Bhagavad Gita
Chapter XI — The Manifesting of the One and Manifold
Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa188512 min read
Bhagavad GitaKrishnaBhakti
Arjuna
This, for my soul's peace, have I heard from Thee,The unfolding of the Mystery SupremeNamed Adhyatman; comprehending which,My darkness is dispelled; for now I know--O Lotus-eyed!--whence is the birth of men,And whence their death, and what the majestiesOf Thine immortal rule. Fain would I see,As thou Thyself declar'st it, Sovereign Lord!The likeness of that glory of Thy FormWholly revealed. O Thou Divinest One!If this can be, if I may bear the sight,Make Thyself visible, Lord of all prayers!Show me Thy very self, the Eternal God!
Krishna
Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for theeThose hundred thousand thousand shapes that clothe my Mystery:I show thee all my semblances, infinite, rich, divine,My changeful hues, my countless forms. See! in this face of mine,Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Aswins, and Maruts; seeWonders unnumbered, Indian Prince! revealed to none save thee.Behold! this is the Universe!--Look! what is live and deadI gather all in one--in Me! Gaze, as thy lips have said,On GOD ETERNAL, VERY GOD! See Me! see what thou prayest!
Thou canst not!--nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest!Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light!And, look! This is My glory, unveiled to mortal sight!
Sanjaya
Then, O King! the God, so saying,Stood, to Pritha's Son displayingAll the splendour, wonder, dreadOf His vast Almighty-head.Out of countless eyes beholding,Out of countless mouths commanding,Countless mystic forms enfoldingIn one Form: supremely standingCountless radiant glories wearing,Countless heavenly weapons bearing,Crowned with garlands of star-clusters,Robed in garb of woven lustres,Breathing from His perfect PresenceBreaths of every subtle essenceOf all heavenly odours; sheddingBlinding brilliance; overspreading--Boundless, beautiful--all spacesWith His all-regarding faces;So He showed! If there should riseSuddenly within the skiesSunburst of a thousand sunsFlooding earth with beams undeemed-of,Then might be that Holy One'sMajesty and radiance dreamed of!
So did Pandu's Son beholdAll this universe enfoldAll its huge diversityInto one vast shape, and beVisible, and viewed, and blendedIn one Body--subtle, splendid,Nameless--th' All-comprehendingGod of Gods, the Never-EndingDeity!
But, sore amazed,Thrilled, o'erfilled, dazzled, and dazed,Arjuna knelt; and bowed his head,And clasped his palms; and cried, and said:
Arjuna
Yea! I have seen! I see!Lord! all is wrapped in Thee!The gods are in Thy glorious frame! the creaturesOf earth, and heaven, and hellIn Thy Divine form dwell,And in Thy countenance shine all the features
Of Brahma, sitting loneUpon His lotus-throne;Of saints and sages, and the serpent racesAnanta, Vasuki;Yea! mightiest Lord! I seeThy thousand thousand arms, and breasts, and faces,And eyes,--on every sidePerfect, diversified;And nowhere end of Thee, nowhere beginning,Nowhere a centre! Shifts--Wherever soul's gaze lifts--Thy central Self, all-wielding, and all-winning!
Infinite King! I seeThe anadem on Thee,The club, the shell, the discus; see Thee burningIn beams insufferable,Lighting earth, heaven, and hellWith brilliance blazing, glowing, flashing; turning
Darkness to dazzling day,Look I whichever way;Ah, Lord! I worship Thee, the Undivided,The Uttermost of thought,The Treasure-Palace wroughtTo hold the wealth of the worlds; the Shield provided
To shelter Virtue's laws;The Fount whence Life's stream drawsAll waters of all rivers of all being:The One Unborn, Unending:Unchanging and Unblending!With might and majesty, past thought, past seeing!
Silver of moon and goldOf sun are glories rolledFrom Thy great eyes; Thy visage, beaming tenderThroughout the stars and skies,Doth to warm life surpriseThy Universe. The worlds are filled with wonder
Of Thy perfections! SpaceStar-sprinkled, and void placeFrom pole to pole of the Blue, from bound to bound,Hath Thee in every spot,Thee, Thee!--Where Thou art not,O Holy, Marvellous Form! is nowhere found!
O Mystic, Awful One!At sight of Thee, made known,The Three Worlds quake; the lower gods draw nigh Thee;They fold their palms, and bowBody, and breast, and brow,And, whispering worship, laud and magnify Thee!
Rishis and Siddhas cry"Hail! Highest Majesty!"From sage and singer breaks the hymn of gloryIn dulcet harmony,Sounding the praise of Thee;While countless companies take up the story,
Rudras, who ride the storms,Th' Adityas' shining forms,Vasus and Sadhyas, Viswas, Ushmapas;Maruts, and those great TwinsThe heavenly, fair, Aswins,Gandharvas, Rakshasas, Siddhas, and Asuras,--
These see Thee, and revereIn sudden-stricken fear;Yea! the Worlds,--seeing Thee with form stupendous,With faces manifold,With eyes which all behold,Unnumbered eyes, vast arms, members tremendous,
Flanks, lit with sun and star,Feet planted near and far,Tushes of terror, mouths wrathful and tender;--The Three wide Worlds before TheeAdore, as I adore Thee,Quake, as I quake, to witness so much splendour!
I mark Thee strike the skiesWith front, in wondrous wiseHuge, rainbow-painted, glittering; and thy mouthOpened, and orbs which seeAll things, whatever beIn all Thy worlds, east, west, and north and south.
O Eyes of God! O Head!My strength of soul is fled,Gone is heart's force, rebuked is mind's desire!When I behold Thee so,With awful brows a-glow,With burning glance, and lips lighted by fire
Fierce as those flames which shallConsume, at close of all,Earth, Heaven! Ah me! I see no Earth and Heaven!Thee, Lord of Lords! I see,Thee only-only Thee!Now let Thy mercy unto me be given,
Thou Refuge of the World!Lo! to the cavern hurledOf Thy wide-opened throat, and lips white-tushed,I see our noblest ones,Great Dhritarashtra's sons,Bhishma, Drona, and Karna, caught and crushed!
The Kings and Chiefs drawn in,That gaping gorge within;The best of both these armies torn and riven!Between Thy jaws they lieMangled full bloodily,Ground into dust and death! Like streams down-driven
With helpless haste, which goIn headlong furious flowStraight to the gulfing deeps of th' unfilled ocean,So to that flaming caveThose heroes great and bravePour, in unending streams, with helpless motion!
Like moths which in the nightFlutter towards a light,Drawn to their fiery doom, flying and dying,So to their death still throng,Blind, dazzled, borne alongCeaselessly, all those multitudes, wild flying!
Thou, that hast fashioned men,Devourest them again,One with another, great and small, alike!The creatures whom Thou mak'st,With flaming jaws Thou tak'st,Lapping them up! Lord God! Thy terrors strike
From end to end of earth,Filling life full, from birthTo death, with deadly, burning, lurid dread!Ah, Vishnu! make me knowWhy is Thy visage so?Who art Thou, feasting thus upon Thy dead?
Who? awful Deity!I bow myself to Thee,Namostu Te, Devavara! Prasid!O Mightiest Lord! rehearseWhy hast Thou face so fierce?Whence doth this aspect horrible proceed?
Krishna
Thou seest Me as Time who kills,Time who brings all to doom,The Slayer Time, Ancient of Days, come hither to consume;Excepting thee, of all these hosts of hostile chiefs arrayed,There stands not one shall leave alive the battlefield! DismayedNo longer be! Arise! obtain renown! destroy thy foes!Fight for the kingdom waiting thee when thou hast vanquished those.By Me they fall--not thee! the stroke of death is dealt them now,Even as they show thus gallantly; My instrument art thou!Strike, strong-armed Prince, at Drona! at Bhishma strike! deal deathOn Karna, Jyadratha; stay all their warlike breath!'Tis I who bid them perish! Thou wilt but slay the slain;Fight! they must fall, and thou must live, victor upon this plain!
Sanjaya
Hearing mighty Keshav's word,Tremblingly that helmed LordClasped his lifted palms, and--prayingGrace of Krishna--stood there, saying,With bowed brow and accents broken,These words, timorously spoken:
Arjuna
Worthily, Lord of Might!The whole world hath delightIn Thy surpassing power, obeying Thee;The Rakshasas, in dreadAt sight of Thee, are spedTo all four quarters; and the company
Of Siddhas sound Thy name.How should they not proclaimThy Majesties, Divinest, Mightiest?Thou Brahm, than Brahma greater!Thou Infinite Creator!Thou God of gods, Life's Dwelling-place and Rest!
Thou, of all souls the Soul!The Comprehending Whole!Of being formed, and formless being the Framer;O Utmost One! O Lord!Older than eld, Who storedThe worlds with wealth of life! O Treasure-Claimer,
Who wottest all, and artWisdom Thyself! O PartIn all, and All; for all from Thee have risenNumberless now I seeThe aspects are of Thee!Vayu Thou art, and He who keeps the prison
Of Narak, Yama dark;And Agni's shining spark;Varuna's waves are Thy waves. Moon and starlightAre Thine! PrajapatiArt Thou, and 'tis to TheeThey knelt in worshipping the old world's far light,
The first of mortal men.Again, Thou God! againA thousand thousand times be magnified!Honour and worship be--Glory and praise,--to TheeNamo, Namaste, cried on every side;
Cried here, above, below,Uttered when Thou dost go,Uttered where Thou dost come! Namo! we call;Namostu! God adored!Namostu! Nameless Lord!Hail to Thee! Praise to Thee! Thou One in all;
For Thou art All! Yea, Thou!Ah! if in anger nowThou shouldst remember I did think Thee Friend,Speaking with easy speech,As men use each to each;Did call Thee "Krishna," "Prince," nor comprehend
Thy hidden majesty,The might, the awe of Thee;Did, in my heedlessness, or in my love,On journey, or in jest,Or when we lay at rest,Sitting at council, straying in the grove,
Alone, or in the throng,Do Thee, most Holy! wrong,Be Thy grace granted for that witless sin!For Thou art, now I know,Father of all below,Of all above, of all the worlds within
Guru of Gurus; moreTo reverence and adoreThan all which is adorable and high!How, in the wide worlds threeShould any equal be?Should any other share Thy Majesty?
Therefore, with body bentAnd reverent intent,I praise, and serve, and seek Thee, asking grace.As father to a son,As friend to friend, as oneWho loveth to his lover, turn Thy face
In gentleness on me!Good is it I did seeThis unknown marvel of Thy Form! But fearMingles with joy! Retake,Dear Lord! for pity's sakeThine earthly shape, which earthly eyes may bear!
Be merciful, and showThe visage that I know;Let me regard Thee, as of yore, arrayedWith disc and forehead-gem,With mace and anadem,Thou that sustainest all things! Undismayed
Let me once more beholdThe form I loved of old,Thou of the thousand arms and countless eyes!This frightened heart is fainTo see restored againMy Charioteer, in Krishna's kind disguise.
Krishna
Yea! thou hast seen, Arjuna! because I loved thee well,The secret countenance of Me, revealed by mystic spell,Shining, and wonderful, and vast, majestic, manifold,Which none save thou in all the years had favour to behold;For not by Vedas cometh this, nor sacrifice, nor alms,Nor works well-done, nor penance long, nor prayers, nor chauntedpsalms,That mortal eyes should bear to view the Immortal Soul unclad,Prince of the Kurus! This was kept for thee alone! Be glad!Let no more trouble shake thy heart, because thine eyes have seenMy terror with My glory. As I before have beenSo will I be again for thee; with lightened heart behold!Once more I am thy Krishna, the form thou knew'st of old!
Sanjaya
These words to Arjuna spakeVasudev, and straight did takeBack again the semblance dearOf the well-loved charioteer;Peace and joy it did restoreWhen the Prince beheld once moreMighty BRAHMA's form and faceClothed in Krishna's gentle grace.
Arjuna
Now that I see come back, Janardana!This friendly human frame, my mind can thinkCalm thoughts once more; my heart beats still again!
Krishna
Yea! it was wonderful and terribleTo view me as thou didst, dear Prince! The godsDread and desire continually to view!Yet not by Vedas, nor from sacrifice,Nor penance, nor gift-giving, nor with prayerShall any so behold, as thou hast seen!Only by fullest service, perfect faith,And uttermost surrender am I knownAnd seen, and entered into, Indian Prince!Who doeth all for Me; who findeth MeIn all; adoreth always; loveth allWhich I have made, and Me, for Love's sole endThat man, Arjuna! unto Me doth wend.
“HERE ENDETH CHAPTER XI. OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA, Entitled "Viswarupadarsanam," Or "The Book of the Manifesting of the One and Manifold."”
— Bhagavad Gita