Bhagavad Gita and Infinity

[dharm4]

I've recently started reading the Bhagavad Gita, it was on my to-do list for a long time.

The translation (and audio book) from Stephen Mitchell is amazing! Puts you into a higher state of mind.

Definitely get yourself a copy if you don't already have it.

The book is about a dialoge between Arjuna and Krishna (who is an incarnation of god).

There is a desciption of the absolute in it, which reminds me of 5-MEO DMT experiences of Absolute Infinity.

I have no personal experience with 5MEO or such visions, but like Arjuna it definetly makes me feel a bit uneasy/fearful (my ego's fear of annihilation).

But at the same time it is deeply profound and beautiful.

Here is part of the chapter called "The Cosmic Vision"

ARJUNA:

"If you think I am strong enough,
worthy enough, to endure it,
grant me now, Lord, a vision
of your vast, imperishable Self."

[....]

KISHNA:

Look, Arjuna: thousands,
millions of my divine forms,
beings of all kinds and sizes,
of every color and shape.

Look: the sun gods, the gods
of fire, dawn, sky, wind, storm,
wonders that no mortal has ever
beheld. Look! Look, Arjuna!

The whole universe, all things
animate or inanimate,
are gathered here—look!—enfolded
inside my infinite body.

But since you are not able
to see me with mortal eyes,
I will grant you divine sight. Look!
Look! The depths of my power!

After he had spoken these words,
Krishna, the great Lord of Yoga,
revealed to Arjuna his majestic,
transcendent, limitless form.

With innumerable mouths and eyes,
faces too marvelous to stare at,
dazzling ornaments, innumerable
weapons uplifted, flaming—

crowned with fire, wrapped
in pure light, with celestial fragrance,
he stood forth as the infinite
God, composed of all wonders.

If a thousand suns were to rise
and stand in the noon sky, blazing,
such brilliance would be like the fierce
brilliance of that mighty Self.

Arjuna saw the whole universe
enfolded, with its countless billions
of life-forms, gathered together
in the body of the God of gods.

Trembling with awe, his blood chilled,
the hair standing up on his flesh,
he bowed and, joining his palms,
spoke these words to the Lord.

 

ARJUNA:

I see you everywhere, with billions
of arms, eyes, bellies, faces,
without end, middle, or beginning,
your body the whole universe, Lord.

Crowned, bearing mace and discus,
you dazzle my vision, blazing
in the measureless, massive, sun-flame
splendor of your radiant form.

You are the deathless, the utmost
goal of all knowledge, the world’s base,
the guardian of the eternal
law, the primordial Person.

I see you beginningless, endless,
infinite in power, with a billion
arms, the sun and moon
your eyeballs, the flames of your mouth

lighting the whole universe with splendor.
You alone fill all space,
and the three worlds shudder when they see
your astounding, terrifying form.

[....]

Your stupendous form, your billions
of eyes, limbs, bellies, mouths, dreadful
fangs: seeing them the worlds
tremble, and so do I.

As you touch the sky, many-hued,
gape-mouthed, your huge eyes blazing,
my innards tremble, my breath
stops, my bones turn to jelly.

Seeing your billion-fanged mouths
blaze like the fires of doomsday,
I faint, I stagger, I despair.
Have mercy on me, Lord Vishnu!

All Dhritarashtra’s men
and all these multitudes of kings—
Bhishma, Drona, Karna,
with all our warriors behind them—

are rushing headlong into
your hideous, gaping, knife-fanged
jaws; I see them with skulls crushed,
their raw flesh stuck to your teeth.

As the rivers in many torrents
rush toward the ocean, all
these warriors are pouring down
into your blazing mouths.

As moths rush into a flame
and are burned in an instant, all
beings plunge down your gullet
and instantly are consumed.

You gulp down all worlds, everywhere
swallowing them in your flames,
and your rays, Lord Vishnu, fill all
the universe with dreadful brilliance.

Who are you, in this terrifying form?
Have mercy, Lord; grant me even
a glimmer of understanding
to prop up my staggering mind.

KRISHNA:

I am death, shatterer of worlds,
annihilating all things.

[....]

ARJUNA:

Having seen what no mortal has seen,
I am joyful, yet I quiver with dread.
Show me your other form—please—
the one that I know; have mercy;

let me see you as you were before,
crowned, bearing mace and discus,
with only four arms, O billion-armed
Lord of infinite forms.

KRISHNA:

Graciously for your sake, Arjuna,
I showed you my highest form—
dazzling, infinite, primal—
which no one has seen but you.

Not by worship or study
or alms or ascetic practice
can I be seen in this form
by anyone but you, Arjuna.

Do not be frightened or confused
at seeing my horrific form.
Free of fear, lighthearted,
see me as I was before.

Having spoken thus to Arjuna,
the Lord stood before him again
in the mild and pleasant form
of Krishna, the kind, the beautiful.

Edited February 21, 2021 by dharm4

[Leo Gura]

36 minutes ago, dharm4 said:

Not by worship or study
or alms or ascetic practice
can I be seen in this form

By DMT