Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 30

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

लेलिह्यसे ग्रसमानः समन्ताल्-
लोकान्समग्रान्वदनैर्ज्वलद्भिः ।
तेजोभिरापूर्य जगत्समग्रं
भासस्तवोग्राः प्रतपन्ति विष्णो ॥

Transliteration

lelihyase grasamānaḥ samantāl- lokānsamagrānvadanairjvaladbhiḥ .
tejobhirāpūrya jagatsamagraṃ bhāsastavogrāḥ pratapanti viṣṇo ॥

Meaning

O Vishnu, devouring all the worlds on every side with Your flaming mouths, You lick them up again and again; Your fierce rays fill the entire universe with their brilliance and scorch it.

Word meanings

लेलिह्यसे – You lick repeatedly, savour
ग्रसमानः – devouring, swallowing
समन्तात् – from all sides
लोकान् – the worlds
समग्रान् – all, entire
वदनैः – with mouths
ज्वलद्भिः – flaming
तेजोभिः – with radiance
आपूर्य – filling
जगत् – the universe
समग्रम् – whole
भासः – rays, splendours
तव – Your
उग्राः – fierce, terrible
प्रतपन्ति – scorch, burn
विष्णो – O Vishnu, O all-pervading One

Anvaya (word order)

विष्णो, ज्वलद्भिः वदनैः समग्रान् लोकान् समन्तात् ग्रसमानः लेलिह्यसे; तव उग्राः भासः तेजोभिः समग्रम् जगत् आपूर्य प्रतपन्ति ।

Explanation

Arjuna’s vision now widens from the warriors to the whole cosmos. ‘Lelihyase’, You lick again and again, is a vivid and frightening verb: it is the way flames lap at everything around them and swallow it. The Lord’s mouths are consuming not only the heroes of Kurukshetra but ‘all the worlds’ from every direction. This is the destructive face of God that the Puranas describe as the fire of cosmic dissolution.

Remarkably, even at this terrifying moment Arjuna addresses Him as ‘Vishnu’. Vishnu means the one who pervades everything — the same sustainer who upholds the world is also the one who draws it back into Himself. Shankara glosses the name as ‘the all-pervading’; the One whose radiance fills the universe is truly present everywhere. Ramanuja emphasises that creation, preservation and dissolution are all the play of the one Lord, and that this form is a revelation of His sovereignty over all.

The second half of the verse speaks of His radiance filling and scorching the world. Earlier, in verse 12, Sanjaya said that if a thousand suns rose at once in the sky, their light might resemble the splendour of that great Being. The same brilliance that first stirred wonder now stirs heat and dread. One and the same truth can appear as light or as burning, depending on the state of the one who sees it — and this verse quietly traces the shift in Arjuna’s own mind.

Context

After the similes of verses 28–29, Arjuna now sees the entire universe being drawn into the Lord. This overwhelming sight compels him, in the next verse, to ask directly: who are You, and what is it You are doing?

Life lesson

The power that sustains the world is the same power that gathers it in; both are faces of one God. Mature devotion learns to recognise that same benevolent reality even in life’s harsh and sweeping changes.

Key terms

Lelihyase: You lick again and again — consuming all like leaping flames
Vishnu: the all-pervading Lord, both sustainer and withdrawer of the world
Tejas: divine radiance and power