me. I intend to tell you all about this now. Pay proper attention!

   I am the Unknown and the Unknowable. The worlds, the creatures and the senses evolve out of Me and exist in Me. I do not exist in any of them. After a while, all these get back and dissolve in Me. As air moves about in the sky, unnoticed by the human eye, so do the senses move about in the world without being noticed. By keeping My Static Nature under cover, I create the Universe and maintain it by My Dynamic Nature. By making My Dynamic Nature inert, I dissolve the Universe by My Static. Human intellect is too weak and inadequate to comprehend this game of Mine. This precisely is the reason why My real self remains concealed behind My Human Appearance. Human beings move about within My Dynamic Nature which is devoid of consciousness and intuition. Driven by innumerable desires, they keep themselves busy with endless futile activities. Hardly any one — may be one out of a million aspirants — can have a sudden glimpse of my Static Nature. Whoever has such a glimpse, leaves aside everything else and sets out to discover it fully with unfailing devotion towards Me and with untiring concentration and tenacity. Gradually I unfold it before him and make him realise unity in the diversities of My Dynamic Nature.   The scriptures, their prescriptions, mantras, oblations, ingredients for performing oblations viz. fire, flower, butter, leaves, vessels, etc., the act of performing oblations itself, its performer as also its recipient are all converged in Me. I am “Om”, the origin and source of all sound. I am the known and knowable. I am the father, the mother, the protector and the friend of all. I am the seed of all creation, existence and dissolution. I provide heat to the Sun for the formation of cloud and break up cloud to cause rain. I am life. I am death. I am Maya and I am falsehood.

   To those, who attracted by the exoteric sense of the mantras contained in the scriptures do oblations for material benefits, I give shelter in Heaven when they leave their bodies. Those who worship the different Godheads in effect worship Me, in their ignorance of the fact that I alone am the real object of all oblation and worship. They go on revolving in the cycle of births and deaths eternally. There are some who worship spirits of human forefathers or other spirits. I give them respite for a while in the world of spirits before they take re-birth. Only to those few, who worship Me solely for the sake of worshipping Me without expectation of any outcome whatsoever with total consecration of their bodies, minds, hearts and souls to Me, I unfold My real Self gradually and take charge of their lives, activities and burdens.

   I accept all that is offered to Me with devotion — be it a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a drop of water. It is not what is offered that matters. What really matters is the extent of the devotion, the reverence and the respect ;involved in it. Offerings, oblations, worships, austerities, asking for or acceptance of gifts etc. everything can be done as an offering to Me. So done, they entitle the doer to forsake desire, attachment, affection and attraction and ultimately to come up to and unite with Me.

   To Me there is no difference between one human being and another, as they are all my creations. There is none dear to Me, none hated, to all I am equal in spirit. There is none whom I love or do not love, none whom I like or dislike. Yet, it is, he who loves Me with devotion that receives My grace and is My favourite. This is my formula of instilling devotion into individual human beings. Not a single devotee of Mine can meet with ultimate destruction. Even the most dreadful of criminals may, by one-pointed devotion for Me, convert himself into a saint. By taking recourse to Me, any man or woman can shake off the worldly bondage, provided he or she has single-minded devotion and deep-seated love and respect for Me. I would like you to acquire such devotion, love and respect for Me.

Special Manifestation

  Krishna : I shall now reveal to you some more secrets of Mine. Neither the saints nor the sages, nor even the Gods can comprehend the extent of My manifestation in the Universe as they are themselves My creations and can only have so much of knowledge that I may choose to bestow on them. Whosoever can appreciate My Eternity and Supremacy becomes wise and frees himself from the bondage of Maya. I have created everything — Knowledge, Wisdom, Truth, Intelligence, Forgiveness, Attachment, Detachment, Happiness, Sorrow, Courage, Fear, Fame, Notoriety, Will to control one’s senses, Creation, Existence, Destruction and what not? Mankind is My creation. First of all I created the seven saints and the four Manus. Through them I created the entire humanity. Whosoever can get an idea of this secret of My manifestation engages himself in meditating on the idea. He finds enormous pleasure indiscussing about it with others as also in propagating the idea amongst humanity. On him I bestow the intelligence and the knowledge necessary for the realisation of the idea. In addition, I withdraw the veil of Maya from him to make his realisation integral.

   Arjuna: What you speak of yourself appears to be the same as what has been spoken of you by the saints and the sages. This seems to be the truth and I feel that you alone can know yourself fully. No one else can possibly have the capacity of having an integral knowledge of yourself. I am curious to learn more about you. Could you please enlighten me on the matters and objects that may particularly express your reality.

   Krishna: In reality I am expressed and manifested in everything you can conceive of.Let Me, for the present, point out to you some in which the different aspects of Mine are specially manifested  I am the Creator and at the same time Creation, Existence and Destruction. I am Work and at the same time its doer and outcome. I am Birth. I am Death. I am the Origin, the Existence and the End of all beings. I am the Soul and the Consciousness of everyone. I am the Lord of the Gods as well as of the Demons. Amongst the bright objects I am the Sun, the brightest. Amongst the planets I am the Moon, the most manifest. Amongst the Gods I am Indra or Jupiter — their king. I am Citraratha, the ruler, amongst Gandharbas; I am Kuver, the Monarch, amongst Yaksas and amongst the Demons I am Prahlad — one of My greatest devotees. Of priests I am Brihaspati — the priest of the Gods. Of saints I am Narada the Saint-God. Of sages I am Vrigu, the wisest, of yogis Kapila, the greatest. Of destruction I am Siva, of heat Fire and  of sound I am “Om”. Of army commanders I am Skanda, the Commander of the army of the Gods, of archers Rama. Of the Vrishnies I am Krishna of the Panadavas Arjuna. Of all worldly people I am the Monarch. Of the elephants I am Airavata, the mount of Indra of horses uccaisravas, another mount of Indra. Of all animals I am the Lion, of snakes King Cobra, of other reptiles Python. Of aquatic creatures I am the Whale. Of trees and plants I am the big Banyan. Of parents I am the Lust and of senses the Mind. Of Mountains I am the Himalayas. Of Water reservoirs I am the Ocean. Of rivers I am the Ganges. Of the Vedas (scriptures) I am Samaveda, the rhythmic. I am Brihatsama amongst the musical rhythms. Of moving powers I am Time, of fast movers Wind. Of  winds I am Marichi, their king and of seasons the Spring. Of months I am Agrahayana , the first in the year. Of alphabets I am ‘A’, of the wisemen Wisdom. Of traders I am the Trade. Of successful people I am the Success, of powerful the Power, of virtuous the Virtue, of rulers the Sceptre. Of women I am the Glory, the Beauty, the Patience, the Intelligence, the Memory, the Forbearance and the Politeness in Speech. Special expression of an aspect of Mine can none the less found in the Dice of the swindler.   The long and short of all this is that I am the seed eternal of everything conceivable and My special expression is manifest in the brightest, the greatest, the mightiest, the highest and the best of every conceivable object, being and force. With My Divine Power and Strength, I hold and contain the entire Universe within a fraction of My little finger. This, in short, is the extent of My Supremacy.

The Destructor

   Arjuna: What you speak of yourself is quite convincing. Yet, I would like to see your Divine Form. If you consider me fit, please be kind to show me that glory.

   Krishna: Only Divine Eyes can bear the Sight of My Divine Form that blinds the mortal eyes. However, I bestow upon you a Divine Sight. Look at Me and see in Me the Universe, including the Gods, the Demigods, the Angels, Colours, Figures, Solids, Liquids and whatever else you want to see. See to your entire satisfaction!

   (Krishna’s appearance changed into an inconceivably large figure that envel   oped Arjuna’s entire field of vision. Emerged from it a light brighter than    what a thousand Suns could produce. The figure had innumerable large faces    with eyes of burning fire that could devour the whole Universe in a moment’s    span, tongues of flames like funeral pyres and teeth as big as the tusks of an    elephants. It was wearing intensely bright and brilliant dresses and orna   ments. It was armed with innumerable varieties of weapons. It was breathing    out an unimaginably strong but holy fragrance. Arjuna’s head bowed down of its    own and his hands got folded — all in reverence).

   As if from a trance, Arjuna spoke out: What do I see! How large a body! I cannot find its beginning nor its end! Wherever I cast a glance I can see nothing other than this figure! What diversity of dresses and ornaments does it wear! The light emanating from it is dazzling even the Divine Sight th at I have just now been blessed with! How many billions of types of weapons is it armed with! How many faces, trunks, hands and feet can a single figure have! What devastating fire is emanating from each mouth of the figure! What tremendous power each arm and tooth does betray! All the Gods, the Saints and the Sages are there on it chanting praises of the Divine with their hands folded. All the Gods, the Goddesses, the Demigods, the Demigoddesses and the Demons are standing stupefied on the figure itself! The warriors ready to fight against me are sprinting into the burning mouths and are being devoured by them instantaneously. Some of them, however, are getting stuck between its teeth and groaning helplessly. Not one of them is left out — grandfather, teacher, kings, cousins, nephews, friends, none!

   Who art Thou? The whole world is trembling in fear to perceive Thy all-pervading and devastating form. Thou seem to be out to turn the entire Universe into ashes by Thy unimaginably fiery flames! It cannot be denied that Thou art the Divine — the Creator, the Protector and the Destructor. I bow down to Thee! Be kind to disclose to me what be Thy current intentions!

   Krishna: I am Time — The Destructor and this My Destructive Attire! Currently I intend to destroy all the evil and undivine forces that reign over the world. You can see for yourself that I have already killed the warriors who are ready to fight against you. They include people on whom you hesitate to inflict even pin-prick injures. Whether you kill them or not, they do not stand any chance of survival! They are all dead and gone. I have already withdrawn their souls from their bodies. What remains to be done is to fell their soulless bodies. Come on! Collect yourself! Fell the dead bodies! Assume the role of a Ruler! Rule the kingdom and earn honour! This is My will and is sure to be done and done by you yourself!

   Arjuna: I bow down to Thee Oh! the Eternal, the Divine, the Creator, the Protector, the Destructor, the Lord of the Winds, the Fires, the Waters, the Sun, the Moon and all the the planets and the stars! All the Gods are down on their knees before Thee and are worshipping Thee. The saints and the sages are chanting Thy glory. The Demons are trying to escape Thy wrath. I bow down to Thee. I bow down to Thee again and again. In my ignorance, I had so long been treating Thee like just a human friend and have thus neglected so long to give Thee Thy proper honour and respect. Forgive me please! Forgive me in the same way as a father forgives all the wrongs committed by his son, as a friend forgives each and every fault of a friend and as a lover forgives all the misdeeds of his beloved! I am delighted by the vision. There cannot be any doubt about it. Yet, the destructive attire of Thine I cannot stand to bear any longer. Be pleased to change into Thy four armed, sweet and smiling Divine form that we are used to imagine. Shrive me I pray! I shall never again mistake Thy identity!

   Krishna: Till this morning, not a soul — be he a saint, a sage, an ascetic, a devotee or even a God — has been fortunate enough to see this My Divine form of Time the Destructor. No amount of oblation, worship, austerity or benevolence can enable anyone to see Me in this attire. Fear Me not! Be of good cheer!

   (At first Krishna changed Himself into His Divine Form of Vishnu, the Protec   tor — with Conch-shell, Discus, Club and Lotus in His four hands and then    into His Human form).

   Krishna: Have constant and unfailing faith, devotion and respect in Me and for Me! Shake off all affection and antipathy! Stop calculating or pondering over the probable outcome of the war and charge!

Devotion

   Arjuna: I can now understand that one can unite with Thee either by worshipping Thy Human form or meditating upon Thy Formless Divinity. Which of the two is easier to follow?

   Krishna: To worship Me in My Human form with devotion and to offer all actions, even the minutest and what may appear to be trifling, to Me is the easier of the two methods. You may try and practise this method. If you find this difficult, try to think that whatever you do you do for Me and for Me alone. If this too be difficult, simply reject all desire for and attachment to the outcome of your work — whatever that may be. Acquisition of knowledge and wisdom is better than the practice. Meditation is better than knowledge and wisdom. Rejection of desire for and attachment to the outcome of work is, however, the easiest method of uniting with Me. Moreover this brings down into one immutable peace and delight. Single minded devotion is, of course, the essential condition of all the methods. Such devotion alone can relieve one of desire, attachment, affection, antipathy, jealousy and hatred. The greatest of foes appear to be dear friends. Self-control and forbearance reign over one’s whole being. Equality and equanimity settle into one’s movements and reactions. All dualities depart from one. Pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow, compliment and insult, heat and cold, good and evil, gold, money and pebble cease to make their differences felt. Anxiety and fear vanish from one. He lives in permanent bliss in his own self. One can, in this state, work with perfect skill without even a thought about the probable outcome. To a real devotee all is for Me — Meditation, austerity, knowledge, work, wealth, passion, body, mind and even life. Such a devotee is my most favourite.