The Vision of the Universal Form

In the eleventh chapter of the Gita, Krishna gave Arjuna divine eyes and revealed his universal form, containing all creation and time itself.

In the tenth chapter of the Gita, Krishna described his divine glories: among lights he is the radiant sun, among rivers the Ganga, among the immovable the Himalaya. Hearing this, Arjuna's longing grew. At the beginning of the eleventh chapter he humbly asked: if you think I am able to see it, O Lord of yoga, show me your imperishable form.

Krishna replied that Arjuna could not see that form with his ordinary eyes, and so he gave him divine sight (Chapter 11, verse 8). Then the Lord revealed his supreme form. Sanjaya, describing it to the blind king Dhritarashtra, said that if the light of a thousand suns were to blaze in the sky at once, it might resemble the splendour of that great being (Chapter 11, verse 12).

Arjuna saw the entire universe, with its many divisions, standing together in the body of the God of gods. He saw countless mouths and eyes, divine ornaments and weapons, Brahma seated on the lotus, the sages and the celestial serpents. The form had no beginning, middle or end. With his hair standing on end, Arjuna bowed his head and began to praise the Lord.

Then the vision grew terrible. Arjuna saw the sons of Dhritarashtra, together with Bhishma, Drona, Karna and the warriors of his own side, rushing into the fearsome mouths of that form, as rivers rush into the ocean or moths into a flame. Trembling, he asked who the Lord was in this dreadful aspect.

Krishna answered with the famous words of Chapter 11, verse 32: I am Time, the mighty destroyer of the worlds, engaged here in bringing the worlds to their end. Even without you, these warriors will not survive. Therefore, he said in verse 33, arise and win glory; they have already been slain by me, and you are merely the instrument.

Overwhelmed, Arjuna praised the Lord again and again, and asked forgiveness for the times he had casually called him "O Krishna, O Yadava, O friend", not knowing his greatness. He begged to see the gentle four-armed form once more. Krishna showed his four-armed form and then took again his beautiful two-armed human form, and Arjuna's mind became calm.

Krishna then said that this form cannot be seen through study of the Vedas, austerity, charity or sacrifice, but only through undivided devotion (Chapter 11, verses 53–54). The vision teaches that the Lord who drives our chariot as a friend is also the Lord of all time and all worlds.

Source

Bhagavad Gita, chapter 11 (Vishvarupa Darshana Yoga)

Place

Kurukshetra

Gita Refs

11.4, 11.8, 11.12, 11.32, 11.33, 11.41, 11.54

Lesson

The friend who guides our chariot is the Lord of all worlds, and he is truly known only through devotion.