The tenth chapter of Bhagavad Gita is referred to as manifestation of the absolute. In this chapter, the main theme is an attempt by the Supreme Lord to explain his identity which is not known to most people. He says that the Devas and the great sages do not know his origin because he is in fact their origin.
This implies that unless the Supreme Lord clearly explains his origin, nobody would be able to understand anything about him. Many people live in bondage under Karma and it is only the acknowledgement that the Supreme Lord is in control of the whole universe that would liberate them.
There are many qualities that human beings possess and although they might not be aware of the origin of the qualities, they all emanate from the Supreme Lord. As a result, everybody is supposed to respect and acknowledge him as the source of every good thing and all powers.
It is important to understand the manifestations of the Supreme Lord because it is only after this understanding that one can worship him with full devotion. The Supreme Lord liberates those who worship him with devotion and makes them delighted.
Arjuna acknowledges that the Supreme Lord is the origin of everything and has immense powers. However, it is difficult for him to understand all his manifestations. This calls for a detailed explanation in order for him to understand the glory and yogic powers of the Supreme Lord.
In a bid to make Arjuna understand his different manifestations, the Supreme Lord systematically explains his divine manifestations. The explanation shows how difficult it is to understand him and how he manifests himself to all human beings.
He is the beginning, middle and the end of all human beings and abides in the hearts of all of them. All human beings are controlled by an invisible power that helps them to act rationally and make sense of things that happen around them. This is evidently a manifestation of the Supreme Lord in the form of Atma (Prasad, 4).
Arjuna is clearly not able to understand the manifestations of the Supreme Lord and that is why he requests him to explain his manifestations in detail. This apparently implies that the Supreme Lord is not explicitly manifested. The most important thing that Arjuna should realize is that the Supreme Lord is manifested in everything that exists.
As a result, every time Arjuna tries to look for manifestation of the Supreme Lord, he should expect to see it everywhere. For instance, the Supreme Lord is manifested in animals, trees, alphabetical letters, the armies and bodies of water. In addition, he is manifested in the power of death and procreators.
These are just but a few of the divine manifestations of the Supreme Lord. The most important point that the Supreme Lord makes is that his powers are unlimited and that he is the controller of the whole universe. Arjuna finds it difficult to understand his manifestations because they have no end.
Everything that has glory, power and brilliance is a manifestation of the Supreme Lord. The Lord insists that his power is so great that he only uses a small portion of it to control the universe. The conclusion is that he is all powerful and controls everything in the universe (Prasad, 5).
Works Cited
Prasad, Ramanand. 1988. The Bhagavad Gita. Web.