Bhagavad Gita · 11.5 · Yoga through Beholding the Cosmic Form of God·5 of 55
श्री भगवानुवाच पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः।नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च ॥
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha paśhya me pārtha rūpāṇi śhataśho
’tha sahasraśhaḥ nānā-vidhāni divyāni nānā-varṇākṛitīni cha
Sanskrit recitation
Show me your form · 11.1–11.8 · Scene
Translation
The Blessed Lord said, "Behold, O Arjuna, forms of Mine, by the hundreds and thousands, of different sorts, divine, and of various colors and shapes."
Meaning
Divyani Divine supernatural.Satasah, Sahasrasah By the hundreds and thousands -- countless.O Arjuna, I want you to behold the Cosmic Form. All beings and entities are there. The fat and the lean, the short and the tall, the red and the black, the active and the passive, the rich and the poor, the intelligent and the dull, the healthy and the sick, the noisy and the silent, those that are awake, those that are asleep, the beautiful and the ugly, and all grades of beings with their distinctive marks are all there. The blueness of the sky, the yellowness of the silk, the redness of the twilight, the blackness of the coal, the whiteness of the snow, and the greenness of the leaves will be seen by you. You will also behold the objects of various shapes.
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→
- me
- my
- cha
- and
- atha
- and
- nānā
- various
- paśhya
- behold
- pārtha
- Arjun, the son of Pritha
- varṇa
- colors
- divyāni
- divine
- rūpāṇi
- forms
- ākṛitīni
- shapes
- śhataśhaḥ
- by the hundreds
- sahasraśhaḥ
- thousands
- nānā-vidhāni
- various
- śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
- the Supreme Lord said
Related verses
- 11.2The origin and destruction of beings have been heard in detail from You, O lotus-eyed…
- 11.6Behold the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Asvins, and the Maruts; behold many…
- 11.10With numerous mouths and eyes, with numerous wondrous sights, with numerous divine…
- 11.11Wearing divine garlands and apparel, anointed with divine unguents, the all-wonderful,…