Gita Series – 103: Bhagavad Gita Chapter IX. Verse 15:

“Others worship My Absolute formless nature, as their own selves through knowledge. Yet others worship Me through My diverse celestial forms.”

This verse is very significant. Krishna talks about inner worship and ritualistic worship. Inner yajna can be performed only by those who have acquired complete knowledge about the Self. That is why, in this chapter, Krishna has dealt elaborately on spiritual knowledge. Theory alone does not help in spirituality. A proper understanding of spirituality will lead to experience. Only by continuous experience, one can attain spiritual perfection. Without spiritual perfection, the process of Self realization does not commence. Sometimes, one is misguided by falsified spiritual perfection. The level of spiritual perfection can be put to test. Concern for other beings, withdrawal of egotism, getting rid of likes and dislikes, etc are some of the visible symptoms of spiritual refinement.

In general, as one grows old, one transforms from being ritualistic to spiritualism. Spirituality is beyond religions. Religions are only stepping stones into true spirituality. Religions render strong spiritual foundation. Lord is described in various forms, which Krishna calls them as celestial forms. In reality, Lord does not have a form. This is because anything with a form is bound by space and time and is perishable. Further, one with a form cannot be omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, etc, due to the constraints associated with shapes and forms. The Lord is beyond all the limitations. If one continues to think that the Lord remains in a form, he continues to be ignorant. Ignorance never permits a person to attain spiritual goal. Rituals make a person to develop faith, which cannot be consolidated if one continues to be associated with rituals. Rituals should gradually pave way for meditation. Ultimately, the Lord can be realised only through mind. If one has developed the highest skills of visualization, he can visualize Him in a form. But this visualization is neither true nor eternal. It is the reward for his visualization skills.

Lord remains beyond all this. He is much beyond human comprehension. All that a human comprehends are subject to dissolution at some point of time. But the Lord is eternal. But the Lord can only be realized and cannot be seen. Krishna has elaborately discussed in the previous chapters the methods of realizing Him. Bhagavad Gita is one of the finest texts that deal elaborately on the methods of realizing Him.

Further Readings:

Bhagavad Gita Chapter IX. 11 - 14

Bhagavad Gita Chapter IX. 16 - 19

Bhagavad Gita Chapter IX. 20 - 21