The Spiritual Import of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavadgita : 16.15.

Chapter 16: The Essence of Creation is God's Glory -15.

So we are told particular glories—adityanam aham visnur, etc. All that is of supreme excellence in this world should be regarded as a ray of God. The whole of the tenth chapter is a description of this particular glory. Wherever there is an exuberance of manifestation, whatever be the kind of that manifestation—it may be any cataclysm or even a flood—even that is to be regarded as a superb vibhuti of God.

This excellence or superiority of manifestation need not necessarily be a beautiful and picturesque scenery before us. Any kind of catastrophic excellence, which can be acceptable or terrifying—either way it should be regarded as God’s manifestation. We will be told also that He is the destroyer of all things.Kalo’smi loka-ksaya-krt pravrddho: “I am the world swallowing time.” We will not be prepared to accept this kind of definition of God so easily. “I have come to doom everything and swallow all of you up.” If someone says that, we cannot regard him as God—we will think he is something terrific and most portending.

The excellences of God are gradually described in their varieties of excellence. The most beautiful things, most powerful things, most valourous things, most heroic acts, and anything that surpasses in knowledge and power the comprehensibility of the human mind usually has been regarded as God’s vibhuti. While it is true that the glory of God is present in every little thing, and there is nothing where His presence is not felt in some manner or the other, for our satisfaction it is said that that which excels our knowledge and power should be regarded by us as the glories of God for our adoration, worship and regard.

We are wonderstruck many a time by occurrences in the world. We are stupefied and taken by consternation; we are flabbergasted. The wonder of creation is not exhausted merely by the rise of the sun or the moon, the existence of the solar system and the creation of the world through nebular dust, etc. It exists even in little things in the day-to-day existence of our own small lives.

Swami Krishnananda
 To be continued  .....