Rama's Vishwaroopam

jayasala42 · Nov 27, 2014

Come Margazhi, bakthi rasa is pervading everywhere.Golden were the days in 1950, when we got up at 4.00 in the early morning,just brushed teeth, ran to the Shiva temple nearby
Definitely not to have Lord's Darshan, but to sing one Thiruppavai and one verse in Thiruvempavai before the mike.We felt elated when our screeching voice was heard by all residents of the village and getting hot hot venpongal in a banana leaf. While coming back it was a pride listening to words of praise from mamies amidst their kolam making.

Very often people used to say that they are going to temple for Viswaroopa Darshan.
I didn't know what it was.Even at this age,the word 'viswa Roopam'has so many interpretations among many .

. Divine Revelations, called the Vedas, are immutable and are valid forever. Sages and saints have given proper interpretations and explanations when some of the directives therein seemed to present doubts or appeared to be contradictory. Yet there was one instance where God Himself had uttered a statement that is totally at variance with His own earlier declaration.

The Vedic words are that God can be approached, among other steps, by the study of the Vedas, by chanting them, by the performance of austerities, giving gifts, or by conducting penance or doing sacrifices.

But God, as Sri Krishna, after having granted His Cosmic Form to Arjuna on the Kurukshetra battlefield, says that all these exercises will be of no avail in beholding His vision in this mundane plane.

Are not the two versions puzzling? The Lord Himself has given the answer for this ambiguity. "It is only by single-minded, unalloyed devotion that My eternal beautiful Human Form may be perceived, observed and actually realised. True devotees alone can enter into My Blissful Realm. Those who carry out all ordained duties for My sake, refrain from the fruits of their actions, look upon Me as the only supreme goal, and cultivate pure Bhakti in all affairs, will attain My All-attractive Form", replied the Lord to Arjuna's query.

This will mean that those who study the Vedas or adopt other measures mentioned, not with pure devotion, but through unholy means, for show or by force or for pretension, not dedicating them to the Supreme, cannot see Him.

After witnessing Krishna's universal "Viswaroopam", Arjuna tendered his apology regretting that he had deemed Him as a friend, jested with Him, at times even showing irreverence, and urged Him to assume His normal form. Krishna told Arjuna that none but he could behold this radiant and limitless form and asked him not to be terrified about any of the forms. Arjuna was privileged to see the huge form because of his devotion.

Whenever I think of Viswaroopam I can't but be reminded of the sage KakaBhushandi.
Those who have studied Rama Charita manas In Hindi maight have known.
Sage Kakabhushandi took the form of a crow and was revolving around the world.He saw the entire objects of nature as Rama.So Lord Rama somehow decided to show his Vishwaroopam to the sage.As the sage in the form of crow was enjoying the Balalilas of Rama,the child Rama wanted to catch the crow which started flying. The cute little hand of Rama followed the crow wherever it went, even beyond Brahmalokam.The sage was literally panicky.

Ultimately he was back in Ayodhya.He took the form of smallest crow and enjoying the beauty of the child sitting very near to his face.Rama utilised this opportunityand swallowed the crow,The sage could see many brahmandas, crores of devas, maheswaras, stars, many suryas,yamas, lots of mountains, seas and oceans,sages, human beings, kinnaras- among them the beautiful child Rama also.He was totally amazed at this great sight within the small stomach of Rama.

The child Rama laughed loudly at the confusion of the sage held in his stomach.
Along with his laughter, Kakabhushandi sage also came out.
This is beautifully explained by Tulsidas in his Ramacharita manas.

" lok lok prathi bhinna bidhaathaa I
bhinna vishnu shiva manu dhisithraathaa II

nar gandharv bhooth bethaala I
kinnara nishichara pashu khag byaalaa II

dev danuj gan naanaa jaatee I
sakal jeev thahan aanahi bhaantee II

mahi sari ssagar sar giri naanaa I
sab prapanch thahan aanayi aanaa II "

Arjuna saw Vishwa Roopam in the battle field on his requesting Lord Krishna. yasodha , and kakabhushandi had viswaroopa darshan inside Krishna's mouth and Rama's stomach respectivly through God's own Sweet Will.
Bhagavat Gita- sloka 30 ,6th Chapter
"yo maam pasyathi sarvatra, sarvam cha mayi pashyathi
thasyaaham na pranasyaami sa cha me na pranasyathi "

" One who who perceives that sarva vyapee Lord is inherent in all creations and that all creations are within the Supreme, I don't become invisible to him. Nor does he escape my vision. ( He is sure of getting my viswaroopa Darshan)

Perhaps this is the reason why only certain people are blessed with Vishwaroopa darshan and not all.

Jayasala 42

madhuprabha · Nov 27, 2014

Hello Jayasala Mam,
After reading your wonderful writing, I can just fold my hands and say my pranams to you for having shown me the vishwaroopam. If I am not wrong as a small child, Lord Krishna showed the vishwaroopam to his mother when he opened his mouth to eat the butter.
Thank you for reviving the old memories of Amar Chithra Katha and the puranas to me.

Viswamitra · Nov 28, 2014

Dear Mrs.Jayasala:

Thank you for this wonderful write up about the Viswaroopa Dharshan. What a subtle statement it is to indicate that mere reading of Vedas (art of right living), reciting them, performing austerities, giving, conducting penances and doing sacrifices but it is the pure and unadulterated mind that devotes its full focus on devotion to the Lord Himself would provide Viswaroopa Dharshan?

If one carefully review the Creation, what differentiate the created and the Creator is its assumption of form separate from the Origin. In my opinion, the dwelling on dualism is created in order to form the creation. It is a divine play without which the Creation will cease to exist and the only way to beat that divine play is to a) keep doing everything that would eliminate the feeling that are this body, mind and intellect ("BMI") through good understanding of the right living and consider ourselves as Constant Integrated Awareness ("CIA") and b) seek help from the Lord Himself to become one with One without the second.

The Creator is present in smallest of small molecules and is also have the entire milky way within Him as well. The vision of the above statement gives us knowledge that nothing exist without the presence of the Creator but realization of the above statement gives us dharshan of the Creator. Most of the time, we hold on to the knowledge without experiencing it and that is the cause of not having a vision of our own Self. This is my humble view.

Thank you again for writing this wonderful post and you make me think more and more about the reality than the perception of the reality.

Viswa

madhuprabha · Nov 28, 2014

Good morning Vishwa Sir,

First of all I am really in awe that your FB was written at 0331 hours. I think the maximum gyan is achieved in the twilight hours of the morning. That is why the gyan imparted by you in the above post is all the more appreciated by me.

I agree that the Lord is all pervasive and omnipresent and it is only our own lack of knowledge or sometimes the knowledge of the Vedas and Upanishads which prevents us from seeing him. Your post reminds me of today's Speaking Tree in the Times of India.

In the Speaking Tree the writer had written that, at the time of vishwa roopam or time of darshan of the lord or the penultimate time of revelation, many of the human beings hesitate to accept the Lord's Viswaroopam, fearing the breaking of ties of earthly things. It is the unknown which is scary, even of the great saints who want to attain the state of utlimate peace and oneness with the Lord.

The very saints who have read and written the vedas hesitate at the threshold of Vishwa roopam. And that is where the role of the Guru is needed. It is the Guru who gently leads and perhaps gives the disciple the gentle push towards the Vishwaroopam.

So I feel along with knowledge of the Vedas and Upanishads, the guidance of a Guru is also required for the attainment of Vishwaroopam of the Lord.

PriyaPrahlad · Nov 28, 2014

Great writeup Jayasala mam. Thanks for the enlightment

jayasala42 · Nov 28, 2014

Thank you Madhu Prabha,
All theanecdotes which were understood as mere stories acquire special meaning and significance as we grow older. We don't see Krishna with mud and better all through His mouth, but altogether a different Krishna.

Jayasala 42

jayasala42 · Nov 28, 2014

Thanks Priya for the response.

Jayasala 42

PushpavalliSrinivasan · Nov 28, 2014

Dear Jaya,
Thanks for this post of 'Rama's Vihwaroopam' which many people might not be aware of.

During Krishnavathar along with Arjuna, Sanjaya also had the Vishwaroopa darshan of the Lord as Vedavyasa Maharishi gave this special vision to Sanjaya to narrate the events of war to Dhrudarashtra.

PS

jayasala42 · Nov 28, 2014

Dear viswa,
Your response is simply superb.I was stunned by the new dimensions attributed.

In our ordinary lives our concerns are focused on the limited beings around us. The living beings include our family, friends and society. The non-living beings or objects include our homes, vehicles and property. We are able to recognize many different types of being in the world and interact with them in various ways. This interaction with other beings is what gives meaning and purpose to our existence.
It is because we can recognize the being of things that we can give them names and recognize them as individual entities.Ultimately this limited recognition rests upon Unlimited Being. It is only because of Unlimited Being that limited beings can exist. Limited being is nothing but the reflection of Unlimited Being into the field of time and space. This situation is like water and waves. The Unlimited Being of the ocean is what allows for the limited being of the waves. The being of the waves is the same water as the ocean itself. The limited form of the waves is not a true limitation in being. So there is only One Being that allows various beings to have their being. Limited being is thus a borrowing from Unlimited Being, not something that exists in its own right.

Therefore limited being is an illusion. It is but a temporary appearance or formation of Unlimited Being like the waves on the surface of the sea. This apparent limitation on being is not real. Being is not limited by time and space, which is but its field of manifestation. When a limited being ceases to exist, its being does not end. That being is simply liberated from its form. Being itself never ceases, but the forms of limited beings rise and fall in the pure presence of Unlimited Being.

Limited being is Unlimited Being under the appearance of limitation. Once we know this, we will discover that Viswaroopam is nothing but the love and care we give to fellow human beings and all other creatures as the Unlimited Being overflows itself into limited forms. But limited being also overflows itself back into Unlimited Being. Being is a movement through and beyond limitation, a dance within itself.

It is important, therefore, that we extend the field of our concern, our caring and our awareness from the limited beings around us to the Unlimited Being within and behind them. Then we move only from fullness to fullness.

Realisation of this dance and movement from fullness to fullness is real Viswaroopa Dharsanam as conceived by seers.

Thanks Viswa for making me further indulge in Viswaroopa Darshanam and the Advaitha aspect of the same.

Jayasala 42

jayasala42 · Nov 28, 2014

Thanks PS for your response.When we see the real self, it is nothing but Vishwa roopa darshanam.
We think of Arjuna, Sanjaya and magnificent form of Vishnu when we think of Vishwaroopam but forget the simple act of love and affection which is the real Viswaroopa Sarshanam.

Jayasala 42