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

Verse 11.5

Speaker: Krishna

Sanskrit

श्रीभगवानुवाच | पश्य मे पार्थ रूपाणि शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः | नानाविधानि दिव्यानि नानावर्णाकृतीनि च ||५||

Transliteration (IAST)

śrī bhagavān uvāca | paśya me pārtha rūpāṇi śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ | nānā-vidhāni divyāni nānā-varṇākṛtīni ca ||5||

Word-by-Word Meanings

paśya-behold
rūpāṇi-forms
śataśaḥ-by hundreds
sahasraśaḥ-by thousands
nānā-vidhāni-of various kinds
divyāni-divine
nānā-varṇa-ākṛtīni-of various colors and shapes

Translation

The Supreme Lord said: Behold, O Partha, My forms by the hundreds and thousands, of various kinds, divine, of various colors and shapes.

Commentary

Krishna begins revealing His cosmic form. The emphasis on multiplicity - hundreds, thousands, various kinds - prepares Arjuna for the overwhelming totality he is about to witness. Ramanuja explains that 'divyāni' indicates these forms transcend material perception and require divine sight to apprehend.

Themes

bhaktiyoga