Concepts and Issues

Seeing  the sincere inquisitiveness of Arjuna in knowing the attributes and glories of  The Lord, Sri Krishna reveals them with affection for his welfare and  prosperity and through him for the benefit of humanity at large.

Sri  Krishna tells Arjuna that neither the Gods nor the sages know His origin  because He is the source of all. He, who knows Him as Unborn and Beginningless  and as the Supreme Lord of the Universe, is undeluded and liberated from all  the sins. From Him alone all the qualities of beings viz. understanding,  wisdom, non-illusion, patience, truthfulness, self-control, calmness,  happiness, pain, birth, death, fear and fearlessness arise. The seven great  sages, the ancient four and the Manus, invested with the power of The Lord,  were born out of His mere will and from them all the creatures of the world  descended. He who knows these manifold manifestations and super-natural powers  of The Lord gets established in Yoga.

The  wise ones knowing that He is the source of all, that everything in the world  exists because of Him, worship Him with devotion, talk on Him, surrender  themselves to Him, meditate on Him and rejoice in Him. Sri Krishna says that  those who worship Him with devotion, to them He gives the Yoga of  Discrimination by which they shall reach Him. In order to shower His grace, He  dwells in their Self and destroys the darkness of their ignorance by the shining  lamp of wisdom.

Arjuna  tells The Lord “Narada, Vyasa and other great seers have described You in the  same terms. Now, You too confirm their teachings. I believe that You are the  Supreme Spirit-The Lord, the Infinite Paramatman. You told me earlier that even  the Gods and the great sages do not comprehend you correctly in all Your full  glory. Since You are the only one who knows You, You are the only teacher who  can teach me about Yourself and Your glories. You must tell me therefore all  Your glories which pervade all the worlds. Tell me also how am I to meditate so  that I may know you. In which aspect or form should I contemplate upon You to realize  You in Your full glory? Tell me all about Yoga powers and Your glories ".

From  here till the end of this Chapter Sri Krishna gives several examples of His manifestations  with the idea that he who meditates upon on any one of them will be able to  discover the Infinite in the finite world of pluralities.

The  long list of His manifestations described in the Verses 20 -39 has been  tabulated below for easy reference.

Sri  Krishna says that He is the