रूपं महत्ते बहुवक्त्रनेत्रं महाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम्। बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालं दृष्ट्वा लोकाः प्रव्यथितास्तथाऽहम् ॥
rūpaṃ mahatte bahuvaktranetraṃ mahābāho bahubāhūrupādam| bahūdaraṃ bahudaṃṣṭrākarālaṃ dṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitāstathā'ham ||
Many mouths, eyes, arms, bellies, terrible tusks — Your vast form terrifies the worlds; I too tremble!
Word by word (3)
- bahu-daṃṣṭrā-karālam
- — fearful/terrible with many tusks · Daṃṣṭrā = tusk (the large fangs of predatory or cosmic beings — lions, cosmic boars — associated with destruction). Karāla = fearful, dreadful, gaping, terrible. The compound bahu-daṃṣṭrā-karāla (fearful with many tusks) is the most viscerally frightening element of the anatomical list — tusks belong to predators. This term recurs in V11.25 as daṃṣṭrā-karālāni mukhāni (tusked mouths resembling pralaya-fire). The tusk-motif connects to the cosmic Varāha (boar avatāra) and to cosmic dissolution imagery.
- dṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitāḥ
- — having seen (this), the worlds are terrified/greatly distressed · Pravyathita = pra (intensifier) + vyathita (distressed, shaken, agitated) = deeply, thoroughly distressed. This is a direct echo of V11.20's prediction: 'loka-trayam pravyathitam' (three worlds terrified). V11.23 confirms the prediction — the worlds ARE pravyathitāḥ. The same root in both verses forms a deliberate ring structure: V20 predicts → V23 confirms. The terror-arc is now self-validating.
- tathāham
- — and so am I / I likewise / in the same way, I · Tathā (in that way, likewise) + aham (I) = 'and so am I.' This two-word admission is perhaps the most honest statement Arjuna makes in all of Ch.11. He does not say 'the worlds are terrified but I, as Your devotee, am steady.' He places himself squarely among the terrified worlds. This radical self-identification with the frightened cosmos — not claiming spiritual exemption — is the beginning of the ego's dissolution that the cosmic vision is designed to produce. It is also a mark of spiritual honesty: he is present enough to witness his own terror without denying it.
Arjuna gives the anatomical inventory of the cosmic form — an overwhelming cascade of body-parts beyond counting — and then states the effect: the worlds are terrified. He adds himself: 'tathāham' (and so am I). He does not claim devotional exemption from the terror.
A modern analogy
Like watching a disaster unfold and saying to someone: 'Everyone around us is panicking — and so am I.' The honesty of admitting you are as frightened as the terrified crowd, rather than performing calmness, is sometimes the most spiritually mature response.
Sit with this: Arjuna says 'tathāham' — placing himself among the terrified worlds rather than claiming spiritual immunity. In your life, when has admitting 'I am as frightened as everyone else' been more honest and healing than pretending to be unaffected?
The anatomical compound builds deliberate overwhelm: bahu-vaktra-netram (many mouths and eyes) + mahābāho (O Mighty-armed) + bahu-bāhu-ūru-pādam (many arms, thighs, feet) + bahūdaram (many bellies) + bahu-daṃṣṭrā-karālam (fearful with many tusks). The accumulation of multiplied body-parts exceeds all spatial categories. Then the dual effect: lokāḥ pravyathitāḥ (worlds terrified) + tathāham (I too). The tathāham is a single compound — Arjuna fuses himself with the terrified worlds in two words. This is the beginning of ego-dissolution: the individual self identifies with the universal response rather than claiming distinction.
Bhakti lens
The tathāham contains a paradox central to bhakti: Arjuna is terrified, but he is present enough to describe his terror clearly. He is not in denial, not dissociated — he attends to the vision even as it overwhelms him. This is the beginning of sākṣī-bhāva (witness-consciousness): being with one's own distress without fleeing it. The cosmic vision is designed to produce exactly this — overwhelming enough to destroy the ordinary ego, but the devotee's love (paśyāmi in V15) keeps them present through it.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Having seen Thy immeasurable Form, possessed, O Mighty-armed, of many mouths and eyes, of many arms and thighs and feet, and of many stomachs, and fearful with many tusks, the worlds are terrified, and I also. [1]
Having seen Thy immeasurable Form — with many mouths and eyes, O mighty-armed, with many arms, thighs, and feet, with many stomachs, and fearful with many tusks — the worlds are terrified, and so am I. [4]
The Three wide Worlds before Thee adore, as I adore Thee, quake, as I quake, to witness so much splendour! [7]
Seeing your mighty form, with many mouths and eyes, with many arms, thighs, and feet, with many stomachs, and fearful with many jaws, all people, and I likewise, are much alarmed, O you of mighty arms! [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
You alone fill the space between heaven and earth — three worlds tremble beholding Your marvellous, awful form!
I am your student. My mind is bewildered about what is right. Teach me.
Overwhelmed with wonder, hair standing on end, Arjuna bowed and spoke to the God with joined palms.
Overjoyed at the unprecedented, yet trembling with fear — show me that form again, O deveśa jagan-nivāsa!
Intellect, wisdom, patience, truth, calm, restraint, joy, pain, birth, death, fear, fearlessness — all arise from Me.
Gods' hosts enter You; some join palms in fear — great seers and Siddhas sing 'Svasti!' and praise You with full hymns!