Faith is necessary

Spiritual quest leads one beyond human thought and reason

because it belongs to the esoteric and the transcendental
realms. Much depends on the faith of the individual who may
not understand the full implications but implicitly believes as
the very truth the word of the scriptures. This is exemplified in
the Bhagavad Gita when Arjuna asks Krishna to reveal His
transcendental form, pointed out Swami Paramasukhananda in
a discourse.

Arjuna sees the Lord as both the Srishti Kartha and the Laya

Kartha, perpetually creating and destroying. It is a terrible form
and the baffled Arjuna asks Him, “Who are you?” The Lord
replies that He is Time, Kala, the most powerful force and prime
mover of the universe. Arjuna realises that he may not
understand the entire range of truth that Krishna represents
but that at best he can have full faith in the Lord who is his
companion.

As the Lord reveals His cosmic form to Arjuna He also

enables him to actually witness the enormity and infinite
manifestation that cannot be caught by the human eye. Arjuna
is awe-struck at the manifestation of the eternal truth in front
of him. There is adoration, fear, amazement, rapture and
astonishment. It is a vision that fuses what is perceived visibly
with what is seen with the inner eye. Realisation is an

experience that has to integrate the perceived with the infinite

ranges of the beyond. The whole episode is symbolic of the truth
that faith and belief provide the foundation for the process of
enlightenment in a jivatma.

Arjuna gets access to the indescribable aspect of the Supreme

Brahman who stands beyond Time and Space. The Upanishad
says: “Hearing they hear not; knowing they know not; seeing
they see not; only with the eye of enlightenment do they see.”