The Srimad Bhagawad Gita, the Divine Words of Lord Krishna delivered to Arjuna, the disciple on the battle-field, shortly before the Pandavas and Kauravas started the epic battle, is an essence of ALL Upanishad and Vedantic teachings and serves as a practical guide to those who are keenly interested in following the path of harmony, righteousness and character.
Even though there are several chapters in the Srimad Bhagawad Gita that offer valuable lessons, some chapters are easier to understand than the other, and in this respect, Chapter 10 is perhaps the right place to start an introduction to the Holy Text without creating a lot of difficulties.
The 10th Chapter is titled Vibhoothi Yoga, which means “the Chapter about the Lord’s Glory”. The word Vibhoothi in the context of this chapter should be taken as “Divine Glory”, so the entire 10th Chapter is a concise catalogue of all of the Lord’s Glory. At the end of the Chapter, the Lord himself says that whatever he has mentioned is only a “sample” of his infinite glory and that it is not possible to enumerate ALL of his glory comprehensively
In this chapter, Lord Krishna conveys the important message that everything GOOD and BEAUTIFUL that we see around us in this world and in ourselves, is a gift of God that HE has chosen to bestow on us and that we should receive this gift with humility and acknowledge the fact that, but for HIS Grace, we will not possess these qualities.
The 4th Shloka of Chapter 10 reads as follows:
बुद्धिः ज्ञानं असम्मोहः क्षमा सत्यं दमः शमः |
सुखं दुःखं भवोSभावो भयं चाभयमेव च ||
Buddhir gyaanam asammohah kshamaa sathyam damah shamah |
Sukham Dukham Bhavo Bhaavo Bhayam cha abhayam eva cha ||
बुद्धिः (Buddhih) — intellect, the power to understand
ज्ञानं (gyaanam) — Knowledge, whatever we gain by using our intellect
असम्मोहः (asammohah) — clarity of thought, analytical sharpness
क्षमा (kshamaa) — patience, forebearance
सत्यं (sathyam) — Truth, straightforwardness
दमः (damah) — control of sense organs
शमः (shamah) — control of the mind, ability to focus
सुखं (Sukham) — happiness, pleasure
दुःखं (Dukham) — sorrow, pain
भवो (Bhavo) — presence, existence
अभावो (Abhaavo) — absence, deficit
भयं (Bhayam) – fear
अभयं (abhayam) – courage, fearlessness
All these qualities are the result of the Lord’s blessing, these are a gift from the Lord (more such glories are to be found in the subsequent shlokas that will follow in the next section).
In continuation of the 4th Shloka we saw in the last section, we will see the 5th Shloka in this section:
अहिंसा समता तुष्टिः तपो दानं यशोSयशः (अयशः) |
भवन्ति भावाः भूतानां मत्त एव पृथग्विधाः ||
Ahimsaa Samataa Thushtih Tapo Daanam Yasho(a)yashah
Bhavanti Bhavaah Bhootaanam matta eva Pruthagvidhaah
अहिंसा (Ahimsaa)– (the quality of) non violence
समता (Samataa)– the ability to maintain composure of the mind (self control)
तुष्टिः (Thushtih) — contentment, satisfaction (the opposite of feeling needy, greed)
तपो (Tapo) — the ability to voluntarily undertake physical hardship (as a method of training oneself to develop physical and mental strength)
दानं (Daanam) — charity, the ability and willingness to share what one has
यशः(Yasho) — fame, good reputation
अयशः(yashah) — notoriety, bad name earned through wrong deeds
भूतानां (Bhootaanam) — for all the living beings (human beings)
मत्त एव (matta eva) — from me alone (Lord Krishna referring to himself)
पृथग्विधाः(Pruthagvidhaah) – various / different types of
भावाः (Bhavaah) — qualities & characteristics
भवन्ति (Bhavanti) — emerge, are produced
All the above mentioned qualities, the Lord says, are produced from HIM alone.
Summing up the 4th and 5th Shlokas, the Lord says that EVERYTHING good and bad found in Creation are emerging from HIM alone. All qualities, skills and power — without exception — come down to us from the Supreme ONE.
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