Bhagavad Gita 11.5
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 5 of 55
श्रीभगवानुवाच | पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः | नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च ||५||
śrī bhagavān uvāca | paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ | nānā-vidhāni divyāni nānā-varṇākṛtīni ca || 5 ||
Behold, O son of Pṛthā, My forms by hundreds and thousands — divine, of varied colors and shapes!
Word by word (3)
- paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi śataśaḥ atha sahasraśaḥ
- — BEHOLD, O son of Pṛthā, My forms — by hundreds, and by thousands! · paśya = BEHOLD (second person imperative of √paś = to see; paśya = 'see! look! behold!' — a direct imperative, the divine's first word in response to Arjuna's draṣṭum icchāmi; the symmetry: Arjuna said draṣṭum icchāmi (I desire to see); the divine's response is the imperative paśya (SEE!). me = My (genitive). pārtha = O son of Pṛthā (pārtha = 'son of Pṛthā'; Pṛthā = Arjuna's mother Kuntī's original name; pārtha = 'son of Pṛthā' = a common address for Arjuna, noting his maternal lineage). rūpāṇi = forms (plural of rūpa = form, shape, appearance; rūpāṇi = 'the many forms'). śataśaḥ = by hundreds (śata = hundred; śataśaḥ = 'by hundreds, in hundreds'). atha = and then (discourse connector). sahasraśaḥ = by thousands (sahasra = thousand; sahasraśaḥ = 'by thousands, in thousands'). 'Behold My forms — by hundreds and thousands.' The divine's first word of response: paśya (SEE) — answering Arjuna's draṣṭum icchāmi (I desire to see) with the divine imperative. Arjuna asked; the divine grants — and the granting begins with the commanding imperative: BEHOLD. The scale declared immediately: śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ = hundreds upon thousands of forms. Not a single form, not a simplified vision — the divine's first word declares the vision to be of overwhelming multiplicity.
- nānā-vidhāni divyāni nānā-varṇa-ākṛtīni ca
- — Of various kinds, divine, of various colors and shapes · nānā-vidhāni = of various kinds/types (nānā = various, many different; vidhāni = kinds, types — from vidha = kind, type; nānā-vidhāni = 'of many different kinds'). divyāni = divine (divya = 'of the divine, celestial, heavenly' — from divi = in the sky; divyāni = 'divine ones, celestial ones'). nānā-varṇa = of various colors (nānā = various; varṇa = color; nānā-varṇa = 'of various colors'). ākṛtīni = shapes, forms (ākṛti = 'shape, form, appearance' — from ā + kṛ = to make; ākṛti = 'what has been made, the formed shape'). ca = and. 'Of various kinds, divine, of various colors and shapes.' V11.5 describes the first attribute of the cosmic form: nānāvidhāni (various kinds) + divyāni (divine/celestial) + nānāvarṇākṛtīni (various colors and shapes). The vision will be a reality of overwhelming DIVERSITY within the ONE divine form — many colors, many shapes, many kinds, all divine. This is the opposite of what monotheistic theology might expect: the divine's cosmic form is not simple unity but a unity CONTAINING infinite diversity. The Viśvarūpa (universal form) = all diversity held within one form.
- [chapter-pivot note]
- — V11.5 as the opening word of the cosmic vision — the grant begins · V11.5 marks the most significant speaker-shift in the Gita: from Arjuna's four-verse request (V11.1-V11.4) to Krishna's grant of the vision. The divine's first word is paśya (SEE!) — a response that exactly mirrors and fulfills Arjuna's draṣṭum icchāmi (I desire to see). The divine's response to the sincere and appropriately humble request: immediate, joyful, generous — BEHOLD. V11.5 begins Krishna's V11.5-V11.8 speech (four verses) that: (1) declares the scale of the vision (V11.5), (2) specifies what will be seen (V11.6 — gods, wonders never seen before), (3) grants the vision (V11.7 — see the entire universe here in My body), (4) explains the means (V11.8 — I give you divine eye). V11.5's paśya opens the entire sequence that will produce the most dramatic scene in the Gita: the Viśvarūpa.
Behold, O son of Pṛthā, My forms by the hundreds and thousands — of many kinds, divine, of many colours and shapes.
A modern analogy
This verse's one form containing hundreds of thousands of diverse expressions parallels the holographic universe concept: a hologram contains the entire image encoded at every point, but when different regions of the hologram are illuminated, different aspects of the image appear. The divine's Viśvarūpa is one holographic reality in which the entire universe — all its diversity of forms, colors, and kinds — is simultaneously present and visible. Arjuna will see ALL of it at once, not one at a time.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's rūpāṇi śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ (forms by hundreds and thousands) is not saying the divine has many separate forms that alternate or replace each other. The Viśvarūpa (universal/cosmic form) = ONE form that CONTAINS hundreds of thousands of specific expressions simultaneously. Think of it not as 'many different forms taking turns' but as 'one all-encompassing form that simultaneously IS all forms.' The nānāvidhāni (various kinds) and nānāvarṇākṛtīni (various colors and shapes) are within one cosmic form, not sequential presentations.
Take with you
- This verse's paśya (BEHOLD!) as a practice of radical attention: the divine's response to Arjuna's request is not an explanation but a direct imperative — SEE. The teaching at the highest level doesn't explain; it directs attention. Practice it: once a day, apply the full weight of your attention to something ordinarily overlooked — a plant, a pattern in light, a person's face — with the intention: paśya (BEHOLD, not merely see). What appears when you shift from habitual-seeing to beholding?
- This verse's nānāvidhāni divyāni (divine in all their variety) as a diversity-recognition: the divine's form contains all colors, all shapes, all kinds. The teaching here: genuine divinity encompasses ALL variety, not just the peaceful, the beautiful, the comfortable. The cosmic form (as this chapter will reveal) includes the terrifying, the consuming, and the overwhelming. The diversity-recognition practice: where in your life are you limiting your recognition of the divine to only the pleasant or comfortable manifestations?
- This verse as the chapter-pivot marker: with this command to behold, the Gita shifts from discourse to vision, from words to direct experience. The practice: in your own learning, notice when a teacher shifts from explanation to demonstration — 'stop listening and START SEEING.' The shift from verbal-mode to visual-mode is exactly this moment of beholding in an educational context.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Behold, O son of Pritha, by hundreds and thousands, My different forms celestial, of various colours and shapes. [4]
Behold, O son of Pritha, my forms by hundreds and by thousands, of diverse kinds divine, of many shapes and fashions. [6]
Gaze, then, thou Son of Pritha! I manifest for thee / Those hundred thousand thousand shapes that clothe my Mystery: / I show thee all my semblances, infinite, rich, divine, / My changeful hues, my countless forms. [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Your words are true as declared; yet I yearn to behold Your Īśvara-form — the Cosmic Ruler in all power.
Your natural eyes cannot see Me — I give you the divine eye; behold My supreme Yoga-power.
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 5 of 55 · back to Chapter 11