Bhagavad Gītā · Chapter 11, Verse 27
वक्त्राणि ते त्वरमाणा विशन्ति
दंष्ट्राकरालानि भयानकानि।
केचिद्विलग्ना दशनान्तरेषु
संदृश्यन्ते चूर्णितैरुत्तमाङ्गैः।।
दंष्ट्राकरालानि भयानकानि।
केचिद्विलग्ना दशनान्तरेषु
संदृश्यन्ते चूर्णितैरुत्तमाङ्गैः।।
vaktrāṇi te tvaramāṇā viśanti daṁṣṭrā-karālāni bhayānakāni kecid vilagnā daśanāntareṣu sandṛśyante cūrṇitair uttamāṅgaiḥ
also searched as "vaktrani te tvaramana vishanti"
Translation
Hasten to enter Your fearful mouths with terrible fangs, crushing some of those caught between the teeth to powder.
Vāṇi's rendering
They rush headlong into your fanged, terrible mouths. Some hang caught between the teeth, their heads crushed to powder.
Word by word
| Sanskrit & transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वक्त्राणिvaktrāṇi | mouths |
| तेte | your |
| त्वरमाणाःtvaramāṇā | hurrying, rushing headlong |
| विशन्तिviśanti | they enter |
| दंष्ट्रा-करालानिdaṁṣṭrā-karālāni | gaping with terrible fangs |
| भयानकानिbhayānakāni | dreadful to look upon |
| केचित्kecid | some of them (sandhi: kecit + vilagnā) |
| विलग्नाःvilagnā | stuck fast, hanging caught |
| दशन-अन्तरेषुdaśana-antareṣu | in the gaps between the teeth |
| संदृश्यन्तेsandṛśyante | are seen |
| चूर्णितैःcūrṇitair | with crushed, powdered (sandhi: cūrṇitaiḥ + uttamāṅgaiḥ) |
| उत्तमाङ्गैःuttamāṅgaiḥ | heads — literally the highest limb |
Frequently asked
What does Bhagavad Gita Chapter 11 Verse 27 mean?
It means the warriors Arjuna feared destroying are already entering destruction of their own momentum. Krishna's vaśvarūpa shows mouths fanged and dreadful, and armies rushing in unbidden. The verse does not threaten Arjuna. It shows him that the ending he thought he would cause is a movement already underway, with or without his bow.
What does vaktrani te tvaramana vishanti mean?
They rush headlong into your mouths. The word tvaramāṇā carries haste — nobody drags them. Arjuna sees kings and captains hurrying toward the very teeth that will grind them, and some already hanging there, heads crushed to powder. It is the most physical picture in the Gītā of time consuming what time made.
Why is the Gita showing something so violent?
Because Arjuna's grief was built on a gentler picture, and gentleness would have left it standing. He believed the deaths were his to authorise or prevent. Krishna does not soothe that belief; he overwhelms it. The horror is not cruelty — it is the removal of a fantasy Arjuna had been sheltering behind.
What can I take from this verse when I am afraid?
Much of fear is the sense that you are holding back an outcome by sheer effort. This verse loosens that grip. Some of what you dread has already begun, and it did not wait for your permission. What remains yours is not the outcome but the steadiness with which you face the field.
Themes in this verse
Read every verse this way, held — inside Vāṇi.
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Commentary
Arjuna asked to see. This is what seeing costs. The armies he was weighing — should I fight them, can I bear to kill them — are already moving, not driven but rushing, headlong, into the mouths of time. He is not being shown a threat. He is being shown a fact he had mistaken for a decision. The heads crushed to powder were crowned this morning. Nothing in the vision asks him to do anything; it removes the illusion that his hand was the one ending them. Look at what you are guarding against. Some of it has already happened, and you are still bracing.