CHAPTER11:THEYOGAOFTHE UNIVERSAL FORM

On the confrontationwith the complete of His reality

(1) Arjuna said:'The words that You spoke inYour favoring me concerning the confidential subject of the spiritualsupreme - through them my illusion is removed. (2) I heard from You in detail about theappearance and disappearance of all living entities, oh lotus eyed one,and also about Your inexhaustible glories. (3)Even when You have spoken about this of Yours as it is, oh SupremeLord,I wish to see Your divine form, oh Highest Personality. (4) If You think that it as such can be seen byme oh master, Lord of Yoga, then You show me Your universal Self.'

(5) The SupremeLord said: 'Oh son ofPrithâ, behold the hundreds and thousands of the variegateddivine of My diverse forms and colors. (6)Just see the [twelve] Âdityas, [eight] Vasus, [eleven] Rudras,[two] As'vins [demigods for the longevity], [fourty-nine] Maruts asalso the many of all the wonders you did not see before, oh best of theBhâratas. (7) See here andnow the universe completely, all at the same time, with all that movesand not moves, in this body of Mine, oh conqueror of sleep, and alsowhatever else you wish to see. (8)But surely you will never be able to see Me with your normal eyes;divine eyes I give you to perceive My Divine Union.'

(9) Sañjayasaid:'OhKing,after havingspoken thus, the Great Lord of Yoga, the Supreme Personality, showedArjuna the beyond of the Universal Form. (10-11) Many mouths, eyes and many diverse wonderful sights, manydivine ornaments, and a variety of uplifted weapons, heavenly garlandsand the wear of dresses with divine fragrances and ointments, were allwonderful and shining, extending to all sides. (12) If there were the light of the simultaneouspresence of many thousands of suns in the sky, such might resemble theeffulgence of Him, the Greatness of the Soul. (13) There Arjuna then could, in the universalform of the God of Gods, see in one the complete universe divided inmany. (14) Thereafter, being overwhelmed with wonderand his hair standing on end, the conqueror of wealth offered the Godwith folded hands his obeisances, bowing his head and began to speak.

(15) Arjuna said: 'I see all the gods and allliving entities assembled in Your body, oh Lord; Lord Brahmâseated on the lotus and Lord S'iva, and also the great sages and allserpents. (16) Many arms, trunks, mouths and eyes I see, onall sides I see an unlimited form with no end, no middle nor again Yourbeginning, oh Lord of the Universe, oh Universal Form. (17) With crowns, maces and discs and aneffulgence on all sides I have difficulty seeing You glowing everywhereas the immeasurable blazing fire of the radiating sun. (18) You are to be understood as the InfallibleSupreme of this universe, You are the basis of the beyond, You are theinexhaustible maintainer of all religion and the eternal OriginalPersonality You are - that is what I think. (19)Without a beginning, middle or end, of unlimited glories, withcountless arms and with the sun and moon for eyes, I see that by Yourradiance out of Your mouth a blazing fire comes that heats thisuniverse. (20) For sure all that is between heaven andearth is pervaded by You alone and by seeing all this of Your wonderfulform in all directions, the three worlds are trembling, oh Great Soul. (21) The host of theists for certain enter Youwhile some of them out of fear are offering prayers with folded hands.The great sages in that exclaim 'all Hail' and the perfected groupwisepray to You by singing hymns. (22)The terrifying ones (Rudras), the godly (Âdityas), the rulers ofthe elements (Vasus), all those and the refined (Sâdhyas), thevirtuous (Vis'vadevas), the elderly (of the As'vins), the flashing ones(Maruts), the forefathers and the celestial beings (Gandharvas); thespirits (Yakshas), atheists (Asuras) and the whole gathering ofperfected devotees (Siddhas) are certainly beholding You all in awe andwonder. (23) Seeing this unimaginably great form of Youwith its many faces and eyes, oh mighty armed one; its many arms,thighsand legs; its many bellies and many dreadful teeth, all the worlds areperturbed, just as I am. (24)Seeing this way You touching the sky glowing with many colors, openmouths and wide open shining eyes, I am unsettled within and unable tokeep my composure and peace of mind, oh Vishnu. (25) Seeing thus Your terrifying teeth and faceslike the fire at the end of time, I lose my sense of direction and findmyself nailed to the ground; oh Lord of Lords, refuge of the worlds,have mercy! (26-27) In this ofYou I also see Dhritarâshthra with all his sons and the scores ofwarrior kings and Bhîshmadeva, Dronâcârya and Karnatogether with also our chief warriors rushing into Your mouth wheresome of them I see with crushed skulls caught between the frightening,dreadful teeth. (28) As themultitude of streams that inevitably glide towards the waves of thesea, similarly all these human heroes of this world enter into themouths fiery. (29) As mothsheading full speed for destruction into a blazing fire, the same wayall people also full speed enter your mouths to find destruction. (30) Licking, You devour the people from alldirections with Your flaming mouths covering the universe with all theterribly scorching rays of Your effulgence, oh Vishnu. (31) Please explain me who You, in this fearsomeform, are. I offer You, oh great God, my obeisances, be so good to me;Iwish to know the original of You as I surely do not comprehend Yourmission.'

(32)The Supreme Lord said: 'TimeIam the great destroyer of the worlds engaged here in destroying allpeople, except for you [brothers] only, all the soldiers who aresituated on both sides, will find their end. (33) Therefore you must get up and gain fame conquering theenemies and enjoy the kingdom flourishing by Me; for sure all thesewere destined to be killed, be merely the instrument of that, ohleft-handed one. (34) Drona,Bhîshma and Jayadratha, Karna and others - these great warriorssurely have been killed by Me already; destroy and do not worry, justfight and so doing you will conquer your enemies.' '

(35)Sañjaya said: 'Thus hearing thespeech of Kes'ava, with folded hands and trembling, the crowned one[Arjuna] offered prayers again and spoke to Krishna with a falteringvoice bowing before Him. (36)Arjuna said: 'Rightly, oh master of the senses, by Your glories theentire world rejoices and gets attached: the demoniac out of fear fleein all directions, while the chores of the perfected offer theirrespects. (37) And why should they not respect You, ohgreatSoul better than Brahmâ, isn't it because as the OriginalCreator, oh unlimited God of gods and refuge of the universe, You areimperishable and transcendental to cause and effect? (38) You are the original God and person, theoldest of this universe, the transcendental refuge and the knower; Youare the knowable, the beyond and the abode, by You the universe ispervaded oh infinite form! (39)You are the controller of the air, the fire, the water and the moon,You are the Brahmâ and the great grandfather, again and again Ioffer You my respects; a thousand times over and over I offer You Myobeisances. (40) Heil to the front and to the back of You,unto You I offer my respects indeed from all sides because You areeverything, the infinite power and the boundless might; everything iscovered by You and therefore You are everything. (41-42) Presumptuously thinking as a friend I said:'Oh Krishna, oh Yâdava [descendant from the Yadu-dynasty], oh dear friend' and so; nor of myfoolishness nor of mylove, did I know of these glories of You. For whatever I also saidjoking dishonoring You, relaxing, lying down and sitting, while eatingtogether and being alone with You, oh Infallible One, as also in thecompany of others, I ask forgiveness, oh Immeasurable One. (43) The father You are of all the worlds movingand nonmoving, of all this You are the venerable one and the teacher,never there is anyoneequally glorious to You; how can others begreater than You in the three worlds, oh Incomparable Power? (44) Therefore prostrating my body, I pay You whoI know as the venerable Supreme One my respect to beg Your mercy andtolerate me like a father should with his son, like a friend shouldwith a friend and a lover should with his dearmost, my Lord. (45) I am glad to have seen what was never seenbefore, but my mind is also unsettled; be so gracious to show me Yourform [again] oh God, Lord of Lords and refuge of the universe. (46) I wish to see You in the position withhelmet, club and disc in Your hand; just take the four-handed form[also holding the conch and lotus], oh thousand-handed One, ohUniversalForm.'

(47) The SupremeLord said: 'From My grace foryou Arjuna, this transcendental form of the oneness of My Self wasshown; besides you no one saw this unlimited original form of Me, ofthe full effulgence of the entire universe, before. (48) Oh best of the Kuru-warriors, in thismaterial world in this form no other than you could see this nor byVedic sacrifice or study nor by charity and pious deeds or severepenances. (49) Don't be troubled, don't be bewilderedseeing this horrible form, just see My form without fear and thus witha happy mind again as It is'.'

(50)Sañjaya said: 'Vâsudevaspeaking that way of His own form showed Himself once more [as fourarmed] and became the great soul of His own beautiful [two armed] formagain reassuring thus the fearful Arjuna. (51)Arjuna said: 'Seeing this very beautiful human form of You, ohchastiserof the enemies, I am now composed in mind and myself again.'

(52) The SupremeLord said: 'This form of Mine asyou have seen it is very difficult to see, even the demigods eternallyaspire to see this form. (53)Never can I [as said] be seen by studying the Vedas, penances, bycharity or worship, the way you saw Me. (54)Only through devotional servicefree from ulterior motives it is possible to know and see Me like thisArjuna, and factually get access, oh mighty armed one. (55) The one who is engaged in working for Me,with Me as the Supreme, in my devotional service free frommaterialistic association and enmity among the living beings, reachesMe, oh son of Pându.'