Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 25
दंष्ट्राकरालानि च ते मुखानि
दृष्ट्वैव कालानलसन्निभानि।
दिशो न जाने न लभे च शर्म
प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास।।
दृष्ट्वैव कालानलसन्निभानि।
दिशो न जाने न लभे च शर्म
प्रसीद देवेश जगन्निवास।।
danṣṭrā-karālāni ca te mukhāni
dṛṣṭvaiva kālānala-sannibhāni
diśo na jāne na labhe ca śarma
prasīda deveśa jagan-nivāsa
also searched as "danshtra karalani cha te mukhani"
Translation
Viewing Your mouths, presenting awe-generating fangs and looking like the consuming fire of final destruction, I know not the quarters of the globe nor do I find repose. Be gracious, O Lord of the Devas! O Abode of the universe!
Vāṇi's rendering
Your fanged mouths blaze like the fire that ends time. I have lost all direction, all shelter. Be gracious, lord.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दंष्ट्रा-करालानिdanṣṭrā-karālāni | gaping and terrible with fangs |
| चca | and |
| तेte | your |
| मुखानिmukhāni | mouths |
| दृष्ट्वाdṛṣṭvā | having seen (sandhi: dṛṣṭvā + eva = dṛṣṭvaiva) |
| एवeva | the very instant, no sooner than |
| काल-अनल-सन्निभानिkālānala-sannibhāni | resembling the fire that burns at the end of time |
| दिशःdiśo | the directions, which way is which (sandhi: diśaḥ → diśo) |
| नna | not |
| जानेjāne | I know |
| नna | nor |
| लभेlabhe | do I find |
| चca | and |
| शर्मśarma | shelter, a place of ease |
| प्रसीदprasīda | be gracious, be kind |
| देवेशdeveśa | O lord of the shining ones |
| जगत्-निवासjagan-nivāsa | O dwelling place of the world (sandhi: jagat + nivāsa) |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 25 mean?
Arjuna sees fanged mouths blazing like the fire that ends an age, and two things collapse at once — his sense of direction and his sense of safety. He does not ask for the vision to be explained or withdrawn. He asks Krishna, lord of the shining ones and dwelling of the world, simply to be gracious.
What does the line danshtra karalani cha te mukhani say?
It says: your mouths, terrible with fangs. The words come out broken because Arjuna is broken — he names the fangs, then the fire, then admits he knows neither the directions nor any refuge. The verse is what fear sounds like when it is still honest enough to speak.
Why is Krishna shown as terrifying here instead of loving?
Because Arjuna asked to see everything, and everything includes kālānala — the fire at time's end. What eats the world is not a different power from what holds it. Krishna is not two beings. The same one Arjuna called friend is the one now dissolving armies, and this is why Arjuna begs rather than argues.
How do I use this verse when I am frightened and lost?
Notice that Arjuna does not manufacture calm. He states his condition plainly — no direction, no shelter — and then turns toward the very thing that frightens him and asks for kindness. That turning is the whole practice. You need not feel steady to say prasīda. You need only say it.
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Fear does not make Arjuna eloquent. It makes him lose his bearings — he cannot tell north from south, and he can find no place to rest. Notice what he asks for. Not an explanation of the vision, not for it to stop, not for victory. He asks for grace. When something too large arrives — a diagnosis, a death, a form of Krishna you never wanted to see — the mind's first loss is direction. You do not know which way to turn, and there is no shelter anywhere. Arjuna stops looking for one. He turns to the one whose mouths are burning and says: be kind to me.