🪷 Bhagavad-Gītā · 11.16
Chapter 11 · विश्वरूपदर्शनयोग · Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga · "The Yoga of the Universal-Form Vision" · Verse 16 of 55
🪷 English Translations
Five authentic English voices · each from a distinct sampradāya · together revealing the verse's full śabda-tattva.
Shri Purohit Swami · Poetic English · 1935 · public domain · Cosmo Press tradition
11.16 I see Thee, infinite in form, with, as it were, faces, eyes and limbs everywhere; no beginning, no middle, no end; O Thou Lord of the Universe, Whose Form is universal!
Swami Sivananda · Direct prose · Divine Life Society
11.16 I see Thee of boundless form on every side with many arms, stomachs, mouths and eyes: neither the end nor the middle nor also the beginning do I see, O Lord of the universe, O Cosmic Form.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Word-key glosses · Advaita Ashrama · Śaṅkara-school
11.16 Pasyami, I see; tvam, You; aneka-bahu-udara-vaktra-netram, as possessed of numerous arms, bellies, mouths and eyes; ananta-rupam, having infinite forms; sarvatah, all around. Visveswara, O Lord of the Universe; visva-rupa, O Cosmic Person; na pasyami, I see not; ['I do not see-because of Your all-pervasiveness.'] tava, Your; antam, end; na madhyam, nor the middle-what lies between two extremities; na punah, nor again; the adim, beginning-I see not the limit (end) nor the middle, nor again the beginning, of You who are God!
Furthermore,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Śrī-Vaiṣṇava perspective · Rāmānuja school
11.16 I behold Your infinite form on all sides with many arms, stomachs, mouths and eyes. O Lord of the universe, namely, the controller of the universe, O Universal Form having the universe as Your body! As You are infinite, therefore, I see no end, no middle and no beginning for You.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Academic precision · modern scholarly
11.16. I behold You of many arms, bellies, mouths and eyes and of infinite forms on all sides; of You, I find neither the end, nor the centre, nor the beginnng too, O Lord of the universe, O Universal-formed One !
🪷 English Commentaries · The Ācārya Voices
The classical commentary tradition rendered in English · each ācārya speaks from their own sampradāya · the seer chooses the depth of darśana.
Swami Sivananda · Verse-by-verse word-keys with Sanskrit anchors
11.16 अनेकबाहूदरवक्त्रनेत्रम् with manifold arms? stomachs? mouths and eyes? पश्यामि (I) see? त्वाम् Thee? सर्वतः on every side? अनन्तरूपम् of boundless form? न not? अनत्म् end? न not? मध्यम् middle? न not? पुनः,again? तव Thy? आदिम् origin? पश्यामि (I) see? विश्वेश्वर O Lord of the universe? विश्वरूप O Cosmic Form.Commentary A thing that is limited by space and time has a begining? a middle and an end? but the Lord is omnipresent and eternal. He exists in the three periods of time -- past? present and future? but is not limited by time and space. Therefore He has neither a beginning nor middle nor end.Arjuna could have this divine vision only with the help of the divine eye bestowed upon him by the Lord. He who has supreme devotion to the Lord and on whom the Lord showers His grace can enjoy this wondrous vision.
Swami Gambīrānanda · Advaita-school commentary (Śaṅkara tradition)
11.16 Pasyami, I see; tvam, You; aneka-bahu-udara-vaktra-netram, as possessed of numerous arms, bellies, mouths and eyes; ananta-rupam, having infinite forms; sarvatah, all around. Visveswara, O Lord of the Universe; visva-rupa, O Cosmic Person; na pasyami, I see not; ['I do not see-because of Your all-pervasiveness.'] tava, Your; antam, end; na madhyam, nor the middle-what lies between two extremities; na punah, nor again; the adim, beginning-I see not the limit (end) nor the middle, nor again the beginning, of You who are God!
Furthermore,
Swami Ādidevānanda · Rāmānuja Śrī-Vaiṣṇava commentary
11.16 I behold Your infinite form on all sides with many arms, stomachs, mouths and eyes. O Lord of the universe, namely, the controller of the universe, O Universal Form having the universe as Your body! As You are infinite, therefore, I see no end, no middle and no beginning for You.
Dr. S. Sankaranarayan · Modern academic scholarship
11.16 Sri Abhinavagupta did not comment upon this sloka.
Swami Chinmayānanda · Chinmaya Mission · modern Vedantic teaching
।।11.16।। विश्वरूप के अनन्त वैभव को एक ही दृष्टिक्षेप में देख पाने के लिए मानव की परिच्छिन्न बुद्धि उपयुक्त साधन नहीं है। इस रूप के परिमाण की विशालता और उसके गूढ़ अभिप्राय से ही मनुष्य की? बुद्धि निश्चय ही? लड़खड़ाकर रह जाती है। भगवान् ही वह एकमेव सत्य तत्त्व हैं जो सभी प्राणियों की कर्मेन्द्रियों के पीछे चैतन्य रूप से विद्यमान हैं। अर्जुन इसे इन शब्दों में सूचित करता है कि मैं आपको अनेक बाहु? उदर? मुख और नेत्रों से युक्त सर्वत्र अनन्तरूप में देखता हूँ। इसे सत्य का व्यंग्यचित्र नहीं समझ लेना चाहिये। सावधानी की सूचना उन शीघ्रता में काम आने वाले चित्रकारों के लिए आवश्यक है? जो इस विषयवस्तु से स्फूर्ति और प्रेरणा पाकर इस विराट् रूप को अपने रंगों और तूलिका के द्वारा चित्रित करना चाहते हैं और अपने प्रयत्न में अत्यन्त दयनीय रूप से असफल होते हैं।विश्व की एकता कोई दृष्टिगोचर वस्तु नहीं है यह साक्षात्कार के योग्य एक सत्य तथ्य है। इस तथ्य की पुष्टि अर्जुन के इन शब्दों से होती है कि मैं न आपके अन्त को देखता हूँ? और न मध्य को और न आदि को। विराट् पुरुष का वर्णन इससे और अधिक अच्छे प्रकार से नहीं किया जा सकता था।उपर्युक्त ये श्लोक सभी परिच्छिन्न वस्तुओं के और मरणशील प्राणियों में सूत्र रूप से व्याप्त उस एकत्व का दर्शन कराते हैं? जिसने उन्हें इस विश्वरूपी माला के रूप मे धारण किया हुआ हैअर्जुन आगे कहता है
🪷 Place in the Bhagavad-Gītā
- This is verse 16 of 55 in Chapter 11 · Viśvarūpa-Darśana-Yoga (The Yoga of the Universal-Form Vision)
- Chapter theme: Krishna reveals His universal-form · BG 11.5 paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi
- Ṣaṭka grouping: TAT-Ṣaṭka (BG 7-12 · the Lord)
- Chapter hub: /visvarupa-kala
🪷 ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय 🪷
सर्वम् कृष्णार्पणम् — this verse is one maṇi (jewel) on Krishna's thread (BG 7.7)