Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 20
द्यावापृथिव्योरिदमन्तरं हि
व्याप्तं त्वयैकेन दिशश्च सर्वाः।
दृष्ट्वाऽद्भुतं रूपमुग्रं तवेदं
लोकत्रयं प्रव्यथितं महात्मन्।।
व्याप्तं त्वयैकेन दिशश्च सर्वाः।
दृष्ट्वाऽद्भुतं रूपमुग्रं तवेदं
लोकत्रयं प्रव्यथितं महात्मन्।।
dyāv ā-pṛthivyor idam antaraṁ hi
vyāptaṁ tvayaikena diśaś ca sarvāḥ
dṛṣṭvādbhutaṁ rūpam ugraṁ tavedaṁ
loka-trayaṁ pravyathitaṁ mahātman
also searched as "dyavaprithivyor idamantaram hi"
Translation
You alone have pervaded the interspace between heaven and earth, and all the quarters. Beholding your marvelous and terrible form, O Mahatman, the three worlds are greatly overwhelmed with fear.
Vāṇi's rendering
You alone fill the space between heaven and earth, and every direction. Seeing this fierce wonder, the three worlds tremble.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| द्यावापृथिव्योःdyāv-ā-pṛthivyoḥ | of heaven and earth — the two together |
| इदम्idam | this |
| अन्तरम्antaram | the space between |
| हिhi | indeed |
| व्याप्तम्vyāptam | is filled, pervaded through and through |
| त्वयाtvayā | by you (sandhi: tvayā + ekena) |
| एकेनekena | by you alone, single |
| दिशःdiśaḥ | the directions, the quarters |
| चca | and |
| सर्वाःsarvāḥ | all |
| दृष्ट्वाdṛṣṭvā | having seen (sandhi: dṛṣṭvā + adbhutam) |
| अद्भुतम्adbhutam | wondrous, astonishing |
| रूपम्rūpam | form |
| उग्रम्ugram | fierce, terrible |
| तवtava | your (sandhi: tava + idam) |
| इदम्idam | this |
| लोकत्रयम्loka-trayam | the three worlds |
| प्रव्यथितम्pravyathitam | shaken through, trembling |
| महात्मन्mahātman | O vast one |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 20 mean?
Arjuna sees that the space between heaven and earth, and every direction with it, is filled by Krishna alone. There is no vantage point left from which to observe the form at a comfortable distance. Seeing it, the three worlds shake. The verse names the vision both wondrous and fierce, and refuses to separate the two.
What does dyavaprithivyor idamantaram hi mean?
It means this interval between sky and earth — everything held in the middle, where all living happens. Arjuna says that interval is pervaded by Krishna alone, tvayaikena. Not shared, not partly. The word ekena is the weight of the line: one presence, occupying the whole of where you live.
Why do the three worlds tremble in this verse?
Because what they see is ugram — fierce — as well as adbhutam, wondrous. Krishna's universal form contains time and ending, not only splendour. Pravyathitam means shaken through, not merely startled. When something immeasurably larger than you shows itself as it is, the body answers before the mind can find comfort.
Is fear a wrong response to seeing Krishna's cosmic form?
Not wrong — accurate. Arjuna asked to see, and Krishna showed him truly, without softening. The trembling is honest measurement: a small self meeting a vastness it cannot stand apart from. Awe that costs nothing is only admiration. What Arjuna feels here is the beginning of surrender, not a failure of nerve.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna is not describing a landscape. He is saying there is nowhere left to stand outside what he sees. Between heaven and earth, in every direction — filled, and by one. A vision with no outside cannot be watched from safety. So the trembling is not cowardice; it is what a small thing does when it learns it was never separate from the vast thing. Notice his words: wonder and fierce, in one breath. When something true finally shows you its size, awe and fear arrive together. You do not get to keep only the one you like.