Mūla — the verse
Gita Press numberingTranslation
Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣyaYou are the Unchanging, the supreme One to be known; You are the most perfect repository of this Universe. You are the Imperishable, the Protector of the ever-existing religion; You are the eternal Person. This is my belief.
हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda
आप ही जानने योग्य (वेदितव्यम्) परम अक्षर हैं; आप ही इस विश्व के परम आश्रय (निधान) हैं ! आप ही शाश्वत धर्म के रक्षक हैं और आप ही सनातन पुरुष हैं,ऐसा मेरा मत है।।
Pronunciation — Vaamshii
from VaamshiiWord by word
padārthaMeaning — Questions & Solutions
from Q&A with KnAArjuna beholds all the gods and hosts of beings within the one Form; Brahmā on his lotus, the sages, the celestial serpents; boundless, without beginning, middle or end; with innumerable arms, faces, eyes; blazing immeasurably, “if a thousand suns were to rise at once in the sky”. Then the vision turns terrible: the warriors of both armies rushing into the flaming mouths, some crushed between the teeth, “as moths rush headlong into a blazing fire to their destruction”. The description moves deliberately from wonder (the beauty and vastness) to terror (the devouring) — because the Real is both. A God who is only sweetness is a sentimental idol; the true Absolute contains creation and destruction, the nursery and the crematorium. Arjuna is being shown the whole, not the comfortable half.