अर्जुन उवाच | पश्यामि देवांस्तव देव देहे सर्वांस्तथा भूतविशेषसङ्घान् | ब्रह्माणमीशं कमलासनस्थम् ऋषींश्च सर्वानुरगांश्च दिव्यान् ||१५||
arjuna uvāca | paśyāmi devāṃs tava deva dehe sarvāṃs tathā bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān | brahmāṇam īśaṃ kamalāsana-stham ṛṣīṃś ca sarvān uragāṃś ca divyān || 15 ||
I see all the Gods within Your body, O God — Brahma on His lotus, all sages, all divine serpents!
Word by word (3)
- paśyāmi devān tava deva dehe sarvān tathā bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān
- — I SEE all the Gods within Your body, O God — and all hosts of every grade of being · arjuna uvāca = Arjuna said (SPEAKER SHIFT from Sanjaya narrating to Arjuna speaking directly — begins the Arjuna-response block V15-V31). paśyāmi = I SEE (first person singular present of √paś = to see; paśyāmi = 'I see, I am seeing right now' — the present tense marks the ongoing vision; contrast with V11.13's apaśyat = 'he saw' [past] — now Arjuna speaks directly in present tense about what he is seeing). This paśyāmi answers the entire series of paśya imperatives (V11.5, V11.6, V11.7, V11.8): the divine said BEHOLD! (paśya = you see!); Arjuna responds I SEE! (paśyāmi = I see!). devān = the Gods (accusative plural — all the divine beings). tava = Your (genitive of tvaṃ). deva = O God (vocative — addressing the divine directly in second person = the shift from Sanjaya's third-person narration to Arjuna's first-person address). dehe = in the body (locative — 'within Your body'). sarvān = all (accusative — all of them). tathā = and also, likewise. bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān = hosts of all grades of beings (bhūta = being; viśeṣa = specific grade, kind; saṃgha = host, assembly, group; bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān = 'assembled hosts of all kinds of beings' — not just the divine beings but all grades of existence). V11.15 opens Arjuna's report of what he sees — beginning with the highest (all the Gods) and expanding outward.
- brahmāṇam īśam kamalāsana-stham ṛṣīn ca sarvān uragān ca divyān
- — Brahma the Lord seated on His lotus-throne, and all the sages, and all the divine serpents · brahmāṇam = Brahma the creator (accusative of Brahmā = the four-faced creator-god, the first and highest entity within the creation; in the divine trinity: Brahmā creates, Viṣṇu sustains, Śiva dissolves). īśam = the Lord (accusative of Īśa = 'the ruler, the one who rules'; here as an epithet of Brahmā — Brahmā Īśa = Brahmā the Lord). kamalāsana-stham = seated on the lotus-throne (kamala = lotus; āsana = seat/throne; stha = situated; kamalāsana-stham = 'seated on the lotus-seat' — Brahmā's iconographic attribute: he sits on a lotus that grows from Viṣṇu's navel, itself arising from the cosmic ocean; here: Brahmā is visible within the cosmic form of Krishna, seated on his characteristic lotus throne). ṛṣīn = sages (accusative plural of ṛṣi = seer, sage — the great sages of Vedic tradition). sarvān = all. uragān = serpents (ura = breast + ga = going = 'breast-goers' = the Sanskrit poetic compound for serpents). divyān = divine (accusative plural — the divine serpents = beings like Ananta/Śeṣa and Vāsuki, V10.28-V10.29's vibhūtis). V11.15's three specific sightings within the cosmic form: (1) Brahmā on his lotus = the highest created being; (2) all the ṛṣis = the entire lineage of spiritual knowledge; (3) divine serpents = the cosmic support and transformation powers. From the highest created being (Brahmā) to the supporting powers (serpents) — ALL within the one divine body.
- [paśyāmi — the fulfillment of the paśya-series]
- — V11.15's paśyāmi answers V11.5-V11.8's paśya imperatives · V11.5 (divine to Arjuna): paśya (BEHOLD! — imperative). V11.6: paśya...paśya (BEHOLD...BEHOLD! — double imperative). V11.7: [implied paśya]. V11.8: paśya me yogam aiśvaram (BEHOLD My Aiśvara power). V11.15 (Arjuna to divine): paśyāmi (I SEE). The entire paśya-series (V11.5-V11.8) = the divine issuing the vision command. V11.15's paśyāmi = Arjuna's confirmation that the command was successful: I am SEE-ing. The grammar does the theological work: the divine's paśya (you behold!) → Arjuna's paśyāmi (I am beholding) = the vision circuit closed. Teacher invited; student received. The circuit of divine-human communication about seeing the divine: completed in the shift from 2nd-person imperative (paśya = you see!) to 1st-person present (paśyāmi = I see!).
V11.15: arjuna uvāca (SPEAKER SHIFT — Arjuna begins direct speech, V15-V31 is his response block) + paśyāmi (I SEE — present tense first person; answers the divine's paśya [BEHOLD!] imperatives of V11.5-V11.8: the vision-circuit is now closed) + devān tava dehe (all the Gods within Your body) + sarvān bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān (all hosts of every grade of being) + brahmāṇam īśam kamalāsana-stham (Brahmā the Lord on His lotus throne — the highest created being visible within the cosmic form) + sarvān ṛṣīn (all the sages) + uragān divyān (all the divine serpents). V11.15 = the beginning of Arjuna's 17-verse response (V15-V31) to the vision.
A modern analogy
V11.15's paśyāmi (I SEE all the Gods within Your body) parallels the experience of suddenly seeing how all the diverse elements of a complex system are unified. The moment when you're studying a complex field and suddenly see how everything fits together — not just intellectually but in a flash of unified understanding: the entire field visible as one coherent whole. Arjuna's paśyāmi = that flash of unified seeing, but at the scale of all existence.
What it does NOT mean
V11.15's paśyāmi (I see) is not claiming that Arjuna has become enlightened or that the vision is now permanent. The divine eye (divyaṃ cakṣuḥ) was granted temporarily for this vision — when it is withdrawn (V11.50-V11.51), Arjuna will return to his ordinary state. V11.15's paśyāmi = present-tense vision within the divya-cakṣuḥ's active duration. The vision is real AND it is temporary — both simultaneously. The teaching's value is not in the permanence of the vision but in the transformation it creates (which becomes permanent).
Take with you
- V11.15's paśyāmi as the student's confirmation: the teacher says paśya (BEHOLD!); the student confirms paśyāmi (I SEE!). This exchange is the model for all teaching: the teacher's invitation + the student's active confirmation of reception. V11.15 practice: in learning, don't just passive-receive — actively confirm what you've received by articulating it back. Paśyāmi = 'I see this — here is what I see.' The articulation completes the learning circuit.
- V11.15's Brahma on his lotus as a hierarchy-within-unity teaching: even the highest created being (Brahmā = the Creator god) is visible WITHIN the divine's body. The cosmic form contains all hierarchies within it. V11.15 teaches: there is no being so high that it falls outside the divine's containing reality. Whatever hierarchy you inhabit — professional, social, spiritual — it is wholly contained within the One.
- V11.15's arjuna uvāca (speaker shift) as a model for speaking from vision: Arjuna speaks only AFTER he has seen (V11.13 vision → V11.14 body response → V11.15 speech). The speech arises FROM the vision. V11.15 practice: before speaking in any important situation, first establish genuine contact with what you have seen, experienced, or know. Let the speech arise from vision rather than from concept. This is V11.15's sequence: vision first, speech second.
V11.15 opens Arjuna's 17-verse response to the vision (V15-V31). It marks the SPEAKER SHIFT from Sanjaya's narration to Arjuna's direct first-person speech — the most important structural change since V11.9. Paradigmatic paśyāmi: V11.15's paśyāmi (I see) is the climactic answer to the entire paśya-series: - V11.5: paśya (you behold!) - V11.6: paśya...paśya (double imperative) - V11.7: [implicitly: paśya] - V11.8: paśya me yogam aiśvaram All four paśya imperatives were the teacher's side of the vision-circuit. V11.15's paśyāmi = the student's side completed. The grammatical shift from 2nd-person imperative (you-see!) to 1st-person present (I-see!) closes the vision-circuit: the teacher's invitation successfully received and confirmed. Brahmā kamalāsana-stham: Brahmā on His lotus is the highest being within the creation — He who creates from the four-faced perspective of the divine's lotus-navel (from Viṣṇu's navel arises the lotus on which Brahmā sits — the creation's origin story). Seeing Brahmā within the cosmic form = seeing the entire creative principle as contained within the divine. The creator is within the cosmic form — a teaching about cosmic hierarchy: creation is within the divine, not separate from it. The three-fold content of V11.15: 1. All Gods (devān) + all beings (bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān) = the complete divine-to-creature spectrum 2. Brahmā īśa kamalāsana-stham = the highest specific being within the creation 3. All ṛṣis + all divine serpents = the lineage of wisdom + the powers of transformation These three point from the universal (all beings) to the specific (Brahmā) to the foundational (sages = knowledge; serpents = transformation power). V11.15's first report of the vision is comprehensive, specific, and philosophically organized.
Advaita lens
Shankaracharya: paśyāmi tava dehe sarvān (I see all within Your body) = the Advaita vision of Brahman-as-all. For Advaita, this vision is the provisional-saguṇa (with-qualities) stage of recognition: the divine body CONTAINS all (Brahman as the ground of all). The ultimate Advaita recognition beyond V11.15 would be: I am IDENTICAL with that body — but V11.15 is the transition step: seeing all within the divine before recognizing oneself AS the divine. V11.15 = the Advaita śravaṇa stage realized as vision.
Bhakti lens
For bhakti, V11.15's paśyāmi (I see) is the devotee's supreme expression: the beloved-divine has granted the vision, and the devotee reports what they see — not as analysis but as direct loving witness. V11.15 begins Arjuna's 17-verse response that is simultaneously a bhakti-hymn and a first-person vision-report. The bhakta who prays sees; V11.15 confirms: the seeing arrives. Brahmā on his lotus within the cosmic form = the divine's creative love made visible — the entire creation is the divine's creative expression of love, here made directly visible.
Karma-Yoga lens
V11.15 for karma yoga: arjuna uvāca — Arjuna SPEAKS. The karma yogi who has received the vision must respond. Not just internally appreciate but externally testify. V11.15 teaches: vision without testimony is incomplete. The karma yogi who has seen something true has an obligation to paśyāmi = say 'I see this.' The articulation of vision IS an action — one of the karma yogi's most important.
Modern parallels
V11.15's paśyāmi (I see all within Your body) parallels the experience of holographic perception: in a hologram, every fragment contains the complete image. V11.15's cosmic form = the ultimate holographic reality: every point within it contains the complete whole. Brahmā is visible within the cosmic form — not as a separate being somewhere else but as present HERE within the one body. This is V11.15's holographic teaching: the cosmic form is the holographic totality in which all is mutually present.
Practice
V11.15 witnessing meditation (10 minutes): sit quietly. Take 5 slow breaths. Then: become the witness. Mentally scan what you can observe: sounds in the room, sensations in the body, thoughts arising. For each one: paśyāmi — 'I see this.' Not analyzing, not evaluating — just witnessing and naming. After 7 minutes: let the field expand: paśyāmi sarvān (I see all) — let awareness rest in the quality of comprehensive seeing. This is V11.15 as meditation: the I-SEE-ALL quality of awareness that is the beginning of the cosmic-form recognition.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
I see all the Devas, O Deva, in Thy body, and hosts of all grades of beings; Brahma, the Lord, seated on the lotus, and all the Rishis and celestial serpents. [4]
I behold, O God of gods, within thy frame all beings and things of every kind; the Lord Brahma on his lotus throne, all the Rishees and the heavenly Serpents. [6]
Of Brahma, sitting lone / Upon His lotus-throne; / Of saints and sages, and the serpent races / Ananta, Vasuki [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Behold, O son of Pṛthā, My forms by hundreds and thousands — divine, of varied colors and shapes!
He cannot stand. His mind spins. He sees only bad signs ahead.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
For the protection of the good, destruction of wickedness, establishment of dharma — I come, age after age.