Bhagavad Gita 11.15
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 15 of 55 · Arjuna's Journey
अर्जुन उवाच | पश्यामि देवांस्तव देव देहे सर्वांस्तथा भूतविशेषसङ्घान् | ब्रह्माणमीशं कमलासनस्थम् ऋषींश्च सर्वानुरगांश्च दिव्यान् ||१५||
arjuna uvāca | paśyāmi devāṃs tava deva dehe sarvāṃs tathā bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān | brahmāṇam īśaṃ kamalāsana-stham ṛṣīṃś ca sarvān uragāṃś ca divyān || 15 ||
I see all the Gods within Your body, O God — Brahma on His lotus, all sages, all divine serpents!
Word by word (3)
- paśyāmi devān tava deva dehe sarvān tathā bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān
- — I SEE all the Gods within Your body, O God — and all hosts of every grade of being · arjuna uvāca = Arjuna said (SPEAKER SHIFT from Sanjaya narrating to Arjuna speaking directly — begins the Arjuna-response block V15-V31). paśyāmi = I SEE (first person singular present of √paś = to see; paśyāmi = 'I see, I am seeing right now' — the present tense marks the ongoing vision; contrast with V11.13's apaśyat = 'he saw' [past] — now Arjuna speaks directly in present tense about what he is seeing). This paśyāmi answers the entire series of paśya imperatives (V11.5, V11.6, V11.7, V11.8): the divine said BEHOLD! (paśya = you see!); Arjuna responds I SEE! (paśyāmi = I see!). devān = the Gods (accusative plural — all the divine beings). tava = Your (genitive of tvaṃ). deva = O God (vocative — addressing the divine directly in second person = the shift from Sanjaya's third-person narration to Arjuna's first-person address). dehe = in the body (locative — 'within Your body'). sarvān = all (accusative — all of them). tathā = and also, likewise. bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān = hosts of all grades of beings (bhūta = being; viśeṣa = specific grade, kind; saṃgha = host, assembly, group; bhūta-viśeṣa-saṃghān = 'assembled hosts of all kinds of beings' — not just the divine beings but all grades of existence). V11.15 opens Arjuna's report of what he sees — beginning with the highest (all the Gods) and expanding outward.
- brahmāṇam īśam kamalāsana-stham ṛṣīn ca sarvān uragān ca divyān
- — Brahma the Lord seated on His lotus-throne, and all the sages, and all the divine serpents · brahmāṇam = Brahma the creator (accusative of Brahmā = the four-faced creator-god, the first and highest entity within the creation; in the divine trinity: Brahmā creates, Viṣṇu sustains, Śiva dissolves). īśam = the Lord (accusative of Īśa = 'the ruler, the one who rules'; here as an epithet of Brahmā — Brahmā Īśa = Brahmā the Lord). kamalāsana-stham = seated on the lotus-throne (kamala = lotus; āsana = seat/throne; stha = situated; kamalāsana-stham = 'seated on the lotus-seat' — Brahmā's iconographic attribute: he sits on a lotus that grows from Viṣṇu's navel, itself arising from the cosmic ocean; here: Brahmā is visible within the cosmic form of Krishna, seated on his characteristic lotus throne). ṛṣīn = sages (accusative plural of ṛṣi = seer, sage — the great sages of Vedic tradition). sarvān = all. uragān = serpents (ura = breast + ga = going = 'breast-goers' = the Sanskrit poetic compound for serpents). divyān = divine (accusative plural — the divine serpents = beings like Ananta/Śeṣa and Vāsuki, V10.28-V10.29's vibhūtis). V11.15's three specific sightings within the cosmic form: (1) Brahmā on his lotus = the highest created being; (2) all the ṛṣis = the entire lineage of spiritual knowledge; (3) divine serpents = the cosmic support and transformation powers. From the highest created being (Brahmā) to the supporting powers (serpents) — ALL within the one divine body.
- [paśyāmi — the fulfillment of the paśya-series]
- — V11.15's paśyāmi answers V11.5-V11.8's paśya imperatives · V11.5 (divine to Arjuna): paśya (BEHOLD! — imperative). V11.6: paśya...paśya (BEHOLD...BEHOLD! — double imperative). V11.7: [implied paśya]. V11.8: paśya me yogam aiśvaram (BEHOLD My Aiśvara power). V11.15 (Arjuna to divine): paśyāmi (I SEE). The entire paśya-series (V11.5-V11.8) = the divine issuing the vision command. V11.15's paśyāmi = Arjuna's confirmation that the command was successful: I am SEE-ing. The grammar does the theological work: the divine's paśya (you behold!) → Arjuna's paśyāmi (I am beholding) = the vision circuit closed. Teacher invited; student received. The circuit of divine-human communication about seeing the divine: completed in the shift from 2nd-person imperative (paśya = you see!) to 1st-person present (paśyāmi = I see!).
I see all the gods within Your body, O God, and all the hosts of every kind of being — Brahmā the Lord seated on his lotus, all the sages, and all the divine serpents.
A modern analogy
This verse's 'I see all the Gods within Your body' (paśyāmi) parallels the experience of suddenly seeing how all the diverse elements of a complex system are unified. The moment when you're studying a complex field and suddenly see how everything fits together — not just intellectually but in a flash of unified understanding: the entire field visible as one coherent whole. Arjuna's 'I see' is that flash of unified seeing, but at the scale of all existence.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's 'I see' (paśyāmi) is not claiming that Arjuna has become enlightened or that the vision is now permanent. The divine eye (divyaṃ cakṣuḥ) was granted temporarily for this vision — and when it is later withdrawn, as the Great Soul shows his gentle form again and Arjuna returns composed to his own nature, Arjuna will return to his ordinary state. So 'I see' is present-tense vision within the active duration of the divine eye. The vision is real AND it is temporary — both simultaneously. The teaching's value is not in the permanence of the vision but in the transformation it creates (which becomes permanent).
Take with you
- This verse's 'I see' (paśyāmi) is the student's confirmation: the teacher says 'behold!' (paśya); the student confirms 'I see!' (paśyāmi). This exchange is the model for all teaching: the teacher's invitation plus the student's active confirmation of reception. The practice: in learning, don't just passively receive — actively confirm what you've received by articulating it back. 'I see this — here is what I see.' The articulation completes the learning circuit.
- This verse's image of Brahmā on his lotus teaches hierarchy-within-unity: even the highest created being (Brahmā the Creator) is visible WITHIN the divine's body. The cosmic form contains all hierarchies within it. It teaches: there is no being so high that it falls outside the divine's containing reality. Whatever hierarchy you inhabit — professional, social, spiritual — it is wholly contained within the One.
- This verse opens with Arjuna speaking, and that shift models how to speak from vision: Arjuna speaks only AFTER he has seen — first the vision of the whole universe in God's body, then his overwhelmed bodily response of bowing with joined palms, and only then this speech. The speech arises FROM the vision. The practice: before speaking in any important situation, first establish genuine contact with what you have seen, experienced, or know. Let the speech arise from vision rather than from concept. This is the sequence: vision first, speech second.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
I see all the Devas, O Deva, in Thy body, and hosts of all grades of beings; Brahma, the Lord, seated on the lotus, and all the Rishis and celestial serpents. [4]
I behold, O God of gods, within thy frame all beings and things of every kind; the Lord Brahma on his lotus throne, all the Rishees and the heavenly Serpents. [6]
Of Brahma, sitting lone / Upon His lotus-throne; / Of saints and sages, and the serpent races / Ananta, Vasuki [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Behold, O son of Pṛthā, My forms by hundreds and thousands — divine, of varied colors and shapes!
He cannot stand. His mind spins. He sees only bad signs ahead.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
For the protection of the good, destruction of wickedness, establishment of dharma — I come, age after age.
Verse 15 of 55 · back to Chapter 11