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Chapter 11 · 55 verses

विश्वरूपदर्शनयोगः

Viśvarūpa-darśana-yoga

The vision of the universal form

What happens when the whole exceeds what I can bear?

Arjuna has heard about the divine presence. Now he asks to see. What follows exceeds the scale of an ordinary encounter, and finally returns him to the need for a familiar face.

What happens here

A turn in the
conversation.

At the end of Chapter 10, Krishna has described manifestations of divine splendour and the relation of the whole world to his being. Arjuna begins Chapter 11 by acknowledging what he has heard. His confusion has been addressed by the teaching, but hearing now leads to a further request: if Krishna considers him able to bear it, he wishes to see the sovereign form. The request is relational, not a claim that knowledge gives him a right to command revelation.

Krishna grants a divine capacity of sight. Sanjaya then describes the disclosure to Dhritarashtra, the listener beyond the chariot who frames the Gita’s narration. The voices matter. The famous comparison with a thousand suns belongs to Sanjaya’s report. Arjuna’s own speech follows, moving through wonder, praise, astonishment and fear as he sees an immeasurable form containing the world and its many beings.

The vision does not remain beautiful in a reassuring sense. It includes blazing mouths and the destruction of warriors. Arjuna asks who this terrible being is. Krishna answers as Time, bringing worlds to their end, and directs him back toward action. The cosmic and the immediate meet: the armies remain before him, but his understanding of agency has been radically disturbed.

Arjuna’s response includes reverence and apology. The friend he has addressed casually is now understood within a different horizon. Yet he also asks to see the familiar form again. Krishna restores a form Arjuna can bear, and the chapter closes with devotion, action, nonattachment and absence of enmity. The movement is not from ordinary life into permanent spectacle. It returns from overwhelming disclosure to the question of how a person should live.

Arjuna

If I can bear it, let me see the form you have described.

Krishna

Ordinary sight is not sufficient. A different capacity to see is given.

Sanjaya

The scene is carried beyond the chariot to the listening king.

Arjuna

Wonder becomes fear. Let me see the familiar form again.

The Dialogue · An editorial account of the exchange

Chapter essence

The universal form reveals a whole that contains creation and destruction, intimacy and immeasurable power. Its final instruction concerns devotion and a life without enmity, not the possession of a vision.

Key movements

Follow the
argument.

11.1–8

Hearing becomes a request to see

Arjuna approaches the vision through the teaching already received. He does not ask for an unrelated display of power. He wishes to see the reality Krishna has spoken of, while recognising that the capacity to do so is not simply his to assume. Krishna’s gift of divine sight establishes the extraordinary nature of the event. The reader is entering a theological revelation within an epic, not observing a scene available to ordinary human perception.

11.9–22

Language reaches for the immeasurable

Sanjaya and Arjuna describe multiplicity within a single divine form: faces, eyes, ornaments, beings and worlds. The thousand-suns comparison attempts to convey radiance through an image whose ordinary scale has been vastly exceeded. It remains a comparison. The chapter’s language repeatedly reaches toward what it cannot contain, and the effect is cumulative rather than reducible to one picture. Reading the vision allows those changes of voice and scale to remain active.

11.23–34

The terrible form and Time

Awe becomes fear as Arjuna sees the destructive aspect of the revelation. Warriors enter the blazing mouths, and the imagery of rivers and moths makes their movement toward destruction overwhelming. Krishna’s answer as Time does not detach the chapter from the battle. It brings the battle into the vision of a larger process. Arjuna is directed to act as an instrument, a claim that unsettles his self-understanding while leaving the demand for action present.

11.35–46

The friend seen anew

Arjuna praises, bows and asks forgiveness for the familiar ways he has addressed Krishna in play, rest, conversation and shared meals. The ordinary friendship has not become false; its significance has changed under the pressure of revelation. Intimacy and reverence now have to be held together. Arjuna also asks for a form he can recognise and bear. The request gives human limitation a place within the chapter rather than treating endless overwhelm as the spiritual ideal.

11.47–55

From revelation to devotion

Krishna reassures Arjuna and returns to a gentler appearance. The conclusion identifies devotion as essential to knowing, seeing and entering into the divine reality being disclosed. Its last verse gives a compact account of the life directed toward Krishna: action for him, devotion, freedom from attachment and absence of enmity toward beings. The most expansive chapter of vision ends with this concentrated statement of relationship and conduct.

Selected key verses

Reading the vision.

The Sanskrit, an original translation, and a way into the meaning.

Bhagavad Gita 11.8Krishna · in the dialogue

A different capacity to see

न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा ।दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षुः पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् ॥ ८ ॥
na tu māṃ śakyase draṣṭumanenaiva sva-cakṣuṣādivyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥpaśya me yogam aiśvaram

But you cannot see me with this eye of your own. I give you divine sight. Behold my sovereign yoga.

Original King of Dwarka translation · Complete verse

Textual edition ↗Second textual witness ↗

Why this verse matters

Arjuna’s request is answered through a gift of vision. The universal form is not something ordinary perception simply discovers by looking harder. The text marks a change in the conditions of seeing before the vision begins.

Explore deeper

Aiśvara connects the vision with divine sovereignty; yoga here includes extraordinary power or manifestation. ‘Divine sight’ is part of the narrative’s theological claim. The passage is not a description of a reproducible optical effect, nor does the typography of this reading attempt to simulate Arjuna’s experience.

Bhagavad Gita 11.12Sanjaya · to Dhritarashtra

A thousand suns

दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता ।यदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद्भासस्तस्य महात्मनः ॥ १२ ॥
divi sūrya-sahasrasyabhaved yugapad utthitāyadi bhāḥ sadṛśī sā syādbhāsas tasya mahātmanaḥ

If the radiance of a thousand suns were to arise at once in the sky, it might resemble the radiance of that great being.

Original King of Dwarka translation · Complete verse

Textual edition ↗Second textual witness ↗

Why this verse matters

Sanjaya reaches for a comparison whose scale strains ordinary description. The conditional ‘if’ and the tentative resemblance matter. The vision exceeds the image offered to convey it.

Explore deeper

This verse is spoken by Sanjaya, reporting to Dhritarashtra, rather than directly by Krishna. It is a simile of radiance within the epic. Reading it as a scientific measurement or a prediction of modern weaponry changes both its grammar and its narrative purpose.

Bhagavad Gita 11.32Krishna · in the dialogue

Time within the vision

कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धोलोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः ।ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वेयेऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ॥ ३२ ॥
kālo ’smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddholokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥṛte ’pi tvāṃ na bhaviṣyanti sarveye ’vasthitāḥ praty-anīkeṣu yodhāḥ

I am Time, grown vast, bringing worlds to their end, engaged here in their destruction. Even without you, the warriors standing in the opposing ranks will cease to be.

Original King of Dwarka translation · Complete verse

Textual edition ↗Second textual witness ↗

Why this verse matters

The vision includes dissolution as well as splendour. Krishna’s answer returns Arjuna to the mortality of the armies before him. The battlefield is not left behind by the cosmic disclosure; it is seen within a scale that unsettles Arjuna’s sense of himself as sole agent.

Explore deeper

Kāla is Time; Death is an interpretive rendering, not the only literal meaning. Ṛte ’pi tvām means ‘even without you’. This translation does not import a bracketed exception for the Pandavas. The verse belongs to a vision of destruction and responsibility, not a detached celebration of violence.

Bhagavad Gita 11.55Krishna · in the dialogue

The vision returns to a life

मत्कर्मकृन्मत्परमो मद्भक्तः सङ्गवर्जितः ।निर्वैरः सर्वभूतेषु यः स मामेति पाण्डव ॥ ५५ ॥
mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramomad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥnirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣuyaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava

One who acts for me, takes me as highest, is devoted to me and free from attachment, and bears no enmity toward any being, comes to me, son of Pandu.

Original King of Dwarka translation · Complete verse

Textual edition ↗Second textual witness ↗

Why this verse matters

After the overwhelming vision, the chapter ends with a way of living. Action, devotion, freedom from clinging and absence of enmity are gathered into one statement. The measure of the encounter is not the possession of an extraordinary spectacle.

Explore deeper

Nirvairaḥ means without enmity. Its place at the end of a battlefield revelation is a tension to keep visible. It does not erase the epic’s violence, but it prevents personal hatred from becoming the ideal of action. Read the closing verse alongside the terrible form, not separately from it.

Read the full chapter

The whole conversation
matters.

All 55 verses, with Sanskrit, IAST transliteration and original King of Dwarka English.

Read Chapter 1155 verses · Sanskrit & English

Use the peacock feather above to mark your place. Sources & editions

11.1Arjuna

मदनुग्रहाय परमं गुह्यमध्यात्मसंज्ञितम् ।यत्त्वयोक्तं वचस्तेन मोहोऽयं विगतो मम ॥ १ ॥
madanugrahāya paramaṃ guhyamadhyātmasaṃjñitamyattvayoktaṃ vacastena moho’yaṃ vigato mama

Arjuna said: Through the words you have spoken to favour me, the highest mystery concerning the self, this confusion of mine has departed.

11.2

भवाप्ययौ हि भूतानां श्रुतौ विस्तरशो मया ।त्वत्तः कमलपत्राक्ष माहात्म्यमपि चाव्ययम् ॥ २ ॥
bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṃ śrutau vistaraśo mayātvattaḥ kamalapatrākṣa māhātmyamapi cāvyayam

I have heard from you in detail about the arising and dissolution of beings, lotus-eyed one, and also about your inexhaustible greatness.

11.3

एवमेतद्यथात्थ त्वमात्मानं परमेश्वर ।द्रष्टुमिच्छामि ते रूपमैश्वरं पुरुषोत्तम ॥ ३ ॥
evametadyathāttha tvamātmānaṃ parameśvaradraṣṭumicchāmi te rūpamaiśvaraṃ puruṣottama

You are indeed as you have described yourself, highest Lord. I wish to see your sovereign form, highest Person.

11.4

मन्यसे यदि तच्छक्यं मया द्रष्टुमिति प्रभो ।योगेश्वर ततो मे त्वं दर्शयात्मानमव्ययम् ॥ ४ ॥
manyase yadi tacchakyaṃ mayā draṣṭumiti prabhoyogeśvara tato me tvaṃ darśayātmānamavyayam

If you think I am able to see it, Lord, then show me your undiminishing self, master of yoga.

11.5Krishna

पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः ।नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च ॥ ५ ॥
paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi śataśo’tha sahasraśaḥnānāvidhāni divyāni nānāvarṇākṛtīni ca

Krishna said: See my forms, Partha, by the hundreds and thousands, divine and manifold, of many colours and shapes.

11.6

पश्यादित्यान्वसून्रुद्रानश्विनौ मरुतस्तथा ।बहून्यदृष्टपूर्वाणि पश्याश्चर्याणि भारत ॥ ६ ॥
paśyādityānvasūnrudrānaśvinau marutastathābahūnyadṛṣṭapūrvāṇi paśyāścaryāṇi bhārata

See the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, the two Ashvins, and the Maruts. See many wonders never seen before, descendant of Bharata.

11.7

इहैकस्थं जगत्कृत्स्नं पश्याद्य सचराचरम् ।मम देहे गुडाकेश यच्चान्यद् द्रष्टुमिच्छसि ॥ ७ ॥
ihaikasthaṃ jagatkṛtsnaṃ paśyādya sacarācarammama dehe guḍākeśa yaccānyad draṣṭumicchasi

Here, gathered in one place in my body, see today the whole world, moving and unmoving, Gudakesha, and whatever else you wish to see.

11.8

न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा ।दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षुः पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् ॥ ८ ॥
na tu māṃ śakyase draṣṭumanenaiva sva-cakṣuṣādivyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥpaśya me yogam aiśvaram

But you cannot see me with this eye of your own. I give you divine sight. Behold my sovereign yoga.

11.9Sanjaya

एवमुक्त्वा ततो राजन्महायोगेश्वरो हरिः ।दर्शयामास पार्थाय परमं रूपमैश्वरम् ॥ ९ ॥
evamuktvā tato rājanmahāyogeśvaro hariḥdarśayāmāsa pārthāya paramaṃ rūpamaiśvaram

Sanjaya said: Having spoken in this way, king, Hari, the great master of yoga, revealed to Partha the highest sovereign form:

11.10

अनेकवक्त्रनयनमनेकाद्भुतदर्शनम् ।अनेकदिव्याभरणं दिव्यानेकोद्यतायुधम् ॥ १० ॥
anekavaktranayanamanekādbhutadarśanamanekadivyābharaṇaṃ divyānekodyatāyudham

with many mouths and eyes, many wondrous sights, many divine ornaments, and many divine weapons raised;

11.11

दिव्यमाल्याम्बरधरं दिव्यगन्धानुलेपनम् ।सर्वाश्चर्यमयं देवमनन्तं विश्वतोमुखम् ॥ ११ ॥
divyamālyāmbaradharaṃ divyagandhānulepanamsarvāścaryamayaṃ devamanantaṃ viśvatomukham

wearing divine garlands and garments, anointed with divine fragrances, filled with every wonder, radiant, endless, with faces turned everywhere.

11.12

दिवि सूर्यसहस्रस्य भवेद्युगपदुत्थिता ।यदि भाः सदृशी सा स्याद्भासस्तस्य महात्मनः ॥ १२ ॥
divi sūrya-sahasrasyabhaved yugapad utthitāyadi bhāḥ sadṛśī sā syādbhāsas tasya mahātmanaḥ

If the radiance of a thousand suns were to arise at once in the sky, it might resemble the radiance of that great being.

11.13

तत्रैकस्थं जगत्कृत्स्नं प्रविभक्तमनेकधा ।अपश्यद्देवदेवस्य शरीरे पाण्डवस्तदा ॥ १३ ॥
tatraikasthaṃ jagatkṛtsnaṃ pravibhaktamanekadhāapaśyaddevadevasya śarīre pāṇḍavastadā

There, gathered in one place in the body of the God of gods, the son of Pandu saw the entire world, divided in countless ways.

11.14

ततः स विस्मयाविष्टो हृष्टरोमा धनञ्जयः ।प्रणम्य शिरसा देवं कृताञ्जलिरभाषत ॥ १४ ॥
tataḥ sa vismayāviṣṭo hṛṣṭaromā dhanañjayaḥpraṇamya śirasā devaṃ kṛtāñjalirabhāṣata

Then Dhananjaya, overcome with wonder, his hair standing on end, bowed his head before the divine presence and spoke with palms joined.

11.15Arjuna

पश्यामि देवांस्तव देव देहेसर्वांस्तथा भूतविशेषसङ्घान् ।ब्रह्माणमीशं कमलासनस्थ-मृषींश्च सर्वानुरगांश्च दिव्यान् ॥ १५ ॥
paśyāmi devāṃstava deva dehesarvāṃstathā bhūtaviśeṣasaṅghānbrahmāṇamīśaṃ kamalāsanastha-mṛṣīṃśca sarvānuragāṃśca divyān

Arjuna said: In your body, God, I see all the gods and the many gatherings of beings; Brahma, the lord seated on the lotus, all the seers, and the divine serpents.

11.16

अनेकबाहूदरवक्त्रनेत्रंपश्यामि त्वां सर्वतोऽनन्तरूपम् ।नान्तं न मध्यं न पुनस्तवादिंपश्यामि विश्वेश्वर विश्वरूप ॥ १६ ॥
anekabāhūdaravaktranetraṃpaśyāmi tvāṃ sarvato’nantarūpamnāntaṃ na madhyaṃ na punastavādiṃpaśyāmi viśveśvara viśvarūpa

I see you everywhere in endless forms, with many arms, bellies, mouths, and eyes. I see neither your end nor your middle nor your beginning, Lord of the universe, whose form is the universe.

11.17

किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रिणं चतेजोराशिं सर्वतो दीप्तिमन्तम् ।पश्यामि त्वां दुर्निरीक्ष्यं समन्ताद्दीप्तानलार्कद्युतिमप्रमेयम् ॥ १७ ॥
kirīṭinaṃ gadinaṃ cakriṇaṃ catejorāśiṃ sarvato dīptimantampaśyāmi tvāṃ durnirīkṣyaṃ samantāddīptānalārkadyutimaprameyam

I see you wearing a crown, bearing mace and discus, a mass of radiance shining on every side, hard to look upon, immeasurable, with the brilliance of blazing fire and sun.

11.18

त्वमक्षरं परमं वेदितव्यंत्वमस्य विश्वस्य परं निधानम् ।त्वमव्ययः शाश्वतधर्मगोप्तासनातनस्त्वं पुरुषो मतो मे ॥ १८ ॥
tvamakṣaraṃ paramaṃ veditavyaṃtvamasya viśvasya paraṃ nidhānamtvamavyayaḥ śāśvatadharmagoptāsanātanastvaṃ puruṣo mato me

You are the supreme imperishable that must be known; you are the highest resting place of this universe. You are the undiminishing guardian of enduring dharma. I understand you as the eternal Person.

11.19

अनादिमध्यान्तमनन्तवीर्य-मनन्तबाहुं शशिसूर्यनेत्रम् ।पश्यामि त्वां दीप्तहुताशवक्त्रंस्वतेजसा विश्वमिदं तपन्तम् ॥ १९ ॥
anādimadhyāntamanantavīrya-manantabāhuṃ śaśisūryanetrampaśyāmi tvāṃ dīptahutāśavaktraṃsvatejasā viśvamidaṃ tapantam

I see you without beginning, middle, or end, with boundless strength and countless arms, the moon and sun your eyes, blazing fire your mouth, heating this universe with your own radiance.

11.20

द्यावापृथिव्योरिदमन्तरं हिव्याप्तं त्वयैकेन दिशश्च सर्वाः ।दृष्ट्वाद्भुतं रूपमुग्रं तवेदंलोकत्रयं प्रव्यथितं महात्मन् ॥ २० ॥
dyāvāpṛthivyoridamantaraṃ hivyāptaṃ tvayaikena diśaśca sarvāḥdṛṣṭvādbhutaṃ rūpamugraṃ tavedaṃlokatrayaṃ pravyathitaṃ mahātman

You alone fill the space between heaven and earth and all the directions. Seeing this wondrous and terrible form of yours, great one, the three worlds tremble.

11.21

अमी हि त्वां सुरसङ्घा विशन्तिकेचिद्भीताः प्राञ्जलयो गृणन्ति ।स्वस्तीत्युक्त्वा महर्षिसिद्धसङ्घाःस्तुवन्ति त्वां स्तुतिभिः पुष्कलाभिः ॥ २१ ॥
amī hi tvāṃ surasaṅghā viśantikecidbhītāḥ prāñjalayo gṛṇantisvastītyuktvā maharṣisiddhasaṅghāḥstuvanti tvāṃ stutibhiḥ puṣkalābhiḥ

These hosts of gods enter you; some, frightened, praise you with palms joined. The companies of great seers and perfected beings cry, 'May there be well-being,' and praise you with abundant hymns.

11.22

रुद्रादित्या वसवो ये च साध्याविश्वेऽश्विनौ मरुतश्चोष्मपाश्च ।गन्धर्वयक्षासुरसिद्धसङ्घावीक्षन्ते त्वां विस्मिताश्चैव सर्वे ॥ २२ ॥
rudrādityā vasavo ye ca sādhyāviśve’śvinau marutaścoṣmapāścagandharvayakṣāsurasiddhasaṅghāvīkṣante tvāṃ vismitāścaiva sarve

The Rudras, Adityas, Vasus, Sadhyas, Vishvedevas, the two Ashvins, Maruts, and ancestors, and the hosts of Gandharvas, Yakshas, Asuras, and perfected beings all gaze at you in wonder.

11.23

रूपं महत्ते बहुवक्त्रनेत्रंमहाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम् ।बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालंदृष्ट्वा लोकाः प्रव्यथितास्तथाहम् ॥ २३ ॥
rūpaṃ mahatte bahuvaktranetraṃmahābāho bahubāhūrupādambahūdaraṃ bahudaṃṣṭrākarālaṃdṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitāstathāham

Seeing your immense form with its many mouths and eyes, mighty-armed one, its many arms, thighs, feet, and bellies, terrifying with many tusks, the worlds tremble, and so do I.

11.24

नभःस्पृशं दीप्तमनेकवर्णंव्यात्ताननं दीप्तविशालनेत्रम् ।दृष्ट्वा हि त्वां प्रव्यथितान्तरात्माधृतिं न विन्दामि शमं च विष्णो ॥ २४ ॥
nabhaḥspṛśaṃ dīptamanekavarṇaṃvyāttānanaṃ dīptaviśālanetramdṛṣṭvā hi tvāṃ pravyathitāntarātmādhṛtiṃ na vindāmi śamaṃ ca viṣṇo

Seeing you touch the sky, blazing in many colours, with open mouths and enormous shining eyes, my inner being trembles. I can find neither steadiness nor peace, Vishnu.

11.25

दंष्ट्राकरालानि च ते मुखानिदृष्ट्वैव कालानलसन्निभानि ।दिशो न जाने न लभे च शर्मप्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास ॥ २५ ॥
daṃṣṭrākarālāni ca te mukhānidṛṣṭvaiva kālānalasannibhānidiśo na jāne na labhe ca śarmaprasīda deveśa jagannivāsa

Seeing your mouths, terrible with tusks and resembling the fire at the end of time, I lose my sense of direction and find no comfort. Be gracious, Lord of gods, dwelling place of the world.

11.26

अमी च त्वां धृतराष्ट्रस्य पुत्राःसर्वे सहैवावनिपालसङ्घैः ।भीष्मो द्रोणः सूतपुत्रस्तथासौसहास्मदीयैरपि योधमुख्यैः ॥ २६ ॥
amī ca tvāṃ dhṛtarāṣṭrasya putrāḥsarve sahaivāvanipālasaṅghaiḥbhīṣmo droṇaḥ sūtaputrastathāsausahāsmadīyairapi yodhamukhyaiḥ

All these sons of Dhritarashtra, together with the hosts of kings, Bhishma, Drona, and Karna, the charioteer's son, along with our own foremost warriors,

11.27

वक्त्राणि ते त्वरमाणा विशन्तिदंष्ट्राकरालानि भयानकानि ।केचिद्विलग्ना दशनान्तरेषुसन्दृश्यन्ते चूर्णितैरुत्तमाङ्गैः ॥ २७ ॥
vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśantidaṃṣṭrākarālāni bhayānakānikecidvilagnā daśanāntareṣusandṛśyante cūrṇitairuttamāṅgaiḥ

rush into your terrifying mouths, dreadful with tusks. Some can be seen caught between the teeth, their heads crushed.

11.28

यथा नदीनां बहवोऽम्बुवेगाःसमुद्रमेवाभिमुखा द्रवन्ति ।तथा तवामी नरलोकवीराविशन्ति वक्त्राण्यभिविज्वलन्ति ॥ २८ ॥
yathā nadīnāṃ bahavo’mbuvegāḥsamudramevābhimukhā dravantitathā tavāmī naralokavīrāviśanti vaktrāṇyabhivijvalanti

As the many rushing streams of rivers flow toward the ocean, so these heroes of the human world enter your blazing mouths.

11.29

यथा प्रदीप्तं ज्वलनं पतङ्गाविशन्ति नाशाय समृद्धवेगाः ।तथैव नाशाय विशन्ति लोका-स्तवापि वक्त्राणि समृद्धवेगाः ॥ २९ ॥
yathā pradīptaṃ jvalanaṃ pataṅgāviśanti nāśāya samṛddhavegāḥtathaiva nāśāya viśanti lokā-stavāpi vaktrāṇi samṛddhavegāḥ

As moths rush with increasing speed into a blazing fire to perish, so these worlds rush into your mouths to perish.

11.30

लेलिह्यसे ग्रसमानः समन्ताल्-लोकान्समग्रान्वदनैर्ज्वलद्भिः ।तेजोभिरापूर्य जगत्समग्रंभासस्तवोग्राः प्रतपन्ति विष्णो ॥ ३० ॥
lelihyase grasamānaḥ samantāl-lokānsamagrānvadanairjvaladbhiḥtejobhirāpūrya jagatsamagraṃbhāsastavogrāḥ pratapanti viṣṇo

Devouring entire worlds on every side with your flaming mouths, you lick them up. Your terrible rays fill the whole universe with brilliance and scorch it, Vishnu.

11.31

आख्याहि मे को भवानुग्ररूपोनमोऽस्तु ते देववर प्रसीद ।विज्ञातुमिच्छामि भवन्तमाद्यंन हि प्रजानामि तव प्रवृत्तिम् ॥ ३१ ॥
ākhyāhi me ko bhavānugrarūponamo’stu te devavara prasīdavijñātumicchāmi bhavantamādyaṃna hi prajānāmi tava pravṛttim

Tell me who you are in this terrible form. Reverence to you, foremost of gods; be gracious. I wish to know you, the primal one, for I do not understand what you are doing.

11.32Krishna

कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धोलोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः ।ऋतेऽपि त्वां न भविष्यन्ति सर्वेयेऽवस्थिताः प्रत्यनीकेषु योधाः ॥ ३२ ॥
kālo ’smi loka-kṣaya-kṛt pravṛddholokān samāhartum iha pravṛttaḥṛte ’pi tvāṃ na bhaviṣyanti sarveye ’vasthitāḥ praty-anīkeṣu yodhāḥ

I am Time, grown vast, bringing worlds to their end, engaged here in their destruction. Even without you, the warriors standing in the opposing ranks will cease to be.

11.33

तस्मात्त्वमुत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्वजित्वा शत्रून् भुङ्क्ष्व राज्यं समृद्धम् ।मयैवैते निहताः पूर्वमेवनिमित्तमात्रं भव सव्यसाचिन् ॥ ३३ ॥
tasmāttvamuttiṣṭha yaśo labhasvajitvā śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṃ samṛddhammayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvamevanimittamātraṃ bhava savyasācin

Therefore rise and gain honour. Defeat your enemies and enjoy a prosperous kingdom. They have already been slain by me. Become only the instrument, archer who can draw with either hand.

The vision of divine time is spoken to Arjuna within the epic's conflict. Becoming an instrument here does not make a person's conviction of divine approval sufficient to justify violence.

11.34

द्रोणं च भीष्मं च जयद्रथं चकर्णं तथान्यानपि योधवीरान् ।मया हतांस्त्वं जहि मा व्यथिष्ठायुध्यस्व जेतासि रणे सपत्नान् ॥ ३४ ॥
droṇaṃ ca bhīṣmaṃ ca jayadrathaṃ cakarṇaṃ tathānyānapi yodhavīrānmayā hatāṃstvaṃ jahi mā vyathiṣṭhāyudhyasva jetāsi raṇe sapatnān

Strike down Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna, and the other warrior heroes who have already been slain by me. Do not tremble. Fight; you will conquer your opponents in battle.

11.35Sanjaya

एतच्छ्रुत्वा वचनं केशवस्यकृताञ्जलिर्वेपमानः किरीटी ।नमस्कृत्वा भूय एवाह कृष्णंसगद्गदं भीतभीतः प्रणम्य ॥ ३५ ॥
etacchrutvā vacanaṃ keśavasyakṛtāñjalirvepamānaḥ kirīṭīnamaskṛtvā bhūya evāha kṛṣṇaṃsagadgadaṃ bhītabhītaḥ praṇamya

Sanjaya said: Hearing Keshava's words, the crowned Arjuna trembled with palms joined. Bowing again to Krishna, deeply frightened, he spoke in a faltering voice.

11.36Arjuna

स्थाने हृषीकेश तव प्रकीर्त्याजगत्प्रहृष्यत्यनुरज्यते च ।रक्षांसि भीतानि दिशो द्रवन्तिसर्वे नमस्यन्ति च सिद्धसङ्घाः ॥ ३६ ॥
sthāne hṛṣīkeśa tava prakīrtyājagatprahṛṣyatyanurajyate carakṣāṃsi bhītāni diśo dravantisarve namasyanti ca siddhasaṅghāḥ

Arjuna said: Rightly, Hrishikesha, the world rejoices and grows devoted through praising you. Terrified demons flee in every direction, and all the hosts of perfected beings bow before you.

11.37

कस्माच्च ते न नमेरन्महात्मन्गरीयसे ब्रह्मणोऽप्यादिकर्त्रे ।अनन्त देवेश जगन्निवासत्वमक्षरं सदसत्तत्परं यत् ॥ ३७ ॥
kasmācca te na nameranmahātmangarīyase brahmaṇo’pyādikartreananta deveśa jagannivāsatvamakṣaraṃ sadasattatparaṃ yat

Why should they not bow to you, great one, greater even than Brahma, the first creator? Endless one, Lord of gods, dwelling place of the world, you are the imperishable, being, nonbeing, and what lies beyond them.

Brahma is read here as the creator deity. The line can be construed as addressing Krishna himself as the first creator or as placing him above Brahma as first creator. Both readings affirm Krishna's primacy.

11.38

त्वमादिदेवः पुरुषः पुराण-स्त्वमस्य विश्वस्य परं निधानम् ।वेत्तासि वेद्यं च परं च धामत्वया ततं विश्वमनन्तरूप ॥ ३८ ॥
tvamādidevaḥ puruṣaḥ purāṇa-stvamasya viśvasya paraṃ nidhānamvettāsi vedyaṃ ca paraṃ ca dhāmatvayā tataṃ viśvamanantarūpa

You are the primal God, the ancient Person, the highest resting place of this universe. You are the knower, what is to be known, and the highest abode. You pervade the universe, one of endless forms.

11.39

वायुर्यमोऽग्निर्वरुणः शशाङ्कःप्रजापतिस्त्वं प्रपितामहश्च ।नमो नमस्तेऽस्तु सहस्रकृत्वःपुनश्च भूयोऽपि नमो नमस्ते ॥ ३९ ॥
vāyuryamo’gnirvaruṇaḥ śaśāṅkaḥprajāpatistvaṃ prapitāmahaścanamo namaste’stu sahasrakṛtvaḥpunaśca bhūyo’pi namo namaste

You are Vayu, Yama, Agni, Varuna, the moon, the lord of creatures, and the great-grandfather. Reverence to you a thousand times, and again and again, reverence to you.

11.40

नमः पुरस्तादथ पृष्ठतस्तेनमोऽस्तु ते सर्वत एव सर्व ।अनन्तवीर्यामितविक्रमस्त्वंसर्वं समाप्नोषि ततोऽसि सर्वः ॥ ४० ॥
namaḥ purastādatha pṛṣṭhatastenamo’stu te sarvata eva sarvaanantavīryāmitavikramastvaṃsarvaṃ samāpnoṣi tato’si sarvaḥ

Reverence before you and behind you; reverence to you on every side, you who are all. Your strength is endless, your power immeasurable. You encompass everything; therefore you are everything.

11.41

सखेति मत्वा प्रसभं यदुक्तंहे कृष्ण हे यादव हे सखेति ।अजानता महिमानं तवेदंमया प्रमादात्प्रणयेन वापि ॥ ४१ ॥
sakheti matvā prasabhaṃ yaduktaṃhe kṛṣṇa he yādava he sakhetiajānatā mahimānaṃ tavedaṃmayā pramādātpraṇayena vāpi

Thinking of you as a friend, I spoke boldly, saying, 'Krishna, Yadava, my friend,' without knowing this greatness of yours, through carelessness or affection.

11.42

यच्चावहासार्थमसत्कृतोऽसिविहारशय्यासनभोजनेषु ।एकोऽथवाप्यच्युत तत्समक्षंतत्क्षामये त्वामहमप्रमेयम् ॥ ४२ ॥
yaccāvahāsārthamasatkṛto’sivihāraśayyāsanabhojaneṣueko’thavāpyacyuta tatsamakṣaṃtatkṣāmaye tvāmahamaprameyam

Whatever disrespect I showed you in jest while walking, resting, sitting, or eating, whether alone or before others, unfailing one, I ask you, the immeasurable, to forgive it.

11.43

पितासि लोकस्य चराचरस्यत्वमस्य पूज्यश्च गुरुर्गरीयान् ।न त्वत्समोऽस्त्यभ्यधिकः कुतोऽन्योलोकत्रयेऽप्यप्रतिमप्रभाव ॥ ४३ ॥
pitāsi lokasya carācarasyatvamasya pūjyaśca gururgarīyānna tvatsamo’styabhyadhikaḥ kuto’nyolokatraye’pyapratimaprabhāva

You are the father of this world, moving and unmoving, its worthy object of reverence and greatest teacher. There is no one equal to you; how could there be anyone greater, even in the three worlds, one of incomparable power?

11.44

तस्मात्प्रणम्य प्रणिधाय कायंप्रसादये त्वामहमीशमीड्यम् ।पितेव पुत्रस्य सखेव सख्युःप्रियः प्रियायार्हसि देव सोढुम् ॥ ४४ ॥
tasmātpraṇamya praṇidhāya kāyaṃprasādaye tvāmahamīśamīḍyampiteva putrasya sakheva sakhyuḥpriyaḥ priyāyārhasi deva soḍhum

Therefore, bowing and laying my body down, I seek your grace, Lord worthy of praise. As a father bears with a son, a friend with a friend, and a lover with the beloved, God, please bear with me.

11.45

अदृष्टपूर्वं हृषितोऽस्मि दृष्ट्वाभयेन च प्रव्यथितं मनो मे ।तदेव मे दर्शय देव रूपंप्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास ॥ ४५ ॥
adṛṣṭapūrvaṃ hṛṣito’smi dṛṣṭvābhayena ca pravyathitaṃ mano metadeva me darśaya deva rūpaṃprasīda deveśa jagannivāsa

I rejoice at having seen what has never been seen before, yet my mind is shaken with fear. Show me that other form of yours, God. Be gracious, Lord of gods, dwelling place of the world.

11.46

किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रहस्तम्इच्छामि त्वां द्रष्टुमहं तथैव ।तेनैव रूपेण चतुर्भुजेनसहस्रबाहो भव विश्वमूर्ते ॥ ४६ ॥
kirīṭinaṃ gadinaṃ cakrahastamicchāmi tvāṃ draṣṭumahaṃ tathaivatenaiva rūpeṇa caturbhujenasahasrabāho bhava viśvamūrte

I wish to see you as before, crowned, carrying a mace, with a discus in your hand. Appear in that four-armed form, thousand-armed one whose form is the universe.

Arjuna explicitly asks for a four-armed form here. The following passage moves through reassurance toward the gentle human form named in 11.51; the text should not be flattened into only one description.

11.47Krishna

मया प्रसन्नेन तवार्जुनेदंरूपं परं दर्शितमात्मयोगात् ।तेजोमयं विश्वमनन्तमाद्यंयन्मे त्वदन्येन न दृष्टपूर्वम् ॥ ४७ ॥
mayā prasannena tavārjunedaṃrūpaṃ paraṃ darśitamātmayogāttejomayaṃ viśvamanantamādyaṃyanme tvadanyena na dṛṣṭapūrvam

Krishna said: Favouring you, Arjuna, I have shown you through my own yoga this supreme form of mine, radiant, universal, endless, and primal, which no one other than you has seen before.

11.48

न वेदयज्ञाध्ययनैर्न दानै-र्न च क्रियाभिर्न तपोभिरुग्रैः ।एवंरूपः शक्य अहं नृलोकेद्रष्टुं त्वदन्येन कुरुप्रवीर ॥ ४८ ॥
na vedayajñādhyayanairna dānai-rna ca kriyābhirna tapobhirugraiḥevaṃrūpaḥ śakya ahaṃ nṛlokedraṣṭuṃ tvadanyena kurupravīra

Neither through study of the Vedas and sacrifices, nor gifts, nor rites, nor fierce austerities can I be seen in this form in the human world by anyone other than you, hero of the Kurus.

11.49

मा ते व्यथा मा च विमूढभावोदृष्ट्वा रूपं घोरमीदृङ्ममेदम् ।व्यपेतभीः प्रीतमनाः पुनस्त्वंतदेव मे रूपमिदं प्रपश्य ॥ ४९ ॥
mā te vyathā mā ca vimūḍhabhāvodṛṣṭvā rūpaṃ ghoramīdṛṅmamedamvyapetabhīḥ prītamanāḥ punastvaṃtadeva me rūpamidaṃ prapaśya

Do not be distressed or bewildered at seeing this terrible form of mine. With fear gone and mind at ease, behold again that familiar form of mine.

11.50Sanjaya

इत्यर्जुनं वासुदेवस्तथोक्त्वास्वकं रूपं दर्शयामास भूयः ।आश्वासयामास च भीतमेनंभूत्वा पुनः सौम्यवपुर्महात्मा ॥ ५० ॥
ityarjunaṃ vāsudevastathoktvāsvakaṃ rūpaṃ darśayāmāsa bhūyaḥāśvāsayāmāsa ca bhītamenaṃbhūtvā punaḥ saumyavapurmahātmā

Sanjaya said: Having spoken to Arjuna in this way, Vasudeva showed his own form again. The great one reassured the frightened Arjuna by becoming gentle in appearance once more.

11.51Arjuna

दृष्ट्वेदं मानुषं रूपं तव सौम्यं जनार्दन ।इदानीमस्मि संवृत्तः सचेताः प्रकृतिं गतः ॥ ५१ ॥
dṛṣṭvedaṃ mānuṣaṃ rūpaṃ tava saumyaṃ janārdanaidānīmasmi saṃvṛttaḥ sacetāḥ prakṛtiṃ gataḥ

Arjuna said: Seeing this gentle human form of yours, Janardana, I have now recovered my composure and returned to my usual state.

11.52Krishna

सुदुर्दर्शमिदं रूपं दृष्टवानसि यन्मम ।देवा अप्यस्य रूपस्य नित्यं दर्शनकाङ्क्षिणः ॥ ५२ ॥
sudurdarśamidaṃ rūpaṃ dṛṣṭavānasi yanmamadevā apyasya rūpasya nityaṃ darśanakāṅkṣiṇaḥ

Krishna said: This form of mine that you have seen is very difficult to see. Even the gods continually long for a vision of it.

11.53

नाहं वेदैर्न तपसा न दानेन न चेज्यया ।शक्य एवंविधो द्रष्टुं दृष्टवानसि मां यथा ॥ ५३ ॥
nāhaṃ vedairna tapasā na dānena na cejyayāśakya evaṃvidho draṣṭuṃ dṛṣṭavānasi māṃ yathā

Neither through the Vedas, nor austerity, nor giving, nor sacrifice can I be seen as you have seen me.

11.54

भक्त्या त्वनन्यया शक्य अहमेवंविधोऽर्जुन ।ज्ञातुं द्रष्टुं च तत्त्वेन प्रवेष्टुं च परन्तप ॥ ५४ ॥
bhaktyā tvananyayā śakya ahamevaṃvidho’rjunajñātuṃ draṣṭuṃ ca tattvena praveṣṭuṃ ca parantapa

But through undivided devotion, Arjuna, I can in this way be truly known, seen, and entered, scorcher of foes.

11.55

मत्कर्मकृन्मत्परमो मद्भक्तः सङ्गवर्जितः ।निर्वैरः सर्वभूतेषु यः स मामेति पाण्डव ॥ ५५ ॥
mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramomad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥnirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣuyaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava

One who acts for me, takes me as highest, is devoted to me and free from attachment, and bears no enmity toward any being, comes to me, son of Pandu.

A deeper reading

Questions worth
remaining with.

11.9–34

The vision is not only consolation

A sacred image can be approached with the expectation that it will reassure. Chapter 11 unsettles that expectation. Radiance and terror belong to the same revelation. The whole contains mortality, destruction and the ending of forms to which human beings are attached. Removing the terrible passages would make the universal form more comfortable while changing what Arjuna is shown.

The chapter also resists a fascination with destruction for its own sake. Arjuna is frightened, not exhilarated by a spectacle of conquest. His questions and his later request for the familiar form keep the human relation visible. Reading these verses carefully means neither domesticating their force nor turning them into a celebration of violence detached from the dialogue’s moral setting.

11.31–34

Time and the question of agency

Krishna’s declaration as Time challenges the idea that Arjuna alone determines whether mortality enters the world. The warriors’ destruction is seen within a larger horizon, and Arjuna is asked to become an instrument. That instruction raises questions about agency rather than making them disappear. The text continues to address a person who must understand, decide and act.

A universal claim that consequences do not matter would therefore miss the dramatic form of the teaching. Krishna does not abandon the conversation after disclosing Time. Nor does Arjuna become irrelevant to the epic. The chapter holds a tension between divine sovereignty and human participation. Its force is better preserved by acknowledging that tension than by reducing it to a modern slogan about fate or complete individual control.

11.41–55

Why the familiar form matters

Arjuna’s apology recalls a life shared in ordinary settings. Friendship has involved jokes, meals and unguarded address. After the vision, those memories return with a new depth. The relation is not replaced by an abstract encounter with infinity. The person Arjuna knows remains the one to whom he speaks, and the request for a bearable form allows intimacy to continue.

The closing absence of enmity gives the revelation an ethical direction. Seeing the whole is not presented as a possession that makes the visionary superior to other beings. Devotion is joined to conduct and freedom from clinging. The reader is finally returned to this question: what would it mean for an expanded understanding of the divine to change the manner in which one acts among others?

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