Bhagavad Gita 11.8
Spoken by Krishna · Verse 8 of 55
न तु मां शक्यसे द्रष्टुमनेनैव स्वचक्षुषा | दिव्यं ददामि ते चक्षुः पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् ||८||
na tu māṃ śakyase draṣṭum anenaiva sva-cakṣuṣā | divyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ paśya me yogam aiśvaram || 8 ||
Your natural eyes cannot see Me — I give you the divine eye; behold My supreme Yoga-power.
Word by word (3)
- na tu māṃ śakyase draṣṭum anena eva sva-cakṣuṣā
- — But you are not able to see Me with these natural eyes of yours · na = not. tu = but (contrastive — 'but, however'; the tu marks a qualification: I have shown/promised the vision [V11.5-V11.7], BUT there is a condition). māṃ = Me (accusative of aham — 'Me in the cosmic form'). śakyase = you are able (second person singular of √śak = to be capable; śakyase = 'you are capable of, you are able to'). draṣṭum = to see (infinitive of √dṛś = to see). anena = with this (instrumental of enat = this; anena = 'with this [capacity]'). eva = indeed (emphatic). sva-cakṣuṣā = with your own eye/natural eyes (sva = own, self; cakṣus = eye, sight — from √cakṣ = to see; sva-cakṣuṣā = 'with your own natural eyes, with your natural visual capacity'). V11.8 validates V11.4's manyase yadi (if you think me capable) — Arjuna's epistemic humility was correct: natural human visual capacity (sva-cakṣuṣā) CANNOT perceive the cosmic form. The vision requires something beyond natural human perception. This is not a limitation of Arjuna specifically — no human natural eye can perceive the Viśvarūpa. V11.8 establishes that the cosmic vision requires a divinely-granted capacity.
- divyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ paśya me yogam aiśvaram
- — I give you the divine eye — BEHOLD My Aiśvara Yoga-power · divyaṃ = divine, celestial (divya = 'of the divine, supersensuous' — from divi = in the sky; divyaṃ = 'divine, not of the ordinary sensory realm'). dadāmi = I give (first person singular present of √dā = to give; dadāmi = 'I give, I bestow' — one of the Gita's most significant dadāmi statements: the divine giving directly to the disciple). te = to you (dative of tvaṃ = you; te = 'for/to you'). cakṣuḥ = eye, sight (cakṣus = 'eye, sight, vision' — from √cakṣ = to see; cakṣus = 'the seeing organ, the eye'). Divyam cakṣuḥ = 'the divine eye, the supersensuous sight' — a capacity of perception that transcends ordinary sensory vision. In the Indian tradition, the divyaṃ cakṣuḥ = the third eye of Śiva (ājñā chakra in later tantric tradition), the eye of jñāna (knowledge-vision), the capacity to see the divine reality that underlies the sensory surface. paśya = BEHOLD (imperative — the fourth time paśya is used in V11.5-V11.8). me = My. yogam aiśvaram = Aiśvara Yoga-power (yoga = the divine's creative power, the yoga-śakti that manifests the universe; aiśvara = 'of the Īśvara/Ruler' = the cosmic governing power; yogam aiśvaram = 'the governing Yoga-power of the Cosmic Ruler'). 'BEHOLD My Aiśvara Yoga-power!' — V11.8 closes Krishna's four-verse speech (V11.5-V11.8) with the most direct invitation: having granted the divine eye, the divine says: NOW BEHOLD.
- [dadāmi te cakṣuḥ — the giving of divine capacity]
- — The divine-eye gift as the model of how spiritual perception operates · V11.8's dadāmi te cakṣuḥ (I GIVE YOU the divine eye) is one of the Gita's most important theological statements: the capacity for divine perception is GIVEN by the divine, not earned by the practitioner's own effort alone. This parallels V10.10's dadāmi buddhi-yogam (I give that yoga of wisdom) — both are dadāmi statements: the divine gives the capacity. The human contribution: the sincere request (V11.3-V11.4's appropriate petition), the prior preparation (V11.1-V11.2's received teaching), and the epistemic humility (V11.4's manyase yadi). But the actual capacity for the higher perception = a gift. This establishes the Gita's epistemology of spiritual perception: human effort prepares the ground; divine grace provides the capacity.
But you cannot see Me with these eyes of yours; I give you the divine eye — behold My sovereign power of yoga.
A modern analogy
This verse's divyaṃ cakṣuḥ (divine eye — supersensuous sight) parallels the concept of instrumented observation in science: the human natural eye cannot see radio waves, X-rays, gamma radiation, or gravitational waves. Each new instrument (radio telescope, X-ray satellite, LIGO) grants a 'divine eye' for a new range of reality that was always present but imperceptible to natural senses. Here the divine is granting Arjuna an instrument that makes the cosmic form — always present but imperceptible to natural senses — directly visible.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's divyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ (I give you the divine eye) is not describing a literal third eye appearing in Arjuna's forehead. The divyaṃ cakṣuḥ (divine eye) = the capacity for a different ORDER of perception — not through physical eyes at all. In the Advaita tradition: the divine eye = the eye of jñāna (direct knowing). In the bhakti tradition: it = prasāda (divine grace) that enables recognition of the divine. In the yogic tradition: it = the ājñā chakra faculty. All readings agree: it is NOT ordinary sensory perception — it is a capacity granted through the relationship with the teacher-divine.
Take with you
- This verse's dadāmi te cakṣuḥ (I GIVE you the eye) as a humility practice: the capacity for the highest perception is GIVEN, not manufactured by effort alone. The practice: when you notice genuine insight, clarity, or expanded perception — recognize it as dadāmi (given). Not as a diminishment of your effort but as accurate theology: the deepest seeing arrives through grace, not force. Cultivate the receptive quality that makes the divine eye possible: the same qualities Arjuna demonstrated — prior preparation, honest request, epistemic humility.
- This verse's sva-cakṣuṣā (natural eyes) limitation as an epistemological humility: what you can see with your ordinary perceptual faculties is not all that is real. The teaching: there are orders of reality imperceptible to natural human senses. This is the Gita's warrant for contemplative practice, meditation, and spiritual disciplines — they are the preparation for the divyaṃ cakṣuḥ, the expanded perceptual capacity that makes the deeper real visible.
- This verse's final paśya (BEHOLD) as the action-instruction: after all the preparation — from the delusion lifting through to the whole universe being shown gathered into one — and the granting of capacity (divyaṃ dadāmi te cakṣuḥ), the last word before the vision begins is BEHOLD. Not 'think about this' or 'analyze this' but BEHOLD. The instruction at the threshold of the highest teaching: stop thinking, start beholding.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
But thou canst not see Me with these eyes of thine; I give thee supersensuous sight; behold My supreme Yoga power. [4]
But as with thy natural eyes thou art not able to see me, I will give thee the divine eye. Behold my sovereign power and might! [6]
Thou canst not! -- nor, with human eyes, Arjuna! ever mayest! / Therefore I give thee sense divine. Have other eyes, new light! / And, look! This is My glory, unveiled to mortal sight! [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
To those ever-steadfast who worship Me with love — I give that yoga of wisdom by which they come to Me.
If You think me capable of seeing it, O Lord of Yogins — show me Your imperishable, all-pervading Self.
Tell me again in full of Your yoga and vibhūtis, O Janārdana — I am never sated hearing Your nectar-speech.
Instrument, offering, fire, act, destination — all Brahman. One absorbed in Brahman-action reaches Brahman alone.
Whatever you do, eat, offer, give, or practise as austerity — do it all as mad-arpaṇam, an offering to Me.
I am the origin of all; from Me all evolves — knowing this, the wise worship Me with loving devotion.
Verse 8 of 55 · back to Chapter 11