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

Verse 11.46

Speaker: Arjuna

Sanskrit

किरीटिनं गदिनं चक्रहस्तमिच्छामि त्वां द्रष्टुमहं तथैव | तेनैव रूपेण चतुर्भुजेन सहस्रबाहो भव विश्वमूर्ते ||४६||

Transliteration (IAST)

kirīṭinaṁ gadinaṁ cakra-hastam icchāmi tvāṁ draṣṭum ahaṁ tathaiva | tenaiva rūpeṇa catur-bhujena sahasra-bāho bhava viśva-mūrte ||46||

Word-by-Word Meanings

kirīṭinam-with crown

gadinam-with mace

cakra-hastam-with discus in hand

icchāmi-I wish

draṣṭum-to see

tena eva rūpeṇa-in that same form

catur-bhujena-four-armed

sahasra-bāho-O thousand-armed one

viśva-mūrte-O universal form

Translation

I wish to see You as before, with crown, mace, and discus in hand. Assume that same four-armed form, O thousand-armed one, O universal form.

Commentary

Arjuna specifically requests the four-armed Vishnu form - a middle ground between the overwhelming cosmic form and the ordinary human appearance. Shankaracharya explains that the four-armed form with crown, mace, and discus represents the accessible aspect of divine sovereignty that devotees can contemplate without being overwhelmed.

Themes

bhaktisurrender