The Cosmic Vision

Viśvarūpa — the universe as the divine — 122 verses, starred ones first.

4.7 ★ Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
4.8 ★ For the protection of the good, destruction of wickedness, establishment of dharma — I come, age after age.
10.8 ★ I am the origin of all; from Me all evolves — knowing this, the wise worship Me with loving devotion.
10.20 ★ I am the ātman, O Guḍākeśa, seated in the heart of all beings — their beginning, middle, and end.
10.42 ★ But why such detail, O Arjuna? With a single fragment of Myself I establish and uphold this entire universe.
11.32 ★ I am Time, the world-destroyer — even without you, none of these warriors shall survive; they are already slain!
15.15 ★ I am in every heart — source of memory, knowledge, and forgetting; all Vedas point to Me, their author and knower.
3.16 ☆ Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
4.1 ☆ I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
7.6 ☆ All beings arise from these two natures as their womb — and I am the origin and dissolution of the entire universe.
8.3 ☆ Brahman is the Imperishable; Adhyātma is its presence in each body; Karma is the cosmic offering sustaining all beings.
8.16 ☆ All worlds up to Brahma's realm are subject to return — but those who attain Me, O Arjuna, are not reborn.
10.41 ☆ Whatever being has excellence, prosperity, or power — know it as born from a fragment of My splendor.
15.17 ☆ Beyond both stands the uttama Puruṣa — Paramātmā, the inexhaustible Lord pervading and sustaining all three worlds.
15.20 ☆ This most secret śāstra spoken — knowing it, one becomes truly wise and kṛta-kṛtya: all duties fulfilled.
2.28 Before birth: unmanifest. After death: unmanifest. The life between is the brief visible part — what is there to grieve?
3.10 At creation, the Creator embedded yajna into existence itself — give and the cosmos gives back.
3.11 Nourish the cosmic forces and they nourish you back. Mutual giving is the path to the highest good.
3.12 Enjoy the gifts of existence without giving back — the Gita calls that theft. Participate, don't just consume.
3.14 Action → yajna → rain → food → all beings. Human right-action sustains the entire chain of life.
3.15 Action arises from Brahman, Brahman from the Imperishable. The all-pervading ultimate is present in every act of yajna.
3.23 If even I stopped acting, humans would follow. The great one's withdrawal is never neutral.
3.24 If the great one withdraws, the worlds collapse and they become the cause of chaos — not a neutral bystander.
4.6 Though unborn, imperishable, Lord of all — I come into being through My own Māyā. Divine birth is free, not compelled.
4.31 Those who eat yajna's remnants reach eternal Brahman. Without offering, not even this world is theirs.
5.26 For those freed from desire and anger, with controlled minds, knowing the Self — brahma-nirvāṇa exists on all sides.
8.17 Those who know Brahma's Day as a thousand yugas and his Night as a thousand yugas — they know day and night truly.
8.18 At Brahma's dawn, all beings emerge from the unmanifest; at his dusk, they merge back into that same unmanifest.
8.26 These two paths — bright and dark — are eternally established: by one none returns, by the other one returns.
9.7 At the end of each cosmic age, all beings return to My prakriti — at the next dawn, I send them forth again.
10.1 Again, O mighty-armed — hear My supreme word: I speak it to you who love Me, out of desire for your welfare.
10.2 Neither the gods nor the great sages know My origin — for I am the source of them all, in every way.
10.3 Who knows Me as unborn, beginningless, Great Lord of worlds — that one is undeluded among mortals, freed from all sin.
10.4 Intellect, wisdom, patience, truth, calm, restraint, joy, pain, birth, death, fear, fearlessness — all arise from Me.
10.5 Non-injury, equanimity, contentment, austerity, charity, fame and infamy — these varied states arise from Me alone.
10.6 The seven great sages and ancient Manus were born of My mind — from them arose all creatures in the world.
10.7 Who truly knows My vibhūtis and yoga-power becomes united in unshakeable yoga — of this there is no doubt.
10.9 Mind on Me, life surrendered to Me — awakening each other, always speaking of Me — they are content and rejoice.
10.10 To those ever-steadfast who worship Me with love — I give that yoga of wisdom by which they come to Me.
10.11 Out of compassion, I dwell in their hearts and destroy the darkness of ignorance with the luminous lamp of wisdom.
10.12 You are Parabrahm — supreme abode, great purifier, eternal, divine, unborn, all-pervading — the Primordial God!
10.13 All the sages declare it — Nārada, Asita, Devala, Vyāsa — and You Yourself say it to me now.
10.14 I hold all You have told me as true, O Keśava — neither gods nor demons know Your manifestation.
10.15 You alone know Yourself by Yourself, O Puruṣottama, Maker of beings, God of Gods — tell me Your vibhūtis.
10.16 Declare fully Your divine attributes by which You pervade and sustain all these worlds, O Bhagavān.
10.17 How shall I always meditate on You, O Yogin — in what manifestations should I think of You, O Bhagavān?
10.18 Tell me again in full of Your yoga and vibhūtis, O Janārdana — I am never sated hearing Your nectar-speech.
10.19 I shall tell you My foremost divine manifestations, O best of Kurus — My nature's extent is without end.
10.21 Of the Ādityas I am Viṣṇu; among lights the radiant sun; among Maruts, Marīci; among stars, the moon.
10.22 Among Vedas I am Sāma Veda; among gods, Indra; among senses, the mind; in living beings, consciousness.
10.23 Among Rudras I am Śaṃkara, among Yakṣas Kubera, among Vasus Pāvaka — and of mountains, Meru.
10.24 Among priests know Me as Bṛhaspati; among generals I am Skanda — and among waters, the ocean.
10.25 Among great sages I am Bhṛgu; among words, OM; among yajñas, japa; among immovable heights, the Himālaya.
10.26 Among all trees I am the Aśvattha; among divine sages, Nārada; among Gandharvas, Citraratha; among siddhas, Kapila.
10.27 Among horses I am Uccaiḥśravas born of nectar; among elephants, Airāvata; and among humans, the king.
10.28 Among weapons I am the thunderbolt; among cows, Kāmadhuk; among progenitors, Kāmadeva; among serpents, Vāsuki.
10.29 Among Nāgas I am Ananta; among water-beings, Varuṇa; among the ancestors, Aryamā; among those who judge, Yama.
10.30 Among Daityas I am Prahlāda; among measurers, Time; among beasts, the lion; and among birds, Garuḍa.
10.31 Of purifiers I am the wind; among warriors, Rāma; among fish, the shark; among rivers, the Gaṅgā.
10.32 Of manifestations, the beginning, middle, and end; of knowledge, Self-knowledge; of disputants, Vāda.
10.33 Among letters I am A; among compounds, the dvandva; I am inexhaustible Time; the all-facing Sustainer.
10.34 I am all-seizing Death, and the birth of those to come; among feminine: Fame, Prosperity, Speech, Memory, Forbearance.
10.35 Among Sāma hymns, the Bṛhat-Sāman; among metres, Gāyatrī; among months, Mārgaśīrṣa; among seasons, spring.
10.36 I am the gambling of the fraudulent and the power of the powerful; victory, effort, and the sattva of the sattvika.
10.37 Among the Vṛṣṇis I am Vāsudeva; among the Pāṇḍavas, Dhanañjaya; among munis, Vyāsa; among seer-poets, Uśanas.
10.38 Among rulers the rod; among conquerors, policy; among secrets, silence; and I am the knowledge of knowers.
10.39 I am the seed of all beings, O Arjuna — there is no being, moving or unmoving, that can exist without Me.
10.40 There is no end to My divine vibhūtis, O scorcher of foes — what I have told you is but a sample of My infinite extent.
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!
11.19 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.
11.34 Droṇa, Bhīṣma, Jayadratha, Karṇa — all already slain by Me! You kill them. Fear not — fight! You shall conquer!
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!
11.43 Father of all moving and unmoving, the Greatest Guru — none equal to You in all three worlds, O Incomparable One!
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!
13.14 Brahman: hands, feet, eyes, heads, mouths, ears everywhere — enveloping and pervading the entire universe.
14.2 Those who resort to this knowledge attain My own nature — neither reborn at creation nor disturbed at dissolution.
14.3 Mahat-brahma is the universal womb; Krishna plants the seed — from that union, all beings are born.
14.13 Darkness, inertness, heedlessness, and delusion arise — know that tamas is predominant.
14.18 Sattva-abiders go upward; rajasic dwell in the middle; tamas-abiders sink downward — the cosmic gradient.
14.22 The guṇātīta neither hates light, activity, or delusion when present — nor yearns for them when absent.
15.10 The deluded see only the body's states — birth, life, experience; the jñāna-eyed see the jīva behind all three.
15.12 The radiance in the sun illumining the whole world, and in moon and fire — know all that tejas as Mine.
15.13 I enter earth to uphold all beings by My energy, and as Soma — the nourishing moon-essence — I feed all plants.
15.14 I am Vaiśvānara — the digestive fire in every living body — digesting all four kinds of food with prāṇa and apāna.
15.16 Two puruṣas: kṣara (all mutable beings) and akṣara (kūṭastha, immutable ground) — both about to be transcended.
16.10 Driven by insatiable kāma, hypocrisy, pride and arrogance, gripping false notions through moha — impure resolves.
16.19 Those who hate Me — cruel, vilest among humans — I continually cast into āsurī wombs, the inauspicious.
17.21 Rājasic dāna: given expecting reciprocity, or eyeing fruit, or reluctantly — held to be rājasic.
18.14 Five causes of action: body-locus, agent, various instruments, diverse efforts, and — fifth — the Divine/Fate.
18.77 Remembering that most wondrous Form of Hari again and again — great wonder fills me, O King; I rejoice again and again.