एवं सततयुक्ता ये भक्तास्त्वां पर्युपासते ।
ये चाप्यक्षरमव्यक्तं तेषां के योगवित्तमाः ॥१२-१॥
Transliteration:
King Arjuna asks Lord Krishna thus… One who had infinite faith in God Almighty, those indulging in karma nishkama karma way… for whom nothing other than God existed in cosmos, human beings devoid of feelings of hatred towards one and all… such devotees of God Almighty who were continuously engaged in singing praises of God Almighty… those who believed in Sakaar form of God (having no form)… how they compared to those who believed in Nirakaar form of God (having no form)?
Believers in Nirakaar form of God (without a form), those who understood God was indestructible, epitome of truth and only truth… those who believed in Nirakaar Brahman (God having no form)… those who believed God Almighty could never be reached via path of rituals, believers of absolute truth, travellers of path of jnana yoga… how they differed from Sakaar worshippers of God Almighty… who was better amongst the two?
In essence, one must worship God in Sakaar or Nirakaar form (with or without form)!
The Explanation:
Arjuna who had doubts about worshipping God in Sakaar or Nirakaar form asks Lord Krishna thus: O Lord Krishna, would you tell me… amongst Sakaar and Nirakaar worshipping of God… which is the best and the right way! Sakaar in Hinduism meant worshipping God that had a form. It was beyond comprehension of most human beings… commoners, masses to imagine God having no form. Nirakaar in Hinduism meant worshipping God without a form. As per Bhagavad Gita… worshipping Sakaar form of God carried no meaning.
Of all things in the physical manifest world… how could we imagine God having a form! It would not be prudent to say… everything in cosmic system is gaseous formation… made from basic building block that formed entire cosmos. In reality… even a human being was pure gaseous formation… made up of clusters of atoms and molecules. Only when perceived from senses point of view things appeared solid… otherwise all was gaseous formation!
When human beings were pure gaseous formation… how could God Almighty be Sakaar in form (having a form)? Those who believed in rituals, travellers of religious path believed in Sakaar form of God! Travellers of spirituality… believers in path of jnana yoga understood structure of God Almighty correctly. For travellers of spiritual path god almighty was Nirakaar in form (having no form), was pure spirit… the sum total of all souls atmans in cosmos in their pure form! A soul is termed atman in Hinduism.
Even though Arjuna clearly knew that God Almighty was Nirakaar in form… still, engrossed in emotional thoughts when faced with relatives and friends in the opposite army… his faith in God Almighty dwindled. In this confusion… a spiritual traveler at the level of Arjuna still asked Lord Krishna about superior form of worshipping God… the Sakaar (having a form) or Nirakaar form of God (having no form). Arjuna was nishkama karma Yogi, a spiritual traveler par excellence yet, faced with dilemma of confronting his own relatives and friends… his faith in God shook.
From beginning of Mahabharata war in which sermon of Bhagavad Gita was given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, Lord Krishna always knew that Arjuna would come to terms at the right moment. It was a war of Dharma (righteousness) which Arjuna had to win at all costs. The apparent reason for Lord Krishna delivering sermon of Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna was re-establishing Dharma (righteousness) against evil forces of adharma (lawlessness) at all costs! Under no circumstance Arjuna was supposed to express cowardice. So was against tenets of spirituality, law of absolute truth!
Furthermore, Arjuna wanted to know from Lord Krishna how the path undertaken by spirited devotees, those with absolute faith in God Almighty, indulging in worshipping God Almighty all the time but worshipping God in Sakaar form compared to those who treated God as indestructible, epitome of truth but only truth… believers of Nirakaar form of God (having no form). Realizing inherent structure of God Almighty, believers of God from within, those who saw God in everyone… how they fared compared to those who all the time prayed to God?
Arjuna wanted to know who was better amongst the two… those worshipping Sakaar form of God or those who worshipped God in Nirakaar form?
In Bhagavad Gita chapter 12 verse 1, the definition of God, entity of God was made explicitly clear. God Almighty always was indestructible (could neither be created nor destroyed), was an apostle of truth and only truth and was termed Brahman in Hinduism. Arjuna also makes it explicitly clear that those who worshipped God with purity of thought, believers of Nirakaar form of God were more righteous than those worshipping Sakaar form of God. Arjuna also expressed that God almighty… termed Brahman in Hinduism was one and only one.
This confirms Advaita theory put forward by Adi Shankaracharya that God Almighty was one and only one! Arjuna repeatedly confirms that absolute faith in God Almighty was necessitated to reach God, realize God in present life. His poser to Lord Krishna was out of emotional compulsion, nothing beyond! As Lord Krishna was antaryamin (knower of all)… he knew from beginning what queries Arjuna bore within him. Lord Krishna was duty-bound to quash those queries forever. But convincing Arjuna took long sermon of Bhagavad Gita by Lord Krishna.
Believers of Sakaar form of God belonged to material world. Believers in Nirakaar form of God belonged to world of spirit, our soul atman within! As per Bhagavad Gita… our soul atman, the spirit within is the absolute master and controller of human life, the physical manifest world! As no soul atman could purify self of its own, it manifests a chain of bodies… to work out its karma, remove dross impurities within! Our soul atman, the spirit within being the controller of all things cosmic… human beings worshipping Nirakaar form of God was the only truth of life.
Being a follower of path of jnana yoga… Arjuna understood this aspect of spirituality very well. Bhagavad Gita chapter 12 verse 1 clearly emphasized that unless one had absolute faith in God Almighty, one could never understand entity of God Almighty in totality… nor reach God, realize god in present life! Power of absolute faith in God Almighty is no small verdict… it encompassed within itself entire gist of Bhagavad Gita. For understanding Bhagavad Gita, for understanding Lord Krishna, for understanding God Almighty… absolute faith in God was an absolute must… something none could do without!
People who were short of faith in God Almighty suffered most of time. This is proved from the fact that in last about 150 years amongst 7 billion people existing world over… only two spiritual stalwarts Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana finally reached goal of their life. In their lifetime… they finally reached God, gained enlightenment (termed kaivalya jnana in Hinduism). Both Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Maharishi Ramana had absolute faith in God Almighty. No matter what… their faith in God Almighty never dwindled. Rather with passage of time their faith in God Almighty firmed up more and more.
Commentary by: Vijay Kumar “Atma Jnani”… The Man who Realized God in 1993 – Sep 24, 2012
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