Vishwaroopa Darshana Yoga

Arjuna said: You have spoken, as a grace to me, the deepest secret, the teaching about the Self. By those words my delusion is gone.

I have heard from you, in detail, how beings arise and pass away. I have heard too of your imperishable greatness.

So it is, just as you have described yourself, Supreme Lord. Now I wish to see your divine form.

If you think it possible for me to see it, then, Lord of Yoga, show me your eternal Self.

Krishna said: Behold my forms, by the hundreds and the thousands. They are of many kinds, divine, of many colors and shapes.

Behold the Adityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the two Ashvins, and the Maruts. Behold too the many wonders never seen before.

See now the whole universe, the moving and the unmoving, gathered together here in my body. See whatever else you wish to see.

But you cannot see me with your own eyes. So I give you a divine eye. Behold my divine power.

Sanjaya said: Having spoken thus, O King, Krishna, the great Lord of Yoga, showed Arjuna his supreme divine form.

It had many faces and eyes, and many wondrous sights. It was adorned with many divine ornaments, and held many divine weapons raised high.

It wore divine garlands and garments, and was anointed with divine fragrances. It was all wonder, radiant, infinite, with faces on every side.

If the light of a thousand suns were to blaze forth at once in the sky, that might resemble the radiance of that great being.

There, in the body of the God of gods, Arjuna saw the whole universe. It was gathered into one, yet divided into its many parts.

Then Arjuna, filled with wonder, his hair standing on end, bowed his head to the Lord. With folded hands, he spoke.

Arjuna said: I see in your body all the gods, and the hosts of every kind of being. I see Brahma the Lord, seated on his lotus, and all the sages and the divine serpents.

I see you with countless arms, bellies, mouths, and eyes. Your forms are infinite on every side. I see no end, no middle, and no beginning in you, Lord of the universe, you whose form is the whole world.

I see you wearing a crown, holding a mace and a disc. You are a mass of radiance shining on every side, hard to look upon. You blaze all around like fire and sun, and you cannot be measured.

You are the imperishable, the supreme One to be known. You are the highest resting place of this universe. You are unchanging, the guardian of the eternal law. You are the everlasting Person. This is what I hold to be true.

I see you with no beginning, middle, or end. Your power is infinite, your arms are without number. The sun and moon are your eyes, and your mouth is a blazing fire. With your own radiance you scorch this whole universe.

You alone fill the space between heaven and earth, and all directions. Seeing this wondrous and terrible form of yours, the three worlds tremble with fear, O great one.

These hosts of gods enter into you. Some, struck with fear, praise you with folded hands. Crying out, May it be well, the bands of great sages and perfected ones extol you with abundant hymns.

The Rudras, the Adityas, the Vasus, and the Sadhyas; the Vishvedevas, the two Ashvins, the Maruts, and the ancestors; the hosts of Gandharvas, Yakshas, demons, and perfected ones: all of them gaze upon you in wonder.

Seeing your immense form, with its many mouths and eyes, its many arms, thighs, and feet, its many bellies, and its terrible teeth, the worlds are struck with terror, and so am I.

Seeing you touch the sky, blazing with many colors, your mouths wide open, your great eyes aflame, I am terrified within. I find no steadiness and no peace, O Vishnu.

Seeing your mouths, terrible with their teeth, blazing like the fire of dissolution, I have lost all sense of direction and find no peace. Have mercy. You are the Lord of gods, the abode of the universe.

All these sons of Dhritarashtra, along with the hosts of kings, and Bhishma, Drona, and Karna, together with the chief warriors on our side too.

They rush into your fearful mouths with their terrible teeth. Some are caught between the teeth, their heads crushed to powder.

As the many currents of rivers rush toward the sea, so these heroes of the human world enter your blazing mouths.

As moths rush headlong into a blazing fire to their destruction, so these creatures rush into your mouths to their destruction.

You devour all the worlds on every side with your flaming mouths, licking them up. Your fierce rays fill the whole universe with radiance and scorch it.

Tell me who you are, fierce in form. I bow to you. Have mercy. I wish to know you, the primal one, for I do not understand your actions.

I am time, the destroyer of worlds, grown mighty and now set on annihilating these creatures. Even without you, none of the warriors arrayed in the opposing armies will survive.

So rise up and win fame. Defeat your enemies and enjoy a prosperous kingdom. These have already been slain by me. Be merely my instrument.

Drona, Bhishma, Jayadratha, Karna, and the other brave warriors have already been slain by me. Slay them. Do not be distressed. Fight, and you will conquer your enemies in battle.

Sanjaya said: Hearing these words of Krishna, Arjuna trembled. With joined palms he bowed down, and in a faltering voice, overcome with fear, he bowed again and spoke to Krishna.

Arjuna said: It is fitting that the world rejoices and delights in your praise. The demons flee in fear in all directions, and all the hosts of the perfected ones bow down to you.

Why should they not bow to you, great one, greater than all, the first creator, the source even of Brahma? Limitless one, lord of the gods, home of the universe: you are the imperishable, being and non-being, and that which lies beyond both.

You are the primal God, the ancient Person, the supreme resting place of this universe. You are the knower and the known, and the highest abode. You pervade everything. Your forms are without end.

You are wind, death, fire, the god of the waters, the moon, the lord of creatures, and the great-grandfather. Salutations to you a thousand times. Again and again, salutations to you.

Salutations to you in front and behind. Salutations to you on every side, you who are all. Your strength is infinite, your power beyond measure. You pervade everything, and so you are everything.

Not knowing your greatness, thinking you only a friend, I spoke to you rashly, out of carelessness or affection, calling you Krishna, friend, comrade.

And if I treated you without respect, in jest, while at play, resting, sitting, or eating, whether alone or in company, for all of that I beg your pardon, you who are beyond measure.

You are the father of this world, of all that moves and does not move. You are its teacher, worthy of worship, greater than any teacher. There is none equal to you. How could anyone in all three worlds be greater, you of unrivaled power?

So I bow down, I prostrate my body, and I ask for your grace, adorable Lord. As a father bears with a son, as a friend with a friend, as a lover with the beloved, please bear with me.

I am thrilled to have seen what was never seen before, and my mind trembles with fear. Show me again that earlier form. Be gracious, lord of the gods, home of the universe.

I long to see you as before, wearing the crown, holding the mace and the disc in your hand. Take on that same four-armed form, you of a thousand arms, you whose body is the universe.

Krishna said: Out of grace, Arjuna, I have shown you this supreme form through the power of my own yoga. Radiant, cosmic, endless, and primeval, this form of mine no one but you has ever seen.

Not by study of the Vedas, not by sacrifice, not by gifts, not by rituals, not by severe austerities can I be seen in this form in the world of men by anyone but you, best of the Kurus.

Do not be troubled. Do not be bewildered at seeing this terrible form of mine. Let your fear go. With a glad heart, look once more upon my earlier form.

Sanjaya said: Having spoken to Arjuna in this way, Krishna showed his own form again. Taking on his gentle form once more, the great one reassured the terrified Arjuna.

Arjuna said: Now that I have seen this gentle human form of yours, Krishna, my mind is calm. I am restored to my own nature.

Krishna said: This form of mine that you have seen is very hard to behold. Even the gods long forever to see it.

Not through the Vedas, not through austerity, not through giving, not through sacrifice can I be seen in this form, as you have seen me.

Only through undivided devotion can I be known in this form, Arjuna, and truly seen, and entered into.

The one who works for me, who holds me as the highest, who is devoted to me, free of attachment and free of enmity toward all beings: that one comes to me, Arjuna.