← Chapter 11: The Yoga of the Vision of the Universal Form

Verse 11.27

Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit

वक्त्राणि ते त्वरमाणा विशन्ति दंष्ट्राकरालानि भयानकानि | केचिद्विलग्ना दशनान्तरेषु सन्दृश्यन्ते चूर्णितैरुत्तमाङ्गैः ||२७||

Transliteration (IAST)

vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśanti daṁṣṭrā-karālāni bhayānakāni | kecid vilagnā daśanāntareṣu sandṛśyante cūrṇitair uttamāṅgaiḥ ||27||

Word-by-Word Meanings

vaktrāṇi-mouths

tvaramāṇāḥ-rushing

viśanti-enter

daṁṣṭrā-karālāni-terrible with fangs

bhayānakāni-fearsome

vilagnāḥ-stuck/caught

daśana-antareṣu-between the teeth

cūrṇitaiḥ-crushed

uttama-aṅgaiḥ-with heads

Translation

They rush into Your fearsome mouths, terrible with fangs. Some are seen caught between the teeth with their heads crushed.

Commentary

This is one of the most visceral images in the Gita. Warriors are being devoured and crushed between the cosmic teeth. Ramanuja explains this as the direct perception of mortality - all beings are being consumed by Time. The imagery deliberately evokes the horror of death to establish the teaching of verse 32.

Themes

timekarma