Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11, Verse 47

Chapter 11 – Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga · Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit verse

श्रीभगवानुवाच ।
मया प्रसन्नेन तवार्जुनेदं
रूपं परं दर्शितमात्मयोगात् ।
तेजोमयं विश्वमनन्तमाद्यं
यन्मे त्वदन्येन न दृष्टपूर्वम् ॥

Transliteration

śrībhagavānuvāca .
mayā prasannena tavārjunedaṃ rūpaṃ paraṃ darśitamātmayogāt .
tejomayaṃ viśvamanantamādyaṃ yanme tvadanyena na dṛṣṭapūrvam ॥

Meaning

The Blessed Lord said: Out of My grace, O Arjuna, I have shown you, through My own divine power, this supreme form — radiant, universal, infinite and primeval — which no one but you has ever seen before.

Word meanings

मया – by Me
प्रसन्नेन – being pleased, out of grace
तव – to you
अर्जुन – O Arjuna
इदम् – this
रूपम् – form
परम् – supreme
दर्शितम् – has been shown
आत्मयोगात् – by My own yogic (divine) power
तेजोमयम् – full of radiance
विश्वम् – universal, all-encompassing
अनन्तम् – endless, infinite
आद्यम् – primeval, the first cause
यत् – which
मे – of Mine
त्वदन्येन – by anyone other than you
न दृष्टपूर्वम् – has not been seen before

Anvaya (word order)

श्रीभगवान् उवाच — अर्जुन, प्रसन्नेन मया आत्मयोगात् तव इदं तेजोमयम् विश्वम् अनन्तम् आद्यम् परम् रूपम् दर्शितम्, यत् मे (रूपम्) त्वत् अन्येन न दृष्टपूर्वम् ।

Explanation

Arjuna, shaken to the core, has just begged Krishna to withdraw the terrifying cosmic form and appear again in His gentle four-armed shape. Before granting the request, Krishna first reframes the whole experience. ‘Mayā prasannena’ — it was out of My pleasure, My grace, that you were shown this. What felt to Arjuna like an ordeal was in truth a gift. The Lord wants His friend to understand that he was not being punished or threatened, but honoured.

The word ‘ātma-yogāt’, ‘by My own yoga’, makes clear that the vision did not arise from Arjuna’s effort or merit. It was a self-revelation of God by His own sovereign power. This echoes the Katha Upanishad’s teaching that the Self is attained only by the one whom it chooses: the finite cannot grasp the Infinite unless the Infinite reaches down to it.

Four descriptions summarise what Arjuna saw. It was ‘tejomaya’, made of pure radiance; ‘viśva’, containing the entire universe; ‘ananta’, without limit in space or time; and ‘ādya’, the primal source from which everything proceeds. Arjuna had witnessed not a spectacle but the very ground of existence.

Finally Krishna says no one other than Arjuna had seen this before. Commentators note that Yashoda, the Kaurava court and others glimpsed universal forms on other occasions. Shankara and later acharyas explain that this particular revelation — in this completeness, and above all as all-devouring Time on the eve of war — was unique to Arjuna. By stressing its rarity, Krishna gently turns Arjuna’s fear into wonder and gratitude.

Context

In 11.45–46 Arjuna, overwhelmed, asked to see Krishna’s familiar four-armed form again. Here Krishna begins His reply by affirming that the vision was an act of grace and utterly rare. In the next verse (11.48) He will add that no amount of Vedic study, sacrifice, charity or austerity could have earned such a sight.

Life lesson

Experiences that unsettle us can be grace in disguise, widening a vision that comfort would have kept small. Genuine spiritual insight is never a trophy of the ego; it is received as a gift, and the right response to it is gratitude rather than pride.

Key terms

Ātma-yoga: the Lord’s own divine power by which He reveals Himself
Prasāda (grace): the Lord’s favour, the true cause of divine vision
Ādya: primeval; the first cause of all that exists