Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 1

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

अर्जुन उवाच ।
मदनुग्रहाय परमं गुह्यमध्यात्मसंज्ञितम् ।
यत्त्वयोक्तं वचस्तेन मोहोऽयं विगतो मम ॥

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca .
madanugrahāya paramaṃ guhyamadhyātmasaṃjñitam .
yattvayoktaṃ vacastena moho.ayaṃ vigato mama ॥

Meaning

Arjuna said: By the words You have spoken out of grace for me — the supreme secret known as the knowledge of the Self — this delusion of mine has vanished.

Word meanings

मदनुग्रहाय – out of grace towards me, to bless me
परमम् – supreme, highest
गुह्यम् – secret, profound
अध्यात्मसंज्ञितम् – called adhyatma, concerning the Self
यत् – which
त्वया – by You
उक्तम् – spoken
वचः – word, teaching
तेन – by that
मोहः – delusion, confusion
अयम् – this
विगतः – is gone, has departed
मम – my

Anvaya (word order)

अर्जुनः उवाच — मद्-अनुग्रहाय त्वया यत् परमम् गुह्यम् अध्यात्म-संज्ञितम् वचः उक्तम्, तेन मम अयम् मोहः विगतः ।

Explanation

The eleventh chapter opens not with a question but with gratitude. Looking back on everything Krishna has taught — the deathless Self, selfless action, meditation, devotion and the divine glories of the tenth chapter — Arjuna calls it the ‘supreme secret named adhyatma’. Above all he recognises its motive: it was given madanugrahaya, purely as a favour to him. Teaching that is received as grace, rather than as information, is teaching that transforms.

The delusion he speaks of is the one that paralysed him on the battlefield in chapter one: the belief that he would be the killer and his kinsmen the killed. The second chapter’s revelation that the Self is unborn and indestructible loosened that grip. Shankara reads the moha removed here as the confusion between Self and not-Self, the root of all sorrow. Ramanuja adds that Arjuna has also been freed from the error of seeing Krishna as merely a gifted human friend, and of seeing himself as an independent agent apart from the Lord.

Yet there is a subtle point. Arjuna says his delusion is gone, and in the very next breath he asks for a vision. Hearing (shravana) clears the intellect, but the heart longs for direct seeing. Intellectual clarity is a real gift, but it naturally ripens into a desire for experience. The Katha Upanishad says the Self is attained by the one whom It chooses; Arjuna’s gratitude for grace is precisely the attitude that makes him a fit recipient of the greater grace about to come.

Context

At the close of chapter ten Krishna declared that He sustains this entire universe with a single fragment of Himself. Hearing this, Arjuna begins chapter eleven by acknowledging what he has received. Verses 1–4 form his preface and petition, which culminates in the request to see the cosmic form.

Life lesson

When understanding dawns, begin with gratitude rather than pride. See every lifting of confusion as grace from teacher and God. And do not stop at hearing: let what has been understood mature into lived experience.

Key terms

Anugraha: divine grace or favour given without cause
Guhya: secret, hidden, not easily accessible
Adhyatma: knowledge pertaining to the Self
Moha: delusion; the clouding of discrimination by attachment