PA: So all that is manifesting for power, grandeur, brilliance, awe is considered as God’s presence shining through. However, sometime, as humans, we are surrounded by anxieties and fears (Tamasic energies) – are these emotions also a part of God’s Vibhutis?

UB: This is a very good question for which giving an answer is not easy for me owing to absence of formal Vedanta education. Ch 14 is focussed on त्रिगुण which should help us when we get there. I will however attempt an answer based on my understanding. Firstly, त्रिगुण is indeed His विभूति. In fact, each त्रिमूर्ति has a गुण assigned viz सत्व for विष्णु, रजस् for ब्रह्म and तमस् for रुद्र. त्रिगुण is a key component of माया and in Ch 9, भगवान् has already said that माया is His only. And in its pure form, तमोगुण is essential for survival. The goal of साधना is not elimination of तमोगुण since that is not possible but instead keep all त्रिगुण in balance. Thus, after every day, we have night which is a manifestation of तमोगुण. Sleep is also thus तमोगुण and it is essential. After a hard day toil on the farm (manifestation of रजस्), we need rest to help us regain energy. This rest is a manifestation of तमस्. Thus, in this sense, all गुण are indeed the विभूति of परा. But at our level, the त्रिगुण do not operate in a pure form. They are induced by our अहम् भाव or ego. Our actions owing to the presence of ego take the form of अज्ञान and we pursue actions or not pursue some other actions owing to अज्ञान. Fears and anxieties are also caused on account of the presence of अज्ञान. Now what is अज्ञान? While the idea of अहम् is also His idea only, He meant अहम् as a “Universal I” while we mistook this by restricting this to a “limited I” viz our own body/mind complex. Hence, fear and anxiety follows causing even त्रिगुण to manifest in an impure form. Thus, while त्रिगुण in a pure form is His विभूति, त्रिगुण in an impure form has come about owing to the presence of अज्ञान. Simply put with an analogy, vision is His विभूति while dark vision caused by काला चश्मा worn by me is impure manifestation of His विभूति. Thus, तमोगुण is His विभूति but its wrongful manifestation is on account of my idea of “limited I”. Question may now come as to how did the “Universal I” turn into the “limited I”? This is a tough one to answer. At the सत्ययुग, we were like a single bird among a flock where all our movements were tied to the Universal. As युग progressed, we regressed in the sense that we somehow started questioning to as why I as a capable bird remain in the flock and why cannot I fly alone. Thus, leaving the lovely flock of geese, we turned into a lonely eagle. And hence we wallow in अज्ञान.

PA: Absolutely brilliant answer 🙏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏 Thanks for taking the time out to answer !!👍👍🙏🙏
Main points

So tamsik Modus is required for self preservation. However our agyan state of mind sometime causes the fear and anxiety to increase in us. Fear and anxiety causes even more tamsik orientation and manifestation. Our state of ignorance causes us to believe we are the doer and additionally the will to completely surrender is missing. This concept of universal I is fleetingly there however we are due to our outward orientation and association with our tiny body (limited I) and the sorrounding eco system go into higher level of rajsik activity or lower level of tamsik state

PS: Chapter 10 is my favourite chapter so far by a wide margin. The examples of विभूति are easy to comprehend but difficult to realize on a constant basis. I too find 10.36 fascinating – the separation of skill vs intent where “evil” is concerned. Re 10.38 expansion on upanishads and मौन, can you elaborate a bit more if you have time… thank you. Chapter 10 has me thinking about humility – how can one learn humility? Is humility an absolute trait or a relative one by definition? Any thoughts?
PK: So agree with you Puneet – it is a fascinating chapter ! I thought 10:36 was fascinating too and was quite confused by it. But your description of separating skill vs intent is very insightful ; my conundrum was if everything is lord’s Vibhuti then what is evil ? I think your answer of intent is probably apt – thanks for clarifying that 🙏🙏🙏🙏:  I also wondered about feminine strengths and if details of these strengths are stated what are the masculine counterparts ? Balance would require both … the focus in some places of emphasising feminine strengths yet in others calling women lesser intelligence/ understanding ( was in chapter9 ) is interesting to me
UB: I agree. The abstract ideas given earlier have been concretised more clearly in Ch 9 making the idea of परा more clearer. The मौनम् state is a state of pregnant silence and not empty silence. In the विवेकचूडामणि, आदि शंकर gives the analogy of a full moon by saying that no one can describe the beauty of a moon to someone who has never seen it. A word after all is a physical expression of a mental idea but mind itself is limited by its experience. One therefore sees use of a lot of opposite words in our texts when the Divine is conveyed – light/ dark, big/ small, full/ empty, etc and then push us to go beyond these opposites. Thus, when ध्रुव had a दर्शन of महाविष्णु, he became dumbstruck since he did not have suitable words to express what he was seeing. Then महाविष्णु touched his cheek and words of स्तुति came out. But one again sees is a large list of opposing ideas brought together. Word is thus seen as a descent, a climbdown of the Highest into the world of relative and thus to catch the highest, One is asked to go beyond the words. Beyond this, even I do not know much. The long commentaries by स्वामी कृष्णानंद on the उपनिषद् available on his website http://www.swami-krishnananda.com can be a good starting point to learn deeper.
UB: The idea of absolute भाव and relative भाव was my speculation expressing my wonder as to why some भाव are given in singular while others as dual. No commentary I have read thus far refers to this distinction. However, a text called as सांख्सकारिक by ईश्वरकृष्ण refers to eight absolute भाव which are primal. These absolute भाव then become 50 भाव which are comprehensive expression of all emotions by all human beings. These 8 are – धर्म, अधर्म, ज्ञान, अज्ञान, विराग, राग, ऐश्वर्य & अनैश्वर्य. Humility is not seen in this context as an absolute but more of a derivative or a relative one. But given that I am a lay superficial reader (and this is not humility😊), I cannot expand beyond this and one will need to approach learned Gurus who are suitably trained on these ideas.
UB: PK: Ch 9 does not refer to women as having lesser intelligence. They had been clubbed with Vaishyas, etc because they lacked exposure to Vedic education but भगवान् declared that if they develop suitability, they also can achieve the highest like any other.
UB: To add further, my guess is that भाव at the highest level is three only – सत्, चित् & आनन्द. There is no other. However, when there is a descent into mankind, this त्रयी expands into a second level and these भाव need to be rooted to सत्वगुण to remain in connection with the Highest. These are articulated in Ch 13 and there are 20 of them. विनय comes up in this list. So I need to do more R & D on this subject.
VB: Since my name has come up, I have to talk. No Vinay in me. I interpreted PS’s question to mean how does one develop humility in one self? I thought of it is a query similar to how can one generate a forgiving nature etc.
UB: 😀 No Vinay – see commentary of 10:4/5 where I have referred to absolute traits and relative traits. Hence this question is whether humility is absolute or a relative trait.
VB: Who am I to conclude on what he wants..I thot he said how to learn humility and hence i interpreted that way. Anyways, let me not talk more. I am still in 5th chapter.
2/20/17, 08:15 – Bhaskar: 😀
PA: My thoughts on your question on developing humility: If one is convinced and holds on to the idea that all the mental and physical and emotional facilities that we possess are actually not our own but given to us as a gift to fulfill gods purpose and whatever we do or achieve is because of the power of the almighty behind them I suppose we can keep our self humble and also kind towards fellow humans too. Because there is very little that would make us proud of or rather in our state of arrogance and pride should be kept in mind to bring us back to the state of thankfulness
PS: Thank you all. VB, UB – I will stay मौन re the interpretation of my question on humility. 😀
PA: All the play of creation is the play of 3 guna nature and I suppose we as humans are the only living beings that are endowed with the possibility of free will to decide how we navigate our soul ships successfully through this maya roopi bhavsaga. For example some times we are in the rajsik mode and so not realize when to stop and we keep aiming for more and more . The same is true in case of tamsik mode where we can keep spiraling down to the darker thoughts and some times we might get into this modus of Bhakti and leave what is expected from us in terms of rajsik activities. The thing is because of our free will no body is there actually to keep us in check and tell us what to do or not to do

PS: How do you feel about this other guy who writes a blog, does he evoke the same feelings in you as Alok Sagar? If not, why not? – https://www.gatesnotes.com/2017-Annual-Letter
VB: Did it invoke any such thoughts in you?
PS: To add some context, I have been aware of the Gates foundation work in India and elsewhere for a few years. Imo, it will be hard to match Bill Gates for skill and good intent rolled together, for a very long time. As for my thoughts, I will wait for others to write first, if that is ok. Please note that I am not comparing the two men, I am asking you to reflect on how/what you feel about their actions. To capture some of the terms used above for Alok Sagar – nobility, humbleness, kindness, feel small in front of them, sthitpragya, selfless… would you say the same for Bill Gates? If not, why not?
UB: Read the article. Feelings are no different really. Both seem to be giving their life for a cause that is way beyond them. Both appear to have given up their individual pursuits and made helping others are their individual pursuit. One gives up two things I guess – give up time and give up money. Giving up money is easier relatively but giving up time for helping others far more difficult. Alok appears to have given up all time to help others. As for Bill and Melinda, they also may be giving up a lot but I cannot know that. But both certainly are giving up on both counts more than what I think I am doing. Hence both appear admirable from my perspective.
UB: I guess whenever we evaluate others, the frame of reference invariably tends to be ourselves 😀. So we need not evaluate what others are really doing or whether their vocation is really effective or worth giving life to. As long as it is more than what we feel we are doing, we end up admiring such others.
VW: When we use terms like humbleness selflessness kindness etc is not necessarily for the person but more for the person’s actions…….so irrespective of the name I think the respect and admiration would still be the same.
VB: Read it. Made me think a lot.
UB: And what is the outcome of your thinking?
PS: I agree the reaction shouldn’t be any different, however it doesn’t appear to be the case from my small sample space. I asked the question because of some comments elsewhere, that Gates is not making any “sacrifice”, he still has all the comforts of life. Also I wondered if people were influenced by the appearance, demeanour, personality etc (and locality – as an Indian) of Alok Sagar, in addition to his tremendous work. I doubt this thread would’ve had the same reaction if they had only seen the Gates article, even though he is far more effective than everyone else due to the resources available to him. Uday, re “giving up a lot” – the numbers are on the Gates foundation website. But perhaps that’s not what you mean by “giving up”? Curious to know…
PS: VB – better come up with something profound… 😀
PK: Altruism can and us beasties in many ways. If intent is the metric both Gates and Sagar are equal. If impact (effective altruism ) is the metric Gates is hands down way more effective – lot more folks have benefited from the gates foundation than Sagar. If the human touch ( contact with locals giving of one’s time in large chunks) is the metric sagar is better. My feeling is everyone should do as much as they can in the circumstances they are- any altruistic activity is better than none) – however once one is doing enough it makes sense to practice rational altruism so it is as effective as feasible – money is more effective than time for the truly wealthy – a million dollar Check may be more useful than an evening helping the homeless just for the tv cameras etc etc
PK: Can and Is measured … sorry for the typo
VB: Profound adjective does not work with me. I saw AS video and was just wowed and humbled. I saw your post, did not read it, and felt, AS is doing way more nobler and self less work. No doubt. BG has had all and then he did his work.he still lives in luxury. How can he be in same bracket as AS. But then i read the article. I think what as does is great in terms of personal sacrifice, hardships at physical level and it is humbling. What BG does has HUGE impact. No doubt he did it after living in luxury. But then..
PS: My question wasn’t about effectiveness, or even the two individuals. It was about whether you feel the same way about the two, and potentially, why not… (re human touch, I could argue it might be the same, the foundation works with several local charities that provide the high touch model; but again that is a moot point).
VB: He waited in life to reach a point where he could impact a larger mass. And the same words come to my mind for him. I think it requires equal or more amount of motivation, humility to serve after reaching bg’ s position. I was shocked when I read the comments, though. Never know what to believe
PK: The rational pragmatist in me favours Gates for what he has accomplished : the sentimental me likes sagar for what he has sacrificed personally 😃😃
PS: Ah that word again…
PK: 😂😂and why does the word bother you my friend?
PS: It doesn’t bother me. I’m just curious about its role in our thinking.
VB: Ditto
PK: I guess If the question is do I feel the same about both men – my answer would be yes and my really honest answer would be a slight tendency to admire Gates for managing to do what he did and still living a life that is not completely deprived … you can see how I have a ways to go in this spiritual evolution 😃😃😃.., material comforts are still quite important to me and many luxuries still allure 😃
PS: Look at the bright side – you’ll have many lives to achieve all your goals. 😀
PK: Amen 👍
VW: Worth Reading…

Once Krishna and Arjuna were walking towards a village. Arjuna was pestering Krishna, asking him why Karna should be considered an unparallelled Donor & not him? Krishna, turned two mountains into gold. Then said, “Arjuna, distribute these two gold mountains among villagers, but you must donate every bit of it “. Arjuna went into the village, and proclaimed he was going to donate gold to every villager, and asked them to gather near the mountain. The villagers sang his praises and Arjuna walked towards the mountains with a huffed up chest. For two days and two nights Arjuna shovelled gold from the mountain and donated to each villager. The mountains did not diminish in the slightest. Most villagers came back and stood in queue within minutes. Now Arjuna was exhausted, but not ready to let go of his Ego, told Krishna he couldn’t go on any longer without rest. Then Krishna called Karna and told him to donate every bit of the two gold mountains. Karna called the villagers, and said “Those two Gold mountains are yours. ” and walked away. Arjuna sat dumbfounded. Why hadn’t this thought occurred to him? Krishna smiled mischievously and told him “Arjuna, subconsciously, you were attracted to the gold, you regretfully gave it away to each villager, giving them what you thought was a generous amount. Thus the size of your donation to each villager depended only on your imagination. Karna holds no such reservations. Look at him walking away after giving away a fortune, he doesn’t expect people to sing his praises, he doesn’t even care if people talk good or bad about him behind his back. That is the sign of a man already on the path of enlightenment”. Giving with an Expectation of a Return in the form of a Compliment or Thanks is not a Gift, then it becomes a Trade. “Give without expecting anything in Return..”
UB: We have an event in the पुराण where व्यास asks his son शुक to get married. शुक is revolted by the idea and fights aggressively with his father. In sheer frustration, व्यास asks शुक to go over to जनक to get advice on this matter. This upsets शुक more – how can a king who lives in a vast palace surrounded by servants, wearing rich ornaments, doing wars, punishing people and having many wives be qualified enough to give advice? However, out of respect to his father’s wishes, he goes. And while his initial impression of watching जनक reinforced his fears, talking and watching Janaka enlightened him. जनक told him that while he has control over wealth, people, etc and weilds power, he sees all these as विभूति of विष्णु and not as its owner. Hence, he is merely focussed on using them to do his राजधर्म and not shaped by or influenced by its presence in his life. To conclude therefore, what one has or owns is not key. How one uses what one has is the key determiner. So even a humble squirrel who merely lifts tiny stones to help राम becomes qualified for मोक्ष since he has still given much more than what his ability is for the highest good. Eventually, that is the yardstick to judge but this yardstick is known only to the person and not others. Living with तन मन धन सब है तेरा is the real deal.
UB: We had covered in 9th Ch earlier that while भगवान् says that all He needs is पुष्पम्, फलम्, etc., if someone rich also gives पुष्पम् only, it means he is following the letter of the text but not its spirit. Being rich is not bad and being poor is not noble. Both are silly ideas.

Summary by PK

Neither the devtas (देवानां)) (reference to other gods?)  nor the great Rishis (महाऋषि) know My origin, for, actually I am the first ( अहम् आदि:) i.e. their  creator.( 10-2)

He who knows Me as the unborn (अ-जम्), as the beginningless (अनादिं च), , as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds, that person is not deluded and amongst all mortals is freed from all sins.(10-3)

All attributes  (भावा) of human nature in their duality- intelligence, knowledge, freedom from doubt and delusion, forgiveness, truthfulness, self-control (दमः),  and calmness, pleasure and pain, birth, death, fear, fearlessness, nonviolence, equanimity, satisfaction (तुष्टि:), , austerity, charity, fame and infamy are created by Me alone.(10-4,5)

To those who are constantly devoted (सततयुक्तानां) and worship Me (भजतां) with love (प्रीतिपूर्वकम्), , I give the understanding and wisdom by which they can come to Me (10-10)

Arjuna asks the Lord “ I accept all that You have told me;  How should I meditate on You? In what forms do I  contemplate upon YOU ? ( 10-14, 10-17)

Krishna says’ I am the आत्मा, residing in all creatures (आशय स्थितः) . I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings ( 10-20)

10-21 through 10-31 is various descriptions detailed by the Lord establishing his supremacy

Example: Of the Rudras, I am Lord Siva, among the stars I am the moon, of the flowing rivers I am ganga, I am Yama, Lord of death etc

From 10;32 onwards  The descriptions are more  metaphysical  with some redundancy  and some meanings not entirely clear to me

My favorites:

I am the beginning and the end and also the middle, O Arjuna.( repeat of concept of 10:20 so I am assuming this is critical ) Of all knowledge (विद्यानां),  I am the spiritual science of the Self (अध्यात्म विद्या), and among  those who debate (प्रवदताम्),  I am the logical argument  (10-32)

The word logical is mine, the verse says (वादः).  I truly believe that the world needs more logic and kindness (paraphrasing  Haruki Murakami).I also like  the meaning of  (वादः) as the ‘clinching argument’ that reveals the Truth.

Of letters I am the letter  अ ( the fundamental expression) , and among compound words ( सामास), I am the dual word (द्वन्द्व).  I am also inexhaustable time (अक्षय काल:)  and  the all-pervasive giver  (विश्वतोमुखः  धाता) ( 10-33)

I wondered about “giving” and our extrapolation of karmphal in this context.  I thought the giving could be everything (our strengths and weakness) and may be that is our karmphal. Still musing on this…

I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all things yet to be (भविष्यताम्); . Among the feminine, I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, wisdom/intelligence ((मेधा),  resolve/fortitude (धृतिः) and patience/forbearance (क्षमा). ( ( 10-34)

I thought this very interesting…and was trying to come up with masculine attributes for fun,, courage/strength/bravery (dhairya), protection/protector ( what is the Sanskrit word?) , proactive nature ( vs patient ? Sanskrit)  came to mind…any others?

I am also the gambling (द्यूतं अस्ति) of cheats (छलयताम्); , and of the splendid I am the splendor

(तेजस्विनाम्); . I am victory (जय:); , I am व्यवसाय:); , and I am the inborn or inherent character (  positive or negative trait?) that occurs  (सत्वं) among  people with this inherent  trait/nature (सत्त्ववताम्) ( 10;36)

I looked up meaning of व्यवसाय:); and am still confused of what was meant here- clarity of thinking did not show up; resolve, purpose, effort etc showed up- In Hindi we all use this word as occupation/trade so effort seems best fit? The meaning of the word सत्त्ववताम्) is also very interesting and needs a deeper   delve at some point

Among punishments I am the rod used for  punishing (दण्ड:); , and of those who seek victory, I am morality/righteousness ( नीति). Of secret  or mystical things I am silence (मौनं), and of the wise (ज्ञानवताम्),  I am the knowledge  ( 10;38)

Is “Gyan” here wisdom or knowledge?  The older I grow the more I am convinced that  Knowledge does not necessarily imply wisdom

Nothing can exist without me as I am the generating seed (बीजं) of everything  and nothing can exist without me( 10;39).

Everything glorious (श्रीमत्), and beautiful  and mighty (विभूतिमत्),   is nothing but a small fragment (अंश) of my Splendor  (तेजस्) ( 3-41).

This entire universe इदं कृत्स्नम्  जगत्) is pervaded and supported( विष्टभ्य:) by a  part of me (एक अंशेन). ((10;42)

Take-away

This Chapter is called  विभूति योग. This chapter emphasizes the diverse expressions of the Lord (Vibhuti as विविध) or as  special/extra-ordinary  (vibhuti as विशेष). Everything that enthralls us, everything that is the best manifestation in its category ( positive or negative),  is an expression of the Lord’s glory- with this mindset one trains one’s mind to look for the Lord in everything that is good and hopefully a glimmer of HER Glory in the worst of circumstances as well.