Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 43

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

पितासि लोकस्य चराचरस्य
त्वमस्य पूज्यश्च गुरुर्गरीयान् ।
न त्वत्समोऽस्त्यभ्यधिकः कुतोऽन्यो
लोकत्रयेऽप्यप्रतिमप्रभाव ॥

Transliteration

pitāsi lokasya carācarasya tvamasya pūjyaśca gururgarīyān .
na tvatsamo.astyabhyadhikaḥ kuto.anyo lokatraye.apyapratimaprabhāva ॥

Meaning

You are the father of this world of moving and unmoving beings; You are its object of worship and its greatest teacher. O You of matchless power, there is none equal to You in the three worlds — how then could anyone surpass You?

Word meanings

पिता – father
असि – are
लोकस्य – of the world
चराचरस्य – of the moving and unmoving
त्वम् – You
अस्य – of this
पूज्यः – worthy of worship
च – and
गुरुः – teacher, guru
गरीयान् – greatest, weightiest
न – not
त्वत्समः – equal to You
अस्ति – is
अभ्यधिकः – greater, superior
कुतः – how, from where
अन्यः – another
लोकत्रये अपि – even in the three worlds
अप्रतिमप्रभाव – O You of incomparable power

Anvaya (word order)

(त्वम्) अस्य चराचरस्य लोकस्य पिता असि, त्वम् (अस्य) पूज्यः च गरीयान् गुरुः च । अप्रतिमप्रभाव, लोकत्रये अपि त्वत्समः न अस्ति, अभ्यधिकः अन्यः कुतः ?

Explanation

In the midst of his apology Arjuna explains why his fault was serious. You are the father of the moving and unmoving world — every creature and every stationary thing comes from You (14.4, ‘I am the seed-giving father’). You are the one to be worshipped, the final object of all adoration. And You are the teacher of teachers, the source of the Veda and of all lineages of wisdom.

The word guru literally means ‘heavy’ or ‘weighty’; garīyān intensifies it — You are weightier than all who carry that name. For Arjuna this is personally true: on this very battlefield Krishna is his teacher, and in 2.7 Arjuna himself said, ‘I am Your disciple; teach me, who have taken refuge in You.’ The one he took for a friend was in truth his father and his guru.

The second half has a striking logic: if no one in the three worlds is even equal to You, how could anyone be greater? The Shvetashvatara Upanishad (6.8) says the same: ‘none is seen equal to Him or greater’. Shankara adds that two independent lords would make an orderly cosmos impossible, so the Lord must be one without a second. Madhva treats this verse as a clear proof of the Lord’s supremacy: He alone is independent, all else depends on Him.

Apratima-prabhava, ‘whose power has no likeness’, is no poet’s exaggeration here. The cosmic vision has shown Arjuna its literal truth.

Context

Having asked forgiveness in 11.41–42 for his unknowing offences, Arjuna here declares the Lord’s unrivalled greatness. In 11.44 he prostrates himself and pleads for pardon through the images of father, friend and beloved.

Life lesson

Towards those who give us life, deserve our reverence and give us knowledge, our conduct should always be grateful and humble. In God all three roles are present together and in fullness.

Key terms

Characharam: the moving and the unmoving, all creation
Gurur gariyan: greatest of teachers
Apratima-prabhava: of incomparable power
Abhyadhika: superior, greater