Chapter 11 · opening

The Yoga of the Vision of the Cosmic Form

Viśvarūpa Darśana Yoga

11.1 My delusion is gone — dispersed by Your compassionate words on the Self and its deep mysteries.
11.2 I have heard in full from You the origin and dissolution of beings, and Your inexhaustible greatness.
11.3 Your words are true as declared; yet I yearn to behold Your Īśvara-form — the Cosmic Ruler in all power.
11.4 If You think me capable of seeing it, O Lord of Yogins — show me Your imperishable, all-pervading Self.
11.5 Behold, O son of Pṛthā, My forms by hundreds and thousands — divine, of varied colors and shapes!
11.6 Behold the Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Aśvins, Maruts — countless wonders never seen before, O Bhārata!
11.7 Here in My body, O Guḍākeśa — behold the whole universe, moving and unmoving, gathered into one!
11.8 Your natural eyes cannot see Me — I give you the divine eye; behold My supreme Yoga-power.
11.9 Thus having spoken, Hari the great Lord of Yoga showed the son of Pṛthā His supreme Īśvara-form.
11.10 With countless mouths, eyes, celestial ornaments and weapons — the eternal God whose face turns all ways.
11.11 Crowned with celestial garlands and divine robes — the All-wonderful, Resplendent, Boundless God facing all sides!
11.12 If a thousand suns blazed simultaneously — that splendor might resemble the glory of that Great Being!
11.13 There the son of Pandu saw the whole universe — in all its vast diversity — resting in one in God's body.
11.14 Overwhelmed with wonder, hair standing on end, Arjuna bowed and spoke to the God with joined palms.
11.15 I see all the Gods within Your body, O God — Brahma on His lotus, all sages, all divine serpents!
11.16 Boundless form, manifold arms, mouths, eyes — yet no beginning, middle, or end can I find, O Lord of the universe!
11.17 Diadem, mace, discus — blazing radiance impossible to behold, like fire and sun, shining in every direction!
11.18 You are the Imperishable, the Supreme — Refuge of all, undying Guardian of Eternal Dharma, Ancient Puruṣa.
11.19 Sun and moon Your eyes, blazing fire Your mouth, infinite in power — heating the whole universe with Your radiance!
11.20 You alone fill the space between heaven and earth — three worlds tremble beholding Your marvellous, awful form!
11.21 Gods' hosts enter You; some join palms in fear — great seers and Siddhas sing 'Svasti!' and praise You with full hymns!
11.22 All celestial hosts — Rudras, Ādityas, Vasus, Aśvins, Gandharvas, Asuras, Siddhas — gaze at You in sheer amazement!
11.23 Many mouths, eyes, arms, bellies, terrible tusks — Your vast form terrifies the worlds; I too tremble!
11.24 Sky-touching, blazing, many-hued, mouth wide open, eyes aflame — seeing You, O Viṣṇu, I find no courage and no peace!
11.25 Tusked mouths blazing like fires of Time — losing all direction, all peace; be gracious, O Deveśa, O World's Abode!
11.26 All sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra — Bhīṣma, Droṇa, Karṇa, our champions — rush rapidly into Your terrible, tusk-ridden mouths!
11.27 Some are seen stuck between Your teeth — heads crushed — while all rush headlong into Your terrible mouths!
11.28 As rivers rush to the ocean, these warriors enter Your blazing mouths — unstoppable, inevitable, swift!
11.29 As moths rush to the flame for their own destruction, so these worlds rush into Your mouths to perish!
11.30 Licking all around, You devour all worlds with blazing mouths — Your fierce splendors scorch the universe, O Viṣṇu!
11.31 Who are You, fierce-formed? I bow — be gracious! I wish to know You, the Primeval, for I do not grasp Your action.
11.32 ★ I am Time, the world-destroyer — even without you, none of these warriors shall survive; they are already slain!
11.33 ★ Arise and win glory! These warriors are already slain by Me — be merely the instrument, O Savyasācin!
11.34 Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Jayadratha, Karṇa — all already slain by Me! You kill them. Fear not — fight! You shall conquer!
11.35 Trembling, hands folded, crown on head, voice choked — Arjuna bows again and again and speaks to Kṛṣṇa!
11.36 Rightly so, O Hṛṣīkeśa — the world rejoices at Your glory; demons flee in terror while the bands of Siddhas bow!
11.37 Why should they not bow? Greater than Brahmā — You are the Infinite Imperishable, Being, Non-Being, the Supreme Beyond!
11.38 Primal God, Ancient Puruṣa, supreme Refuge — Knower and Known and supreme Abode — by You is this universe pervaded!
11.39 Vāyu, Yama, Agni, Varuṇa, the Moon, Prajāpati, the Great-Grandfather — salutation a thousand times, and more!
11.40 Salutation from front, from behind, from every side — You pervade all, O Infinite-valorous; therefore You ARE all!
11.41 I called You 'Hey Kṛṣṇa! Hey Friend!' not knowing Your greatness — from carelessness or love — please forgive!
11.42 In jest at play, meals, rest — alone or before others — I dishonored You, O Immeasurable Acyuta. Please forgive!
11.43 Father of all moving and unmoving, the Greatest Guru — none equal to You in all three worlds, O Incomparable One!
11.44 Prostrating my body, I seek Your grace — as father forgives son, friend friend, beloved beloved — O Lord, forgive!
11.45 Overjoyed at the unprecedented, yet trembling with fear — show me that form again, O deveśa jagan-nivāsa!
11.46 Crowned, mace-bearing, disc-in-hand — show me again that four-armed form, O Thousand-Armed, O Universal Form!
11.47 Through My own yogic power I showed you this radiant, infinite, primeval cosmic form — which no one else has ever seen!
11.48 Not by Vedas, sacrifice, gifts, rituals, or harsh austerities can this form be seen in human worlds — only by you!
11.49 Be not afraid; let fear depart and your heart be glad — behold again THIS form of Mine, the familiar one!
11.50 Having said thus, Vāsudeva showed his own gentle form again — the Great Soul comforted the terrified Arjuna.
11.51 Beholding Your gentle human form, O Janārdana — now I am composed; my mind restored, I have come back to my own nature!
11.52 This form of Mine is very hard to behold — even the gods are always longing to see it; and you have seen it!
11.53 Not by Vedas, not by austerity, not by gifts, not by sacrifice — can I be seen as you have seen Me. Not by any of these.
11.54 Through undivided devotion alone can I be known, seen, and entered into — ananyā bhakti is the path, O Parantapa!
11.55 ★ Do My work, hold Me supreme, be My devotee, attachment-free, without enmity toward all — such a one comes to Me!