BG 11.31 — Viśvarūpa-Darśana Yogaḥ

Adhyāyas / Viśvarūpa-Darśana Yogaḥ / verse 31 ← 11.30 11.32 →

Mūla — the verse

Gita Press numbering

आख्याहि मे को भवानुग्ररूपो नमोऽस्तु ते देववर प्रसीद। विज्ञातुमिच्छामि भवन्तमाद्यं न हि प्रजानामि तव प्रवृत्तिम्

ākhyāhi me ko bhavān ugra-rūpo namo ’stu te deva-vara prasīda vijñātum ichchhāmi bhavantam ādyaṁ na hi prajānāmi tava pravṛittim

Triṣṭubh (I u I u)

Translation

Swami Gambhīrānanda · follows Śaṅkara-bhāṣya

Tell me who You are, fierce in form. Salutations to You, O Supreme God; be gracious. I desire to fully know You, who are the Prime One. For I do not understand Your actions!

हिन्दी अनुवाद — Swami Tejomayānanda

(कृपया) मेरे प्रति कहिये, कि उग्ररूप वाले आप कौन हैं? हे देवों में श्रेष्ठ! आपको नमस्कार है, आप प्रसन्न होइये। आदि स्वरूप आपको मैं (तत्त्व से) जानना चाहता हूँ, क्योंकि आपकी प्रवृत्ति (अर्थात् प्रयोजन को) को मैं नहीं समझ पा रहा हूँ।।

Pronunciation — Vaamshii

from Vaamshii

आख्या हि मे को भवा नुग् ररूपः

नमोऽस्तु ते देव वरप्र सीद

विज्ञातु मिच्छामि भवन्त माद्यम्

न हिप् रजा नामि तवप् रवृत्तिम्

॥ ३१ ॥

Pāda meters: Indravajrā, Upendravajrā, Indravajrā, Upendravajrā — I = Indravajrā, u = Upendravajrā, s = Śālinī pāda

Read each split group as one breath-unit; hyphens join pādas kept whole for the meter or a compound word. Symbols: # upadhmānīya (visarga before p/ph), % jihvāmūlīya (visarga before k/kh), ऽ avagraha (an elided a). Full method →

Word by word

padārtha

ākhyāhitell

meme

kaḥwho

bhavānyou

ugra-rūpaḥfierce form

namaḥ astuI bow

teto you

deva-varaGod of gods

prasīdabe merciful

vijñātumto know

ichchhāmiI wish

bhavantamyou

ādyamthe primeval

nanot

hibecause

prajānāmicomprehend

tavayour

pravṛittimworkings

Themes

from The Thematic Companion to the Bhagavad Gītā

Darśana Īśvara Arjuna's Questions

Meaning — Questions & Solutions

from Q&A with KnA

11.15–11.31The Magnificent, the Magnanimous and the Mighty.

Arjuna 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.

11.31“Who are You?”

“Tell me who You are, of such fierce form — I bow to You, O best of gods, have mercy! I wish to know You, the Primal One, for I do not comprehend Your working.” Note that even here, at the height of terror, the student’s instinct is to ask. Awe has not extinguished enquiry; it has deepened it. This is the mark of the true seeker throughout the Gītā — reverence and questioning together, never the one without the other.