नभःस्पृशं दीप्तमनेकवर्णं व्यात्ताननं दीप्तविशालनेत्रम्। दृष्ट्वा हि त्वां प्रव्यथितान्तरात्मा धृतिं न विन्दामि शमं च विष्णो ॥
nabhaḥspṛśaṃ dīptamanekavarṇaṃ vyāttānanaṃ dīptaviśālanetram| dṛṣṭvā hi tvāṃ pravyathitāntarātmā dhṛtiṃ na vindāmi śamaṃ ca viṣṇo ||
Sky-touching, blazing, many-hued, mouth wide open, eyes aflame — seeing You, O Viṣṇu, I find no courage and no peace!
Word by word (3)
- nabhaḥspṛśam
- — sky-touching / reaching the firmament · Nabhas = sky, firmament, atmosphere; spṛśam = touching (from √spṛś). Nabhaḥspṛśam means the form exceeds all vertical spatial limits — it does not merely extend high but TOUCHES the sky, the uppermost limit of manifest reality. This is the vertical axis of cosmic overwhelm: too tall to be contained by any known spatial category. The sky-touching quality also evokes V11.19's sva-tejasā viśvam tapantam (heating all existence by Your own radiance) — the form's luminosity pervades the space it touches.
- pravyathita-antar-ātmā
- — with inner self greatly distressed / deeply shaken within · Antar-ātmā = the inner self, the subtle conscious core (antar = inner, ātmā = Self). Pravyathita = deeply, thoroughly distressed (same root as V11.20 and V11.23). The compound pravyathita-antar-ātmā means distress has reached the innermost level — not just body or emotion but the deepest layer of Arjuna's conscious being. After the body's response (V11.14 hṛṣṭa-romā), the emotional response (V11.23 fear), now the antar-ātmā itself is shaken. The distress is penetrating inward, layer by layer.
- dhṛtiṃ na vindāmi śamaṃ ca viṣṇo
- — I find no dhṛti (courage/steadiness) nor śama (peace), O Viṣṇu! · Dhṛti = steadiness of purpose, fortitude, courage — the virtue of Ch.18.33 (dhṛtyā yayā dhārayate = the fortitude that holds together mind, breath, and senses). Śama = inner peace, equanimity — one of the six classical virtues of the jñānin (śama/dama/uparama/titikṣā/śraddhā/samādhāna). To lose dhṛti AND śama is to lose both active capacity (will/courage) and receptive capacity (peace/equanimity) — a complete collapse of spiritual faculties. The address Viṣṇo (O Viṣṇu!) is the first time in Ch.11 Arjuna uses this name — Viṣṇu = all-pervader (√viṣ = to pervade). He calls on the very attribute of all-pervasiveness that is causing his collapse.
Arjuna describes five sensory attributes of the cosmic form — sky-touching, blazing, many-colored, open-mouthed, fiery-eyed — then describes their inner effect: his deepest self is distressed, and both his courage (dhṛti) and his peace (śama) have vanished. He addresses it as Viṣṇu — the all-pervader.
A modern analogy
Like looking at a solar eclipse without protection — blazing, filling all of vision, impossible to look away from, while your body floods with adrenaline and your ordinary mind simply stops working. You find neither the will to move nor the peace to stay still.
Sit with this: Arjuna loses both dhṛti (active courage/steadiness) AND śama (receptive peace/calm) at once. Have you encountered something so overwhelming that both your active strength and your passive equanimity vanished simultaneously? What remained?
V24 maps five sensory overwhelms in ascending intimacy: nabhaḥspṛśam (sky-touching = vertical/spatial) → dīptam (blazing = luminous) → aneka-varṇam (many-colored = spectral) → vyāttānanam (mouth agape = threatening/spatial) → dīpta-viśāla-netram (blazing large eyes = personal/penetrating). Each one overwhelms a different sense-faculty. Then the inward effect: pravyathita-antar-ātmā (inner self distressed) → dhṛtiṃ na vindāmi (active capacity gone) → śamaṃ ca na vindāmi (receptive capacity gone). Both poles of Arjuna's spiritual capacity are stripped simultaneously. This is the nadir — nothing left to stand on.
Bhakti lens
The address Viṣṇo (O Viṣṇu!) in the final position of V24 is the last act of devotion before total collapse. Even with dhṛti gone and śama gone, even with antar-ātmā pravyathita, Arjuna still addresses. The address itself is an act of faith — faith that the form overwhelming you is also someone who hears. Bhakti's paradox: the overwhelming experience of aiśvarya (divine majesty) does not destroy bhakti but purifies it, burning away the devotee's self-reliance and leaving only the address itself.
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
On seeing Thee (Thy Form) touching the sky, blazing in many colours, with mouths wide open, with large fiery eyes, I am terrified at heart and find no courage nor peace, O Vishnu. [1]
On seeing Thee touching the sky, shining in many a colour, with mouths wide open, with large fiery eyes, I am terrified at heart, and find no courage nor peace, O Vishnu. [4]
I mark Thee strike the skies with front, in wondrous wise huge, rainbow-painted, glittering; and thy mouth opened, and orbs which see all things. O Eyes of God! O Head! My strength of soul is fled, gone is heart's force, rebuked is mind's desire! [7]
Seeing you, O Vishnu! touching the skies, radiant, possessed of many hues, with a gaping mouth, and with large blazing eyes, I am much alarmed in my inmost self, and feel no courage, no tranquillity. [9]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Diadem, mace, discus — blazing radiance impossible to behold, like fire and sun, shining in every direction!
Sāttvic dhṛti: unswerving through yoga, holds fast the activities of mind, prāṇa, and senses.
Boundless joy beyond the senses, grasped by the purified intellect — once known, one never moves from the Reality.
I see all the Gods within Your body, O God — Brahma on His lotus, all sages, all divine serpents!
Rājasic sukha: arises from sense-object contact — nectar-like at first, poison-like at the end.
Non-injury, equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame and infamy — these varied states arise from Me alone.