Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 46

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit verse

किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रहस्तं
इच्छामि त्वां द्रष्टुमहं तथैव ।
तेनैव रूपेण चतुर्भुजेन
सहस्रबाहो भव विश्वमूर्ते ॥

Transliteration

kirīṭinaṃ gadinaṃ cakrahastaṃ icchāmi tvāṃ draṣṭumahaṃ tathaiva .
tenaiva rūpeṇa caturbhujena sahasrabāho bhava viśvamūrte ॥

Meaning

I wish to see You just as before — crowned, holding the mace, discus in hand. O thousand-armed One, O You whose body is the universe, take again that four-armed form.

Word meanings

किरीटिनम् – wearing a crown
गदिनम् – bearing a mace
चक्रहस्तम् – with the discus in hand
इच्छामि – I wish
त्वाम् – You
द्रष्टुम् – to see
अहम् – I
तथा एव – just as before
तेन एव – in that very
रूपेण – form
चतुर्भुजेन – four-armed
सहस्रबाहो – O thousand-armed One
भव – become, appear
विश्वमूर्ते – O You whose form is the universe

Anvaya (word order)

अहम् त्वाम् तथा एव किरीटिनम् गदिनम् चक्रहस्तम् द्रष्टुम् इच्छामि । सहस्रबाहो विश्वमूर्ते, तेन एव चतुर्भुजेन रूपेण भव ।

Explanation

In the previous verse Arjuna asked for ‘that same form’; here he describes it plainly: a crown, a mace, a discus in hand, four arms. This is the familiar, gentle and divine form of Vishnu, who bears conch, discus, mace and lotus.

The two vocatives make a lovely contrast. Sahasrabaho, O thousand-armed; Vishvamurte, O You whose body is the universe. Arjuna is effectively saying: right now You are thousand-armed and universe-bodied; gather in these countless arms and become the four-armed One again. Bhava, ‘become’, shows that changing form lies entirely in the Lord’s will; He appears as He chooses (4.6).

Commentators ask what tathaiva, ‘just as before’, refers to. Shankara’s sense is that Arjuna wants to see the form that preceded the cosmic vision. Ramanuja holds that Krishna’s human form was in truth the divine four-armed form, which ordinary people perceived as two-armed, and that Arjuna is asking for this natural form of the Lord. Some commentators add that Arjuna had seen the four-armed form on earlier occasions.

In 11.50 Sanjaya reports that the Lord showed ‘His own form’ and then, becoming gentle of body, comforted Arjuna. This verse thus closes the vision of the cosmic form and opens the way back to the Lord’s compassionate, approachable presence.

Context

This is the final verse of Arjuna’s hymn and prayer (11.36–46). In 11.45 he asked for the earlier form; here he specifies it as the four-armed form. From 11.47 Krishna replies that He has shown this cosmic form solely out of grace to Arjuna.

Life lesson

The infinite God takes a limited, beautiful and near form for the sake of a devotee’s love. We too may meditate on that form of God which fills our heart with peace and affection.

Key terms

Kiriti: the crowned One
Chaturbhuja: the four-armed form of Vishnu
Sahasrabahu: thousand-armed, of countless arms
Vishvamurti: He whose body is the whole universe