Bhagavad Gita · 11.1 · Yoga through Beholding the Cosmic Form of God·1 of 55
अर्जुन उवाच मदनुग्रहाय परमं गुह्यमध्यात्मसंज्ञितम्।यत्त्वयोक्तं वचस्तेन मोहोऽयं विगतो मम ॥
arjuna uvācha mad-anugrahāya paramaṁ guhyam
adhyātma-sanjñitam yat tvayoktaṁ vachas tena moho ’yaṁ vigato mama
Sanskrit recitation
Show me your form · 11.1–11.8 · Scene
Translation
Arjuna said, By this explanation of the highest secret concerning the Self which Thou hast spoken, for the sake of blessing me, my delusion has been dispelled.
Meaning
After hearing the glories of the Lord, Arjuna has an intense longing to have the wonderful vision of the Cosmic Form with his own eyes. His bewilderment and delusion have now vanished.Adhyatma That which treats of the discrimination between the Self and the notSelf metaphysics.I was worried about the sin involved in killing my relations and preceptors. I had the ideas, I am the agent in killing them they are to be killed by me.This delusion has vanished now after receiving Thy most profound and valuable instructions. Thou hast dispelled this delusion of ignorance from me.The vision of the Cosmic Form is not the ultimate goal. If that were so, the Gita would have ended with this chapter. The vision of the Cosmic Form is also one more in a series of graded experiences. It is a terrible experience too. That is the reason why Arjuna said to the Lord, stammering with fear What an awful form Thou hast I have seen that which none hath seen before. My heart is glad, yet faileth me on account of fear. Show me, O God, Thine other form again. O God of gods, support of all the worlds, let me see Thy form with the diadem, and with the mace and discus in Thy hands. Again I wish to see Thee as before assume Thy fourarmed form, O Lord of thousand arms and of forms innumerable.Arjuna heard the Lords statement, viz., Having pervaded this whole universe with one fragment of Myself, I remain
After Swami Sivananda
Show me your form· 11.1–11.8→
Teachers usually read this idea across several verses together, one shared reflection covers the whole unit.
11.1Arjuna said, By this explanation of the highest secret concerning the Self which Thou hast spoken, for the sake of blessing me, my delusion has been dispelled.
- 11.2The origin and destruction of beings have been heard in detail from You, O lotus-eyed Lord, and also Your inexhaustible greatness.
- 11.3Now, O Supreme Lord, as Thou hast thus described Thyself, O Supreme Person, I wish to behold Thy divine form.
- 11.4If Thou, O Lord, thinkest it possible for me to see it, do Thou, then, O Lord of the Yogis, show me Thy imperishable Self.
- 11.5The Blessed Lord said, "Behold, O Arjuna, forms of Mine, by the hundreds and thousands, of different sorts, divine, and of various colors and shapes."
- 11.6Behold the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Asvins, and the Maruts; behold many wonders never before seen, O Arjuna.
- 11.7Now, behold, O Arjuna, in this My body, the entire universe centered in one, including the moving and the unmoving, and whatever else you desire to see.
- 11.8But you are not able to behold Me with these your own eyes; I give you the divine eye; behold My lordly Yoga.
Word-by-word→
- yat
- which
- ayam
- this
- mama
- my
- tena
- by that
- uktam
- spoken
- guhyam
- confidential
- tvayā
- by you
- mohaḥ
- illusion
- paramam
- supreme
- vachaḥ
- words
- vigataḥ
- is dispelled
- mat-anugrahāya
- out of compassion to me
- arjunaḥ uvācha
- Arjun said
- adhyātma-sanjñitam
- about spiritual knowledge
Themes
Related verses
- 1.36By killing these sons of Dhritarashtra, what pleasure could be ours, O Janardana? Only sin…
- 1.38Though they, with intelligence overpowered by greed, see no evil in the destruction of…
- 1.39Why should we not, who clearly see the evil in the destruction of families, learn to turn…
- 1.45Alas! We are involved in a great sin, for we are prepared to kill our kinsmen, out of…