11:1: Arjuna said, You have looked kindly upon me and revealed this supreme and discreet knowledge of the Self. Now my delusion has been removed.
11:2-4: O Krishna, Lotus-eyed One, I have heard from You the details about the origin and dissolution of living beings. I have also heard about Your inexhaustible glories. As You have described this Yourself, O Supreme God, I wish to see your highest form, O Supreme Person.
If you, O God, determine that I am able to see this, then please, O Master of Yoga, show me Your imperishable Self.
11:5-7: Sri Krishna [the Blessed One] replied: O Arjuna [Son of Partha], behold my hundreds and thousands of forms, each of various divine types and colors.
Behold the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the twin Ashvins, the Maruts, and many other wonders never seen before, Arjuna [best of the Bharatas].
See now the entire universe in this one abode — complete with the moving and unmoving — existing within My Body, O Arjuna. In Me, you will see everything you desire.
11:8: With your material eyes, you are not able to see My Universal Form. Therefore, by My yogic abilities, I give you divine eyes to see my omnipresent form.
11:9: Sanjaya said: O king, having thus spoken, Sri Krishna, the supreme master of yogic wonders, showed Arjuna, the son of Partha, that highest and most sovereign form.
11:10, 11: In that Divine Form were myriad mouths and eyes, omnifarious transcendental sights, sundry divine ornaments, and a myriad of divine uplifted weapons. [The Universal Form of One God] wore divine garlands and celestial raiment and was anointed with transcendental fragrances. The Omnificent One was marvelous, radiant, unlimited, and omniscient.
11:12: Suddenly, in the sky, thousands of suns instantly arose as if radiating the splendor of the Great Soul of the multiverse.
11:13: There, in that one place, Arjuna saw entire universes, divided into innumerable subsections, all within the body of the God of gods.
11:14: Seeing this and filled with wonder, his hair standing on end, Arjuna bowed before One God with folded hands and spoke thus:
11:15-31: Arjuna said, O One God, I see all the gods within Your body, as well as the diverse classes of living beings. There is Lord Brahma, seated on the lotus flower, Lord Shiva, as well as the holy seers and divine serpents [uragan].
I behold Your innumerable arms, stomachs, mouths, and eyes! I see You all around me manifesting limitless forms, without end, middle, or beginning, O God of the universe, in Your all-inclusive Form!
I see you adorned with limitless crowns, maces, and discs. Your massive effulgence is blazing all around, making it difficult to behold, like gazing into blazing fire, like the immeasurable radiance of the sun.
I perceive You to be imperishable, supreme, and worthy of being known by all. You are the highest reservoir of the inexhaustible multiverse, Supreme Guardian of Truth, and Eternal Person.
I understand You as being without beginning, middle, or end, of infinite glory, with limitless arms. The moon and sun are Your eyes; Your mouth is blazing like fire, and Your Brilliance is the source of heat for the multiverse.
You alone encompass the heavens, the earth, and everything in between. By revealing this wonderful and terrible Form of Yours, the three worlds are shaking with awe, O Great Soul.
The community of devas [demigods] seeks You, some out of fear, while others offer praise with folded hands, saying, “All glory to You!” The great seers and the community of perfected beings all sing hymns to You with copious prayers.
The various celestial beings, including the Rudras, Adityas, Vasus, Sadhyas, Vishvadevas, Ashvins, Maruts, Ushmapas, Gandharvas, Yaksas, Asuras, and Siddhas, all behold You in amazement.
O Krishna [the Mighty-Armed One], this magnificent Form of yours has innumerable faces and eyes, limitless arms, thighs, and feet, as well as myriad stomachs and countless terrible teeth. Beholding it, the planets are shaking with awe, even as I am!
Beholding You touching the sky, with myriad colors, mouths agape and with vast glowing eyes, I am disturbed at heart and can find no inner peace, O Supreme Vishnu!
Beholding Your terrible teeth and mouths blazing like the apocalyptic fires in all directions, I obtain no happiness. O Lord of lords, show mercy unto me, O Refuge of the universes!
All these sons of Dhritarastra, along with the community of guardian kings, Bhishma, Drona, and Karna, as well as our chief warriors, are hurriedly entering Your fearful mouths; some are clinging between Your terrible teeth, their heads being thoroughly crushed.
As river water flows into the ocean, so too do these heroes of the mortal world enter into Your blazing mouths.
As moths rush into a blazing fire to their own destruction, so also do the world’s inhabitants rush into Your mouths to their own destruction.
With Your mouths, You are licking up and devouring the inhabitants of the world on all sides. You are blazing with brilliance, illuminating the entire universe with Your awesome rays, O Lord Vishnu!
O fierce of form, please tell me who You are! Kindly accept my humble obeisances, O best among the gods. Be gracious unto me. I wish to know You, the Original One, and how to serve You.
11:32: Sri Krishna [the Blessed One] said, "I am time, the reaper of the world when it has matured. I am currently engaged in destroying the world’s inhabitants. Even without your participation, those warriors who are arrayed here in opposing armies, without exception, will be destroyed.
11:33: Therefore, arise! After defeating your foes, gain great fame and thrive in your kingdom. Understand that I have already destroyed these warriors by My Will! You will merely be My instrument, Arjuna [O Savyasaci, a name attesting to Arjuna’s ability to shoot arrows equally well with either hand, and with the same accuracy; in other words, ‘whether you kill them or I do, they are already as good as dead’].
11:34: Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna, and the other mighty warriors are killed by Me, so slay them and don’t be perturbed about doing so. Fight and you will conquer your enemies in battle.
11:35, 36: Sanjaya said: Having heard Sri Krishna’s [Keshava’s] words, Arjuna, trembling [at the omnipotence of One God], prostrated himself deeply and offered his obeisances with joined palms to God. In a faltering voice, overcome with fear, Arjuna prayed: O Krishna [Hrishikesha], it is fitting that the universe rejoices and is delighted, that the demons [raksasas: negative beings] are fearful on all sides and are therefore fleeing, and that the community of perfected beings offers You their obeisances.
11:37, 38: And why wouldn’t they offer obeisances unto You? You are the Great Universal Soul, greater than even Lord Brahma, the original creator; You are the Infinite Being, the God of gods, the sole refuge of the multiverse, both being and non-being. You are imperishable and Supreme!
You are the original, primeval Personality of Godhead! As the oldest and most elevated refuge, the multiverse finds solace in You alone! You are the knower and the object of knowledge! You are the Supreme Abode! By You, the universes are pervaded, O God of infinite forms!
11:39, 40: You are Vayu [the wind], Yama [death], Agni [fire], Varuna [the ocean and the sky], Sasankah [the moon], Prajapati [creator], and prapitamahah [the progenitor or great-grandfather]. I offer my obeisances unto You again and again, a thousand times and more. I offer my obeisances; I offer my obeisances unto You!
Please accept my respectful obeisances from the front, behind from all sides. You possess unlimited courage and power; You pervade everything, and therefore, You are everything!
11:41, 42: Out of affection and ignorance of Your majesty, I have inappropriately called You 'O Krishna!', 'O Yadava!', 'O my friend!' If I have treated You disrespectfully, whether out of a sense of jest, while roaming about, while reclining, while sitting, while eating, whether alone or in the company of others, I beg Your immeasurable forgiveness, O Krishna [Acyuta or infallible One]!
11:43: You are the Parent of the entire world, both the moving and the non-moving. You are the most worthy of worship and revered preceptor. No one throughout the three worlds is equal to You; who could be greater, O You of unequaled splendor?
11:44: Therefore, O God, prostrating my body before You and offering obeisances, I ask for Your grace and tolerance, O praise-worthy God, like a parent to a child, like a friend to a friend, or a lover to the beloved.
11:45: I am delighted to behold what has never been seen, yet my mind is perturbed with fear. O God, bestow Your mercy on me and reveal Your [four-armed Narayana] form, O God of gods, O Refuge of the universe.
11:46: O thousand-armed, I want to see You as before in Your four-armed form, crowned, with a club and disc in Your hands, O Universal Form.
11:47: The Blessed One said, 'I am delighted, O Arjuna, to let you see My Supreme Form [i.e., the Four-armed Narayana Form]. Through My mystic yogic powers, you witnessed the universe bathed in my infinite, primordial radiance. Such has never been seen by anyone other than you!
11:48, 49: Neither through Vedic sacrifice, study, charity, rituals, or severe austerities can this form be seen in the material world. I show it to you alone, Arjuna [O hero of the Kurus].
Do not be disquieted of mind nor bewildered by seeing this awesome form as it truly is. Be free from fear and, with a joyful mind again, behold My four-armed [Narayana] form.
11:50: Sanjaya explained, Having thus spoken unto Arjuna, Sri Krishna [Vasudeva] revealed His [four-armed Narayana] form. Then Krishna [the Great-Souled One] allayed Arjuna’s fear by again manifesting His handsome [two-armed] body.
11:51: Arjuna said: Seeing Your handsome human form again, O Krishna [Janardana], my consciousness is now steady, and I am restored to my nature.
11:52-54: Sri Krishna [the Blessed One] said: It is very difficult to see this Form that you have seen. Even the devas are always desirous to behold this [four-armed] Form of Mine.
I am not understood by Vedic knowledge, austerity, charity, nor by rituals in the form you have seen Me.
Only by one-pointed devotion [bhakti] is it possible, O Arjuna, to know, see, and enter the truth of Me, O mighty-armed one.
One whose actions are dedicated to Me, who deems Me to be supreme, who is devoted to Me, who is free from all fruitive attachments, and is devoid of enmity towards all living beings, only such a person comes to Me, O Arjuna [Son of Pandu].
Go to: Chapter Twelve.
Go to: Notes and References.
Go to: Cover Page.
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