Bhagavad Gita 11.45
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 45 of 55 · Arjuna's Journey
अदृष्टपूर्वं हृषितोऽस्मि दृष्ट्वा भयेन च प्रव्यथितं मनो मे। तदेव मे दर्शय देव रूपं प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास ॥
adṛṣṭapūrvaṃ hṛṣito'smi dṛṣṭvā bhayena ca pravyathitaṃ mano me| tadeva me darśaya deva rūpaṃ prasīda deveśa jagannivāsa ||
Overjoyed at the unprecedented, yet trembling with fear — show me that form again, O deveśa jagan-nivāsa!
Word by word (3)
- adṛṣṭapūrvaṃ hṛṣito'smi dṛṣṭvā / bhayena ca pravyathitaṃ mano me
- — I am overjoyed having seen the unprecedented — yet by fear my mind is also deeply troubled · Adṛṣṭapūrvam = the unprecedented (adṛṣṭa = unseen; pūrva = before/previously; adṛṣṭapūrva = what was never seen before = unprecedented). Hṛṣitaḥ asmi = I am gladdened/overjoyed (hṛṣita = delighted, thrilled; from √hṛṣ = to be delighted; hṛṣita-aṃga = one whose body is thrilled with joy; hṛṣīkeśa = also from same root = one with bristling sense-powers). Dṛṣṭvā = having seen (gerund of √dṛś). Bhayena ca = and by fear. Pravyathitam = deeply troubled/agitated (pra + vyathita = greatly disturbed; the same prefix-root as V11.23's pravyathitāḥ lokāḥ). Mano me = my mind. The verse holds two simultaneous states: hṛṣita (overjoyed) + pravyathita (terror-agitated). The cosmic vision cannot be contained in a single emotion — it exceeds both positive and negative categories. This is Rudolf Otto's 'numinous' experience = mysterium tremendum et fascinans: simultaneously fascinating (hṛṣita) AND terrifying (pravyathita).
- tad eva me darśaya deva rūpam
- — Show me that very (other) form of Yours, O God · Tad eva = that very (tat = that; eva = precisely, exactly — emphatic: THAT one specifically, not the cosmic form). Darśaya = please show (causative imperative of √dṛś = to show, reveal). Rūpam = form. The 'tat' refers to the four-armed Viṣṇu form — Krishna's 'normal' divine form with conch, disc, mace, lotus. After the cosmic form (viśva-rūpa), Arjuna asks for the gentler saumya-rūpa (gentle form) — V46 will specify this as the four-armed form. Note: Arjuna is not asking for the human form yet — he asks for the four-armed divine form first (V45), and then in V49 for the human form. Three forms in descending intensity: cosmic (viśva-rūpa) → four-armed (catur-bāhu) → human (dvibāhu mānuṣam).
- prasīda deveśa jagan-nivāsa
- — Be gracious, O Lord of Gods, O Abode of the Universe! · Prasīda = be gracious, be at peace/propitious (pra + √sad = to become clear/settled/gracious; prasīda = become serene/favorable toward me). Deveśa = O Lord of Gods (same epithet as V11.25, V11.37, V11.45 — now occurring for the fourth time: first in terror-petition V25, then in praise V37, now in recovery-petition V45). Jagan-nivāsa = O Abode of the Universe (same as V11.25, V11.37, V11.40 — fourth occurrence). The triple-fourth repetition of prasīda-deveśa-jagan-nivāsa creates a liturgical resonance: these three words have been Arjuna's go-to invocation throughout Ch.11. Their return in V45 signals: we are near the end of the cosmic vision; this prasīda will be answered.
Having seen what was never seen before, I am thrilled — and yet my mind trembles with fear. Show me, O God, that very form of Yours; have mercy, Lord of gods, Abode of the universe.
A modern analogy
Like someone who has just had a transformative but overwhelming experience — a near-death vision, a breakthrough in deep meditation — who says: 'I'm grateful for what I just saw, and it was extraordinary. But I need to come back to something I can hold onto. Show me the familiar face again.'
Sit with this: This moment holds joy and terror simultaneously — Arjuna is overjoyed at what no one has ever seen, yet trembling with fear. Rudolf Otto called this the 'numinous' — the sacred that is both fascinating and terrifying at once. Have you ever experienced something so vast and real that it filled you with both wonder and fear at the same time? What did you do with that feeling?
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
I am delighted, having seen what was unseen before; and (yet) my mind is confounded with fear. Show me that form only, O God; have mercy, O God of Gods, O Abode of the Universe. [1]
Overjoyed am I to have seen what I saw never before; yet my mind is distracted with terror. Show me, O Deva, only that Form of Thine. Have mercy, O Lord of Devas, O Abode of the universe. [4]
Good is it I did see This unknown marvel of Thy Form! But fear Mingles with joy! Retake, Dear Lord! for pity's sake Thine earthly shape, which earthly eyes may bear! Be merciful, and show The visage that I know... [7]
I am gladdened at having seen what I had never seen before, yet my mind trembles with fear. Show me, O Deva, that other form of Thine. Be merciful, O Lord of Gods, O Abode of the universe. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Tusked mouths blazing like fires of Time — losing all direction, all peace; be gracious, O Deveśa, O World's Abode!
Many mouths, eyes, arms, bellies, terrible tusks — Your vast form terrifies the worlds; I too tremble!
Crowned, mace-bearing, disc-in-hand — show me again that four-armed form, O Thousand-Armed, O Universal Form!
Peaceful, fearless, vowed to brahmacharya, mind on Krishna — yoked in practice, with the Supreme as the final goal.
More daivī qualities: ahiṃsā, satya, akrodha, tyāga, śānti, apaiśuna, dayā, aloluptva, mārdava, hrī, acāpala.
He who neither troubles the world nor is troubled by it — free from joy, envy, fear, anxiety — he is dear to Me!
Verse 45 of 55 · back to Chapter 11