5

READING THE ELEVENTH.

ARJUNA spoke.

This discourse of the supreme mystery, called Adhyatman, which thou hast uttered for my welfare, has taken. away my delusion.

For I have heard from thee at large of the birth and death of beings, O lotus-eyed!1 and of thy eternal greatness (a).

Even so as thou hast declared thyself to be, O supreme Lord! I desire to see thy sovereign form, O greatest of beings!

If thou judgest that I am able to behold it, O Ruler! show to me thy eternal self, O Lord of devotion !

THE HOLY ONE spoke.

See then, O son of Pritha! my forms, by hundreds and by thousands, various, celestial, diverse in colour and shape.

See the Adityas,2 Vasus, Rudras, the two Aświns,3 and the Maruts also. See, O son of Bharata! many marvels never seen before.

See here the whole universe, whether animate or inani

1 Long and oval eyes are considered to be an element of beauty. Yudishṭhira, the Hindū ideal of manly beauty, is called the "lotus-eyed."

2 The Adityas are twelve Solar deities, or personifications of the Sun for the twelve months of the year. For Vasus and Rudras, see p. 113.

3 The twin Aświns (Aświnau) are the sons of the Sky or Sun; probably at first personifications of the morning and evening twilight.

4 The Maruts are the "storm gods," the brothers of Indra; sometimes said to be created by him.

ΙΟ

mate, fixed in One in my person (body), O Gudakeśā! and whatever else thou desirest to see.

But thou art not able to look on Me with this eye of thine. I give thee an eye divine. See my sovereign mystic nature!

SANJAYA spoke.

Then having spoken thus, O King! Hari,1 the mighty Lord of devotion (yoga), revealed to the son of Prithā his supreme and royal form.

Having many mouths and eyes, presenting many wondrous aspects, decked with many celestial ornaments, and bearing many celestial weapons:

Wearing celestial garlands and vestments, anointed with celestial perfumes; that all-wonderful (form), resplendent, boundless, whose face is turned on every side.

If the light of a thousand suns were to burst forth at once in the sky, that would be like the splendour of that mighty One.

There the son of Paṇḍu beheld the whole universe seated in One, and divided into many parts in the body of the God of gods.

Then the conqueror of wealth, filled with amazement, with his hair standing on end, bowing down his head with uplifted hands thus addressed the god.

15

ARJUNA spoke.

God in thy body I see all the gods,
And all the varied hosts of living things,

1 A name of Vishnu. "Becoming next pervaded with the quality of passion, that divine being, Hari, assuming the form of Brahma, with

four faces, effected the creation
(Vish. Pur. i. 4). He had been pre-
viously addressed as Vishņu (Sans.
T. i. 51).

And sovereign Brahmā on his lotus-throne,1
And all the Rishis and the snakes 2 divine.
I see thee with unnumbered arms and breasts
And eyes and faces, infinite in form.

I see not either source or mean or end
Of thee, the universal Form aud Lord,
Bearing thy diadem,3 thy club and disc.
I see thee glowing as a mass of light
In every region, hard to look upon,
Bright as the blaze of burning fire and sun,
On every side, and vast beyond all bound.
The Undivided thou, the highest point
Of human thought, and seat (b) supreme of all.
Eternal law's undying Guardian thou;
The everlasting Cause (c) thou seem'st to me.
I see not thy beginning, mean, or end;
Thy strength, thy arms are infinite alike,
And unto thee the sun and moon are eyes.
I see thy face that glows as sacred fire,
And with its radiance heats the universe;
For all the heavenly regions and the space
'Twixt earth and heaven are filled by Thee alone.
When thy mysterious awful form is seen,
The triple worlds 5 then tremble, Soul supreme!
These hosts of Suras come to thee, O God!

6

1 Brahma is said to have sprung from a lotus which expanded from the navel of Iswara (the supreme Lord), í.e., of Vishnu, according to the Vaishnavas. Hence he is called Kanja-ja (lotus-born). See Moor's Hindu Pantheon, p. 7.

2 See p. 115.

na. The discus is a weapon like a quoit, formerly used in war. Vishnu bears a club, a discus, a conch-shell, and a lotus.

4 See p. 105.

5 Heaven, earth, and hell.

6 Gods of an inferior class. In the later mythology, Indra was their

3 These are the insignia of Krish- chief. "He and the other Suras

"

Some mutter in their fear and lift their hands.
Great Rishis, Siddhas,1 all cry "Hail to thee!'
And thee they celebrate with songs sublime (d).
Adityas, Rudras, Vasus, Sādhyas 2 too,
The Viswas, Aświns, Maruts, Ushmapas,
Gandharvas, Yakshas, Siddhas, Asuras,
In crowds behold thee, and are all amazed.
Thy mighty form, with many mouths and eyes,
Arms, thighs, and feet, and loins, and fearful tusks,
The worlds behold with fear, and I with them.

were for ever engaged in hostilities
with their half-brothers, the demons
called Asuras or Daityas, the giants
or Titans of Hindu mythology, who
were the children of Kasyapa by
Diti, as the Suras were by Aditi"
(Sakuntala, Mon. Williams, n., p.
S6). Śrīdhara says they enter the
Supreme as a refuge; but this is not
indicated by the text, for they adore
as other deities.

1 Deified mortals learned in the Vedas, said to be 88,000 in number and to occupy that part of the heavens which lies between Nagavithi (Aries and Taurus) and Saptarshi (Ursa Major). They are mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa (i. 14). "The gods, with the Gandharvas, Siddhas, and Munis, had previously come thither to receive their portions (of the sacrifice). Brahmā, lord of the deities, Sthānu (Mahādeva), the lord Narayana (Vishnu), and the divine Indra in visible presence, surrounded by the host of Maruts" (Sans. T. iv. 16).

2 The Sadhyas were an order of inferior gods mentioned in the RigVeda, x. 90, 16: "They (the gods) come with great pomp to the sky,

where are the ancient Sādhyās, gods." Sayana calls them karmadevās, work-gods, and " performers of sacrifices," &c., explained by Prof. Wilson to mean divinities presiding over or giving effect to religious acts.

Mahidhara on Vāj. S. (31, 17) gives a different explanation. He says that there are two kinds of gods: karma-devās, who have attained to this state by their works, and ājānadevās, gods by birth, who were created by Brahmā. See Mr. Muir, On the Interp. of the Veda, R.A.S., 1866, p. 394. In the Institutes of Manu (iii. 195) they are said to be the descendants of the Sōmasads, who sprang from Viraj. They are classed between the Viswadevas and the Rishis (xi. 29). In the Harivansa they are spoken of as worshippers of the gods. "For the completion of sacrifice, he (Brahmā) formed the Rich, Yajush, and Saman verses; with these the Sadhyas worshipped the gods, as we have heard." In the Purāṇas they are the sons of Dharma and Sadhyā, daughter of Daksha.

A class of Manes, or the spirits of ancient fathers (Pitris).

I see thee touch the skies, and brightly shine
With varied hues. I see thy open mouth,
Thy vast and glittering eyes; and now my soul,
My inmost soul is troubled, and I lose

My courage, Vishņu! and my peace of mind.
When I behold thy teeth outspread, and mouths
Resembling (in their flames) Time's final fire,1
I know not aught around and have no joy.
Have mercy, Lord of gods! the world's great Seat!
The sons of Dritarashtra and the host

Of earth's great rulers, Bhishma, Drona too,
And Karna,2 with the flower of all our host,
Enter in haste thy fearful large-toothed mouths,
And some are seen to rest, with heads all crushed,
Within the gaps that lie between thy teeth.3
As many streams in rapid torrents flow
Direct to ocean, so these chiefs of men
Enter in haste within thy flaming mouths.
As moths towards a lighted taper rush,
With still-increasing speed, to perish there,
So come these multitudes within thy mouths,
With still-increasing speed, to perish there.
Devouring all mankind from every side,
Thou lappest them with thy flame-bearing lips.
Thou fillest all the universe with light,
And fiercely, Vishņu! burn thy fiery rays.

1 The world, at the end of a kalpa, is destroyed by fire which the serpent Ananta casts from his mouth.

2 Lit. the son of a Suta (chario. teer). Karna is meant, a king of the Anga country (Bengal). He was fabled to be a son of Pritha by

Sūrya, the Sun, before her marriage with Pāṇḍu. His foster-father was Nandana, the Suta of Dhritarashtra ; hence he was assumed to be the son of a Suta.

3 This is spoken in anticipation of their approaching death in battle.