(Image Courtesy Mahanidhiswami)

Among The Horses, Divine Is Ucchaihshrava, He Is The Nectar, The Airaavata And The Leader Among The Humans

उच्चै:श्रवसमश्वानां विद्धि माममृतोद्भवम् |
ऐरावतं गजेन्द्राणां नराणां च नराधिपम् || 10.27||

uchchaiḥśhravasam aśhvānāṁ viddhi mām amṛitodbhavam
airāvataṁ gajendrāṇāṁ narāṇāṁ cha narādhipam|| 10.27||

Shloka Translation

BG – Ch. 10- Ver. 27: Among the horses, I’m known as Ucchaihshrava, the nectar-born. I’m Airaavata among the elephants, and I’m the leader among the humans.

Explanation

Indra, the monarch of the celestial abodes, he owns Ucchaihshrava, a celestial winged-horse. It is the quickest horse in the universe and is white in colour.  It arose when celestial gods and demons were churning the ocean. Airavata is a white elephant that acts as Indra’s transport.

Once upon a time, the devotee demigods and the demons went to sea to churn it Nectar and poison was produced during the process, and Lord Siva swallowed the poison. Many entities were created from the nectar, including a horse named Uccaihsrava.

Airavata, an elephant, was another creature born from the nectar. These two creatures have great importance as representations of Krishna because they were created from nectar. The king is Krishna’s representation amongst human beings.

Verse & what we can learn

The Puranaas tell the account of gods and demons churning the seas in search of immortality’s nectar. Before the nectar appeared, various other divine entities appeared, including Ucchaihshrava, the divine horse. The  Ucchaihshrava is a symbol for the prosperity we achieve when we put in concentrated effort and give up our material wants. Shri Krishna claims that the heavenly Ucchaihshrava is Ishvara’s expression among all the horses.

Airaavata is a four-tusked white elephant that serves as Indra’s mount, the God King. He is credited with causing rain to fall. Iravati, grandson of sage Kashyapa, is his mother. Given his stature, Shri Krishna claims that Airaavata is Ishvara’s manifestation among all the elephants. Shri Krishna then returns to more familiar territory by mentioning people. He claims that Ishvara manifests in the leader among humans.

Ishvara manifests himself in leaders whose achievements are the result of their efforts and whose leadership is based on dharma, or righteousness. It is simple to get recognition and popularity through association or by engaging in unethical behaviour. This isn’t the leader we’re talking about. We should recall Ishvara’s expressions anytime we see the result of hard effort, a humanitarian leader, or the refreshing rain that drenches a dry area.

To acquire knowledge and to implement that knowledge in life one needs to be mentally and physically active and healthy and for that daily meditation is a great tool.

There are various types of meditation like Buddhist meditation, heartfulness meditation, mindfulness meditation, meditation for stress, and each meditation benefits are countless. There is also numerous meditation techniques for beginners which help in practicing daily meditation so go ahead and start your journey towards a peaceful and balanced life.

In the next Shloka we continue to learn more about Ishvara’s expressions.

Let’s learn to live with “The Gita” via Meditation Affinity…