The significance of Viswaroopa darshan.

 

Every Indian dreams of seeing the Viswaroopa form of the Lord. It is a very important part of the Bhagavad Gita - the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. When the Mahabharata serial was being aired on TV there was tremendous interest on the day the Viswaroopa (universal form of the supreme entity) of Sri Krishna was to be shown. People had even arranged for inverters to counter any power cuts that could happen on that day.

What is the Viswaroopa? Though it was a battlefield occupied by millions of soldiers, only 3 including Arjuna were fortunate to witness it. What they saw was a being with infinite dimensions and having uncountable limbs, from whose mouth emerged countless beings, and also countless entities disappearing into it. Arjuna was dumbstruck and terrified upon seeing it and requested Sri Krishna to revert back to his original form.

While it is only the rare entity that can witness that form, the fact is we are seeing that form each and every second!

The Supreme Entity alone is present. Everything in the Universe is but his image. He is also the invisible background on which the image is reflected. He is within every being and object just as saltiness is a part of the ocean.

Now do you realize that everything is Him and that you are witnessing the Viswaroopa every second of your existence and also experiencing it in your sleep?

He is the cause and the effect. He is the Virat (the huge aggregate form) and he is also the Jiva (the individual form). The one who is seeking is He, the one sought is He, and the act of the seeking is also He! The world emerges from Him, rests in Him, and also dissolves into Him. He is behind every action and reaction. He is the subatomic particle and also the Universe. He is the gross and also the energy. That is the Viswaroopa.

Contemplating on the Viswaroopa everyday cuts asunder the ropes of ignorance that ties us to the duality we perceive and wallow in. If God alone exists where is the duality?

People ask where is God without realizing the truth. The one who is asking, the one from whom the reply is expected, and the act of questioning, is God! There is nothing apart from Him.

People also have problems with the concept of God because it falls within the purview of Maya - the multifaceted force of ignorance and its play. But the primal cause of the world can also appear as a part of it. This notion is what makes life in the world bearable. The wise one utilizes the miserable existence within Maya by contemplating on the personal form of the Supreme.

All doubts regarding God with form were torn asunder when Sri Ramakrishna emphatically declared to a devotee that God can be with form (sakar) and also without form (nirakar). As the one with form he appears in this world to play with his devotees, end the age of exploitation, and establish Dharma - the perennial laws of the world.

We all are waiting for the Kalki Avatar whose appearance has been foretold just as the divine play of Rama and Krishna was known before they appeared. Chakradhar's descent too was predicted by Achyutananda.

Mahasambhuti Chakradhar was majestic in appearance. He was also unpredictable. Many a times he seemed to go beyond reason. Sometimes he was a loving child, sometimes and mostly a friend, and on rare occasions he was a furious soul whose rage, though restrained, was difficult to bear.

While he was in the human form many of us have experienced something greater. When he passed by, we have felt his Virat form as it seemed as if a mountain was passing. When I felt it I asked a senior and he confirmed that he too had experienced it. Yet another aspect was that his bed had to be more than double his physical size.

It is when you contemplate these aspects that doubts crumble and you are able to go beyond your finite ego to accept the infinite nature of things. The Viswaroopa was displayed to clear all doubts that Arjuna had regarding the divinity of Sri Krishna. Ever since, that knowledge is also with us and achieves the same objective.

Currently the ego is very strong and everywhere. Ravana had ten heads portraying his huge ego. Today we have Maharavana with infinite heads. While the ego expands it also ensures its own demise just as the bubble expands only to pop. The waves rise to fall and disappear; the ocean, containing the vast expanse and silence within it, always wins in the end.

The Viswaroopa is set to emerge again to destroy the ego and establish the reign of the Supreme that alone is. It is up to us to choose between the puny individual ego or become humble and embrace the infinite consciousness.

A lot of pain can be avoided by making the right choice.