Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 16
अनेकबाहूदरवक्त्रनेत्रं
पश्यामि त्वां सर्वतोऽनन्तरूपम्।
नान्तं न मध्यं न पुनस्तवादिं
पश्यामि विश्वेश्वर विश्वरूप।।
पश्यामि त्वां सर्वतोऽनन्तरूपम्।
नान्तं न मध्यं न पुनस्तवादिं
पश्यामि विश्वेश्वर विश्वरूप।।
aneka-bāhūdara-vaktra-netraṁ
paśyāmi tvāṁ sarvato ’nanta-rūpam
nāntaṁ na madhyaṁ na punas tavādiṁ
paśyāmi viśveśvara viśva-rūpa
also searched as "aneka bahudara vaktra netram"
Translation
With manifold arms, stomachs, mouths, and eyes, I behold Your infinite form on all sides. I see no end, no middle, nor the beginning of You, O Lord of the universe, O You of Universal Form.
Vāṇi's rendering
Arms, bellies, mouths, eyes beyond counting; your form endless on every side — no beginning, no middle, no end.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अनेकबाहूदरवक्त्रनेत्रम्aneka-bāhūdara-vaktra-netram | having countless arms, bellies, mouths and eyes |
| पश्यामिpaśyāmi | I see |
| त्वाम्tvām | you |
| सर्वतःsarvataḥ | on every side, all around (the visarga becomes o before the following vowel) |
| अनन्तरूपम्ananta-rūpam | whose form has no limit (the initial a is swallowed in sandhi: sarvato 'nanta) |
| नna | not |
| अन्तम्antam | an end (na + antam joins as nāntam) |
| नna | not |
| मध्यम्madhyam | a middle |
| नna | not |
| पुनःpunaḥ | again, moreover |
| तवtava | your (tava + ādim joins as tavādim) |
| आदिम्ādim | a beginning |
| पश्यामिpaśyāmi | I see |
| विश्वेश्वरviśveśvara | O lord of all that is |
| विश्वरूपviśva-rūpa | O you whose form is everything |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 16 mean?
Arjuna tries to take in what Krishna has shown him and cannot find its limits. Arms, bellies, mouths, eyes past counting; the form spreading on every side. He looks for a beginning, a middle, an end — the three marks by which anything is measured — and finds none of them.
What is the meaning of aneka bahudara vaktra netram?
It names a form with countless arms, bellies, mouths and eyes. The word aneka simply means not-one — Arjuna is not giving a number, he is admitting that number has failed him. The listing itself is the confession: he began to count and the counting broke.
Why does Arjuna say he sees no beginning, middle or end?
Because those are how the mind holds a thing. You know an object by where it starts and stops. Krishna's viśvarūpa offers no such edges, so nothing can be set apart from it and looked at. Arjuna is reporting the limit of seeing, not a failure of his eyes.
What can I take from this verse in ordinary life?
Some things in your life will never resolve into a shape you can hold — a grief, a love, the whole of your own living. The verse does not ask you to grasp them. Arjuna keeps his eyes open on what exceeds him. That steadiness is available to you now.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna is counting. Arms, bellies, mouths, eyes — he begins the list and the list breaks. Then he reaches for the shape of the whole and finds no rim to it: no beginning to start from, no middle to stand in, no end to rest against. This is what seeing without edges does to a man. Everything you have ever known, you knew by its outline — where it started, where it stopped, what it was not. Here the outline is gone. Arjuna does not claim to understand. He keeps looking, and that is all you can do with anything too large to be measured.