Bhagavad Gita 11.52
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 52 of 55
सुदुर्दर्शमिदं रूपं दृष्टवानसि यन्मम। देवा अप्यस्य रूपस्य नित्यं दर्शनकाङ्क्षिणः ॥
sudurdarśamidaṃ rūpaṃ dṛṣṭavānasi yanmama| devā apyasya rūpasya nityaṃ darśanakāṅkṣiṇaḥ ||
This form of Mine is very hard to behold — even the gods are always longing to see it; and you have seen it!
Word by word (3)
- sudurdarśam idaṃ rūpaṃ dṛṣṭavān asi yan mama
- — Very hard to behold is this form of Mine which you have seen · Sudurdarśam = very difficult to behold (su + dur + darśa = very + hard + to see; the su- prefix intensifies the difficulty: not merely durdarśa but SU-durdarśa = extremely difficult). The word marks Arjuna's unique experience: not merely unusual but extraordinarily rare. Dṛṣṭavān asi = you are one who has seen (dṛṣṭavān = one who has seen, past active participle of √dṛś; asi = are; dṛṣṭavān asi = you-who-have-seen = you have indeed seen). Yan mama = which of Mine (relative pronoun + genitive). The verse closes the bracket opened by V8's 'divyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ' (I give you divine eye): the granting of divine sight (V8) → the vision (V9-V50) → the confirmation of its rarity (V52). The full arc = V8-V52.
- devā apy asya rūpasya nityaṃ darśana-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ
- — Even the gods are always longing for the sight of this form · Devāḥ api = even the gods (deva = shining beings/gods; api = even). Asya rūpasya = of this form (genitive). Nityam = always, perpetually, ever (from nitya = eternal, constant). Darśana-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ = ones desiring the vision (darśana = sight, vision; kāṅkṣin = desirous, longing for; compound = vision-desiring). The gods always long for this — yet Arjuna has just seen it. This is the verse's stunning reversal: the being who was 'merely' a warrior, who had to be taught from despair by his charioteer (Ch.1-2), has just had an experience that the gods — the highest beings in the divine hierarchy — perpetually desire and never receive. The logic: precisely BECAUSE Arjuna was in a relationship of love (prasāda) with Krishna, he received what the gods with their formal worship never do.
- nityaṃ darśana-kāṅkṣiṇaḥ
- — always longing for the vision · Nityam (always/eternally) + kāṅkṣiṇaḥ (longing/desiring) creates the image of the gods as perpetual aspirants to what Arjuna just received. The word kāṅkṣā = deep desire, longing, aspiration. The gods' nityaṃ kāṅkṣā (eternal longing) vs. Arjuna's completed dṛṣṭavān (you-have-seen) = the contrast between longing and having. This is bhakti's teaching: formal ritual worship (the gods' mode) produces eternal longing; intimate personal relationship with the divine (Arjuna's mode) produces the actual vision. The gods worship from distance; Arjuna traveled with Krishna as a friend. Distance produces desire; closeness produces gift.
This form of Mine that you have seen is very hard to behold; even the gods forever long for the sight of it.
A modern analogy
Like being told by a great teacher: 'What just happened between us — most scholars spend their entire careers seeking it and never arrive. You've had it. Do you understand what you've been given?'
Sit with this: This form is so hard to behold that even the gods perpetually long to see what Arjuna just received. If the divine reveals itself through intimate love-relationship rather than through formal worship, what does that say about how you're approaching the sacred in your own life?
Public-domain translations (4) compare all →
Very hard to see is this Form of Mine which thou hast seen; even the Gods are ever longing for a sight of this Form. [1]
Very hard indeed it is to see this Form of Mine which thou hast seen. Even the Devas ever long to behold this Form. [4]
Yea! it was wonderful and terrible To view me as thou didst, dear Prince! The gods Dread and desire continually to view! [7]
Very hard is it to behold this form of mine which thou hast seen. Even the gods are always desirous of beholding this form of mine. [13]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
Through My own yogic power I showed you this radiant, infinite, primeval cosmic form — which no one else has ever seen!
Not by Vedas, sacrifice, gifts, rituals, or harsh austerities can this form be seen in human worlds — only by you!
The trouble of those whose minds cling to the Unmanifest is GREATER — that viewless path is very hard for the embodied!
Do the work rooted in yoga, unattached. Equanimity in success and failure — that IS yoga.
Arjuna asks: what does the truly wise person look like? How do they speak, sit, and move?
Steady wisdom begins here: when all desires fall away and the Self finds fullness in itself alone.
Verse 52 of 55 · back to Chapter 11