Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 25

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

दंष्ट्राकरालानि च ते मुखानि
दृष्ट्वैव कालानलसन्निभानि ।
दिशो न जाने न लभे च शर्म
प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास ॥

Transliteration

daṃṣṭrākarālāni ca te mukhāni dṛṣṭvaiva kālānalasannibhāni .
diśo na jāne na labhe ca śarma prasīda deveśa jagannivāsa ॥

Meaning

Seeing Your mouths, dreadful with tusks and blazing like the fire of cosmic dissolution, I lose all sense of direction and find no refuge. Be gracious, O Lord of the gods, O Abode of the universe!

Word meanings

दंष्ट्राकरालानि – dreadful with tusks
च – and
ते – Your
मुखानि – mouths
दृष्ट्वा – having seen
एव – merely, just
कालानलसन्निभानि – like the fire of cosmic dissolution
दिशः – the directions
न – not
जाने – I know
लभे – I obtain
शर्म – peace, shelter
प्रसीद – be gracious, be pleased
देवेश – O Lord of the gods
जगन्निवास – O Abode of the universe

Anvaya (word order)

दंष्ट्राकरालानि कालानलसन्निभानि च ते मुखानि दृष्ट्वा एव दिशः न जाने शर्म च न लभे; देवेश जगन्निवास, प्रसीद ।

Explanation

Arjuna’s fear here reaches its height. The Lord’s mouths now appear kālānala-sannibha, like the fire that at the end of an aeon consumes the whole creation. Tusks and the flame of dissolution together form the very image of Time, whose identity Krishna will reveal in verse 32.

Diśo na jāne, ‘I do not know the directions.’ This is more than physical bewilderment. When the sun and moon have become the eyes of this form and the sky is filled by it, east and west lose their meaning. More deeply, it pictures the human condition when every familiar landmark has been swept away and one no longer knows where to turn. Na labhe ca śarma: śarma means both happiness and shelter, and Arjuna finds neither; there is nowhere left to stand.

Then comes the word on which the whole episode turns: prasīda, ‘be gracious’. When one’s own strength is spent, prayer alone remains. Calling Him deveśa, Lord of the gods, Arjuna acknowledges that the One whom all these deities serve is the only possible protector. Calling Him jagannivāsa, Abode of the universe, he recognises that he himself lives within that very form, and so seeks shelter in the One from whom he cannot escape.

The acharyas see in this prasīda the seed of surrender. For Ramanuja, the experience of the Lord’s overwhelming majesty finally leaves the devotee dependent on His grace alone. Shankara notes that Arjuna’s distress shows how the form of Ishvara as destroyer cannot be borne without grace. The plea grows clearer in verse 45, where Arjuna asks to see again the gentle four-armed form.

Context

In verse 24 Arjuna said he had lost steadiness and peace; here he describes complete disorientation and makes his first plea for grace. In verses 26 and 27 he sees the warriors of both armies rushing into those fearful mouths.

Life lesson

When every familiar support falls away and no direction is clear, the simple prayer ‘be gracious, Lord’ becomes the deepest support. Admitting our helplessness is not defeat but the beginning of surrender.

Key terms

Kālānala: the fire of Time that consumes the world at dissolution
Śarma: peace, joy and shelter
Prasīda: be gracious; a plea for divine favour
Jagannivāsa: the One in whom the whole world dwells