These questions are asked to Lord Krishna by the words katham vidyam aham yogims meaning how to be able to know and follow yoga the science of the individual consciousness attaining communion with the ultimate consciousness, and engage in constant meditation on Him with devotion.

Devotion knowing the Supreme Lord is endowed with the six perfections of total power, total beauty, total wisdom, total fame, total wealth and total renunciation which accompany His illustrious attributes of omniscience, perfection, eternity, sovereignty, majesty etc.

Now Arjuna desires to know in what other ways yet untold is Lord Krishna's vibhūti transcendental majestic opulence displayed throughout existence which exemplifies His Supreme eminence and paramount position as the ultimate controller of all creation.

“ब्रह्म परिपूर्णम् - अथ कसमुद्भूते परं ब्रह्म | बृहति बृहयन्ति च इति हि श्रुतिः | बृह बृह बृहि बृहौ इति पठन्ति | परमं यो महद् ब्रह्म इति च | विविधमासीद् इति विभुः | तथाहि वारुणशाखायाम् - विभु प्रभु प्रथमं मेहवानत इति | स ह्येव प्राभवद् विविधोऽभवत् इति | सोऽकामयत बहु स्यां प्रजयेय इत्यदेशः ||” - Brahman is entirely complete. Why is Brahman called the supreme? Because, He is complete and makes others also complete, say the Scriptures. बृह बृहि from these roots to suggest to expand. “Supreme is the Great Brahman”, thus it is said. Since it assumes various forms, it is said to be all-pervading, thus in Varuna section. “All pervading, Energiser the First among all. He, verily, expands to become the many”. “He willed, Let Me be many”. “विविधभूतयो विभूतयः |” विभूतयः means विविधभूतयः various manifest forms.

17 “How may I, constantly meditating on Thee, comprehend Thee, Thou Master of the Yoga? In what forms of being, O Lord Blessed, art Thou to be thought of by me? (187)

Say, how I should feel Thy August Presence? What presence so felt thus should I meditate upon? To take Thee as the All and the One would leave little room for meditation. Therefore, do once tell me all those emanations in detail of which Thou spoke briefly. And thus unfold the path of uniting with Thee by making meditation on them easy.

'Kathām vidyāmaham yogiṁstvām sadā paricintayan'— The Lord, in the seventh verse of this chapter, said that he who knows Him in reality, gets established in Him, through unwavering devotion. So Arjuna asks Him, how he may know Him, by constant meditation.

'Keṣu keṣu ca bhāveṣu cintyo'si bhagavanmayā'—The Lord, in the fourteen verse of the eighth chapter, declared, 'I am easily attainable to the ever steadfast Yogi, who constantly thinks of Me, with undivided mind.' Again, He declared, in the twenty-second verse of the ninth chapter, 'To those devotees who constantly think of Me, and worship Me alone, who are ever-devout, I provide gain and security.' So Arjuna asks Him, in what various aspects He is to be thought of, by him. [Here meditation (thought), is the means, while Knowledge about Him, is the end.]

Arjuna asks Lord Kṛṣṇa, 'In what things, persons, places etc., are You to be thought of, by me?' Lord Kṛṣṇa, will further reply, 'There is no creature animate or inanimate which can exist, without Me. I stand holding the entire universe, with a single fragment of Myself.' It means, that He pervades everywhere, all things, creatures and incidents etc. So, whatever glory, brilliance, beauty, prosperity or power etc., he thinks of, he should think it only of the Lord and thus, instead of thinking of the universe, he will think only, of Him.

**Appendix—**Arjuna's question means, 'O Lord! In which forms have You revealed Yourself so that I may think of You in those forms?' Arjuna's this question aims at easy realization of God. Arjuna is a representative of all strivers, therefore his question is useful for all strivers. Arjuna knew Lord Kṛṣṇa but he did not know Him in His entire form. He had inquisitiveness (curiosity) to know the Lord's entire form. So he asks Lord Kṛṣṇa, 'How should I know You in Your entire form and in what different forms should I think of You?' It proves that the

Lord's divine glories are not of secondary importance but they are very important as they are the means for God-realization. The Lord has revealed Himself in the form of His divine glories. So long as a striver does not know God in reality, he has the notion of primary or secondary importance. But when he knows God in reality, then he has no notion of primary or secondary importance because when there is no other entity besides God, then what is the question of primary or secondary importance? It means that there are the primary and the secondary, from the view-point of a striver, not from the view-point of God and of an enlightened soul.

जी कैसें मियां तूंतें जाणावें । काय जाणोनि सदा चिंतावें । जरी तूंचि म्हणों आघवें । तरि चिंतनचि न घडे ॥ १८७ ॥

म्हणोनि मागां भाव जैसे । आपुले सांगितले तुवां उद्देशें । आतां विस्तारोनि तैसे । एक वेळ बोलें ॥ १८८ ॥

जयां जयां भावाचां ठायीं । तूंतें चिंतितां मज सायासु नाहीं । तो विवळ करूनि देईं । योगु आपुला ॥ १८९ ॥

(10.187) अजी, मैं आपको किस रूप का समझूँ? क्या समझ कर सर्वदा आपका चिन्तन करूँ? यदि सब ही आप हैं ऐसा कहूँ, तो ध्यान नहीं हो सकता।

(10.188) इसलिए पहले आपने जैसे अपने भावों का संक्षेप से वर्णन किया था वैसे ही एक बार अब विस्तार से कहिए।

(10.189) जिन जिन भावों में आपका चिन्तन करते हुए मुझे कष्ट न हो सो अपना योग मुझे स्पष्ट कर बताइए,

भावार्थ— हे योगिन्! आपका निरन्तर चिन्तन करते हुए मैं किस प्रकार आपको जान सकता हूँ। तथा भगवन्! किन-किन भावों में मुझे आपका चिन्तन करना चाहिए।

व्याख्या— यहाँ 'चिन्त्योऽसि' पक्ष से जान पड़ता है कि अर्जुन भगवान् के सविशेष रूपों के विषय में पूछ रहा है, क्योंकि निर्विशेष का तो चिन्तन नहीं हो सकता।

‘कथं विद्यामहं योगिंस्त्वां सदा परिचिन्तयन्’—सातवें श्लोकमें भगवान्ने कहा कि जो मेरी विभूति और योगको तत्त्वसे जानता है, वह अविचल भक्तियोगसे युक्त हो जाता है। इसलिये अर्जुन भगवान्से पूछते हैं कि हरदम चिन्तन करता हुआ मैं आपको कैसे जानूँ?

‘केषु केषु च भावेषु चिन्त्योऽसि भगवन्मया’—आठवें अध्यायके चौदहवें श्लोकमें भगवान्ने कहा कि जो अनन्यचित्त होकर नित्य-निरन्तर मेरा स्मरण करता है, उस योगीको मैं सुलभतासे प्राप्त हो जाता हूँ। फिर नवें अध्यायके बाईसवें श्लोकमें कहा कि जो अनन्य भक्त निरन्तर मेरा चिन्तन करते रहते हैं, उनका योगक्षेम मैं वहन करता हूँ। इस प्रकार चिन्तनकी महिमा सुनकर अर्जुन कहते हैं कि जिस चिन्तनसे मैं आपको तत्त्वसे जान जाऊँ, वह चिन्तन मैं कहाँ-कहाँ करूँ? किस वस्तु, व्यक्ति, देश,

काल, घटना, परिस्थिति आदिमें मैं आपका चिन्तन करूँ? [यहाँ चिन्तन करना साधन है और भगवान्को तत्त्वसे जानना साध्य है।]

यहाँ अर्जुनने तो पूछा है कि मैं कहाँ-कहाँ, किस-किस वस्तु, व्यक्ति, स्थान आदिमें आपका चिन्तन करूँ, पर भगवान्ने आगे उत्तर यह दिया है कि जहाँ-जहाँ भी तू चिन्तन करता है, वहाँ-वहाँ ही तू मेरेको समझ। तात्पर्य यह है कि मैं तो सब वस्तु, व्यक्ति, देश, काल आदिमें परिपूर्ण हूँ। इसलिये किसी विशेषता, महत्ता, सुन्दरता आदिको लेकर जहाँ-जहाँ तेरा मन जाता है, वहाँ-वहाँ मेरा ही चिन्तन कर अर्थात् वहाँ उस विशेषता आदिको मेरी ही समझ। कारण कि संसारकी विशेषताको माननेसे संसारका चिन्तन होगा, पर मेरी विशेषताको माननेसे मेरा ही चिन्तन होगा। इस प्रकार संसारका चिन्तन मेरे चिन्तनमें परिणत होना चाहिये।

**परिशिष्ट भाव**—अर्जुनके प्रश्नका तात्पर्य है कि हे भगवन्! आप किन-किन रूपोंमें प्रकट हुए हैं, जिन रूपोंमें मैं आपका चिन्तन कर सकूँ? अर्जुनने यह प्रश्न सुगमतापूर्वक भगवत्प्राप्तिके उद्देश्यसे किया है। अर्जुन साधकमात्रके प्रतिनिधि हैं; अतः उनका प्रश्न साधकोंके लिये है।

अर्जुन भगवान् श्रीकृष्णको तो जानते थे, पर उनके समग्ररूपको नहीं जानते थे। उनमें भगवान्के समग्ररूपको जाननेकी जिज्ञासा थी। इसलिये वे पूछते हैं कि मैं आपके समग्ररूपको कैसे जानूँ? किन रूपोंमें मैं आपका चिन्तन करूँ? इससे सिद्ध होता है कि विभूतियाँ गौण नहीं हैं, प्रत्युत भगवत्प्राप्तिका माध्यम होनेसे मुख्य हैं। विभूतिरूपसे साक्षात् भगवान् ही हैं। जबतक मनुष्य भगवान्को नहीं जानता, तबतक उसमें गौण अथवा मुख्यकी भावना रहती है। भगवान्को जाननेपर गौण अथवा मुख्यकी भावना नहीं रहती; क्योंकि भगवान्के सिवाय कुछ है ही नहीं, फिर उसमें क्या गौण और क्या मुख्य? तात्पर्य है कि गौण अथवा मुख्य साधककी दृष्टिमें हैं, भगवान् और सिद्धकी दृष्टिमें नहीं।

विस्तरेणात्मनो योगं विभूतिं च जनार्दन।