Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 15

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

अर्जुन उवाच ।
पश्यामि देवांस्तव देव देहे
सर्वांस्तथा भूतविशेषसङ्घान् ।
ब्रह्माणमीशं कमलासनस्थ-
मृषींश्च सर्वानुरगांश्च दिव्यान् ॥

Transliteration

arjuna uvāca .
paśyāmi devāṃstava deva dehe sarvāṃstathā bhūtaviśeṣasaṅghān .
brahmāṇamīśaṃ kamalāsanasthaṃ ṛṣīṃśca sarvānuragāṃśca divyān ॥

Meaning

Arjuna said: O God, in Your body I see all the gods and the hosts of every kind of being; Brahma the lord seated on his lotus throne, all the sages, and the celestial serpents.

Word meanings

पश्यामि – I see
देवान् – the gods
तव – Your
देव – O God
देहे – in the body
सर्वान् – all
तथा – and also
भूतविशेषसङ्घान् – hosts of various kinds of beings
ब्रह्माणम् – Brahma
ईशम् – the lord, ruler (of creatures)
कमलासनस्थम् – seated on the lotus throne
ऋषीन् – the sages
च – and
सर्वान् – all
उरगान् – serpents
च – and
दिव्यान् – celestial, divine

Anvaya (word order)

अर्जुनः उवाच — देव, तव देहे सर्वान् देवान् तथा भूत-विशेष-सङ्घान्, कमल-आसन-स्थम् ईशम् ब्रह्माणम्, सर्वान् ऋषीन् च दिव्यान् उरगान् च पश्यामि ।

Explanation

Here Arjuna begins to speak, and the metre itself changes. The compact anushtubh gives way to the long, rolling trishtubh, as if an expanding vision demanded expanding lines. Arjuna begins by simply reporting: pashyami, ‘I see’. The word will ring through the hymn, for this is no longer inference or hearsay but direct perception.

Within the Lord’s body Arjuna sees every level of creation: the gods above, hosts of varied creatures in between, Brahma the creator enthroned on his lotus, the sages who embody wisdom, and the divine serpents of the nether regions. The lotus seat recalls the Puranic image of Brahma appearing on the lotus that springs from Vishnu’s navel. Heaven, earth and the underworld, all three realms, are present in this one form.

The word isham invites a small difference among commentators. Shankara reads it as qualifying Brahma: Brahma, the lord of creatures. Some other interpreters take isha separately as Shiva, so that both creator and destroyer are named. Ramanuja emphasizes that even exalted deities such as Brahma and Shiva are parts of the Lord’s body and dependent upon Him.

The deepest point is that the many gods people worship separately all abide within the one Supreme, a truth the Gita also hints at in 9.23. Arjuna is seeing the theology of the earlier chapters as a living reality.

Context

After Sanjaya’s narration in 11.10–14, Arjuna’s own hymn begins here. He first names the gods, Brahma, the sages and the serpents within the cosmic form; in 11.16 he will describe the form’s boundlessness.

Life lesson

Every level of creation, high or low, divine or ordinary, abides in one Supreme Being. Seeing this, we learn to look down on nothing and to honour the divine presence in all.

Key terms

Pashyami: I see; the refrain of direct experience in Arjuna’s hymn
Kamalasanastha Brahma: Brahma the creator seated on the lotus
Bhutavishesha-sangha: hosts of various classes of beings
Uraga: serpent; here the celestial nagas such as Vasuki