Chapter 11 Shlokas 14, 15

तत: स विस्मयाविष्टो हृष्टरोमा धनञ्जयः।

प्रणम्य शिरसा देवं कृताञ्जलिरभाषत।।१४।।

अर्जुन उवाच

पश्यामि देवांस्तव देव देहे सर्वांस्तथा भूतविशेषसंघान्।

ब्रह्माणमीशं कमलासनस्थमृषींश्च सर्वानुरगांश्च दिव्यान्।।१५।।

Then Arjuna, filled with wonder, with his hair standing on end, bowing his head in obeisance before the Lord, said with joined hands,

“O Lord! I see in Your person all the deities and this entire gathering of beings. I also see therein Brahma seated on His lotus seat and all the great sages and divine serpents.”

Chapter 11 Shlokas 14, 15

तत: स विस्मयाविष्टो हृष्टरोमा धनञ्जयः।

प्रणम्य शिरसा देवं कृताञ्जलिरभाषत।।१४।।

अर्जुन उवाच

पश्यामि देवांस्तव देव देहे सर्वांस्तथा भूतविशेषसंघान्।

ब्रह्माणमीशं कमलासनस्थमृषींश्च सर्वानुरगांश्च दिव्यान्।।१५।।

Then Arjuna, filled with wonder, with his hair standing on end, bowing his head in obeisance before the Lord, said with joined hands, “O Lord! I see in Your person all the deities and this entire gathering of beings. I also see therein Brahma seated on His lotus seat and all the great sages and divine serpents.”

a) Arjuna was witnessing the entire world resting in the Supreme Purusha.

b) Overawed and filled with wonder, Arjuna witnessed the cosmic form of the Lord.

c) Head bowed in utter humility, he rendered obeisance at the Lord’s feet.

d) Having witnessed the Eternal Indestructible Essence, he began to describe It.

e) Having witnessed this entirety in That Omnipresent One, he began to perceive the indivisibility of That Whole.

f) He began to witness all beings, gods, all the great sages as well as Brahma within That Eternal Presence.

Look Kamla, let me explain this to you taking the example of the dream. It is the dream faculty that diversifies and appears as the entire dream.

1. It manages to create a colossal world.

2. It creates even people.

3. It produces their characteristics.

4. It invents all forms – inert and moving.

5. At times it creates the most frightening situations.

6. At other times it creates the most pleasant situations.

7. It creates death and birth.

8. It invents dreams of meeting and coming together and also dreams of parting and separation.

Therefore one single faculty creates varied forms, thought processes, characteristics and circumstances.

a) Hence this entire dream world is nothing but the faculty of dreaming.

b) Nothing exists there apart from the one who witnesses the dream.

c) All that exists in the scene is only the dreamer.

d) And when the dream ceases, all the dream objects merge into that seer of the dream.

e) Having emerged from the seer, that dream world is re-absorbed into that seer once again.

Similarly, this entire world is nothing but the Atma. We are all but actors in the dream of That Supreme One. We are His, we are from Him, we are within Him, but we are not He.

This is not the individual’s dream – this is the dream of Brahm. This is the dream of the Atma. This dream is intransient, long lasting and one which will continue from life to life.

The Atmavaan is aware of this truth. He perceives with his divine vision that this entire world is merely a fragment of That Indivisible Essence. Knowing this truth, he identifies with the Supreme.

However, one must remember, this profound Truth is revealed only through the practice of yagya, tapas and daan – sacrificial offering, endurance and fortitude, and charity. When one becomes an Atmavaan, the attitude of yagya, tapas and daan becomes one’s inherent nature. Then one’s actions will resemble the Lord’s own.