Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 23
रूपं महत्ते बहुवक्त्रनेत्रं
महाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम्।
बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालं
दृष्ट्वा लोकाः प्रव्यथितास्तथाऽहम्।।
महाबाहो बहुबाहूरुपादम्।
बहूदरं बहुदंष्ट्राकरालं
दृष्ट्वा लोकाः प्रव्यथितास्तथाऽहम्।।
rūpaṁ mahat te bahu-vaktra-netraṁ
mahā-bāho bahu-bāhūru-pādam
bahūdaraṁ bahu-danṣṭrā-karālaṁ
dṛṣṭvā lokāḥ pravyathitās tathāham
also searched as "rupam mahat te bahu-vaktra-netram"
Translation
Beholding Your great form with many mouths and eyes, many arms, thighs, and feet, many stomachs, and terrible with many teeth, the worlds tremble, and I too quake, O mighty-armed one.
Vāṇi's rendering
This vast form — mouths, eyes, arms, thighs, feet, bellies past counting, fanged and terrible. The worlds tremble. So do I.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| रूपम्rūpaṁ | form |
| महत्mahat | vast, immense |
| तेte | your |
| बहु-वक्त्र-नेत्रम्bahu-vaktra-netraṁ | with many mouths and many eyes |
| महाबाहोmahā-bāho | O mighty-armed one — Arjuna addressing Krishna |
| बहु-बाहु-ऊरु-पादम्bahu-bāhūru-pādam | with many arms, thighs and feet (bahu-bāhu + ūru joined by sandhi into bāhūru) |
| बहु-उदरम्bahūdaraṁ | with many bellies (bahu + udaraṁ joined by sandhi) |
| बहु-दंष्ट्रा-करालम्bahu-danṣṭrā-karālaṁ | terrible with many fangs |
| दृष्ट्वाdṛṣṭvā | having seen |
| लोकाःlokāḥ | the worlds, all beings |
| प्रव्यथिताःpravyathitāḥ | shaken through, trembling |
| तथाtathā | so too, likewise (tathā + aham joined by sandhi as tathāham) |
| अहम्aham | I |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 23 mean?
Arjuna is describing the immense form he asked to see — mouths, eyes, arms, thighs, feet, bellies beyond counting, fanged and terrible. He reports two things: the worlds are shaken, and he is shaken with them. It is not a theological statement. It is a witness saying plainly what the sight is doing to him.
What does rupam mahat te bahu-vaktra-netram mean?
It means "your vast form, with many mouths and eyes." Arjuna piles feature upon feature — bāhu, ūru, pāda, udara — not to catalogue Krishna but because language keeps running out. The listing itself is the fear speaking. He counts because he cannot comprehend, and stops counting only to admit he is trembling.
Why is Arjuna afraid of Krishna in this verse?
Because what he sees is no longer the friend beside his chariot. The fangs and the countless mouths show time and destruction as they actually are. Arjuna had loved a form he could hold. Here the form holds him. Fear, in the Gītā, is often what honesty feels like when the familiar gets too large.
What can I learn from this verse when I feel overwhelmed?
That saying "I am shaking" is not failure. Arjuna is the greatest archer alive and he says it aloud, in the middle of the vision, without leaving. You are not asked to be unafraid of what is bigger than you. You are asked to stay in front of it and keep your eyes open.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna asked to see. Now he sees, and the seeing undoes him. He counts what cannot be counted — mouths, eyes, arms, thighs, bellies — and the counting fails, because the point of the form is that it exceeds him. Notice what he says last: the worlds tremble, and so do I. He does not pretend to stand apart from the general terror. He puts himself in the crowd. That admission is the honest part of devotion — not composure before the vast, but the willingness to say aloud that you are shaking. Whatever is too large for you, say so. Then keep looking.