Lord Krishna Introduces Himself to Arjuna - The Spirit Introduces Herself to the Soul

There are billions and billions of people wandering on this planet earth in search of joy and happiness. Some find happiness in wealth and some find happiness in power. The wealth makes them to seek more wealth, the power makes them to seek more power and the vicious cycle of desire and its run for fulfillment goes on till, till death. The real happiness remains a mere dream unfulfilled. There are rare people who try to find happiness in discovering the self and beyond, the realm of God.  There are thousands of people who engage themselves in finding God, but only a few among them, men and women strive for perfection and spiritual attainment. Among them, perhaps a blessed one only knows the God in reality. In Verse 3 of Chapter 7 of Shrimadbhagwad Gita Lord Krishna Himself says that one among thousands who strive for perfection, perhaps a blessed one knows me in reality;

मनुष्याणां सहस्रेषु कश्चिद्यतति सिद्धये |
यततामपि सिद्धानां कश्चिन्मां वेत्ति तत्वत: || 3||

manuṣhyāṇāṁ sahasreṣhu kaśhchid yatati siddhaye
yatatām api siddhānāṁ kaśhchin māṁ vetti tattvataḥ

Amongst thousands of persons, hardly one strives for perfection; and amongst those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me as I am.

Though the Spirit, the Lord is present everywhere and is the cause of everything, still we find it very difficult to perceive Him and know Him truly. Arjuna in the battlefield of Mahabharat was no different; he too was confused like common man and had surrendered his arms in front of Lord Krishna saying that he is not going to fight the battle for the kingdom. In order to convince Arjuna to fight the holy battle to preserve Dharma and destroy Adharma, Lord Krishna had to introduce himself who He really was and why it is essential for Arjuna to fight the battle. Therefore, the Lord says; amongst thousands of persons, hardly one strives for perfection; and amongst those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Him as He is. The Chapter 7 of the Shrimadbhagwad Gita is an important chapter of the Gita where God explain man the cause of his ignorance and how the men can cross it’s barrier to know the God through meditation penance, knowledge and discrimination. There in the battle field, Lord Krishna introduces, Himself about His Glorious Reality and says that it is very difficult for the common man to know Him.

From the time eternal, every man and women are fighting their own battles within. It is the same battle which Arjuna fought in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The constant battle within is between Dharma and Adharma, between righteous action and wrong actions. The Spirit talks with the soul. The Spirit within, the Lord Krishna Himself, tells a man and a woman that He is there to guide and help mankind to choose a righteous path.  

In verse 8 to 12 in the Shrimadbhagwad Gita, the Lord Krishna further pronounces to Krishna how He sustains all the manifestation and what is the ultimate reality of Him. He says” I am in everything and I am the cause of everything; I am the cause of the universe and nothing in the universe can exist without Me, I am the cause of all the causes. Everything emanates from me and everything is going to merge in me. The only way to know Me is meditation, knowledge, discrimination, devotion and following the righteous path”

In verse 8, the Bhagwan Krishna says about Him;

रसोऽहमप्सु कौन्तेय प्रभास्मि शशिसूर्ययो: |
प्रणव: सर्ववेदेषु शब्द: खे पौरुषं नृषु || 8||

raso ’ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śhaśhi-sūryayoḥ
praṇavaḥ sarva-vedeṣhu śhabdaḥ khe pauruṣhaṁ nṛiṣhu

O son of Kunti (Arjuna), I am the taste (juice) in water; I am the radiance of the moon and the sun; I am the sacred syllable Aum (pranava) in all the Vedas; I am the sound in ether; and the manliness in the men.

In verse 8, the Bhagwan Krishna further says;

पुण्यो गन्ध: पृथिव्यां च तेजश्चास्मि विभावसौ |
जीवनं सर्वभूतेषु तपश्चास्मि तपस्विषु || 9||

puṇyo gandhaḥ pṛithivyāṁ cha tejaśh chāsmi vibhāvasau
jīvanaṁ sarva-bhūteṣhu tapaśh chāsmi tapasviṣhu

I am the pure, wholesome fragrance of the Earth, and the luminescence and the brilliance in fire. I am the life-force in all beings, and the penance & self discipline of the ascetics.

In verse 10, the Bhagwan Krishna says;

बीजं मां सर्वभूतानां विद्धि पार्थ सनातनम् |
बुद्धिर्बुद्धिमतामस्मि तेजस्तेजस्विनामहम् || 10||

bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ viddhi pārtha sanātanam
buddhir buddhimatām asmi tejas tejasvinām aham

O Partha (Son of Pritha, Arjuna), I am the eternal seed of all creatures. I am the intellect of the intelligent, and the radiance, the heroism of the glorious.

In verse 11, the Bhagwan Krishna says;

बलं बलवतां चाहं कामरागविवर्जितम् |
धर्माविरुद्धो भूतेषु कामोऽस्मि भरतर्षभ || 11||

balaṁ balavatāṁ chāhaṁ kāma-rāga-vivarjitam
dharmāviruddho bhūteṣhu kāmo ’smi bharatarṣhabha

O best of the Bharatas, among the powerful, I am the power, the strength devoid of desire, passion and attachment. I am that desire not conflicting with virtue or scriptural injunctions or righteousness.

In verse 12, the Bhagwan Krishna says;

ये चैव सात्विका भावा राजसास्तामसाश्च ये |
मत्त एवेति तान्विद्धि न त्वहं तेषु ते मयि || 12||

ye chaiva sāttvikā bhāvā rājasās tāmasāśh cha ye
matta eveti tān viddhi na tvahaṁ teṣhu te mayi

The three states of material existence—sattva, the goodness, rajas, the passion (activity), and tamas, the ignorance (evil) emanate from Me. Though they are in Me, but I am beyond them.

Then why the people don’t know the reality? Then why the people don’t know the God. Bhagwan Krishna explains the reason in verse 13. The Bhagwan Krishna says that the people of the world are deluded in the three Gunas (qualities) of Maya, the nature;

त्रिभिर्गुणमयैर्भावैरेभि: सर्वमिदं जगत् |
मोहितं नाभिजानाति मामेभ्य: परमव्ययम् || 13||

tribhir guṇa-mayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti māmebhyaḥ param avyayam

Deluded by the tripple modes of Maya (sata, raja and tama), the people in this world are unable to know me, the imperishable and eternal.

The men and women have to rise above the delusion of the nature and be free themselves from the three Gunas, sata, raja and tama to perceive the God, the essence of all existence.