PHRASES IN THE GITA - 142

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PHRASES IN THE GITA - 142

प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास  ... (अध्याय ११ - श्लोक २५)

ப்ரஸீத தேவேஶ ஜகந்நிவாஸ ... (அத்யாயம் 11 - ஶ்லோகம் 25)

Praseeda Devesha Jagannivaasa  ..  (Chapter 11 - Shlokam 25)

Meaning :  He Jagannivaas !  May You kindly calm down and be more pleasing ...

This is Arjuna's demand ..  Arjuna is demanding from Shri Paramaatman .. Lord of the Universe ..  It was Arjuna who desired to see the Great , Infinite Form of the Paramaatman ..  Shri Paramaatman consented to show Arjuna the Divine Form ..  But , Arjuna could not see the furious dance of Death , which was part of the Divine Form ..  He could not see the destruction by the Lord of His own creation ..  He is frightened ..  and hence comes his demand ..  "Please , Oh Lord !! Please calm down .  Please regain your more pleasant Form .."

Two aspects come to our mind in this demand of Arjuna .. One - the Uniqueness status of a Devotee , a Bhakta ..  The second - the attitude of a human mind ..

Devotion is a great Power ..  It bestows on the Devotee supreme powers ..  The Devotee pleads , demands and even commands the God ..  and the God obliges ..  This is unthinkable of in Christianity or Islam ..  This unique power of Devotion is the reason for Personal worshipping ways in Hindu Dharma ..  A Hindu can take a Form that pleases him , invite and ask the God to be in that Form , develop a relationship through that Form in a way that suits his own temperament and level of Devotion ..  He may dance to please Him , sing for Him , scold Him , cajole Him , love Him as a Child , bathe Him , feed Him , decorate and make Him up , nurse Him , sing Lullabi and make Him go to sleep ..  There is no Hindu Fatwaa or Command approving one way and disapproving anything else ..

This is unique to Hindu Dharma .. In other Religions , the God has an agent or a Messenger ..  The followers have to do as instructed by the agent ..  It is a collective endeavour ..  The instructions of the messenger have to be followed in toto , nothing more or nothing different ..  Any such deviation is seen as anti - Religion , a punishable  offence ..  There is no scope for one - to - one communication with the God ..  There is no sanction for individual prayers outside the Church or Masjid ..  We too have our temples and Poojaris who perform worships in the temples ..  This is an arrangement more for Unity in the society than personal Devotion ..  Our relationship with the Creator is absolutely Personal ..

Surdas wanted His Darshan as Little Krishna and he got that ..  TulasiDas declined to enter a Krishna Temple and wanted Him to throw away the flute and appear Rama with his Bow , the Kodanda ..  His demand too was fulfilled ..  Kanakadas was disappointed as he could not enter the Sanctum Sanctorium ..  Shri Krishna turned around , broke the temple wall to give a Darshan to His Devotee Shri KanakaDas ..  Tiruppaan was a sweeper , who cleaned the roads around the Shri Ranganatha temple in Shri Rangam ..  He always dreamt of a Darshan of Shri Ranganatha .  One day , The Lord , Shri Ranganatha locked Himself inside and demanded that the doors of the Temple will open only if Tiruppaan be carried on the shoulders by chief Priest to the Sanctum Santorum ..  The Mother Jagadamba converted a dark night to a full moon night for Her Devotee , Shri Abhirama Bhatta , to keep his words ..

The second aspect in Arjuna's demand , that draws our attention is the attribute of a human mind ..  We have already discussed that in our previous notes ..  The human mind does not want to see Destruction which is also a part of Nature ..  It refuses to accept Destruction ..  It wishes to avoid the Furious nature of destruction ..  It shivers on seeing the Dance of destruction and Death ..  The God appeared from a pillar as Shri Nrusihman to kill HiranyaKashipu ..  He took the demon on His lap , tore open his belly and killed him using the lion's claws ..   At this juncture , the Gods were frightened , why even Mother Lakshmi was afraid of His furious Form ..  They sent the little child Prahlad to pascify the Lord ..  Arjuna is an ordinary human .. He is trembling at the furious Death vision of the Lord .. and hence he demands ..  "Praseeda .. Please Oh Lord !! Calm down .. Regain your more pleasing Form "